03x07 - Try Again

[bunniefuu]

I'll repeat the question.

Nostalgia for the ancient glory of Rome

in "De reditu suo "

by Rutilio Namaziano.

"Exaudi, regina tui pulcherrima mundi,

inter sidereos,

Roma, recepta polos."

Do these verses tell you anything?

No.

- You know who Rutilio Namaziano is?

- No and I can't see why I need to.

You're a reactionary, aren't you?

Are you afraid of the revolution?

Of revolution in general, no.

Of that of jackasses, yes. Here.

Call me a jackass again

and I'll empty my g*n in your face.

Either you actually fire it,

or I advise you

to get rid of that w*apon right now

because if you don't sh**t,

in one minute I'll go and report you.

Son of a bitch.

Son of a bitch!

We'll resume the exams in one hour.

Since when does a "good boy"

point a g*n at a teacher?

I won't drop the charges just because

his father is your colleague!

Papa

- Do you realize how you behave?

- What should I do?

Keep it calm.

I don't understand you.

You behave like

our unbearable professors in Pisa.

- Hardly.

- But you do.

You've forgotten how we struggled

to keep up with useless courses.

- My course isn't useless.

- You should ask your students.

You ask opinions

from people with competence.

Would you ask me

if I were your student?

I have a great relationship

with my students.

You like those who wag their tails.

And you like braggarts,

like your friend in Naples.

Yes, I like braggarts.

So, why have you always been

the most dutiful?

Because I was poor and

it already seemed a miracle to be there.

That boy has

nothing in common with you.

Right, he's the son of a baron,

he has much more in common with you.

It was pointless reporting him,

you'd already failed him.

He committed a crime!

He was just messing around.

A g*n isn't a toy.

- He didn't sh**t.

- And if he had?

But he didn't!

I should've waited for him

to sh**t to report him?

- Your nerves are shattered.

- Think of your own nerves!

You're afraid.

I'm not afraid,

I'm used to these things.

Let's leave it at this, enough.

Bye, guys.

- Did you park here?

- Yes, there.

Me too.

Did you come on the Vespa?

Stop it!

- Silvia came on her Vespa!

- They lent it to me.

Then we'll accompany the young lady!

Stop it! You're unbearable!

- Give Mirko a kiss from me?

- All right.

- Good night.

- Bye.

Take care.

Hey, Franco.

Hey, guys.

Wait.

C'mon, wait.

Silvia, run!

Silvia, run!

Run, Silvia!

Where are you going?

f*cking fascists!

Bastard!

What the f*ck are you doing?

Don't move!

Leave her alone!

Don't move.

Bastards!

It's nothing.

Come here.

When I found out about

Silvia and Franco's tragedy,

I went to Milan to visit them.

I left Florence,

Pietro and his bad mood.

- Are you tired?

- A little.

- You too, right?

- Yes, it shows.

It shows.

I'll take my shoes off.

How are you?

It's very difficult to be around him.

I can imagine.

He feels guilty for

what happened to Silvia.

He's here, yet he'd like to disappear.

He's here, but he's not really here.

- And his eye?

- Nothing could be done.

Mariarosa, who's here?

Elena's here.

I'll go in.

- Can I come too?

- No, we'll stay here.

Will you show me some things?

What did you bring?

Before we left, with Mamma

we made a treasure hunt.

Franco?

It's not a good time, Elena.

Why?

I'm coming in.

Please.

Why did you come all the way to Milan?

You could have just called.

If only you'd answer.

What did you want to say?

Go away, Elena.

I wanted to spend some time with you.

I don't want you here, go away.

Why?

No!

Dede, go away, I'll be there in a minute.

Please, send her away.

Can I stay?

No! You can't stay!

Did you hear your mother? Go away!

She's a very rude little girl.

You're very rude.

Auntie said

that Franco used to be your boyfriend.

Used to be.

Is Auntie with Franco now?

More or less.

Are you jealous?

No, I'm not jealous.

It was many years ago,

now I'm with Papa.

Now go to sleep.

Good night.

Kiss.

Good night. Sleep tight.

Can you leave the door open?

I'll leave it open a bit.

Good night.

I'm sorry for Franco.

He needs time.

He did a lot for me when I was in Pisa.

But all that affection

was only there because

I corresponded to the model woman

he imagined at his side.

I was a young girl back then.

And I didn't realize

that his wanting to transform me

was the proof

that he didn't like me as I was.

He wanted me to be someone else.

He wanted a woman

how he imagined he'd be

if he were a woman.

And he molded me

to achieve the ideal girlfriend.

Maybe there's something wrong

with men's desire to educate us.

