[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:03.72,0:00:10.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Sir, Madam, Your Royal Highnesses, Ladies\Nand Gentlemen,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:10.40,0:00:15.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In receiving the distinction with which your\Nfree Academy has so generously honoured me,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:15.61,0:00:21.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,my gratitude has been profound, particularly\Nwhen I consider the extent to which this recompense
Dialogue: 0,0:00:21.15,0:00:28.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,has surpassed my personal merits. Every man,\Nand for stronger reasons, every artist, wants
Dialogue: 0,0:00:28.35,0:00:38.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to be recognized. So do I. But I have not\Nbeen able to learn of your decision without
Dialogue: 0,0:00:38.50,0:00:47.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,comparing its repercussions to what I really\Nam. A man almost young, rich only in his doubts
Dialogue: 0,0:00:47.99,0:00:55.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and with his work still in progress, accustomed\Nto living in the solitude of work or in the
Dialogue: 0,0:00:55.63,0:01:03.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,retreats of friendship: how would he not feel\Na kind of panic at hearing the decree that
Dialogue: 0,0:01:03.81,0:01:08.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,transports him all of a sudden, alone and\Nreduced to himself, to the centre of a glaring
Dialogue: 0,0:01:08.84,0:01:17.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,light? And with what feelings could he accept\Nthis honour at a time when other writers in
Dialogue: 0,0:01:17.40,0:01:24.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Europe, among them the very greatest, are\Ncondemned to silence, and even at a time when
Dialogue: 0,0:01:24.60,0:01:29.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the country of his birth is going through\Nunending misery?
Dialogue: 0,0:01:29.60,0:01:37.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I felt that shock and inner turmoil. In order\Nto regain peace I have had, in short, to come
Dialogue: 0,0:01:37.10,0:01:44.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to terms with a too generous fortune. And\Nsince I cannot live up to it by merely resting
Dialogue: 0,0:01:44.36,0:01:51.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on my achievement, I have found nothing to\Nsupport me but what has supported me through
Dialogue: 0,0:01:51.28,0:01:59.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,all my life, even in the most contrary circumstances:\Nthe idea that I have of my art and of the
Dialogue: 0,0:01:59.38,0:02:07.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,role of the writer. Let me only tell you,\Nin a spirit of gratitude and friendship, as
Dialogue: 0,0:02:07.12,0:02:11.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,simply as I can, what this idea is.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:11.44,0:02:21.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For myself, I cannot live without my art.\NBut I have never placed it above everything.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:21.12,0:02:26.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If, on the other hand, I need it, it is because\Nit cannot be separated from my fellow men,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:26.76,0:02:35.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it allows me to live, such as I am, on\None level with them. To me, art is not a solitary rejoicing.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:35.76,0:02:42.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It is a means of stirring the greatest number of people by offering them a privileged picture of
Dialogue: 0,0:02:42.52,0:02:52.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,common joys and sufferings. It obliges the artist not to keep himself apart; it subjects him to the most
Dialogue: 0,0:02:52.34,0:03:00.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,humble and the most universal truth. And often\Nhe who has chosen the fate of the artist because
Dialogue: 0,0:03:00.90,0:03:07.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he felt himself to be different soon realizes\Nthat he can maintain neither his art nor his
Dialogue: 0,0:03:07.34,0:03:17.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,difference unless he admits that he is like\Nthe others. The artist forges himself to the
Dialogue: 0,0:03:17.78,0:03:25.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,others, midway between the beauty he cannot\Ndo without and the community he cannot tear
Dialogue: 0,0:03:25.92,0:03:33.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,himself away from. That is why true artists\Nscorn nothing: they are obliged to understand
Dialogue: 0,0:03:33.98,0:03:41.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,rather than to judge. And if they have to\Ntake sides in this world, they can perhaps
Dialogue: 0,0:03:41.80,0:03:45.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,side only with that society in which, according\Nto Nietzsche's great words, not the judge
Dialogue: 0,0:03:45.28,0:03:51.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but the creator will rule, whether he be a\Nworker or an intellectual.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:51.18,0:04:00.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,By the same token, the writer's role is not\Nfree from difficult duties. By definition
Dialogue: 0,0:04:00.26,0:04:06.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he cannot put himself today in the service\Nof those who make history; he is at the service
Dialogue: 0,0:04:06.64,0:04:13.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of those who suffer it. Otherwise, he will\Nbe alone and deprived of his art.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:13.30,0:04:20.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Not all the armies of tyranny with their millions\Nof men will free him from his isolation, even
