The Ladies of the Bois de Boulogne (1945)

María Casares: Hélène

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Quotes 

• Hélène : It happened gradually with my realizing it. I couldn't laugh. I couldn't sleep. I wondered if it was your fault, but no. You're as wonderful as ever. You stay the same. I am the one who has changed. I asked myself over and over. Why am I no longer impatient? Why does my heart not leap up when he arrives? The sound of the elevator's approach no longer thrills me.

  Jean : Hélène!

  Hélène : It's a horrible discovery, but I wish to be frank. My heart is drifting away from you. I'm ready for your reproaches, bitterness and insults. I've called myself the worst name already. Only one insult could wound me now - hypocrite.

  Jean : Hélène, you are wonderful. You were the first to speak, but I was guilty first. The story of your love is exactly the story of my own. All you thought, I thought as well. I kept silent, suffering. What a lesson you've taught me!

  Hélène : Really?

  Jean : Really. Hélène, you're beautiful, you're stunning. It's as if I'm seeing you for the first time. We should congratulate ourselves. It would have been awful if one went on loving longer than the other.

  Hélène : Yes, awful. What now?

  Jean : Neither of us has betrayed the other. We can avoid a messy breakup. We'll continue to see each other. We'll elude the death throes of a languishing love. No deceit, no suprises, no disgust. We'll be unique among our kind. I give you back your freedom, and you give me mine. We each go our own way. We'll be each other's confidant though I doubt I'll find anyone to confide in you about. You've set such a high standard. Can anyone ever know the future? I may soon find you were the only woman capable of making me happy. Perhaps you'll feel the same. And one day we'll meet again, I'll be at your side until we die.

  Hélène : What if you don't find me when you return? Anything's possible. I might fall for another. He couldn't compare to you, but still...

  Jean : That would be nobody's fault. Goodnight, Hélène.

• Hélène : You've married a tramp. She was a cabaret dancer. You've played a trick on me and now I've played one on you.

  Jean : You?

  Hélène : Yes, me. You don't seem to realize where a woman's scorn can lead.

  Jean : You?

  Hélène : Don't be absurd. You've married a tramp. Now you must face the consequences. You're suddenly so sentimental.

  Jean : You're horrid!

  Hélène : Since your marriage seems to mean so much to you, you mustn't run off. Return to Agnès' side. You won't be the only one to console her. All her lovers are inside. And there are plenty of them!

• Hélène : Be a woman. Fight!

• Hélène : I'll have my revenge.

• Hélène : Please, not a word of thanks! Just follow my advice.

  Mme. D : You're an angel.

  Hélène : We are all angels. Obey me and don't worry.

• Hélène : You like my ladies from the Bois?

  Jean : They're unlike the ladies you usually associate with.

  Hélène : Very perceptive of you.

• Hélène : You have no idea what that girl is like. No idea at all. She is beyond anyone's reach. You can't touch her nor tempt her. You'd get nowhere.

• Hélène : My dear Jean, be careful with your whims. You're flirting with disaster. I'd rather warn you than console you.

• Jean : I can't do without her. I managed to see her again.

  Hélène : Whom?

  Jean : The girl from the Bois. I found their haven, thanks to you.

  Hélène : Me? Did I give you the address?

  Jean : Not you. Your mouth.

• Hélène : You're behaving like a tramp. A horrible little tramp!

• Hélène : How can you allow your daughter to be treated like a tramp? That's what you do when you allow her to accept gifts like that.