Steaming water.
Strange trees.
Laughing children.
Her skin...
those eyes.
Why should I tell you about it?
Why now?
Maybe I just need to tell someone...
and maybe it's you.
I guess it all began when I came back home
on leave from the army...
when I first saw Helene.
When are you going?
I leave Thursday.
And when will you be back?
One day, I'll have a whole garden of these...
hundreds, thousands.
To make her happy, I would have knelt down
and started planting a garden that very day.
Oh.
But I had a military career to pursue. My father insisted.
Things are heating up in Austria.
I think it will come to a head by summer.
The outcome is inevitable.
They won't know what to do when they're faced with our military forces.
They will crumble like a stale linzer torte.
What do you think, son?
More fish, dear?
The Austrians are fools, hm?
- I remember, when I was in the military... - I couldn't stop thinking about her.
We used to say that if the Austrian's ever decided to attack...
we'd finish our lunch...
Then, someone came along to solve my problem.
Can I help you?
Please, sir!
- I'm sorry, your honor. - You may leave us.
- What can I do for you, Baldabiou? - You know what this is?
- Woman's stuff. - Wrong.
It's money, a man's stuff.
Really?
- And why do I need to hear this? - I'm going to repair the silk mill.
The mill? Where will you find the money?
That's my problem.
Just make sure no one gets in my way.
Baldabiou repaired the old silk mill in six months,
or so I was told, as I was still in the army.
Careful.
By the time I returned the following year...
there were three more mills...
and more money than our town had ever seen.
- You know what that is? - Money.
Wrong. It's proof that I was right.
Congratulations.
- And what do you want me to do now? - Nothing.
You'll be the mayor of a very rich town.
Marry me... Helene.
- Mr. Baldabiou. - Hervé.
I hear you would like to speak with me.
Yes, but not here.
- Do you play? - Uh, no.
Why me?
I need a young man, a clever man.
Yes, but I'm not looking for work.
It's not work I'm offering you.
I'm offering you a life.
A strange illness has entered into the sheds.
Half the silkworms are either sick or dead.
It's the same in Lyon, the same everywhere, as far as Turkey.
- What is it? - Nobody knows, but the clock is ticking.
We cannot solve the problem, but we can get round it.
We have to. Otherwise, this town will starve.
I need you to go and get healthy eggs...
In Africa.
Africa?
I wish I could,
but my-my leave is up in two days. Uh...
- I have to return to the barracks. - Who says so?
- My father. - Your father?
I'll take care of him.
And he did.
In nomine patris,
Et filii,
Et spiritus sancti.
- Amen. - Amen.
Two weeks later, I gave up my uniform...
and I started a new life.
I thought love would always be that easy.
What are you writing?
- Nothing. - Nothing?
I just spoke with Baldabiou.
I leave a week from tomorrow.
How long?
Weeks...
Maybe months.
Make it weeks.
That was 1862, the year of the Great Snow.
I set off to Egypt to get the eggs.
It took me a month to find them...
and a little less to come back.
I knew nothing about silk, or how it was made.
All I new was that,
I had to keep those tiny eggs away from heat, keep them clean,
and bring them back before they'd hatched. That's all I knew.
But back at the village, someone else was about to hatch...
Ludovic Berbek.
Beatrice was so proud to show off her baby that day.
How was Africa?
- We never talked about it. - It was beautiful.
Tired, but... but very beautiful.
I have bad news.
I found dead worms.
Only a few, but still, too many.
Seems the pébrine got to Egypt before you did.
Pébrine?
They've given it a name.
I need you to go to Japan.
Japan?
- Where is that? - It's that way.
Just keep going to the end of the world. Let me show you.
They make the most perfect silk there.
I held some in my hand once.
It was like holding nothing.
They've been making silk for over a thousand years,
and they've never even heard of a diseased egg.
It'll be a longer journey this time.
Much longer.
Before I speak to the others, I have to know that you're ready for this.
But there's a risk.
The journey's long and dangerous.
And it's forbidden to travel inland beyond Japan's harbors.
No Westerner has done it. And yet, a place where no English
broker or Chinese trader can go is a place where no disease can enter.
And why should we succeed where others have failed?
There's no evidence that we will succeed,
but I have it from a trustworthy source
that the Japanese are trading their silk on the black market.
We're interested in making silk, not buying it.
I want to send Hervé to trade for eggs, not silk.
But there's still no guarantee, no matter how good the plan.
