Le Couperet

THE AX

Shit!

Shit!

Asshole!

This is my confession.

This is my confession.

After two and a half years...

After tonight...

I thought they'd all be as easy as the first.

- Mr Birch? - Ja? That's me.

My name is Bruno Davert.

I can't bear what I did tonight.

There.

I always was a husband, a father, a loyal employee.

For your 15 years of loyalty

to our firm, that is also your firm,

please accept this modest gift,

useful to note, at any moment, your creative ideas

that have so helped our productivity.

A digital dictaphone.

Sino-Japanese, even better than Japanese!

6 months later I was fired, with 600 others.

Downsizing before relocation.

Death to those who killed us!

I'm not worried about you, Bruno.

Your skills will soon get you a job.

All that commotion!

My layoff check was 15 months salary.

I felt like a world champion.

Over 2 years later, I still had no job.

I'd almost paid off my car.

I had a 10-year mortgage on my house,

and a wife I loved, and still love.

Listen...

- Use a photo that's more... - More what?

Sexier?

More relaxed.

I'm not relaxed there?

Don't blame me.

As of now, I'll just send my resume and cover letter.

I'm bad at selling myself... Watching crap again?

Now we don't have cable, TV sucks.

Dad, you heard of ARCADIA?

I wrote them twice... No answer.

Must be my photo! Is he relaxed?

- He does the same job as I did. - Bruno...

Watch, Dad!

Arcadia's rolling in dough!

People find paper boring...

"But it's so complex..."

This machine produces miles of paper

all from recycled paper...

He boasted of their new recycled paper,

nothing I hadn't done years ago,

before I was dumped by Kamer Papers!

...our chemical know-how made us a star stockmarket performer,

because Arcadia...

It's like you talking, dear.

I'll zap him so you get his job.

Zapping him won't do it.

I'm not the sole contender.

How many are sexier, more athletic, smilier,

more relaxed...

Like that Mache... guy?

Raymond Machefer! I'll bring him back to life!

Yeah, Raymond Machefer.

You know, we even eat paper. Ice-cream cones are made of it.

I said to myself, "this guy has your job."

I had to find out how many qualified guys

with sexy photos were ahead of me.

I need a P.O. box number for my letterhead.

I'm at the printer's. I'll come pay you tomorrow.

89! Got nothing bigger?

P.O. BOX INDUSTRIAL PAPERS

P.O. BOX 8900?

On the phone I said 89! We only have 120!

The printer goofed.

But it looks better.

I need all the help I can get.

Starting a business?

Who are all those people?

Collecting unemployment. New month starting.

I phoned the mag "European Paperman"

and ran a classified ad in French, English and German.

I'll send you a postal order and the text.

You'll have it by tomorrow.

Thanks!

A month later,

I went back to the post office.

Your two extra zeros got you answers!

You're off to a great start! What's your thing?

A poll.

Wait!

Who are you polling?

People looking for work.

You should have added ten zeros!

I felt so superior reading my competitors' secrets.

I found out they were abysmally ignorant,

and stank of vanity.

Half said they cared about the stockholders!

But they're the enemy. The stockholders!

They get thousands fired from healthy businesses

to get more for the greedy, open-mouthed beast.

All those polished resumes reeked of conformism.

But only 5 had degrees, careers and experience

that seemed, if not better, at least as good as mine.

Only 5!

Lighting a fire now?

I thought you'd gone out.

Yes, I ran errands.

- Coming? - I need the car. Where you headed?

- It's Friday. - Can you wait...?

No, but Jack's taking his son to a movie.

- Doesn't he work? - No. Like you, he needs a job.

- He'll find one easily. - Why do you say that?

- The way he shakes your hand. - So?

He's an oily, smart-dresser. It's what they want.

I don't see him that way.

A cold fish, ideal for a bank exec, for any business.

Why do you say that?

Just like that.

He's kind and helpful.

That's just what I'm saying.

I'd grown hostile and anti-social.

Marlene had found two small jobs.

They paid peanuts.

I stuck to my field.

All the crap I'd taken made me one of the best.

Once we had two cars,

and hardly knew our clammy-handed neighbor.

If I killed 1,000 stockholders, I'd gain nothing.

If I killed ten CEO's who'd fired 1,000 employees,

what'd I get?

Nothing.

They're my enemy, but not my problem.

Those 5 resumes were my problem.

Those 5, plus Machefer.

- What are you up to? - Storing stuff Dad left me.

- Can I help? - No need.

Mom cut off the Web! I'm bored.

- Do your homework. - I've done it.

Go for a walk!

It's raining!

I wish I could talk to my dad.

He had, as they say in the business world,

a knack for this kind of thing.

He'd fought in World War ll, in the Tank Corps,

and killed some enemies.

But he's gone. Cigarettes and lung-cancer.

Killed by nice guys who live by selling death,

shaking with fear for their jobs.

Good shot!

Your turn.

Come here!

Come try a real gun!

The first one lived quite close.

He was Belgian. I thought it'd make things easier.

I told Marlene I had a job interview.

And checked out Henri Birch's home.

Tank up with energy

A dizzying idea came to me.

A monthly gas-station hold-up

would pay for the house, the car,

the kids' education, and buy some steaks...

Thanks, bye.

Have a good trip, sir.

Did people know

that under those well-kept lawns the earth is shaking?

No salary for a month, you panic. But no salary at all!

Like me, he must wait for the mailman.

- Mr Birch? - Ja? That's me!

- The paper engineer? - Yes, I'm Mr Birch. Why?

Zapped, like on TV.

That's what screwed me up.

Need cash I'm cashing in

- Well? - It went fine.

- Where was it? - In Belgium.

We have to move to Belgium?

Worse things could happen...

It's not done yet, but it went well, gave me confidence.

We get all worked up,

but in the end...

That's what you need.

What?

Confidence.

I'm confident!

What's this resume?

Nothing. A draft of a new one.

I'll get you clean underwear.

Edouard Rick,

chemical engineer,

has worked in the USA,

laid off 6 months ago.

I'd hire him

before I hired me.

Coming? Or can I have the car?

Where are you going?

- It's my work day. - Of course.

Sure. Give me a minute.

I'm coming.