Antoine Quotes in Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962)

[last lines]

[in French, using English subtitles]

Florence, 'Cléo Victoire': Why?

Antoine: I'm sorry I'm leaving. I'd like to be with you.

Florence, 'Cléo Victoire': You are. I think my fear is gone. I think I'm happy.

Antoine: Nakedness is simplicity itself, like the sun, the water...

Antoine: You seem to be waiting for something, rather than someone.

Antoine: That summer, I realized I had to take good care of my balls.

Antoine: I was around 12. I loved going to the barber's. In our town there was a barber shop for men only... run by a beautiful Alsatian woman... the lovely Mrs. Sheaffer. She had few clients, so you didn't need an appointment. She had no husband but many lovers. I adored going there. When I opened the door, a wonderful smell flooded my nostrils, a mixture of lotion, hair spray, rose water, shampoo... It was intoxicating... The most extraordinary smell of all was her own. She had red hair and a pronounced body odor that no doubt bothered some clients but drove me wild... Her body seemed to smell of love... I adored that.

Antoine: I recall that sleepless night... under Mathilde's window... I wanted her to toss and turn, throw off the sheets, get up for a glass of water, look in the mirror, and undress before going back to bed... thinking of me... In fact, she may have been sound asleep. Maybe she had forgotten me... Why assume she is alone in bed? I don't know her.

Antoine: My father said life was simple, that if you wanted something enough you'd get it... Failure was proof the desire wasn't strong enough.

Mathilde: [Reading a magazine] "Lose 10 pounds in two weeks on nothing but cucumbers and tea..."... You buy that?

Antoine: Where'd you read it?

Mathilde: In this... They say it's medically proven.

Antoine: What time is it?

Mathilde: A quarter to 7.

Antoine: Let's close up... Lose half a pound and I'll throw myself under a bus...

Mathilde: Then promise me something... just one thing: the day you don't love me anymore don't pretend you do.

[a customer is trying to come in/door is locked]

Mathilde: A customer!

Antoine: He'll be tomorrow's customer.

Antoine: We've no friends... Never did have... What could they add to our lives?... I take a dim view of couples who go out with other couples, share vacations... It's proof that love is lacking, a gulf bridged by outside friendship... We're fine, Mathilde... We're happy together... that's all that matters.

Antoine: Dance with me...

Mathilde: I don't know how to dance to this music.

Antoine: Neither do I... So? Close your eyes, tell yourself no one is looking at you... Come on... See how easy it is?... Someday... I'll buy a lottery ticket. Just one. Of course I'll win the jackpot... We'll cruise down the Nile, dancing on the deck of a paddle boat from morning to night, watching the sun go down behind the Pyramids!

Mathilde: Hold me tight, Antoine, with all your might!... Crush my breasts so tight I can't breathe!... I'm scared that someday you won't want to dance with me.

Antoine: What nonsense!... Not plaster my belly against yours?... Or feel your skin?... Or caress your shoulders?... Your neck?... Your ass?

Mathilde: I've known other men, Antoine, but no one like you... I've never belonged to anyone...

Antoine: I ask nothing of you.

Mathilde: Hold me tight!

Antoine: Death is yellow and vanilla-scented.

Antoine: Do you have gaydar?

Antoine: No, it's very normal. Biologically normal. Two brains from one tummy.

Antoine: Finding the energy to act is easy. Giving meaning to your actions is the hard part.