- yesterday
A woman story about him
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00The movie begins as Thiebaud, a French figure skater, is harassed by an agent. The agent tells him to quit, as no one wants or needs to see him on the ice rink, and he is now old news in the skating world. Thiebaud is pained by this, but puts on a brave face.
00:13In the next scene, Claire, a film student, arrives late to class. It seems her professor, named Steve, has some animosity towards Claire, as he creates an environment where other students could attack her in a passive-aggressive manner. At the end of the class, Steve gives his students the assignment of making a short film. Claire ponders making a film titled, Oodipuppet. That is a combination of Oodipus and Puppet. She bounces ideas around with her rich, obnoxious, but sometimes wise friend, Julia.
00:43It is revealed, that she does not have permission from Steve to work on this titled project, and he may fail her for this reason. Claire is understandably stressed, and so her friends suggest that she go to Paris to clear her head. Claire has always loved Paris. She even taught herself to speak French at a young age. But Claire is hesitant to drop all that she has going for her in New York to travel to Paris. She also complains that she may need to spend every coin in her purse to fund the trip.
01:09Julia still encourages her, and states that life is too short, and true passion is too rare. Claire then decides to go after she has finished the more recent assignment from Steve, and settled her grades.
01:20When she submits her finished work, Steve hands her an F grade and spews all sorts of nonsense under the sun as his reason for failing her. Claire uncharacteristically laughs at the situation, and decides there and then that she is going to Paris.
01:33As she's processing her travel papers, she meets Thibaut. Although it's a short conversation, their first meeting is civil and nice. Claire goes home and Google searches Thibaut Baudet.
01:43She discovers he is a figure skater, and watches clips of his feats with admiration. In the following days, she keeps viewing his videos at any chance she gets.
01:51She notes that watching Thibaut makes her feel less lonely in the world. When Claire finally arrives in Paris, she works as an au pair for Nadege Saint, Pierre, and her husband, Bernard.
02:00She is to support them by taking care of their children, and they in return will cover her lodging expenses.
02:05The couple have two children named Elodie and Angelique. The family unit also includes Nadege's mother, named Kadia, and a housekeeper, Kadija.
02:13Nadege seems pleased to learn that Claire speaks such lovely French. Claire also signs up to do a documentary project at a facility.
02:19The support staff are rude to her, but she is eventually sorted out with the help of another student named Rafal Dabrowski.
02:26Soon there's a figure skating competition coming up, and Claire is excited to buy tickets for the program, as she believes Thibaut will participate.
02:33But her hopes are dashed when she discovers that he retired at the start of the season and won't be competing.
02:39She soon discovers that he will be a part of the spectators, and sees him talking casually to a group of persons.
02:44She walks up to him to find out what is going on, but from the moment he looks at her, she becomes tongue-tied and jumbles up words.
02:51He doesn't seem to recognize her, and she excuses herself out of embarrassment.
02:55She goes to the restroom to collect herself, then she meets him again, and they have a proper conversation.
03:01This time he then realizes that she is familiar, and they have a productive chat.
03:06They exchange contacts and plan to work together to create a show involving figure skating and puppets.
03:11The pair later agree to sit out at a cafe the following Tuesday.
03:15Claire is super excited about their meeting to the point of dancing her way to the cafe.
03:19As they discuss, it is revealed that Thibaut has quit his skating career and now works at a bank.
03:24When Claire asks if it is boring, Thibaut replies, saying it is life-threateningly boring.
03:30They bounce ideas around as they try to figure out how to pull off the figure skating and puppet show.
03:35When Thibaut admits that he is blank on ideas, Claire suggests bringing the two concepts together in a ballet show.
03:40Thibaut then says that Claire could work with his girlfriend, Trina.
03:44Trina is a ballet dancer.
03:46Claire is disappointed that Thibaut has a girlfriend, as she has a growing crush on him.
03:50Claire tries, but fails to hide her disappointment.
03:53She leaves the cafe in a rush, claiming to be ill.
03:56She gets home and Google searches for Trina.
03:59She finds cozy pictures of Trina and Thibaut.
04:01Meanwhile the host family she works with is weird towards her.
04:04The children lie against Claire, saying that she hits them, and their mother supports their nasty attitude.
04:09They try to bring Khadijah, the housekeeper, on board with their wrong treatment of Claire, but Khadijah defends Claire.
04:17This doesn't dissuade them.
04:19They continue with Claire's maltreatment so much so that Claire is forced to move in with Julia, her obnoxious and materialistic friend.
04:26Claire slowly heals from her initial disappointment over the news of Thibaut's relationship.
04:30She gathers her emotions to the point where she can reach out to him and plan another meeting.
04:35They agree to meet on the following Thursday.
04:37When Thursday comes, Claire tells him of the idea she wants to put on display, which is about a ballerina, a moor, and Petrushka, a clown.
04:46These three would be puppets brought to life by a charlatan.
04:49Petrushka would fall in love with the ballerina, but she will be in love with the moor.
04:53This would prompt the moor and Petrushka to enter into a duel.
04:56Petrushka would get offed, and then his spirit would curse the charlatan for bringing him to life.
05:01Claire wants Thibaut to play Petrushka.
05:03Thibaut thinks the story is great, but he says he is not the right person to play the part, as there are better, more talented skaters to play the part.
05:11He tries to sell himself short, but Claire would have none of this.