I hate intelligent men

who tell me how I should be.

I prefer Franco as he is now,

suffering and pensive.

And an assh*le.

An assh*le, too,

now he has the right to be.

Yeah.

Why don't you write

something about that?

What do you mean?

Write down what you just said.

Even Pietro tries to impose his way

of seeing things on me

Pietro can barely figure out

his own manhood,

let alone impose a vision

of womanhood on you.

I would have sworn

you wouldn't marry him.

You really are a good girl.

I mean it.

Write down what you just said.

So, we were at this point,

my husband's sister

considered my marriage a mistake

and frankly told me so.

Are you awake?

Sleep.

Sleep.

Sleep.

I'm my own and I have the power!

WOMEN ARE SUBJECTED

TO v*olence EVERY DAY

NOT ONLY r*ped

BUT BLAMED TOO!

We must accept equal rights.

The only male among

all those women was Mirko,

Silvia and Nino's son.

Who knows how

he was being brought up.

We mustn't accept equal rights.

Fascist assholes, their dicks!

All they understand is their dicks.

When their dicks are impotent,

those shits replace them

with metal bars, clubs,

the army.

Let's end it with men.

Even our companions are fascists.

Enough! Let's play husband and wife!

- Tell me to wash the dishes.

- Wash the dishes!

I'll never ever wash them, you do it.

I'm tired, I've worked all day.

So have I!

What should I do now?

Give me a slap.

No.

Give me a slap!

Despite all our efforts,

the new flesh did what the old had done.

We were a chain of shadows

going on stage

with the same charge of love,

hatred, desire and v*olence.

Maturity consisted in accepting

the turn existence had taken

without getting too upset by it.

I was Mrs. Airota,

a woman saddened by inaction,

and who, in any case,

in order to combat despondency

had in secret begun studying

the invention of women by men.

Defoe/Flanders,

Flaubert/Bovary, Tolstoy/Karenina.

I discovered automatons of women

fabricated by men.

There was nothing of ours

and what little arose,

became material

to be manufactured by men.

Have you read "Madame Bovary"?

Don't read it.

Hi.

There's a friend of Papa's.

A friend of Papa's?

I think he's a colleague.

I think.

Let's go and see who it is.

Come on.

Look who I've brought you.

Hi!

How are you?

Well, you?

Well.

I've met Dede, so you're Elsa?

You're so pretty!

They're beautiful.

Forgive the intrusion.

I ran into him at the university

and invited him to lunch.

- I brought some pastries.

- No problem.

Where there's enough for four

there's enough for five.

Nino, come.

- The house is splendid, Lenù.

- Thank you.

Sit here.

Why were you

at the university in Florence?

I met Pietro's father

at a Socialist congress in Rome

and he told me

Pietro needed a reference

for the book he was writing,

so I offered to bring it to him.

I'll go and set the table.

- I'll keep you company.

- Stay here, Elena will do it.

Sit down.

Sit down, Nino.

I come to Florence often for work.

I didn't know you lived here

and that you had two lovely young ladies.

But very crazy!

It shows.

- Are you still lecturing in Milan?

- No, I'm in Naples now.

- What subject?

- Urban geography.

How come you went back?

My mother's not very well.

I'm sorry, what's wrong?

Her heart.

- How are your siblings?

- Fine.

And your father?

The usual, but time passes,

one grows up,

we've reconciled.

You realize they're human beings

with their virtues and flaws

and you learn to accept them.

How much trouble

we caused our fathers, Pietro.

And now that it's our turn

how are we doing?

I'm doing well.

I have no doubt,

you married an extraordinary woman.

And these two girls

are well-behaved and elegant.

Dede, that dress really suits you.

And you, with that yellow barrette?

Who gave it to you?

- Mamma, she gives us everything.

- And Papa.

- Mamma.

- Not only Mamma.

How do you make that spiral?

It takes years of practice. Look.

Would you like a slice of apple?

Do you eat apples?

And do you want a slice of apple?

You sure?

I have a son your age,

his name's Albertino.

I'll show him to you.

In this picture

he seems calm and well-behaved,

but he's a pest, look.

Is he the kind who seems

well-behaved but he's not?

Exactly, a pest.

But when he laughs

he makes even the stones laugh.

He's beautiful.

Cute.

Everything was delicious,

you've become an excellent cook.

- I'll clear the table.

- No, I'll do it, relax.

It's fun.

Dede will you give me a hand?

Help me with the dishes.

- Are you sure?

- Yes, I can do it.

Sit down.

- If you can't find the trash, it's here.

- Perfect.

Would you like a coffee?

- Yes.

- Yes, please.

