Original subtitles

[Adult Parthenope] "Your eyes are dull," the actress told me.

But the passion for freedom had remained alight,

because life is enormous that we lose ourselves everywhere.

[metallic noise]

[seagulls cry]

Straight from Versailles!

But isn't that a nice gift?

So when he sleeps, he can travel, go.

- It's too much, commander. - But when ever!

Am I or am I not the godfather of Raimondo and of this little girl on the way?

- We don't even know if it's a girl. - [commander] It's a girl, I'll tell you.

I know these things.

[commander laughs]

[commander] Look how beautiful she is.

- Mmh. - Beautiful.

[blows]

[Maggie screams]

[midwife] Cry! Cry and push!

- [Maggie] Ah! - Go, push!

[midwife] Push!

Push!

- Ah! - [midwife] You did it!

[baby crying]

[Maggie laughing]

[Sasà] It's a girl!

[applause]

I told you! I know these things!

Big party tomorrow at my house.

What do we call it?

[Sasà] What do we call it?

Parthenope!

Let's call her Parthenope!

Do you agree?

You're a diva.

- You didn't answer me. Do you agree? - Of course I agree.

A cigarette after swimming in the sea is better than after swimming in the pool.

[Parthenope] Do you know why, Sandri'?

No, you?

No.

I'm still too young to catch all the nuances.

And Raimondo?

Spring has begun.

[Sandrino] So?

They went to see Naples undressing.

Shall we go?

[sea swaying]

[Sandrino] Can I come in?

No.

But you can go around the carriage.

Do you want to get engaged to me?

Do you see the future down there, Sandri'?

It's bigger than you and me.

When are you going to invent these things?

On the road,

on my carriage.

[Sandrino] What are you thinking?

[Raimondo] What are you thinking?

[indistinct voices]

Ascione Franco.

Professor, can I go to the bathroom for a moment?

At university you already get pissed on and shit on, sit down.

They say he's so bad because he has a very sick son.

What do you know that I don't?

[Franco] Nothing.

Nothing?

[assistant] Di Sangro Parthenope.

[buzz]

Look how "hot" this one is.

[indistinct voices]

- Good morning. - Good morning.

The three data for Gouliane.

One, the individual. Two, the situation he finds himself in.

Three, his way of facing the given situation.

- And Althusser? - Althusser is the other soul.

In harmony with determinists, structuralists and culturologists,

considers the anthropological moment as ideological, but I'm not interested.

- What interests you? - Always Gouliane.

A culture is a set of spiritual and material values,

that respond to the sum of existential problems,

that, starting from the acquisition of food, reach the creations of art.

On this I am not only in agreement, but moved.

[laughing]

Is my comment so irrelevant that it makes you laugh?

Okay, okay, she knows everything.

- Thirty. - I don't know anything, but I like everything.

[Marotta] What doesn't she know?

I don't understand what anthropology is.

So, thirty with honors.

Professor Marotta, what is anthropology?

You young people want answers, but you don't know how to ask questions.

- Are you not satisfied? - No.

Your answer is just a catchphrase.

Anthropology is the science that studies human types and aspects

from a morphological and psychological perspective.

[Parthenope] Is that the right answer?

No, that's just the answer you can afford.

Lévi-Strauss, first phase.

[indistinct chatter]

- Thank you. - [assistant] Goodbye.

[laughter]

Oh! The commander always wins!

So? Have you decided?

I'm sorry to disappoint you.

Coming to work in your office and learning my father's job,

I don't think it's for me.

Someday, when your father retires,

you could run my shipping company.

- I'm not like my father. - You have to find a job.

Raimondo, you're a big boy now.

Let me embark on one of your ships,

the one that goes to the North, to the Baltic, as a cabin boy.

You are in the most beautiful place in the world. Why do you want to go to the cold?

It is impossible to be happy in the most beautiful place in the world.

[plays "Io sono il vento" by Marino Marini on the record player]

- For the commander without salt. - Porridge! Hip, hip, hurrah!

But I say, a ragù, right?

- It's tradition, mom was English. - You're from Milan,

a cutlet, a risotto with ossobuco…

- Parthe', what do you read? - John Cheever.

Alcoholic, depressed, wonderful.

[Tonino] Parthe', you're young.

Why do you have to keep up with the problems of Americans?

University? Have you started?

Anthropology, three-star honors with Professor Marotta.

- A wonderful man. - [Sasà] When you're young, everything is wonderful.

- When you're older, everything fades. - Gusts of optimism.

The certainty of reality makes us fade, Tonino. Do you understand?

[commander] Sasà is sensitive.

He had the idea of ​​giving a shoe before the vote and one after.

Great sensitivity even in that circumstance.