05:15She tells him that when he's on ice, he is a human sunbeam, and that people need that sunbeam of hope in their lives every once in a while.
05:23He is touched by this, and finally agrees to play Petrushka.
05:26In the following days, the duo spend time practicing towards their dream of creating this piece.
05:31They have fun together.
05:33But sometimes Thibaut is bogged down by the negative words of the agent at the start of the movie about how he is old news and belongs with garbage.
05:40Anytime he gets like this, she encourages him and helps him come out of his dark feelings.
05:44As he keeps practicing figure skating, his spirits rise, and even his girlfriend notices this change.
05:50As time goes on, he starts developing a crush on Claire, but does not act on it.
05:54Claire registers their name for an incoming festival, and Thibaut is pleased about this.
05:59In the next scene, Thibaut and Trina's horizontal dance pattern is shown to have been declining for some time now, leaving Thibaut and perhaps Trina unsatisfied.
06:08Claire also hooked up with Rafal, the student who helped her earlier, and has been infatuated with her.
06:14She did this because she is not aware of Thibaut's crush and can't keep waiting for him since he's in a relationship.
06:19She is also shown to be dissatisfied with her bang session.
06:22Activities for Claire are going on as usual, until she receives a text from Thibaut saying he will no longer be able to do the show with her, as he doesn't feel capable.
06:31There are subsequent text messages that are very insensitive and callous.
06:35Claire is heartbroken by this.
06:37It turns out that Thibaut's girlfriend is the one who sent the subsequent callous texts, as Thibaut is trying to explain how.
06:44Even though he doesn't feel up to the task, Claire has changed his life and has made him feel alive, even if for a little while.
06:51Thibaut gets a final message across to Claire telling her to come and pick up her puppets, as he feels they are watching him.
06:57This statement implies his guilt.
07:00When Claire comes over to his place, he apologizes for the stress he has put her through.
07:04But Claire chooses to be upbeat.
07:06She tells him that the submission they made was successful, and that they have been selected for the puppetry festival.
07:12Thibaut is not pleased with this.
07:14He rants that she should not force him.
07:16Claire replies that she's only trying to help him as they are friends.
07:19Thibaut then says that they are colleagues and not friends, and that just because she has seen videos of him on the ice, doesn't mean that she knows him.
07:27He emphasizes that the Thibaut in the ring is different from the Thibaut standing in front of her.
07:32He ends by saying she is not part of his private life and doesn't need to take care of him.
07:37He essentially tells her to go do something useful with her life.
07:40Claire retorts that she won't emulate his life as a banker.
07:43This strikes Thibaut deeply, and he begins to apologize, but Claire cuts him off.
07:49She says that if the real him is not the one on the ice, then he has her fooled.
07:53She further says that she misses the cheerful Thibaut, who was determined to chase his dreams.
07:58She then calls him her Petrushka, and bids him farewell.
08:02Thibaut is touched deeply by this exchange, but he reigns in his emotions.
08:05He becomes gloomy for the rest of the day, and when Trina asks, he tells her that he feels like he has made a mistake, and is considering patching things up with Claire.
08:14His girlfriend is not pleased about his revelation, and storms off.
08:18Meanwhile, Claire's life is going downhill as her job of taking care of mean children and hosting puppet shows for them is too mentally and physically exhausting.
08:27She also started dating Rafal out of convenience, but this is also not going great, as he is needy and wants to fight about every single thing.
08:34It seems fighting turns him on, and Claire doesn't know how much more she can take.
08:39One day at a kid's party, the children present are particularly unruly, and do not listen to a single word she says.
08:46They toss and tear her puppets, and Claire runs away in defeat.
08:50The next day she tosses out all the puppets in her possession and prepares to leave Paris.
08:54She doesn't bother to tell Thibaut because she feels he hates her, and wants nothing to do with her.
08:59A few weeks later, she's on a call with Julia when Thibaut runs into her.
09:02It is here that she tells him that she is returning to the US and leaving Paris for good.
09:07Thibaut is saddened by this, and wants to express his true feelings, but he settles for telling her to have a good trip.
09:13He further wishes her good luck, but becomes tongue-tied and jumbles up his words near the end of his speech.
09:19Claire then invites him for a stroll.
09:22Thibaut is greatly pleased by this, and jumps on the offer immediately.
09:25When she asks about his life, he informs her that it has been so-so, but that he intends to take Trina to Portugal for the weekend, so that they can spend quality time together.
09:35He says he's not sure it will do them any good, but he has to try.
09:39He then apologizes to Claire for his behavior towards her earlier.
09:43He tells her that he cares too much for her.
09:45He then states that he doesn't want to jeopardize his relationship, and that's why he is keeping her at arm's length.
09:51Claire smiles at this.
09:52She has finally gotten closure that he feels the same way about her.
09:56Thibaut then quickly tells her not to stray too far though, as he wants to keep being friends.
10:01As they are speaking, her airport cab pulls over, and they are forced to hurry their farewells.
10:06Claire once again tells him, goodbye.
10:09Thibaut is overwhelmed with so many emotions.
10:11It is clear that he deeply cares for Claire, but he does nothing.
10:15He just watches her go.
10:16The movie fast-forwards to a few years' time.
10:18Claire has learned to prioritize herself and is doing better.
10:22She is walking down a street, and she sees a poster of a figure skating show with Thibaut, named as its artistic director.
10:29She smiles at this because it implies that Thibaut has finally realized himself and is following his dream, the end.
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