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2
00:00:45,550 --> 00:00:49,200
He leaves a message -
a yellow sticky -
3
00:00:49,290 --> 00:00:51,590
on the dead black
of his computer screen.
4
00:00:51,680 --> 00:00:55,580
'Gone to lunch.
I may be some time.'
5
00:00:57,210 --> 00:01:00,120
His colleagues won't be seeing
him for the rest of the afternoon.
6
00:01:00,210 --> 00:01:05,980
Rare joy of truancy, of bold escape
from the trap of work.
7
00:01:07,150 --> 00:01:08,720
That heap of typescript
8
00:01:08,810 --> 00:01:13,540
can be left to dwell on its thousand
offences against grammar and good sense.
9
00:01:13,630 --> 00:01:17,330
His trusty blue pen
can snooze with its cap on.
10
00:01:17,420 --> 00:01:19,130
Nobody will notice.
11
00:01:21,470 --> 00:01:25,950
He shuts the door on the sleeping dog
of his own departure.
12
00:01:26,030 --> 00:01:27,820
Hurries, not too fast,
13
00:01:27,910 --> 00:01:33,030
along the corridor,
taps the lift button, and waits.
14
00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:38,240
To meet even one person at this delicate
juncture would sully the whole enterprise.
15
00:01:40,650 --> 00:01:45,360
But he's in luck.
The lift yawns emptily.
16
00:01:45,450 --> 00:01:46,460
He steps in...
17
00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:51,000
is enclosed...
18
00:01:51,180 --> 00:01:55,200
and carried downwards to sunlight
19
00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:59,960
and London's approximation of fresh air.
20
00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:03,180
With one bound...
21
00:02:05,220 --> 00:02:07,210
he is free!
22
00:02:10,990 --> 00:02:16,170
It's a district of literary ghosts
that walk in broad daylight.
23
00:02:16,260 --> 00:02:19,340
Keep your imagination peeled
and see Virginia Woolf
24
00:02:19,430 --> 00:02:22,430
loping off to the library
with a trug full of books.
25
00:02:26,380 --> 00:02:29,560
And there goes TS Eliot,
bound for his first Martini of the day,
26
00:02:29,650 --> 00:02:33,240
with his gig-lamps
and his immaculate sheen.
27
00:02:38,430 --> 00:02:44,460
Bloomsbury and its blue plaques.
The squares and stucco terraces,
28
00:02:44,550 --> 00:02:50,100
where the little industrious publishers
still like to hide their offices.
29
00:02:51,190 --> 00:02:54,780
Leafy literary-land,
that by some dispensation
30
00:02:54,870 --> 00:03:02,060
has been left to stand amid the road drills
and high, swivelling cranes.
31
00:03:04,670 --> 00:03:08,010
In his 50s, he favours a younger man's
impatient pace,
32
00:03:08,100 --> 00:03:11,890
skipping round dawdling or
stupidly halted pedestrians.
33
00:03:14,580 --> 00:03:19,900
You're not properly living in London
if you don't use the dodges, the short cuts.
34
00:03:21,370 --> 00:03:26,580
Yet it's 20 minutes' walk from work
to this lunchtime date with an old flame.
35
00:03:28,180 --> 00:03:33,080
Gaggles of tourists straggle
more provocatively than ever.
36
00:03:33,670 --> 00:03:37,810
Never mind, he's making good time -
note the active verb -
37
00:03:37,900 --> 00:03:40,750
and he expects she'll be late.
38
00:03:41,750 --> 00:03:46,190
The restaurant is an old haunt,
though he hasn't been there for years.
39
00:03:46,280 --> 00:03:50,410
Zanzotti's -
unreformed Soho Italian.
40
00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:55,060
Chianti in a basket, breadsticks you snap
with a sneeze of dust,
41
00:03:55,150 --> 00:04:00,230
red gingham cloths, overlaid on the diagonal
with plain green paper ones.