[commander] So many speeches he wrote to me,

he's a genius of rhetoric and accounts.

I've always covered him with money.

If I was mayor of Naples it's thanks to him.

- Ah! - Where did you get burned?

- Here. - [Tonino] Let's challenge the porridge.

[commander] Challenge is the right word, the porridge is a battle.

How is it?

It tastes like mahogany.

[laughter]

[commander] Parthe',

but if I were forty years younger, would you marry me?

- The right question is another. - [commander] Which one?

If I were forty years older, would she marry me?

You're really a smart ass.

[Sasà] Your brother Raimondo is fragile.

Like me.

[Sasà] Raimondo sees everything.

[blows]

[Sasà] Raimondo knows everything.

[plays "Che cosa c'è" by Gino Paoli on the turntable]

[blows]

[Sasà] Here it is.

- Answer? - Plus one billion and three hundred million.

Sasà, come here, come. Come.

Big party at my house on Saturday.

- Sasà, who the fuck is that? - Arturo.

No, his name is Gianni, he's a boyfriend of Parthenope.

- Guys, what are you doing this summer? - Capri.

- Capri. - A true Neapolitan doesn't go to Capri.

Either he's too poor or too lazy.

- Until you work, I won't give you a penny. - I do it somehow.

I want to get engaged to Alba Nardella, she's going to Capri.

- Who is she? - How do you mean "who is she"?

It's the Portofino cliff, a divinity.

- Let's go to the making? - I have to finish practicing.

[sound of seagulls and the sea swaying]

[Raimondo] Let's go to Capri.

Me, you and Sandrino. Let's go to Capri.

We say it every summer and we never do it.

- With what money? - The money we don't have.

- Where do we sleep? - Wherever it happens.

What a crazy idea.

Parthe', let yourself go.

The bar is always open, we're young, let yourself go, huh?

Let go.

[plays "Harvester of Sorrow" by Little Kruta]

Miss, since you are not our guests,

it is time for you and your brother to leave the hotel.

If you leave, we all leave.

[man] I was joking.

What's up, Sandri'?

- Where are we going to sleep tonight? - Who knows?

In the meantime, there's a party at Silvana Piscitelli's.

[in English] Have you noticed that young people 186 00:48,960

[helicopter engine]

Miss, excuse me.

He…

He would suggest a picnic.

What a crazy idea.

He doesn't know that they invented restaurants?

What do I say?

That I go to a restaurant with an American friend of mine.

- [in English] Will you invite me to lunch? - [in English] With great pleasure.

[in English] Silence.

It is a mystery in the beautiful.

It is a failure in the ugly.

I've always been ugly, but she...

Are you aware

of the explosive arrival of her beauty?

[in English] I'm beginning to suspect it.

[chuckles]

If you want to be sure, you should be an actress.

[Parthenope] I study Anthropology.

She would be perfect to become a diva.

I am Lidia Rocca, film agent.

I only represent those who have made it.

But you should study.

Here, here's my number.

Here's the number of the best acting teacher in Naples, Flora Malva.

Call her, please.

Thanks, I'll think about it.

[helicopter]

[sighs]

He…

[Parthenope nods]

…would like to know when you can see each other.

He would love to take her for a helicopter ride.

She'll have to wait.

How much?

That's the game, you don't know.

[Parthenope, in English] What is she thinking?

[in English] What happened to all the good night resolutions

that we composed while drunk?

All promises of friendship,

all vows of eternal love

vanish

with sleep.

They reappear the next day.

Blurred.

Far away.

Impossible.

In the uncertain lucidity

of the morning headache,

life is…

just unbearable.

[Parthenope, in English] Can I take a shower at her place?

[Cheever, in English] Huh? You swim!

[Parthenope, in English] "How many have slept here?

What did lovers say to each other in this bed?

They always say the same things.

Luckily,

there are writers

to vary the monotony of their words.

I can smell

everyone who's slept here.

And you?"

[sighs]

[Cheever, in English] And you?

Do you smell it?

- What does it smell like? - The smell of dead loves.

[cicadas chirp]

Can I fall in love with her?

I could love her too, you know?

If only I could prove to myself that I don't like men.

She can take everything,

without even asking.

Everyone will be happy for her.

Don't you believe it?

Try it.

Beauty is like war.

Open the doors.

[cicadas call]

[plays "Memoria" by LaTorre]

[plays "A gira" by Trio Ternura]

[indistinct voices]

Yesterday in the square Alba Nardella smiled at me.

And so, the great man got out of his helicopter.

Since she didn't get in...

In your opinion, will I have to wait much longer?

I'll finish dancing to this song and we'll leave.

- Alba Nardella? - It's me.

- I was looking for you. - Did you find me?

That's what I hope.

[man] That's my house.

Mmh.