I'll get

- Elena, shall I get the glasses?

- Yes.

Seeing two men

wash the dishes, looks strange.

It's not that strange.

Or perhaps Papa doesn't do enough?

- It was a pleasure seeing you.

- Me too.

I'm sorry to leave in such a rush,

but I have an appointment.

- Imagine if I'm late for Coldagelli.

- God forbid.

I'll be back next week.

- Call us.

- Of course.

Goodbye, little soldiers!

Be good.

- Pietro, thank you for everything.

- Thank you.

- Bye, Elena.

- Bye, Nino.

See you soon, thanks again.

Bye, Nino.

At last a person

worth spending time with.

I hoped that Nino

would call right away, the next day.

Instead, a week slipped by

without any news from him.

I felt as if I had a bad cold.

I became listless,

I stopped reading and taking notes.

I was angry at myself

for that senseless waiting.

Here we are!

Is it ready, Mamma?

Dede!

Pick it up and go wash your hands!

- No.

- I said go!

Right now!

Nino came to the university today,

we had coffee.

I couldn't convince him to come to lunch.

He's back

For a couple of days,

but he hasn't had a moment.

He invited us out for lunch

on Sunday with the girls,

so you don't get tired.

When will just

the two of us go out to eat?

Let's go.

You and I can go

Shall we go for a picnic?

We'll go for a picnic.

There they are!

Nino!

Hey, you!

Hi!

We're going to a place

where the food is fantastic.

It's over there.

Let's go.

They make the yummiest frittelle.

You look great.

You can have them with jam inside,

custard cream

I want ten more.

You live in Florence

and you don't know Luciano's?

We don't go out much.

It's very good.

How come nothing of yours

has come out?

I've been doing other things.

- Your novel was excellent.

- Thank you.

You've always been good at writing.

- Are you writing now?

- In my spare time.

- Is it a novel?

- I don't know what it is.

- The theme?

- Men who fabricate women.

Interesting.

I read "The Invention of Liberation"

by Jean Starobinski, do you know him?

- Yes, but I've never read him.

- It's a book about the 1700s.

In the chapter "The Fictitious

Realm of Women" he explains

that being treated like queens

was only an illusion,

because the promise of pleasure

rotated around them.

What do you mean?

Love was a game, a lie,

and that lie was not despicable,

on the contrary, it was a refinement.

That way a man could have

a wife and a lover,

like he had a house in the city

and one in the country.

The quest for pleasure

justified a double life.

In fact, the 1700s

is the age of libertines.

However, it was male pleasure.

But it takes two to make love

and there were very free women.

But their freedom

was instrumental to male pleasure.

Get busy, I want to read you.

Who wants more frittelle ?

I do.

Luciano, can you bring us

ten more frittelle ?

- Let's not overdo it, one each is fine.

- Coming up.

- I want ten.

- One each is enough.

I want ten.

We'll have them bring ten

but you'll get two.

You have to leave your wife more time.

If she were organized

she'd have all day.

I'm serious.

If you don't, you're guilty from

a human and a political point of view.

What would the crime be?

Waste of intelligence.

A community that smothers

the intellectual energies of women

with housework and child-rearing

is its own enemy.

Elena is free

to cultivate her intelligence,

as long as it doesn't take time

from my work.

If she doesn't take it from you,

who can she take it from?

When our tasks have

the urgency of passion,

nothing can stop us

from completing them.

He's saying I have no interests.

- No.

- Is he right?

Is it you?

We brought them all, they're the last.

- But for our customer

- Thank you.

Let's do this.

I'll eat one,

Mamma too, Papa too

And you eat two, but then enough.

Luciano, I'll be back in 30 days

with these two splendid young ladies

and I want to find

a mountain of frittelle .

Don't throw money away,

we have a guest room.

You can stay with us.

We said that

Elena needs time to herself,

better not to burden her

with my presence.

It'd be a pleasure for me and the girls.

I'll think about it,

but I've already imposed too much.

In fact, today, you're my guests.

Absolutely not.

I insist.

Next time, I'll insist.

Consult me before you make invitations.

I thought you'd like it.

Of course I'd like it.

The 30 days flew by too fast.

It didn't occur to me to call Lila,

I didn't call Mariarosa,

I barely paid

any attention to the girls.

I just wrote, with great commitment.

My only preoccupation was to have

a readable text in time,

but the month passed and he didn't call.

This game drives me crazy!

What did I say? No playing

At the table.

Eat.

Have you heard from Nino?

Yes, we've spoken often

in recent weeks.

- You've spoken to him often?

- Yes.

And you didn't tell me?

- What's there to tell?

- That you've spoken often.

They were work calls.