How much?
- At best, 10,000 francs. - And at worst?
His life.
What is it?
I can't do this.
I cannot go.
- But you've already said you would go. - I wasn't thinking...
about us.
I don't want you to give this up because of me.
It's better than you going off to fight some stupid war.
You'll be back by spring.
Don't forget.
My Japanese contact will meet you in Vladivostok.
- Yes. - And her letters for him.
He'll help you find the village.
All you have to do is bring back the eggs.
- That's all? - Good luck.
- I'll always love you. - I will always love you.
And so, I headed off to the end of the world.
I crossed the border at Ségny.
Then I journeyed through Europe.
I traveled by train from Vienna...
Through Moravia...
And on to Kiev.
I hired a caravan to cross the Russian steppes...
Three thousand miles of ice and storm.
I had my Christmas dinner at Lake Baikal,
and I thought of Helene...
always.
Then I followed the Amur River along the Chinese border...
Until I reached the ocean.
I stopped eleven days in Vladivostok,
where a Japanese guide handed me my disguise.
I sailed across the sea on a smuggler's ship.
And, finally...
I reached the port of Sakata.
Strange...
and haunting.
The Mogami River.
The snows of Yamagata.
I climbed the mountains of Shinobu...
where new guides were waiting for me.
And for the next three days, we continued through the peaks.
Then, after countless freezing days, and sleepless nights...
I reached my destination.
Sakata, yes, yes. I came...
Four.
Who are you?
- My name is Hervé Joncour. - I know that.
I am a man of trade.
That is not who you are. That is what you do.
I am the man you see before you.
That is all.
I was born in a village you've never heard of,
in a country you've never seen.
I grew up like any child. I was clothed and fed... educated.
I joined the army.
I left to marry the woman I love.
And none of this is who I am.
The eggs you were given...
are eggs of fish.
- They are worth nothing. - I know that.
Is that why you paid for them, with fake gold?
I paid for what I bought.
When you leave here, you will have what you want.
When I reach the limits of your lands... alive...
you'll get all the gold that's owed to you.
I give you my word.
Whoa.
Shh.
You're back.
I'm back.
On my return,
I was surprised to find our life was still there,
just as I had left it...
but it was about to change.
Keep them closed.
- They are closed. - We're almost there.
- Careful. - I'm going to fall.
- Don't open them. - No, I'm not. I'm not.
Now.
Oh, my.
Well, what is it?
It's your garden.
It's my garden?
Well, not quite. Not... yet.
For now, it's a plot of land, our land.
And the house is also ours, if you want it.
This is where we'll grow old, Helene.
- But, I don't understand. - The eggs have hatched. They're perfect.
This year's production will be huge,
and Baldabiou has already paid us our share.
We are rich, Helene. I mean, we're very, very rich.
All this for such tiny eggs.
And the eggs became worms.
And the worms grew stronger.
And we all grew richer.
Nice try.
Isn't it difficult enough with two hands?
The day the one-handed player wins, is the day I leave town and never come back.
Like Ludovic's father.
I never understood what happened to him.
- Did he just disappear? - Well, first, he stopped talking.
Then one day, he woke up, packed a suitcase, and left.
Beatrice was about to have Ludovic.
That was quite a blow.
But why did he stop talking in the first place?
That's one of the many things he never talked about.
Hm.
- No, no, Papa. - Mmm!
Do you think about it?
Sometimes.
What do you see?
Strange trees...
chickens pecking in the dirt, laughing children.
What about this man?
You hardly mention him.
He was closed...
secretive.
It's hard to remember all of it.
It's fading away.
Papa!
I've ask Madame Berbek to help with the chores.
The house is too much for me.
That's a good idea.
Ludovic is growing. They must need the money.
I knew you'd understand.
May I see?
No, it's not finished.
- I want to look at it. - No.
It was a happy time that summer.
- Life was simple again. - Opened his beak, and he felt sick.
The cheese fell out of his beak,
and the fox caught the cheese, and ran off with it.
So this is the path, and the fountain is there.
- Mm-hmm. - And the lilies?
- You're standing on them. - Oh. Sorry.
You're standing on them again.
- So the lilies are everywhere. - The lilies are everywhere.
But I knew...
I knew that it couldn't last forever.
Ludovic?
I suppose we won't be eating your aubergines this summer.
It's a flower garden, not a potager.
Hello, Ludovic.
I've received some news from Japan.