A seafood?

Better not.

It seems that cholera is going around in Naples because of the mussels.

- These are from Normandy. - Ah.

That's just what they told you, that's how you do it with the rich.

- Do you always have such a ready answer? - I'll try.

I read and study a lot.

How good!

No.

First let's look at summer.

[sighs]

[man] What is he thinking?

[plays "My Way" by Frank Sinatra]

I can't sleep with her only out of politeness.

[man] Is that the only reason why she would sleep with me?

Politeness.

Don't you find desire a mystery and sex its funeral?

No, I wouldn't say that.

Anyway, look, I get it, it's no problem.

- I let her down. - Again, it's no problem.

After all, you're not that big of a deal.

[continues "My Way"]

Earlier, at the picnic,

she wasn't thinking about anything,

because she's not smart.

[thunder]

Parthe', you're a diva.

[in English] Good evening.

[In English] Excuse me for this morning.

I was so sad that I didn't introduce myself.

True. My name is Parthenope.

John Cheever.

[sea swaying]

I've read all of his stories.

Well, life is full of misfortunes.

- [Parthenope] What does he do? - The usual.

I take long, sad walks.

Can I accompany her?

[sighs]

- No. - [Parthenope] Why not?

Because I don't want to steal even a moment of her youth.

No, no.

Did I do something wrong?

[blows]

Let's talk a little.

[sea swaying]

[Raimondo] She's not in love with you.

[Sandrino] I have, all my life.

But why?

Because she always runs away.

[Sandrino] What is she thinking?

To always find the right answer.

- [man] Do you want to dance? - Yes.

[Sandrino] Sorry.

[plays "Era già tutto aspettato" by Riccardo Cocciante]

[photographs]

Let's go.

[bells ringing]

[cicadas chirping]

[panting]

[seagulls chirping]

[helicopter]

[groans]

[blows]

[neighs]

[Sasà] What is it?

[commander] It's cholera.

Cholera has arrived.

[Marotta] What do you want?

- I would like to ask for the thesis with you. - [Marotta] Do you already have a topic in mind?

Yes.

I would like to…

Would you like that?

The anthropological reasons for suicide.

Why?

Because…

Because my brother…

[crying]

You look at me.

I will never judge her.

She will never judge me.

Do you like this deal?

- I'm not convinced by the suicide thesis. - Why?

It doesn't help us.

I suggest another topic.

The cultural frontiers of the miracle.

Try not to write a thesis that ends up like this.

Your father and I got married here.

On our wedding night we conceived Raimondo.

It's your fault.

I know.

It's your fault.

[sea swaying]

[indistinct distant chatter]

[sea swaying]

[distant buzzing]

[bell tolling]

[sound of seagulls]

[bell]

I'm Parthenope, I have an appointment with Flora Malva.

Wait here, sooner or later she will appear.

- [Flora] Ernesto! - [Ernesto] I'm coming.

[clock chimes]

I love Naples.

- Me too. - Wake up, little one.

Imitate me and repeat: "I love Naples."

I love Naples.

You have neither diction nor intensity. Sit down.

Lidia was telling the truth, you are disturbing, you remind me.

I can teach you everything,

except the one thing that we will not forget.

The sighs of love.

- Do you understand me when I express myself? - Yes, yes.

- It's a concept within my grasp. - Good, you're insolent.

An actress must be insolent.

I'll introduce you to my friend Greta Cool, do you know her?

She's famous, of course, who doesn't know her?

Did you know that Greta Cool is a fan of anal sex?

But there's nothing wrong with that.

Greta Cool is the smartest of all of us, she's so smart that she's become good.

My husband, Arturo Giani, the greatest playwright of the 20th century,

worshipped her.

My husband was in theater.

Greta Cool didn't know how to do theater, it was too difficult for her.

So, I came on stage, Flora Malva.

- Why do you want to be an actress? - [Parthenope] Uhm…

In old movies, actors always have a ready answer.

It's true.

Life should be like this.

Instead, we don't sleep at night.

We mull over the right response to give to men who have offended us.

Beautiful women are offended all the time.

Are you staying for dinner? My poor husband's friends are coming.

Okay.

- She won't find anyone. - Why?

Because hers is a dead person's diary.

Why is her face covered?

A damn Brazilian surgeon butchered her.

- Are you inert? - I really hope not.

Then, never display your photos. Even beauty, don't count on it.

It charms for the first ten minutes and irritates for the next ten years.

I'm not hungry anymore, we deserve a cognac.

Wait for me in the living room, I'm going to make myself comfortable.

[clock strikes]

Christ!

[Flora] Come in, little one.

Only the steam gives relief to my gloomy skin.

I knew you couldn't resist and that you would come looking for me.

- I was worried. - No, you were curious.

