The Green Ray (1986)
Marie Rivière: Delphine
Photos
Quotes
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Delphine : I'm not stubborn. Life is stubborn toward me.
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Delphine : You talk of showing things... I don't know, I don't have anything. Things aren't obvious to me. I'm not normal, like you. When I make an effort I try to listen, to talk to people. I listen, I watch what's going on. If people don't come to me it's because I'm worthless and... if I had something to show, people would see it, that's all.
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Delphine : I'm not very operational in life.
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Delphine : [crying about her problems] I'm forgetting them. I didn't think of them. You talk of showing things... I don't know, I don't have anything. If I had something to show, people would see it, that's all!
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Delphine : At the moment, I'm the one who chose to be - to be single until I find someone I could be with. If you just get together with someone when you're lonely, just for the sake of it, I think you feel lonelier afterwards than before. When you go home at night and you've slept with some guy, knowing neither of you cares at all, then nobody is satisfied. I find that much more horrible than loneliness. Gradually it becomes a way of living. You live alone for a long time and you totally stop seeing guys. It might drive you crazy, but at least, within yourself, you keep a certain purity. You preserve the little energy you have. You keep on dreaming and waiting. It's better to wait for something than settle for reality. And spoil your hopes. I talk a lot without expecting much.
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Delphine : I sometimes find cards in the street.
Beatrice in Paris : Often?
Delphine : Sometimes, when I least expect it. I'm just walking along and I find a card. It always means something. Like on the way to my sister's, I found a queen of spades. The queen of spades is bad luck.
Manuella in Paris : Yes.
Delphine : Do you know the meanings?
Manuella in Paris : Some of them.
Delphine : I was attracted to it. What's more, the card was green. Which is weird because I had a friend who is a medium. He told me green would be my color of the year. It's strange because since then, and maybe I'm just noticing it now, I keep finding little green things. So on the way to my sister's I spotted a little green card, next to a green lamppost, and I was dressed in green.
Manuella in Paris : Maybe you'll meet a little green man!
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Delphine : I went to Nice on my own once. I was just miserable.
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Manuella in Paris : Listen, Delphine, you know it's all over with Jean-Pierre. Either you need to meet someone or you'll stay alone with your memories. Don't you want to meet someone?
Delphine : Sure.
Manuella in Paris : But are you just going to sit around waiting for Prince Charming?
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Delphine : I couldn't eat a flower. A flower is poetic. It's a picture.
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Lena in Biarritz : Can you see that good looking guy?
Delphine : Where?
Lena in Biarritz : Him over there. He's a good swimmer. Well built too, don't you think?
Delphine : You look at guys?
Lena in Biarritz : Of course I look at guys. I'm on vacation on my own!
[laughs]
Lena in Biarritz : I have to find a good one. The best one.
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Lena in Biarritz : To find the right person, someone who is good, you shouldn't show your feelings straightaway.
Delphine : What do you reveal about yourself?
Lena in Biarritz : I live my life. I have fun. And I see how others react. Then I decide: is it good or is it bad? It's like a card game. You shouldn't give away what you have in your hand.
Delphine : I have nothing in my hand.
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Grand-père in Paris : Paris is all you need for an outing, the big parks,
Delphine : There's no nature, no sea.
Grand-père in Paris : Nature? There's no sea, but we have the Seine. It's just as good.
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Jacques in Biarritz : What are you waiting for?
Delphine : Ever heard of the green ray?
Jacques in Biarritz : No, what is it?
Delphine : It's the last ray of light at sunset. Jules Verne wrote a book about it.
Jacques in Biarritz : Never read it. Does it bring luck?
Delphine : That's exactly it. It helps you to know...
Jacques in Biarritz : Know what?
Delphine : I'll tell you later.
Jacques in Biarritz : What do you learn? I'd really like to know.
Delphine : So would I.
Jacques in Biarritz : I think I get it.
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Delphine : Why do you want me to spend a few days with you?
Jacques in Biarritz : I'd like it. That's all. It's very simple. Take a chance. Come.
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Delphine : What do you do during summer vacation?
Grand-père in Paris : Me? Nothing at all. I'm a pensioner. I'm retired.