Seeing as you've become

such good friends,

tell me if he deigns to say he's coming,

seeing I have to do everything

and I'd like some advance notice.

He's coming the day after tomorrow.

He's staying at a hotel

with his wife and son.

Will we go to eat frittelle ?

- He could have let us know.

- He decided at the last moment.

He's rude.

What's the problem?

- But the frittelle ?

- Yes, we'll go to Luciano's.

- Want to go to Luciano's?

- Yeah!

Hello?

Hi.

I'll put him on.

- Pietro, it's for you.

- Yes.

It's Nino.

Remind him about the frittelle .

Coming.

Give it to me.

As soon as Nino's mentioned here,

there's talk of frittelle .

How are you?

Have you made a reservation?

At Luciano's?

So, what is it?

- How do I look?

- Very nice.

What do you say? Do you like it?

Pietro?

How do I look?

Nice.

- Do you like it?

- It's very nice.

I'm not convinced.

Wait.

Nice.

More this or the other one?

The purple one.

- The purple one's better?

- Yes.

I don't know

Which one do you like best?

I didn't want that dress

just to look better than another,

I wanted it to look great.

I wanted my earrings

and my hair to look great

and my shoes to look great too.

I detested competing in looks

with another woman,

especially under the gaze of a man.

I would've liked to make up an excuse

and send only Pietro and the girls

to go with Nino and his family.

But I couldn't resist it.

Elena.

- Eleonora.

- My pleasure, Pietro.

I feared Nino's wife would weigh me up,

study me in every detail with

the haughtiness of a rich young lady

educated to care

for her body since birth.

Nino said you're studying law.

I was.

Now I follow Albertino

more than university.

My father has a law firm,

he's a great lawyer, but

I don't know.

Elena, Nino told me

you studied literature in Pisa.

Why Pisa?

I won a scholarship, otherwise

I wouldn't have been able to study.

- Elena's a great writer.

- Not at all!

- Really?

- I published a novel eight years ago.

- Elena.

- Yes?

Tomorrow will you take me

shopping while Nino works?

All right.

Darling, what are you doing?

Pietro, will you take her?

What are you reading?

Are you leaving your wife time to work?

Of course.

- How is it going?

- I finished a first draft.

Have you read it?

- Elena never lets me read anything.

- You don't want to.

- With all that you have to read, right?

- It's true.

With studies, publications, theses

I'd like to attend one of your lessons.

Whenever you like.

Today he seems calm

Would you like to take a look at my text?

- Would you really let me read it?

- If it doesn't bore you, yes.

Of course.

Elena.

Lenù.

Am I bothering you?

No, we were having breakfast, come in.

Eleonora and the boy are waiting,

I came to call you.

- I'll be right out.

- Wait.

I came here without her

because I wanted to speak to you alone.

I read it.

Already?

It's exceptional work.

You have a great capacity for study,

admirable rigor,

inventiveness that leaves me in awe.

What I always envied about you

is your great ability as a narrator.

I don't know how to define it,

if it's an essay or a story,

but it's extraordinary, well done.

Is that a flaw?

What?

That it can't be cataloged.

No, it's a merit.

- Should I publish it as it is?

- Absolutely yes.

Thank you.

I'm going back to Naples tomorrow,

if you want I'll call and we can talk.

If you come to Florence,

don't go to a hotel, stay here.

No, I have my little boarding house

near the station, I'm comfortable there.

- You sure I won't bother you?

- No.

Lila, when we were kids,

dazzled us both.

What do you mean?

You attributed to her

abilities that were yours.

And I did worse:

what I'd seen in you,

I stupidly looked for in her.

Will you be back soon?

Yes.

I'll be back soon.

Hurry.

They're waiting for us.

- Eleonora.

- Dede.

I'm off, I'm running late.

Bye, Lenù.

Look who's here!

Bye, honey.

Be a good boy for Mommy.

Have a nice time.

Can we go and look at embroidery?

Do you know any embroidery stores?

Yes, let's go.

Let's go.

Here's our children's section,

all hand embroidered.

Mamma, can we get this?

No, sweetheart,

you can't have everything.

- Please!

- No.

All right.

I really admire you,

they're so well behaved.

- Can we leave the children with you?

- Of course.

Nino had already told me

everything about you.

But I'm a bit jealous.

Not because you're clever.

You've known him forever and I haven't.

I'd like to have met him

when I was a kid,

know what he was like at 11.

What was his voice like as a kid?

What was his laugh like?

Thankfully Albertino's

his spitting image.

- Will you wait while I try it on?

- Sure.

I trust you.

What are you doing, Lenù?

Have you seen yourself?