The Hinterland
Algeria isn't just a picturesque region used by caravans with no camels...
…but also a land of prodigious industrial and commercial activity...
…and of great agricultural richness.
Algiers
That day the mail boat from Marseille brought to Algiers a young man who had spent a large inheritance...
…and a young girl on her way to collect an inheritance from an uncle in Algiers.
Pierre Hoffer, the big spender, liked a lot Claudin Duvernet, who was about to inherit...
Manuel Duvernet and his sister Diane, Claudie's cousins, were firmly counting on the inheritance.
Sometimes one is happy to meet old friends from the regiment... Pierre was thrilled to meet Zoubir.
"No way you're staying at a hotel! You're staying with me."
The Duvernet family's lawyer...
"...and I appoint as sole legatee my niece Claudie."
"Your old uncle didn't forget you. He has paid your debts."
"Miss, you're inheriting a villa at Sidi Ferruch..."
"...and in the south, a large estate."
"Since the car now belongs to you, you can do the driving."
"...I wish the voyage would have lasted another hour. I was in love. To think that I will never see her again!"
Pierre Hoffer had agreed to temporarily stay with his friend Zoubir.
"I'm starting to think that one doesn't necessarily have to be a sucker to get married."
"As for money matters... I'm counting on my uncle Christian Hoffer. He's the reason why I'm coming to Algeria."
"Christian Hoffer is rich, but he's of an odd sort. You may end up being disappointed."
"I was two years old when he saw me last. He's kept a fond memory of me."
At Sidi Ferruch, the villa that Claudie Duvernet had inherited.
Christian Hoffer, Pierre's uncle, had come to Algeria as a poor man. Now he had become one of the richest farmers of the region.
"The Hoffer farm is here, right?"
"Tell me, my good man, do you know Christian Hoffer?"
"Slightly. That's me!"
"You're my nephew?"
Dinner time at the Hoffer farm.
"Hold your appetite! We're waiting for my nephew who just arrived from Paris."
"Why on earth are you dressed as a waiter!?"
Meanwhile, in Claudie Duvernet's villa...
"Why are you drinking like that?"
"Do you have those 72.000 francs that I owe?"
"There is a way to get that money..."
"But you don't have any vigor! Oh, if I was only a man..."
"Madam is served."
"Pardon miss, but that is the place of the mistress of the house."
The next morning, Christian Hoffer had decided he would have his nephew see his farmland.
"So, lazybones, you still think you are in Paris?"
"We're going to watch the ploughing, so don't put on a tox."
"Let's go! Today he's dressed like a fool."
It seemed a simple thing to ask Christian Hoffer for money from afar. In person, it seemed different...
"How much?"
"A hundred thousand."
"I will pay you back... naturally."
"Do you have any idea how much work it takes us to raise a hundred thousand francs?"
"A hundred years ago, our predecessors found nothing but swampland here..."
"Before it was transformed into fertile soil, thousands of settlers died during the effort."
"...While they were here, our grandfathers needed better roads."
"That's why we were waiting for you to turn up, son."
"It was here, at Sidi Ferruch, that the French troops disembarked in 1830..."
"You will have your hundred thousand francs, but on one condition..."
"That you spend six months working here, in order to learn the value of hard labor."
"Agreed!"
A week went by...
"Hey! You over there!"
"What can you do? There's a shortage on labor in Algeria, they say."
"What a lovely day!"
"Claudie, I have to speak with my uncle... I must talk to him right away!"
"What fair weather!"
"Uncle, I have decided to marry."
"And with whom?"
"With Claudie Duvernet."
"And you claimed that you loved the earth. A woman passes by and you are ready to go."
"Because you will follow her to Paris as soon as she has sold the property, right?"
"And I thought that I had found a son in you... What will become of me?"
Claudie Duvernet had decided to go visit the farmland that she owned in the South.
Pierre had apparently abandoned his projects...
"I come to say goodbye, I'm leaving for the South tomorrow."
"Claudie Duvernet left yesterday. We'll need to make up a plot so that I can accompany you."
"You are buying sheep, Zoubir is selling just that on his farm. He's leaving tonight."
"Alright! We'll go see the flock."
In the meantime, Claudie arrived at the estate inherited from her uncle.
ESTATE FOR SALE
Estate for sale
"This farm is giving no profit. We put it on sale at our uncle's death. We thought that we were doing the right thing."
"Claudie Duvernet is the one that you need to ask for instructions. The estate belongs to her."
Claudie was taken with her new domain. She discovered unknown distractions thanks to the falconer Ahmed.
"To think that the domain would be ours if it wasn't for that girl! Still we can do nothing to her..."
At Zoubir's place...
"You were talking about a gazelle hunt. Can't you invite my uncle and Claudie? I want them to get acquainted."
"Very good! I'll join you."
I would gladly spend my whole life here.
"I hope that your cousins will do me the honor of joining the hunt as well."
"I would be glad to, but my brother can't. He's busy that day."
"Why don't you want me to take part in the hunt?"
"You probably have better things to do."
"That girl robbed us ! We should have gotten the inheritance... We will get it in the end!"
"What if I married Claudie?"
Leaving for the hunt.
"This time there's no going back. You're not chickening out?"
"You think you're clever because you forced me into meeting that girl that I didn't want to see."
"But that's your driver. You brought him to the hunt?"
"He's an excellent beater."
"I even advice you to take him with you during the hunt."
Claudie Duvernet's horse had taken the bit between its teeth...
"What a disgraceful thing we have done... This form of hunting is barbarous..."
"If you are tired, I can take you to the citadel, miss."
"I'm dying... I want to clear my conscience... I have done a misdeed..."
"I am in a hopeless situation, Claudie... Only you can save me."
"You must marry me."
"You are in my power, and I am prepared to do anything."
"I will kill you if I have to!"
"By the palm grove... You could still catch him..."
"This kidnapping story is just another set-up. You'll have to choose between the girl and me."
"For the last time, will you marry me or do you prefer to die?"
The chamel wadi went to block the road for the fugitives.
"Sell me your dromedary. This young girl is wounded, her life is in danger..."
"The horses are exhausted. They can't go on in the sand. Make your falcon attack the dromedary!"
"Where did the engaged couple go?"
"Look at that! Today he's dressed as a farmer."
FIM