:54:00
l thought of Oscar Wilde:
God, spare me physical pain!
:54:03
l can cope with moral suffering!
:54:05
The disgusting part of war is...
:54:07
it deprives a man
of his own individual battle
:54:10
Yes but l think he can still
wage it at the same time
:54:15
l remember a gunner
l met in the hospital
:54:18
While on leave
he met a girl in a train...
:54:22
and they talked
between Nice and Marseilles
:54:24
As she left she gave him her address
:54:27
For 2 years he frantically wrote her
daily from the trenches...
:54:31
on wrapping paper by candlelight
:54:33
As the shells fell,
his tone became more intimate
:54:36
At first he wrote Dear Miss
and ended with My sincerest respects
:54:41
ln the 3rd one he called her
My little fairy and...
:54:44
then it was My adorable fairy...
:54:46
and then l kiss your hands...
then l kiss your forehead
:54:50
Then he spoke of the photo
she'd sent...
:54:53
and of the breasts
he imagined under her housecoat
:54:56
Soon he said l love you terribly
:55:00
One day he wrote her mother,
asking for the girl's hand
:55:03
He became officially engaged
without ever seeing her again
:55:07
The war went on and the letters
became more and more intimate
:55:11
l clutch you to me, my love
:55:13
l hold your adorable breasts
:55:15
l clasp you to me naked
:55:18
When she replied a bit coldly
he begged her not to be coy...
:55:22
because he might die any moment.
lt was true
:55:25
To understand this extraordinary
deflowering by mail..
:55:29
you need to know the violence
of trench warfare...
:55:33
the collective madness and
the presence of death each second
:55:37
Here's a man
who fought in the war...
:55:40
and yet he also waged
his own personal battle...
:55:43
and completely conquered
a woman from afar
:55:47
He was hospitalised with a head wound
like you, but wasn't as lucky as you
:55:52
He died after a trepanation
on the eve of the armistice
:55:56
ln his last letter
to his unknown fiancee he wrote...