It may not be so easy to get in and out the next time.
When was it easy?
I have Hara Jubei's protection.
I will be fine.
What if you don't make it to him?
Hervé...
Listen...
you have a decision to make.
You make it.
I'll always love you.
Au revoir!
Oh.
And once again, I made it to the village.
Only this time, it was different. This time...
I was not treated as a stranger.
This time, I belonged.
Arigato.
I had to find her.
So while I waited for the eggs to be prepared...
I searched the village.
I wanted you to see this place.
Join me.
Perhaps another time.
You see these birds?
Only here can you see them.
My father used to come here every day to watch them...
and his father...
and the father of his father.
And now...
you've seen them, too.
Come.
And what does it say?
Door was open.
Hervé Joncour.
Schuyler. I am Dutch.
You are, uh, French, I suppose.
What is your trade?
There is no point in being secretive.
You're either here to buy, or sell something.
Which is it?
I'm here to buy silk eggs. And you?
- Selling. - What?
- Guns. - Guns?
Mm-hmm.
Mmm!
You must be paying pretty well.
Hara Jubei has never offered me anything like this before.
Do not be fooled by his kindness.
There is a price for everything.
And what about Mutzu?
He's still safe.
They've been chased to the east.
You never know. Things are changing fast.
Even Hara Jubei's losing grip.
I'd be on my guard, if I were you.
- Is that a warning? - Mmm... mmm...
His protectors in Edo will fall soon.
You take my advice. Trade fast, leave as soon as you can.
She's quite something, isn't she?
- What do you know about her? - Not much.
But I'll tell you this...
She's not what you think.
What do you mean?
She's not Japanese.
That is what they say.
Who knows?
To you.
May we continue to trade in peace.
To our lasting friendship.
Good night.
The next day, Hara Jubei took her and left the village.
They gave me the eggs, but I waited, two days,
hoping she might return.
She did not.
And, once again, I left Japan.
This time, I had brought back 10 boxes of eggs,
much more than the previous trip.
I wanted to tell Helene.
I wanted to tell her everything.
Helene.
What?
I love you.
And it tore me apart.
What is it?
So she's not Japanese?
No. She was Chinese.
She was the Emperor's third wife.
Legend has it that...
she was preparing tea in the palace garden.
She accidentally dropped a cocoon into the hot water...
And then she discovered that,
a cocoon's fibers could be unwound,
and a thread could be obtained from it...
one that was strong enough for weaving.
Who told you that story?
A trader.
What is it?
You've been sitting there for over an hour. What is it?
I need your help with something.
I need to find someone who can speak Japanese.
Ask Hervé Joncour.
Don't make it difficult.
You know someone.
Who wrote the letter I took on my first trip?
What is it you need to translate?
Please.
Madame Blanche.
She runs a brothel in Lyon... Number 12, Rue Moscat.
Men pay a lot of money to be with her.
- And she speaks Japanese? - She is Japanese.
Well, how did she wind up in Lyon?
She married a French merchant in Yokohama,
he died on their return to France, she had to fend for herself.
I have to go to Lyon tomorrow.
I'll be back before nightfall.
What's wrong?
Helene?
We have to be patient.
We've been trying to have a child for two years.
We have to try harder.
Come to bed.
Come.
I won't be long.
Voilà.
Madame Blanche will see you now.
Please...
sit.
And what makes you think you're rich enough to sleep with me?
That is not what I came for.
- What do you want then? - I need your help.
Never mind the price.
I need to know what is written on it.
Will you help me?
Where did you get this?
"Come back or I shall die. "
- Come back? - That's what it says.
"Come back or I shall die. "
Thank you.
Forget about it.
Not the money, the woman.
Forget about her.
She won't die, and you know it.
I went to see that fellow, Pasteur.
Yes?
He's pretty darn clever.
He's discovered how to isolate,
the infected eggs from the healthy ones.
He can't cure them,
but he can tell which ones are good.
And the results are guaranteed.
Mmm. Really?
There's trouble again in Japan.
This time, it's serious.
The French Consulate in Yokohama have been sending dispatches.
They say it's chaos.
And this, uh, Italian fellow, Ferreri,
he's come back from China with eggs, tons of them.
Healthy from first to last, same with Bolée.
They're offering us a good deal.
Seven francs for the gram.
And they'll insure them.
And with the work that Pasteur is doing, we might get by on our own.
It would be madness to go back there.