An actress has the moral duty to be curious,

even a woman, otherwise, succumbs.

- Now would you give me a kiss? - How?

You understand very well.

I haven't kissed anyone in twenty years, since I became a widow.

Ernesto has enormous teeth, I tried, but I can't.

It's like kissing a boundary wall.

- So? - I'd like to see his face first.

[Flora] You wouldn't kiss me anymore.

You can see my mouth. Isn't that enough?

I don't…

I don't know.

We can't go back, little one.

Sooner or later, we are condemned to let ourselves go.

I've always had a beautiful mouth.

Eh...

[Parthenope] So many dolls!

[Flora] Motherhood has followed me... everywhere.

[indistinct voices from TV]

Why don't you get back to work with the commander?

I'm well off enough to afford not to work anymore.

- You've gone crazy. - [Sasà] Yes, we've gone crazy.

What must we do to bring you to your senses?

[Sasà] A nephew.

A nephew would help us.

What a crazy idea.

[fireworks]

[honorable] Welcome back to your beautiful Naples.

[in Neapolitan] Bella una volta.

Mrs. Cool, I am Alcide Riposato, the son of the shipowner.

- Why didn't your father come? - Because he died six years ago.

He could have come anyway, we're talking about me.

There's a wonderful surprise for you.

To surprise me you need the atomic bomb.

Now here we are, the greatest of all, the diva of divas.

Just for you…

Greta Cool!

[applause]

Now for the surprise we promised her.

The sculptor Blue Dragon wanted to portray her like this. You're welcome, girls.

[photographs taken]

[applause]

You see,

the problem is not that this statue is ugly.

The problem is you Neapolitans.

You are depressed and you don't know it.

You walk arm in arm with horror and you don't know it.

You are just sloppy and folkloristic.

Everyone laughs at you and you don't realize it.

You boast of being clever.

But what have you gained from all this cleverness?

You are poor, cowardly, whiny, backward.

You steal and act badly.

You are always ready to throw the cross on someone else.

The invader of the moment, the corrupt politician, the unscrupulous property developer.

But the disgrace is you.

You are a people of wretches and you boast of being so.

You will never make it.

Dear horrible Neapolitans, I'm going back to the North,

where the beautiful silence reigns,

since I haven't been Neapolitan for many years.

I was saved, but you weren't.

You are dead.

A million?

We agreed on thirty, you little idiot.

If you did what you had to do.

You only disgraced and humiliated us, because you are ungrateful.

If it wasn't for Naples, now you would be pimping Ponti Rossi.

Your mother did the tricks. Who authorized her to switch to informal?

Give me my thirty million, fucking face.

Greta Cool, go give blowjobs.

[Alcide screams in pain]

[Alcide] Leave it! Leave it!

What the… 501 01:07,250

- [Greta] Who the fuck is that? - It's Parthenope.

- Flora Malva sent me. - [Greta] What do you want?

I brought her hair back.

[Greta] Come in.

Take off your fur coat.

Sit down.

Did you know that Flora Malva is a fan of anal sex?

But there's nothing wrong with that.

What a shitty night!

Vulgar men and vulgar women who think they're elegant.

This city will never be elegant.

Did I overdo my speech?

What can I do? I don't like going back to this shithole.

I only remember when I had rags on my ass.

Kissing a beautiful mouth and discovering with the tongue that there are no teeth.

Poor loves.

This is all I have left as a memory of this city

and my mother ready to feed me to anyone, but let's forget it.

But we didn't need anything.

Not even teeth.

Poor loves.

Who knows, maybe it was better this way.

Flora Malva told me that you want to be an actress.

You are beautiful and unforgettable, but your eyes are dull.

You are joyless, dear.

The camera won't accept that.

Forget the actress bullshit, it's not for you.

Then do you see me?

Do I look happy to you?

And yet, I am the most important of all.

Fuck you.

[door]

[fireworks]

[sighs]

Roberto Criscuolo.

Did you like Greta Cool's speech?

I found it…

original.

It's all true what he said about this city.

[fireworks]

[fireworks]

[fireworks]

[indistinct voices in the distance]

[in Neapolitan] "Guess who I am".

"I'm waiting for you, Robe'".

[woman] Roberto.

- [woman] Robertino. - "You are the king of Naples".

Beautiful.

[fireworks]

[indistinct voices in the distance]

[fireworks]

[whistling]

Come here, come here.

[Roberto] Good evening everyone. Come here, come.

Come here. How many of you are there?

- [Roberto] For you. - Thank you.

- [Roberto] For you. - Thank you.

Look how beautiful that one is. Hello, little one.

- [woman 1] How beautiful she is! - She looks like the Madonna.

- She looks like Sophia Loren. - [woman 2] My goodness, really.

