The Woman Next Door (1981)

Gérard Depardieu: Bernard

Photos 

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Quotes 

• Bernard : No more sex in the garden. No, no, no, no. No, no, no. It's for the best. My butt ends up on the grass and I always catch a cold. I hate that. No more!

• Arlette : Isn't his wife beautiful? There's something unique about her.

  Bernard : I don't think she belongs here.

  Arlette : What do you mean?

  Bernard : Look at us. We came to live here for the dirt, the trees, the stones. Everything is natural. Why did that woman come here?

• Arlette : That's our new neighbor?

  Bernard : Yes. He'll move in next week.

  Arlette : With his wife?

  Bernard : He might not be married.

  Arlette : I saw his ring.

  Bernard : Then we'll have two new neighbors. Which reminds me, we'll have to be careful. No more making love in the garden.

  Arlette : We just have to be quiet.

• Arlette : Listen.

  Bernard : Just some cats. They're fighting.

  Arlette : No. They're making love. Like wild beasts.

• Mathilde : I've really changed, haven't I?

  Bernard : No, you're exactly the same.

• Madame Odile Jouve : My prosthesis is quite a hit. A guy followed me for ages the other day. I crossed the street, changed directions, when he finally approached me. I couldn't get rid of him. He was a fetishist.

  Bernard : I'm not surprised. I saw a film like that. There's a woman who's afraid of being held in a man's arms. She couldn't stand it. Not at all. To please her, a guy cuts his arms off.

  Madame Odile Jouve : Both of them?

  Bernard : I guess. Or maybe one. Anyway, he did it for love.

• Bernard : Yes, I lied. Yes, I said I was at work. I don't usually lie, you know.

  Madame Odile Jouve : You were pretty convincing. I can blackmail you now! Come on. Buy my silence with a bourbon.

• Bernard : I like to take it slow. I need to get used to things. You know how it is: we invite them, then they invite us, and then...

  Madame Odile Jouve : A vicious cycle!

• Madame Odile Jouve : It was a long time ago. It'll be 20 years next year. It was during the Algerian putsch. I can tell you the truth now, 'cause I like you. I didn't fall. I threw myself out the window like a sack of linen.

  Bernard : You don't say. That takes courage.

  Madame Odile Jouve : Don't be silly. It wasn't brave, just desperate. Madly in love and desperate. He left for New Caledonia and dumped me. Like an idiot, I still hoped. Then I heard he'd gotten married. So, Geronimo!

  Bernard : What did he say when he found out?

  Madame Odile Jouve : I made sure he never did. It's much better that way.

  Bernard : Yes. That's true. Men don't like to hear things like that.

  Madame Odile Jouve : They're right. I'd say that my story was tragic, but not fatal. Like Edith Piaf, I don't regret a thing. Not one thing.

• Bernard : He's kind of laid-back, cool as a cucumber.

  Madame Odile Jouve : And her?

  Bernard : I don't know. She's kind of gloomy. One of those really complicated women, you know?

  Madame Odile Jouve : Never met one of those.

• Bernard : I've changed, you know.

  Mathilde : It's true, you have changed.

• Bernard : I regret hurting you as much as I regret being hurt by you.

• Bernard : You're even more beautiful now. It's true. We were too young, but now we understand each other.

  Mathilde : I don't understand and I'm not trying to, either.

• Bernard : I want to rent the room by the month.

  Mathilde : Why? We can come whenever we want.

  Bernard : I don't want anyone else making love in our bed.

• Bernard : I'll get a hold of myself. From now on, I'll behave. We'll just be friends, like before.

  Mathilde : Like before? Before what?

• Bernard : Your radio works now. I'm glad you're interested in the news, what's happening in the world.

  Mathilde : No. I only listen to songs. They tell the truth. The dumber they are, the truer they are. They aren't really dumb. What do they say? They say: "Don't leave me." "Losing you breaks my heart." "I'm like an empty house without you." "I'd follow you anywhere." Or even, "Without love, we are nothing."

  Bernard : Well, Mathilde, I have to go now.