It's too risky.
I don't want to lose you, Hervé.
I'm going to Japan, Baldabiou.
Even if it means I have to pay for the trip myself.
All you have to decide is whether I'm...
selling the eggs to you or... someone else.
We've heard that the eggs coming in from Turkey are perfectly healthy.
- That's where the Lyon breeders go. - The Italians, too.
- Well, then why don't we do the same? - Japan is too dangerous.
- We can no longer afford the risks. - Gentlemen...
Gentlemen, please. These eggs are unreliable.
The Japanese eggs are pristine.
Who really knows what's going on there?
Very few people have seen it with their own eyes,
- and one of them lives right here. - This is my son you are talking about.
He's made the voyage twice.
If anybody understands the dangers, he does, and he believes it can be done.
Now, I, for one, am staking my money on another trip.
You gentlemen, must make your own decision.
- Isn't there some way you can stop him? - I'm afraid not.
There is something else.
There seems to be some trouble over there...
an uprising.
It could be dangerous.
Then I suppose all I can do is give him a reason to come back.
You're not to...
worry about anything.
I know.
I won't.
I have protection there. I will...
I will be fine.
This time, it really was the end of the world.
The rebellion had reached the village.
Are you alone?
Are you hurt?
Where are they?
Hai.
Hara Jubei.
Take me there, do you understand?
Wait.
Arigato.
How did you find us?
Who brought you here?
Answer me!
There is nothing for you here.
- Only war, and it's not your war. - War is an expensive game.
You have need of me.
- I have need of you. - You should not have come here.
Keep your gold and go!
- Hyah! - Hara Jubei!
Japan is an ancient country.
It has ancient laws.
There are crimes here for which it is acceptable,
to condemn a man to death.
This is a rifle, my friend.
Keep your head down.
The boy committed one of those crimes,
when he carried a love message, from his mistress.
He was carrying no message.
He was the message.
He was a boy.
Keep your eyes down.
Now go, and never return here again.
It took me 11 days to reach Sakata,
where I finally found four boxes of eggs.
I packed the boxes in crates filled with ice,
fearful that they would hatch early.
I reached the Russian coast by the end of March,
which was one month later than usual.
Summer had already come to Europe.
And then, one morning, I knew it was over.
The eggs had hatched.
The worms were dead.
Millions of them... all dead.
Ludovic!
Hyah!
I thought you were dead.
And in the whole world, there was nothing beautiful left.
That was a terrible summer.
We had to close three of the four mills.
Baldabiou had to make up stories to explain my failure.
And with the thought of all that had happened...
how I'd failed the village, how I'd failed Helene...
I sank into silence.
So, here you are.
What's wrong with you?
You haven't come around for ages.
Listen, Hervé...
Sooner or later, you're gonna have to talk to someone.
It might as well be me.
It might as well be now.
What happened?
What happened in Japan?
There's nothing more to say. I told you everything.
That's rubbish.
There's nothing more to say.
If things continue like this, we'll all starve.
Something has to be done. Do you have any ideas?
Baldabiou.
We'll build a garden.
I'll hire everyone in the village...
anyone who's strong enough to dig men, women, children, too.
And, together, we'll build Helene's garden.
We started to work in late summer.
Whoa!
- May I have some water? - I don't think you're working.
And we finished most of it by the fall.
You pull that one up?
Weeds are bad for trees. They take their food,
so you've got to pull them out.
Then why do we have them if they are bad?
God made them to keep us busy.
- In nomine patris, et filii... - So winter came, and...
- ... et spiritus sancti. - ... everyone had enough to eat.
Then a letter arrived.
It took me five days to open it.
It was stamped in Oostende,
but it had a Japanese seal in the corner.
I'm going to bed.
I'll be up in a minute.
I shall read it for you,
but this time, I want no money.
What I want is a promise, that you will never come back here.
I promise.
"My dear master...
"do not be afraid.
"Do not move. Do not speak.
"No one will see us.
"Stay as you are.
"I want to look at you.
"We have the night to ourselves,
"and I want to look at you.
"Your body over me...
"your skin, your lips.
"Close your eyes.
"No one can see us.
"And I am here at your side.
"Do you feel me?
"When I touch you for the first time,
"it will be with my lips.
"You will feel the warmth,
"but you will not know where.
"Perhaps, it will be on your eyes.
"I will press my mouth to your eyes,
"and you will feel the warmth.
"Open your eyes now, my beloved.