42
00:04:00,320 --> 00:04:03,440
Finger smears at the neck
of the water carafe,
43
00:04:03,530 --> 00:04:10,120
and Massimo himself touring
the tables with his fake bonhomie.
44
00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:13,360
But Soho has changed.
45
00:04:13,450 --> 00:04:16,140
The speciality food shops
pushed out of business,
46
00:04:16,230 --> 00:04:20,530
tarts chased off the streets,
and a new kind of trashiness moving in.
47
00:04:20,620 --> 00:04:23,460
Cultureless, fly-by-night.
48
00:04:24,630 --> 00:04:26,660
But hey presto.
49
00:04:26,750 --> 00:04:33,230
Zanzotti's edges into view,
exactly as memory has preserved it.
50
00:04:33,320 --> 00:04:35,030
Phew.
51
00:04:36,980 --> 00:04:38,980
When he suddenly recollects...
52
00:04:40,730 --> 00:04:43,110
What, precisely?
53
00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:47,720
Deja vu?
Some artistic analogy?
54
00:04:47,810 --> 00:04:50,130
Too bad. Let it go.
55
00:04:53,030 --> 00:04:55,530
On the threshold,
56
00:04:55,620 --> 00:04:59,610
on the edge of a shadow-world
that is yet to welcome him,
57
00:04:59,710 --> 00:05:01,740
he stands and waits.
58
00:05:02,910 --> 00:05:05,210
Waits for a waiter.
59
00:05:06,100 --> 00:05:07,670
First disappointing thing -
60
00:05:07,770 --> 00:05:13,140
no sign of Massimo,
nor of his old staff.
61
00:05:13,230 --> 00:05:17,240
Massimo's pirate crew,
as he privately thought of them,
62
00:05:17,340 --> 00:05:19,250
some of whose names he knew
63
00:05:19,350 --> 00:05:22,010
whilst knowing nothing
of their lives beyond the act -
64
00:05:22,100 --> 00:05:25,870
grave, flirtatious, resentful,
brisk, droll -
65
00:05:25,960 --> 00:05:27,550
each brought to the table.
66
00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:30,100
Instead, young men and women -
67
00:05:30,190 --> 00:05:36,000
roughly half and half -
and not all looking especially Italian.
68
00:05:36,170 --> 00:05:38,500
How long has it been?
Five years?
69
00:05:38,630 --> 00:05:42,330
Six years?
Ten?
70
00:05:42,420 --> 00:05:43,900
Fifteen?
71
00:05:45,200 --> 00:05:47,110
God help us all.
72
00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:50,280
Though time's winged chariot
with the brakes off
73
00:05:50,380 --> 00:05:54,860
and in full downhill hurtle must be
inaudible, unheard-of, rather,
74
00:05:54,950 --> 00:05:57,870
to these sprightly boys and girls.
75
00:06:00,850 --> 00:06:05,010
He is noticed, but not recognised,
by a waiter he does not recognise,
76
00:06:05,110 --> 00:06:07,790
but who catches his name in his right ear,
then bows clerically
77
00:06:07,890 --> 00:06:10,320
over the ledger
that bulges from all the names,
78
00:06:10,420 --> 00:06:13,600
the months and years of names,
written in it,
79
00:06:13,690 --> 00:06:17,620
and that sits open on a slope
like a church-lectern Bible.
80
00:06:17,720 --> 00:06:20,490
The Book of Reservations.
81
00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:26,360
As ever, that pause of anxiety
and mute appeal.
82
00:06:28,890 --> 00:06:30,900
But there, happily, it is.
83
00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:33,950
Scriptural confirmation.
84
00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:39,080
Without a smile, without a word,
he is eyebrowed and nodded to follow.
85
00:06:41,490 --> 00:06:43,250
Thank you.
86
00:06:43,340 --> 00:06:45,750
And the wine list, please?
87
00:06:47,200 --> 00:06:49,130
On the back.
88
00:06:49,220 --> 00:06:50,500
I see.
89
00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:57,300
So things are different after all
under new mismanagement.