Dialogue: 0,0:04:20.40,0:04:27.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and particularly if he falls into step with\Nthem. But the silence of an unknown prisoner,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:27.86,0:04:33.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,abandoned to humiliations at the other end\Nof the world, is enough to draw the writer
Dialogue: 0,0:04:33.60,0:04:39.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,out of his exile, at least whenever, in the\Nmidst of the privileges of freedom, he manages
Dialogue: 0,0:04:39.88,0:04:48.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,not to forget that silence, and to transmit\Nit in order to make it resound by the means of art.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:48.46,0:04:58.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,None of us is great enough for such a task.\NBut in all circumstances of life, in obscurity
Dialogue: 0,0:04:58.32,0:05:06.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or temporary fame, cast in the irons of tyranny\Nor for a time free to express himself,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:06.78,0:05:14.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the writer can win the heart of a living community\Nthat will justify him, on the one condition
Dialogue: 0,0:05:14.86,0:05:19.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that he will accept to the limit of his abilities\Nthe two tasks that constitute the greatness
Dialogue: 0,0:05:19.66,0:05:27.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of his craft: the service of truth and the\Nservice of liberty. Because his task is to
Dialogue: 0,0:05:27.52,0:05:33.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,unite the greatest possible number of people,\Nhis art must not compromise with lies and
Dialogue: 0,0:05:33.72,0:05:42.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,servitude which, wherever they rule, breed\Nsolitude. Whatever our personal weaknesses may be,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:42.62,0:05:49.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the nobility of our craft will always\Nbe rooted in two commitments, difficult to
Dialogue: 0,0:05:49.32,0:05:57.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,maintain: the refusal to lie about what one\Nknows and the resistance to oppression.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:57.64,0:06:04.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For more than twenty years of an insane history,\Nhopelessly lost like all the men of my generation
Dialogue: 0,0:06:04.86,0:06:11.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the convulsions of time, I have been supported\Nby one thing: by the hidden feeling that to
Dialogue: 0,0:06:11.34,0:06:18.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,write today was an honour because this activity\Nwas a commitment - and a commitment not only
Dialogue: 0,0:06:18.90,0:06:27.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to write. Specifically, in view of my powers\Nand my state of being, it was a commitment
Dialogue: 0,0:06:27.54,0:06:31.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to bear, together with all those who were\Nliving through the same history, the misery
Dialogue: 0,0:06:31.74,0:06:39.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the hope we shared. These men, who were\Nborn at the beginning of the First World War,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:39.66,0:06:48.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who were twenty when Hitler came to power\Nand the first revolutionary trials were beginning,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:48.80,0:06:55.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who were then confronted as a completion of\Ntheir education with the Spanish Civil War,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:55.10,0:07:02.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the Second World War, the world of concentration\Ncamps, a Europe of torture and prisons -
Dialogue: 0,0:07:02.40,0:07:11.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,these men must today rear their sons and create\Ntheir works in a world threatened by nuclear destruction.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:11.14,0:07:17.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Nobody, I think, can ask them\Nto be optimists. And I even think
Dialogue: 0,0:07:17.92,0:07:26.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that we should understand - without ceasing to fight\Nit - the error of those who in an excess of despair
Dialogue: 0,0:07:26.90,0:07:32.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,have asserted their right to dishonour\Nand have rushed into the nihilism of the era.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:32.88,0:07:40.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But the fact remains that most of us, in my\Ncountry and in Europe, have refused this nihilism
Dialogue: 0,0:07:40.20,0:07:46.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and have engaged upon a quest for legitimacy.\NThey have had to forge for themselves an art
Dialogue: 0,0:07:46.60,0:07:53.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of living in times of catastrophe in order\Nto be born a second time and to fight openly
Dialogue: 0,0:07:53.90,0:07:58.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,against the instinct of death at work in our\Nhistory.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:58.78,0:08:06.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Each generation doubtless feels called upon\Nto reform the world. Mine knows that it will
Dialogue: 0,0:08:06.54,0:08:13.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,not reform it, but its task is perhaps even\Ngreater. It consists in preventing the world
Dialogue: 0,0:08:13.28,0:08:21.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from destroying itself. Heir to a corrupt\Nhistory, in which are mingled fallen revolutions,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:21.10,0:08:30.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,technology gone mad, dead gods, and worn-out\Nideologies, where mediocre powers can today destroy
Dialogue: 0,0:08:30.10,0:08:35.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,all yet no longer know how to convince, where\Nintelligence has debased itself to become
Dialogue: 0,0:08:35.98,0:08:42.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the servant of hatred and oppression, this\Ngeneration has had, both within and without,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:42.84,0:08:48.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,re-establish, starting from its own negations,\Na little of that which constitutes the dignity
Dialogue: 0,0:08:48.98,0:08:54.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of life and death. In a world threatened by\Ndisintegration, in which our grand inquisitors
Dialogue: 0,0:08:54.38,0:08:58.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,run the risk of establishing forever the kingdom\Nof death, it knows that it should, in an insane
Dialogue: 0,0:08:58.96,0:09:10.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,race against the clock, restore among the\Nnations a peace that \Nis not servitude, reconcile anew labour and
Dialogue: 0,0:09:10.62,0:09:17.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,culture, and remake with all men the Ark of\Nthe Covenant. It is not certain that this
Dialogue: 0,0:09:17.18,0:09:21.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,generation will ever be able to accomplish\Nthis immense task, but already it is rising
Dialogue: 0,0:09:21.90,0:09:30.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,everywhere in the world to the double challenge\Nof truth and liberty and, if necessary,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:30.36,0:09:39.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,knows how to die for it without hate. Wherever it\Nis found, it deserves to be saluted and encouraged,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:39.00,0:09:46.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,particularly where it is sacrificing itself.\NIn any event, certain of your complete approval,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:46.16,0:09:51.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it is to this generation that I should like\Nto pass on the honour that you have just given me.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:51.38,0:09:56.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At the same time, after having outlined the\Nnobility of the writer's craft, I should have
Dialogue: 0,0:09:56.50,0:10:02.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,put him in his proper place. He has no other\Nclaims but those which he shares with his
Dialogue: 0,0:10:02.72,0:10:10.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,comrades in arms: vulnerable but obstinate,\Nunjust but impassioned for justice, doing
Dialogue: 0,0:10:10.62,0:10:16.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,his work without shame or pride in view of\Neverybody, not ceasing to be divided between
Dialogue: 0,0:10:16.50,0:10:23.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,sorrow and beauty, and devoted finally to\Ndrawing from his double existence the creations
Dialogue: 0,0:10:23.18,0:10:29.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that he obstinately tries to erect in the\Ndestructive movement of history. Who,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:29.44,0:10:37.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,after all this, can expect from him complete solutions\Nand high morals? Truth is mysterious, elusive,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:37.82,0:10:43.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,always to be conquered. Liberty is dangerous,\Nas hard to live with as it is elating.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:43.64,0:10:50.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We must march toward these two goals, painfully\Nbut resolutely, certain in advance of our
Dialogue: 0,0:10:50.58,0:10:57.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,failings on so long a road. What writer would\Nfrom now on in good conscience dare set himself up
Dialogue: 0,0:10:57.92,0:11:03.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as a preacher of virtue? For myself, I\Nmust state once more that I am not of this kind.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:03.96,0:11:08.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I have never been able to renounce the\Nlight, the pleasure of being, and the freedom
Dialogue: 0,0:11:08.26,0:11:15.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in which I grew up. But although this nostalgia\Nexplains many of my errors and my faults,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:15.20,0:11:21.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it has doubtless helped me toward a better\Nunderstanding of my craft. It is helping me still
Dialogue: 0,0:11:21.00,0:11:29.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to support unquestioningly all those\Nsilent men who sustain the life made for them in the world
Dialogue: 0,0:11:29.52,0:11:34.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,only through memory of the return\Nof brief and free happiness.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:34.86,0:11:43.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Thus reduced to what I really am, to my limits\Nand debts as well as to my difficult creed,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:43.92,0:11:51.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I feel freer, in concluding, to comment upon\Nthe extent and the generosity of the honour
Dialogue: 0,0:11:51.26,0:11:59.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you have just bestowed upon me, freer also\Nto tell you that I would receive it as an
Dialogue: 0,0:11:59.14,0:12:07.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,homage rendered to all those who, sharing\Nin the same fight, have not received any privilege,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:07.60,0:12:14.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but have on the contrary known misery and\Npersecution. It remains for me to thank you
Dialogue: 0,0:12:14.36,0:12:20.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from the bottom of my heart and to make before\Nyou publicly, as a personal sign of my gratitude,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:20.70,0:12:31.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the same and ancient promise of faithfulness\Nwhich every true artist repeats to himself in silence every day.