Thank you.

[indistinct chatter]

Pum, pum, pum!

[man] Good evening.

[Capasso] Gentlemen, please, a little space. Thank you.

[indistinct voices]

[Roberto] How are you?

[indistinct voices]

[Roberto] How are you?

Roberto. Are you back? How beautiful you are!

[fireworks]

[in Neapolitan] That bitch of a mother of yours, Gigione!

[baby crying]

[indistinct voices]

[sewing machine]

[indistinct voices]

[whistling]

[Zuzù] Ciro Criscuolo and Vittoria from Casamicciola are the future,

hope.

The heir they will give us will be the symbol of our peace.

From two great families, the Criscuolos and the Casamicciolas,

today is born the most powerful family in the South.

The great merger.

Now you can take your seats.

[indistinct voices]

- Let's take our seats, come on. - What's going on?

- The big merger. - What is it?

[Zuzù] Father, let's begin.

In the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

God bless you. Please.

What the fuck are you looking at me for? Look at her, kiss each other.

[guitar music]

Start touching each other.

I can't do it like this.

- Why don't you go? - This time we have to check.

Vittoria, as I showed you the other night.

Huh?

[Zuzù] Come on.

[fireworks]

[explosion outside]

[groans]

[applause]

[indistinct chatter]

[fireworks fireworks]

- [woman] Five. - [together] Four.

[together] Three, two, one.

You're shivering.

Are you cold?

No.

I'm excited.

[groans]

I was born here.

In the water.

[seagulls sound]

What are you thinking?

[seagulls sound]

I'll get in touch.

[Marotta] "Taking into account the exams taken

and evaluating the final paper with the related discussion,

the commission has approved your degree exam with this grade.

Giuseppe Arco, 96 out of 110. Elisa Marti, 98 out of 110.

Arturo Bracco, 86 out of 110. Maria Buono, 90 out of 110.

Parthenope Di Sangro, 110 with honors out of 110,

with applause from the commission, dignity of the press and an academic kiss.

- Very good. - Thank you.

[indistinct voices]

- He wants give me the academic kiss? - She graduated late.

They made me believe that I could become an actress.

With the highest grade, however, I graduated.

- Will she tear up my thesis too? - No.

- Is this good news? - Yes.

With serious study,

your thesis could be worthy of publication.

What?

The general part on the cultural impact of the miracle in advanced societies

is excellent.

I'm happy with what you tell me, because I've understood one thing.

We've all understood at least one thing.

I'd like to try a university career.

- I feel like it's my path. - Is it safe?

Look, you become like me.

Wouldn't that be wonderful?

No.

Professor, you still haven't told me what anthropology really is.

Come visit me in May.

Professor.

Thank you.

[sea swaying]

[man, TV] It's a problem that everyone has to solve on their own.

Whoever is in love, realizes it sooner or later.

[woman, TV] How?

[man, TV] When you kiss, you kiss.

[woman, TV] With Alfredo, I never noticed anything.

- [man, TV] Are you sure? - [woman, TV] Yes.

[woman, TV] But, it's also...

[steps]

[door]

[steps]

[nurse] Come on, dear.

Don't worry, it won't be long.

[doctor] Get undressed.

[sea swaying]

[seagulls' sound]

- Why are you moving? - [Sandrino] Pay raise.

After all, I'm still the son of a waitress.

No, that's not the reason.

Parthe',

in this city all I have left is guilt.

It's not our fault that Raimondo died.

- Yes, instead. - No.

It's your fault.

That night, in Capri,

if you hadn't distracted me with your kisses and your caresses,

Raimondo would still be alive.

You should be ashamed of what you just said.

My name is Parthenope, I'm never ashamed.

[Sandrino] Always catchy phrases, huh?

Do you prefer obvious phrases?

No, true ones.

[Parthenope] The truth is unspeakable.

Raimondo was fragile.

Raimondo confused the irrelevant with the decisive,

like everyone in this city.

Except me.

In this city where people live and die for trivial reasons.

I hate this city.

[Sandrino] You have become ruthless, presumptuous and cold.

I have become an adult.

Maybe, after all, you have never known how to love anyone.

You.

You were my first love.

Maybe one day I'll come back to be the last.

[Parthenope] No, it won't go like that.

Do you know how it will go?

- No. - [Parthenope] You will get married in Milan.

You will have one or two children.

After a few years, you will have a crisis with your wife.

Then, you will call me back.

You will find out soon after hearing my voice after so long

that I am not the reason.

The crisis with your wife will be resolved and everything will be calm again.

Do you know why, Sandri'?

No.

Because I was just a young love.

Young loves were of no use.

They served to give us the illusion of carefreeness.

What did I say?

They were of no use.

Now I have to go, Parthe'.

What's up, Sandri'?

Don't you like me anymore?

[torn papers]

I had an illegal abortion, that's why I came late.

I killed the principal, that's why I came early.

We both have no alibi.

I will never judge her and she will never judge me.

Shall we go?

- Where? - She has to help me take my exams.

- My assistants are at a conference. - I don't know if I'm capable.

Expert in the subject, by law she can, then it doesn't take much to teach.

"A professor just needs to be one class ahead of the students."

- Do you know who said that? - No.

Billy Wilder, an anthropologist.

I don't remember much, I took the exam many years ago.

You have the book, they don't.

She scrolls through the index, chooses three questions and finally decides the grade.

She'll like it.

Come on, it's late.

Yes, relativism.

Relativism…

- Thank you, goodbye. - [Parthenope] Goodbye.

Esposito Lucia.

[indistinct voice]

- Good morning. - [Parthenope] Good morning.

The concept of structure for Lévi-Strauss.

Yes.

[indistinct voice]

Um…

I'd better come back next session.

Give me the booklet.

[indistinct voice]

- Thirty with honors, you can go. - Thanks.

[girl] Every time we go…

Are you going to use this unusual method of assigning grades

even when you are a full professor?

No.

Why did he pass that girl

instead of having her come back to the next session?

Next session she will find herself with a small child.

She would never come back.

I wouldn't have come back either, if it hadn't been for her.

Let's hope I don't regret it.

Let me become one of your 150 assistants and you won't regret it.

- Hello, Marotta. - Hello, Sartre.

In my opinion, intellectuals in black turtlenecks should be shot.

We have to go easy with judgments cut with an axe,

because, sooner or later, someone takes the axe and throws it at our heads.

Okay, then let's just say that Restelli is rhetorical and pompous.

Pompous, for sure.

Do you think that, when he divorced, he told me that there had been a schism.

And about his wife, professor? Nothing is known.

Some time ago she left me for a cheerful notary.

Oxymoron. Of course, she regretted it.

- Are you back together? - No.

Then, in the meantime, I realized

that I liked dedicating all my time to my son.

- Your son, they told me that… - How did your brother die?

- He let himself go. - And you? Did you let yourself go?

How long has it been since your father hugged you?

I don't remember anymore.

Since your brother died.

- Do you want to hug me? - Yes.

[seagulls call]

[plays "And you've arrived too" by Valerio Piccolo]

[voices inaudible]

[applause and cheers]

[continues "And you've arrived too"]

[indistinct voices]

[Parthenope] Sorry.

- I need to talk to you. - I need to tell you something too.

It's private, I'd prefer if we met at my house.

- Okay. - I live with my son.

Okay.

[laughter]

[laughter from the next room]

- Don't ask me anything. - Okay.

[Marotta] Tell me first what you wanted to tell me.

The journal of anthropological studies

asked me for a publication on the miracle of San Gennaro.

I said yes, it seems very interesting.

- I asked for an appointment with Tesorone. - I know him well.

Be careful, he's a scoundrel.

- In what sense? - [Marotta] In every sense.

[Parthenope] What did you want to tell me?

I'll be retiring soon.

- It's not good news for me. - [Marotta] Yes, on the contrary.

The competition for teaching positions in Trento will be held soon.

I would like you to participate. You can win.

You do a year or two there, then you could return to Naples and take my place.

What do you think?

I love Naples.

- And your assistants? - They won't become full professors.

They will remain your assistants, if you want them.

- I am an assistant too. - No, you are something else.

You are like me.

Why do you do all this for me?

Because she can become a great anthropologist,

even if she doesn't know what anthropology is yet.

Now,

the real reason why I made her come.

I wanted to introduce you to…

[laughter]

[laughter]

[Marotta] Be careful with Tesorone, that man is the devil.

[door]

I'm pissed off at performing a miracle.

Every year all this responsibility on me alone.

Always the same story.

If the blood doesn't melt, whose fault is it?

Obviously, yours truly.

- You don't imagine the stress. - No, I see it.

How do you combine stress with dyeing?

This is a hobby. Don't you have a hobby?

No.

[Darling] Even not having a hobby is a hobby.

Do you work with Marotta?

How is he?

Difficult to understand.

Marotta is less mysterious than he wants you to believe.

He only has one problematic son.

- Uhm… You are more mysterious, right? - Sure, what questions!

I am a priest.

I found you a nice panoramic spot for the miracle,

so you won't miss anything about the show.

What? He's already leaving? Won't you show me the treasure of San Gennaro?

I don't have time now, I have to go and see the vial.

[hum]

[man coughs]

[faithful] San Gennaro, pray for me. San Gennaro, pray for me.

Saint Gennaro, pray for me.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you.

