Charlotte Rampling credited as playing...
Matron
- Matron: Every human being is a puzzle of need. You must become the missing piece, and they will tell you anything.
- Matron: The Cold War did not end. It shattered into a thousand dangerous pieces. The West has grown weak. Drunk on shopping and social media. Torn apart by hatred between the races. And as a result, the world is in chaos. Only Russia is willing to make the sacrifices required for victory.
- Matron: You're accused of assaulting a fellow cadet.
- Dominika Egorova: He tried to rape me.
- General Korchnoi: And your honor is worth depriving Russia of a promising cadet?
- Dominika Egorova: It was *never* my intention to deprive Russia of anything.
- General Korchnoi: And yet, here we are.
- [shrugs]
- Matron: [to assembled class] From this day forward, you will become Sparrows. Weapons in a global struggle for power. You have been selected because of your beauty, because of your strength. And, in some cases, because of your vulnerability.
- [clearly meaning Anya]
- Matron: Katya, Viktor, come here please.
- [Dominika and Viktor obliges]
- Matron: Here we deal in psychological manipulation. You'll be trained to determine a target's weakness, to exploit that weakness through seduction, and to extract information.
- [to Dominika and Victor:]
- Matron: Take off your clothes.
- [Viktor starts undressing, but Dominika doesn't react]
- Matron: Your body belongs to the State. Since your birth, the State nourished it. Now the State asks something in return.
- [still Dominika hesitates]
- Matron: You must learn to sacrifice for a higher purpose... To push yourself beyond all limitation. Forget the simple morality with which you were raised. Or was it pride? In my experience, the proud are the first to fall. Viktor, put on your clothes.
- Matron: Give him what he wants.
- Anya: What do you mean?
- Matron: You called him a degenerate? Therefore, he doesn't want what's between your legs. So, be a boy. On your knees. Not the first time, I'm sure. Must have been some boy in a field behind your house. A girl in a rainy bus stop? We'd like to think it makes a difference. But it doesn't. It's just flesh.
- Matron: You must inure yourself to what you find repellant. Find beauty in the human delusion that the pleasures of the flesh will make us whole again. Even when the subject is repellant, the body can be tricked. A graze of the fingers to the thigh brings blood to the groin. Manipulation of the nipple leads to arousal. Audio cues trigger - sexual desire. But physical manipulation is not enough. You must learn to love on command.
- Matron: Sparrows must harden themselves against the weak and sentimental. And see these things for what they are. Selfishness.
- Matron: [cold, curt] Welcome to State School Four. You will know me as Matron. Inside, you will find the name you will use during your training. Under no circumstances will you reveal your true name, or any other personal information, to a cadet or a member of staff. Is that understood?
- Dominika Egorova: Yes.
- Matron: Good. I'll show you to your room.