Louis Malle - Lacombe Lucien: The Screenplay

Copyright ditions Gallimard, 1974
Originally published in French as Lacombe, Lucien
by ditions Gallimard, Paris, in 1974.

English-language translation copyright 1975
by The Viking Press, Inc.

Production editor: Yvonne E. Crdenas

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from Other Press LLC, except in the case of brief quotations in reviews for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, or broadcast. For information write to Other Press LLC, 267 Fifth Avenue, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10016. Or visit our Web site: www.otherpress.com

The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:

Malle, Louis, 1932-1995.
[Lacombe, Lucien. English]
Lacombe Lucien : the screenplay / Louis Malle and Patrick Modiano; translated from the French by Sabine dEstre.
pages cm
ISBN 978-1-59051-765-9 ISBN 978-1-59051-766-6 (e-book)
I. Modiano, Patrick, 1945- II. Estre, Sabine d translator. III. Lacombe, Lucien (Motion picture) IV. Title.
PN1997.L13M3513 2016
842.914dc23

2015031207

Publishers Note:
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

v3.1

LACOMBE, LUCIEN
A TWENTIETH CENTURY-FOX PRESENTATION

CAST

In a charitable nursing home for the elderly a young seventeen-year-old employee is scrubbing the floor of the womens dormitory.

Most of the beds, with perhaps a dozen exceptions, are empty. There are a few visitors, and two or three nuns who work in the nursing home. The murmur of conversations. It is afternoon of a beautiful early-summer day. The shades are drawn.

The young boy, whose name is Lucien, is clearly a good worker. As he makes his way among the beds, he opens the night tables, takes out the chamber pots, and empties them one by one into a large pail. At the far end of the room another menial worker is doing the same job; slightly older than Lucien, he works less energetically than his co-worker. On several occasions the room resounds with his laughter.

Lucien comes over to a bed occupied by an old lady who is in deep conversation with an elderly man seated close beside her. The two old people make a point of breaking off their conversation when Lucien approaches; they look at him, then exchange glances, but Lucien appears oblivious to their little games. He dusts the night table at the head of the bed, lifting up a framed picture of Marshal Ptain, across which is draped a rosary.

As she walks past, one of the nuns turns on an oversized radio hung on the wall to hear Philippe Henriots daily afternoon chat. Lucien picks up his scrub cloth and wrings it out. He is standing next to an open window; he pauses in his rounds and leans out.

In the garden below, a number of elderly people are taking their constitutionals, moving at a snails pace, or sunning themselves on the benches.

Lucien raises his eyes. On the branch of a tree a robin sings and hops about. Lucien takes a peasants slingshot from his pocket, aims carefully, and lets fly. The bird falls into the courtyard below.

Lucien resumes his work. No one, in the dormitory or in the courtyard, has noticed his act. Clment, Luciens fellow worker, comes up to him, whispers something in his ear, claps him on the back, and bursts out laughing, to the indignation of the old people and nuns who are listening to Philippe Henriot.

Wearing a peasant jacket and beret, Lucien is riding a bicycle along a narrow country road. A suitcase made of reinforced cardboard is tied to the luggage rack. The sun is still low in the sky, but it promises to be another beautiful day. It is Sunday, and Lucien seems happy.

As he approaches his village whose name, Souleillac, is indicated by a roadsign Lucien passes a herd of sheep. A big dog runs after him, snapping at his heels. The girl taking care of the sheep laughs and calls after him in a mocking tone: So long, Lucien! She calls her dog back.

Lucien, still riding his bicycle, at the outskirts of the village, turns off the road and enters the courtyard of a farm, which consists of a main building, a smaller dwelling, and several other buildings including a barn and pigeon coop. The barnyard is filled with all kinds of animals. Lucien heads directly for the smaller house, parks his bicycle, and shoves open the door.

Inside, a family a father, mother, and five young children is eating breakfast. Lucien seems surprised and upset.

LUCIEN : What the hell are you doing in my house?

mile, the father, gets up with a smile. He is a short but strapping man, who walks with a limp. He extends his hand to Lucien.

MILE : Are you Lucien, Thrses boy?

Lucien refuses to shake hands. He walks over to the table.

LUCIEN (pointing to the dishes and silverware): All thats not yours. Those are my fathers plates and dishes.

MILE (still smiling): Maybe they are! Go see the boss, hell fill you in.

Lucien stares at him, then heads toward a big armoire at the far end of the room. He brusquely pulls a chair out from under one of the children, a little boy of four, and climbs up on it, in order to reach something on top of the armoire. Hidden up there is a hunting rifle, wrapped in rags, and some shells. He climbs back down, unwraps the rags so that the gun is fully visible, and points it at mile and his family.

LUCIEN (threateningly): Just make sure you dont cause any damage to anything here, or youll have to answer to me.

mile is still smiling. Lucien suddenly heads for the door. As he passes mile, the latter tosses after him, in a mocking tone: