L'Écume des jours

STORY

Prologue

Chloé and her partner reminisce about the first time they met. To take her mind off her illness for a moment, Chloé suggests making up a fantastical love story: a carefree, whimsical young man, passionate about jazz and able to talk to mice, is searching for true love.

Act I

Colin is delighted at the prospect of spending the evening with his best friend, Chick. For the occasion, his new chef, Nicolas, has devised an extravagant recipe. Colin introduces Chick to his latest invention, the pianocktail: the instrument composes drinks based on the notes played on the keyboard. Chick mixes two cocktails to the music of Solitude. Then he tells Colin about meeting Alise, who shares his passion for the philosopher Jean-Sol Partre. Colin would also like to ‘find a girl’. Chick suggests they go skating the next day.

At the ice rink, Colin meets up with Chick and Alise, then Isis, who invites everyone to a party to celebrate her little dog’s birthday. A tragic accident involving a skater casts a shadow over the occasion.

Colin is hoping to meet a girl at Isis’s party. During the party, Alise reproaches Chick for not wanting to marry her, preferring his passion for the writings of Partre. Colin tries to smooth things over. Isis introduces him to a girl: Chloé. Her name reminds him of a famous Duke Ellington track, to which they dance. 

Later, a pink cloud envelops Chloé and Colin when they meet up for a stroll through town. Disturbed by violent scenes on advertising posters, they head to a park and end up close.

Act II

Colin is over the moon: he is about to marry the woman of his dreams. Chloé, Alise and Isis are happily getting ready for the wedding. Only Coriolan and Pegasus are disappointed that the handsome Colin is marrying a girl. 

After the church ceremony, Chloé and Colin set off on their honeymoon. Driven by Nicolas, they pass through a region of copper mines. The workers’ worn-out bodies frighten Chloé; Colin insists that it is foolish and senseless to waste one’s life on manual labour.

Back home, Chloé complains of chest pains; the mouse that shares their flat injures itself while cleaning the windows. Colin puts on some music, which takes the newlyweds back to the happiness of their early days, whilst the house begins to exhibit strange phenomena. The doctor detects a strange sound in Chloé’s right lung and writes a prescription.

On their way to the chemist’s, Colin and Chick share their worries: Chick fears he’ll never be able to marry Alise because he spends all his money on books by his idol, Partre. Colin can’t help him: he himself has spent his entire fortune on buying fresh flowers, whose scent is supposed to prevent the growth of the water lily diagnosed in Chloé’s lung.

Chloé has had an operation, but the disease has spread to her other lung. Colin reads Chloé the story of Tristan and Iseult and decides to look for work.

Act III

Hopes for Chloe’s recovery fade. Colin is hired at a weapons factory. Desperate after being cast out by Chick, Alise visits Chloe. Colin tries to comfort her; for a moment, they both regret not having met sooner.

The Seneschal bursts into Chick’s house with a SWAT team to recover his debts. Trying to save his books from destruction by the police, Chick is shot dead. At the same time, Alise, convinced she has found a way to save Chick, sets fire to the bookshops to destroy all of Partre’s works.

Chloé is dead. At the funeral, Colin accuses Jesus: what meaning does he see in this death? Jesus denies all responsibility. Colin is left alone. 

Chloé and her partner finish the story. They take on the roles of the cat and the mouse: the mouse can no longer bear Colin’s pain and asks the cat for help. The cat grants her the mercy of a quick and painless end. The mouse rests her head in the cat’s mouth: if someone steps on her tail, he will snap his jaws shut. In the distance, a little girl’s singing can be heard.