Blessed are you among women, blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners.

Lord, have mercy.

Saint Gennaro, pray for me.

Saint Gennaro, pray for me.

Saint Gennaro, pray for me.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you.

Blessed are you among women, blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God…

[woman screams]

[indistinct shouting]

- [man 1] What is it? - [man 2] It's blood.

- [woman 1] Don't push. - [man 3] Help her.

San Gennaro!

You've done a miracle, San Gennaro!

Thank you, my holy man, you chose me!

Take that vulgar girl out right now!

Go! Out!

- [woman] You handsome saint! - Go!

[Darling] They make up everything.

Now even the fake menstrual cycle.

Anything to divert attention from me.

- From San Gennaro. - No, from me.

I'm exhausted, destroyed, very tired.

It seems that she was supposed to perform the miracle.

- [Darling] Who says it's not like that? - Ah.

I'm sorry that the blood didn't dissolve.

Eh… It will melt next year.

Do you want to take a tour of the cathedral?

[Darling] Christ loves too much and is bent by his own love.

Love is like that, it is not manageable,

that's why from Jesus to singer-songwriters,

they all try to tell us how to get over it.

Do you love too much or too little?

That's the whole difference.

They're all false doors.

I can't breathe.

It's Catholicism.

- Freedom doesn't pass through doors. - [Parthenope] Uhm…

- Where does it pass through? - [Darling] It doesn't pass through.

Will you show me the treasure of San Gennaro?

[Darling] I don't have time now.

I have to go to a party, do you want to come with me?

All the times you wanted to cry and you held back.

Here, only here in church,

you have the freedom to let go.

Why should I cry?

Because motherhood has chased you everywhere and you have fled it.

- Do you like this house? - I know this house well.

[sea swaying]

Your Eminence, I am so dismayed that one cannot celebrate the miracle.

- What the fuck happened? - Nothing, nothing important.

An exhibitionist, a vulgar one, put on a show.

San Gennaro got distracted and didn't do anything.

This happened.

If you can, bring me a nice drink.

Mom!

Mom!

Mom!

Mom!

Mom!

Mom!

[voices inaudible]

[voices inaudible]

Years ago, it was New Year's Eve.

I saw you.

You made love in the water.

- No, it wasn't me. - Yes, it was you.

Parthenope.

- [woman] Your Eminence, what are you thinking about? - My mother.

She knew everything.

When you know everything, you die early and alone.

Get acquainted with the unspeakable.

It's dizzying.

God is limited, he didn't entertain us kids enough.

God only committed himself when he invented happy childhood,

where everything was gentle purity.

Then he got distracted, he let himself go,

so the world we knew as children,

suddenly and without warning,

was exhausted.

The worlds…

The worlds are getting tired.

Now, girls, that's enough.

I need a drink, I'm exhausted. Ah!

[laughter]

[commander] Parthenope!

Commander, she recognized me.

It was impossible to forget you.

[coughs]

- Do you remember that she wanted to marry me? - We're always on time, if you want.

Commander, she's running too fast for my taste.

I would need a long courtship first.

A long courtship, that idiot of your sister!

You are a sly one.

A sly one.

- You are a rare woman. - [Parthenope] Why?

Why don't you take advantage of your beauty.

- You're wrong, Commander. - [Commander] No, no.

How are your parents?

When your brother died, they died too.

[coughs]

And I got lost.

I said goodbye to everyone.

Now, whenever you want, I'm ready to show you the treasure of San Gennaro.

The great treasure of San Gennaro.

[Darling chuckles]

At the end of life only irony will remain.

[laughter]

[plays "Malambo No. 1" by Yma Sumac]

What a crazy idea! I look like a relic.

You look like a saint.

What do you like in a woman?

The back. The rest is pornography.

[Darling] You should give yourself to me, Parthenope.

Oh, really? Let's hear it, why?

Because my body is made to be rejected.

But rejecting me would be obvious.

You, on the other hand, know how to be an amazing woman.

I'm an obvious woman.

[sighs]

[Honey] You always have the answer ready.

Okay,

I'll settle for remembering you like this and dreaming of you.

If I were to give myself to you, it wouldn't be to be surprising,

but because I like you.

What do you like about me?

The cheekiness.

I call it the art of seduction.

- You want to know what I'm thinking? - [Honey] No.

Because I already know.

And what am I thinking?

To everything else.

You are like the miracle of San Gennaro.

A mystery.

Or a scam.

Now let's make love.

You mustn't be hasty.

You have to get closer to God slowly.

[metallic noise]

[panting]

[groans]

The conclave will be soon.

I will be too close to God to continue to see you.

What a shame!

What can you do?

I've got it in my head to become Pope.

What's all the rest I was thinking about?

