La Boutique Obscure: 124 Dreams

No. 14: February 1970

Ski-hunting

A film that I am (a) watching as it is being filmed, (b) seeing in the theater, or (c) acting in.

Somewhere in the forest. Hunting scene. We are in the middle of the woods. Maybe there is snow.

The hunters curse the poachers, who are always a few steps ahead, hunting their game and thinning its population.

The shot moves (pan, lateral). I am very far off-screen.

Four forms pass, hairy, bearded, covered in furs: the poachers.

Then, on skis, the “Lead Hunter,” then the cameraman, who is carrying a ridiculous contraption on his back, then the sound engineer, also heavily loaded, then, etc., the rest of the crew.

They are walking backwards, on skis, bringing in the poachers. Close-up of their skis, which look quite strange, like they have heels.

Among the smugglers, an old Jewish woman, very ugly, extremely unpleasant (like an anti-Semitic caricature).

She is wearing an expensive fur coat.

I speak to her as we return to the village; in principle, she could take part in a real hunt (and even have her own), but she prefers to hunt other people’s game.

I tell her she is at risk of being pursued and of seeing her name dishonored.

The rest is confused: we speak of slander, of fines.

The scandal must be kept quiet.