"Look at me.
"Your eyes on my breast, your arms lifting me,
"letting me slide on to you.
"My faint cry, your body quivering.
"There is no end to it, don't you see?
"You will forever be throwing your head back.
"I will forever be shaking off my tears.
"This moment had to be.
"This moment is...
"and this moment will continue, from now until forever.
"We shall not see one another again.
"What we were meant to do, we have done.
"Believe me, my love, we have done it forever.
"Preserve your life out of my reach,
"and if it serves your happiness,
"do not hesitate for a moment to forget this woman, who now says,
"without a trace of regret...
"farewell. "
That year, in Edo,
they signed a treaty, authorizing the export of silkworm eggs.
A few years later, they opened the Suez Canal.
After that, a journey to Japan would take twenty days...
even less to come back.
A new era had begun.
So the years passed.
We traveled.
We accepted the fact that we would not have a child.
Nine plus seven equals sixteen.
- Now, sometimes it may seem like numbers keep their secrets. - And a sort of peace,
- entered our lives. - But you have to be patient. You have to keep trying.
Do you understand?
But it didn't last long.
Not long enough.
Yes, but are you certain?
- No change. She needs to rest. - But you've been saying that for weeks.
All she's been doing is resting. She's just getting weaker.
- Be patient. - I am being patient!
- Good day, Ludovic. - Good day, Madame.
Do you have a moment?
- I have a favor to ask you. - Whatever I can do.
I would like you to help Hervé with the garden.
Of course.
I mean, in the future.
He's going to need your help.
You can depend on me.
Good.
Beatrice stopped by.
- She brought us dinner. - Hm. You'll have to thank her for me.
And Baldabiou sent over a dozen quail.
God knows... where he got them.
Probably sent someone on a journey.
There's things that I haven't told you, Helene.
I know.
I just... I couldn't find the words.
It's all right.
Do you remember the first day you showed me the land?
You said there'd be a garden there.
You said, "This is where we'll grow old. "
Are we old, Hervé?
She died in late April...
A few days before her lilies bloomed.
And then, something extraordinary happened.
Aah!
- The one-handed Baldabiou... - Hmm.
- Pulled off an impossible shot. - Fancy that.
So, he gave his mill to Verdal, packed one suitcase,
and he left... for good.
I knew a man once who built his own railroad.
And the beautiful thing is, he built it completely straight,
without a single curve.
He had a reason for that.
I can't recall what it was.
The reasons get forgotten.
Not long after that, I found something that sent me on another journey...
Though, not quite as far this time.
She's gone, sir. Gone to Paris.
Yes, but do you have an address for her?
I'm sorry. I cannot help you.
Thank you very much.
How did you find me?
I've knocked on every door in Paris.
It was you who wrote that letter, wasn't it?
Wasn't it?
It was not I who wrote it.
It was Helene.
She had already written it when she came to see me.
She asked me to copy it out in Japanese, and I did.
She read me that letter.
She read those words with a voice that,
I have never been able to forget.
I know it's hard to understand...
But I heard her read that letter...
and more than anything...
she wanted to be that woman.
She was that woman.
Farewell.
- Ludovic. - Good day, sir.
What are you doing here on a Sunday? You shouldn't work on a Sunday.
I have a few things to finish, some trimming and weeding.
How was your trip to Paris?
Fine. Thank you.
Would you like to sit with me?
Of course.
I think you like this place as much as I do.
Very much, sir.
In a way, I suppose it's your garden, too.
Remember that little tree I planted with Madame?
It's grown so tall now.
I'm sorry, sir.
Don't be sorry.
Silly.
Death is a strange thing, Ludovic.
Strange.
But why should I tell you about this?
Why now?
Maybe I just need to tell someone...
and maybe it's you.
I guess it all began when I came back home on leave from the army...
when I first saw Helene.
And now you know the real story.
It's late now.
Finish your work tomorrow.
My beloved...
do not be afraid.
Do not speak.
Stay as you are. I'm here at your side.
Do you feel me?
When I touch you for the first time,
you will feel the warmth, but you will not know where.
Perhaps, it will be on your eyes.
Who could ever erase this moment?
There is no end to it, don't you see?
What we were meant to do, we have done.
Believe me, my love, we have done it forever.
And if it serves your happiness,
do not hesitate for a moment to forget this woman, who now says,
without a trace of regret...
Farewell.
Subtitle: sync, fix: titler