Time that passes next to pain.

Or maybe it's not like that.

Or maybe it's not like that.

[laughter]

How did it go with Tesorone?

He was right, that man is the devil.

He's just a seducer.

Anyway, I had her come to tell her that the time has come.

I'm retiring.

I'm sure the university will throw her a big party.

I've never liked parties.

Have you thought about the idea of ​​Trento?

I can't become an anthropology professor,

if I don't know what anthropology is exactly.

Anthropology is seeing.

Is that all?

Was it that simple?

Then it seems to me I've been doing it all my life.

It's very difficult to see,

because it's the last thing you learn.

When do you learn to see?

[Marotta] When everything else begins to be missing.

What is everything else?

Love, youth,

desire, emotion, pleasure.

And the remote possibility of laughing once more

for a distinguished man who stumbles and falls in a downtown street.

- Now come with me. - Where?

[Marotta] To see.

[indistinct voice from TV]

[laughter]

[man, TV] We are under one sky and we can all make mistakes.

So, two weeks ago,

if any of the sociology experts,

criminal anthropology, syndacology, assholery,

had moved…

Dad, he said "asshole".

[laughing]

Yes, Stefano, the gentleman said "asshole".

[laughter]

...turn a blind eye to the ex-convicts who...

- Hello. - Hello.

- It's made of water and salt. - Like the sea.

- It's beautiful. - Yes, it's beautiful.

[laughs]

[Stefano laughs]

[Marotta] Goodbye, Parthenope.

[indistinct voice from TV]

- Hello. - Hello.

I will never forget the exam with her.

When I asked her if I could go to the bathroom, she replied:

"At university you already get pissed on and shit on."

Heh!

[laughing]

Was he a boyfriend?

How long is it?

In two days I'm out of account.

What will his name be?

If it's a girl, I'd like to call her by her name.

Parthenope.

No.

Nothing is known about your private life, professor.

- There's not much to know. - We want to know anyway.

Can we ask her some indiscreet questions?

Yes, of course.

She could have stayed in Trento for a couple of years and then gone to teach in Naples.

Instead, she stayed here for forty years, until she retired.

Why?

As you can see, I fell in love with speck.

[laughing]

Why didn't she get married?

Because no one has ever seriously asked me.

Children?

Excuse me.

[sighs]

I'm distracted.

Or maybe I didn't know how to ask the right questions and...

And now what will he do?

And now… And now…

[applause]

[man] Brava!

[voice inaudible]

[stadium trumpets]

[man] Parthe'!

[stadium trumpets]

[indistinct voices]

[inaudible voices]

What are you thinking?

[plays "Era già tutto aspettato" by Riccardo Cocciante]

[sound of seagulls]

[sound of cicadas]

[Raimondo] What are you thinking?

[Parthenope adult] Abandoned to the perfect summer,

we were beautiful and unhappy.

Maybe it was wonderful to be kids.

It didn't last long.

I've been sad and frivolous, determined and lazy,

like Naples,

where there's always room for everything.

I've been alive and alone.

What was I thinking?

Love to try to survive…

Love to try to survive

it was a failure.

Or maybe it's not.

[stadium horns]

[in chorus] ♪ Alé! Ale! Ale! ♪

♪ Alé! Ale! Ale! ♪

♪ Alé! Ale! Ale! ♪

♪ Alé! Ale! Ale! ♪

♪ One day, suddenly I fell in love with you ♪

♪ My heart was beating ♪

♪ Don't ask me why ♪

♪ Time has passed ♪

♪ But I'm still here ♪

♪ And today as then ♪

♪ I defend the city ♪

♪ Alé! Alé! Alé! ♪

♪ Alé! Alé! Alé! ♪

♪ Alé! Alé! Alé! ♪

♪ Alé! Ale! Ale! ♪

♪ One day, suddenly I fell in love with you ♪

♪ My heart was beating ♪

♪ Don't ask me why ♪

♪ Time has passed ♪

♪ But I'm still here ♪

♪ And today as then ♪

♪ I defend the city ♪

♪ Alé! Alé! Alé! ♪

♪ Alé! Alé! Alé! ♪

♪ Alé! Alé! Alé! ♪

♪ Alé! Ale! Ale! ♪

♪ One day, suddenly I fell in love with you ♪

♪ My heart was beating ♪

♪ Don't ask me why ♪

♪ Time has passed ♪

♪ But I'm still here ♪

♪ And today as then ♪

♪ I defend the city ♪

[sighs]

[sea swaying]

[seagulls sound]

[Darling] And anyway, God doesn't love the sea.

Remember, God doesn't love the sea.

Goodbye.

[Gino Paoli's "Che cosa c'è" plays]

[sea swaying and seagulls calling] 77652