90
00:06:57,400 --> 00:07:01,390
Might have known it.
Did know it, perhaps.
91
00:07:01,490 --> 00:07:05,520
The very table linen
has lost its patriotism.
92
00:07:05,610 --> 00:07:08,470
Plain white. We surrender.
93
00:07:08,570 --> 00:07:13,100
And this menu -
this twanging laminated card -
94
00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:15,520
big as a riot policeman's shield.
95
00:07:17,100 --> 00:07:20,730
Hmm. At first glance,
pizzas by the yard.
96
00:07:20,830 --> 00:07:23,240
More pizzas than there should be.
97
00:07:23,330 --> 00:07:25,650
And too much designer pizzazz.
98
00:07:27,810 --> 00:07:31,700
Choose the right wine and have it ready
breathing for when she arrives.
99
00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:36,960
There's a mid-price Chianti, which
won't come plump in tight straw swaddling,
100
00:07:37,050 --> 00:07:39,710
but will do for auld lang syne.
101
00:07:43,500 --> 00:07:49,090
Old times' sake being the precarious
purpose of this tete-a-tete,
102
00:07:49,190 --> 00:07:52,760
and possibly a great big mistake.
103
00:07:55,250 --> 00:07:57,840
We said we wouldn't look back.
104
00:07:57,940 --> 00:08:01,100
Why did she e-mail him
suggesting...?
105
00:08:02,880 --> 00:08:05,770
No, HE did.
106
00:08:11,510 --> 00:08:15,530
He commands - nice word -
a clear view of the entrance,
107
00:08:15,620 --> 00:08:20,620
lit contre-jour so that each new arrival,
new candidate for his notice,
108
00:08:20,710 --> 00:08:25,330
appears to step from brightness
to bathos with a tacit apology.
109
00:08:25,420 --> 00:08:26,500
'Sorry, I'm not...'
110
00:08:26,570 --> 00:08:28,170
But if not, what?
111
00:08:28,330 --> 00:08:32,210
What will she look like?
112
00:08:32,310 --> 00:08:33,840
Fwop!
113
00:08:33,940 --> 00:08:39,630
The cork leaves the bottle and his quick nose
wants to pick up the escaping bouquet.
114
00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:41,090
Will it be all right?
115
00:08:41,180 --> 00:08:44,170
The waiter pours out
the statutory measure -
116
00:08:44,270 --> 00:08:48,390
one imperial glug - which he lifts
and breathes over thinkingly.
117
00:08:48,500 --> 00:08:50,090
Not corked.
118
00:08:51,460 --> 00:08:53,640
That's fine, thank you.
Leave it there.
119
00:08:53,730 --> 00:08:56,430
He'll do the pouring.
120
00:09:02,720 --> 00:09:05,360
It's quite sharp
but should broaden out.
121
00:09:06,350 --> 00:09:11,400
He takes his tumbler of water,
overweight bubbles mobbing up to greet him,
122
00:09:11,500 --> 00:09:16,120
sips that and feels the chill fizz
smash against his palate.
123
00:09:16,210 --> 00:09:18,040
Thirstier than he thought,
124
00:09:18,130 --> 00:09:21,780
he drinks till the ice rests
on his upper lip.
125
00:09:21,870 --> 00:09:23,160
Hello.
126
00:09:23,250 --> 00:09:27,120
She's here.
How did that happen?
127
00:09:27,210 --> 00:09:30,660
Had he taken his eyes
off the door for so long?
128
00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:36,130
Flustered, self-reprimanding, he is still
able to start to rise from his seat...
129
00:09:36,220 --> 00:09:39,340
Well...
I didn't see...
130
00:09:39,430 --> 00:09:44,010
And be met halfway with a soft peck,
smack in the middle of his mouth.
131
00:09:44,110 --> 00:09:47,930
Familiar collision
of pout against pout.
132
00:09:49,630 --> 00:09:54,940
Though there's something different, too.
A new... what? Fragrance? Aura?
133
00:09:55,030 --> 00:09:59,610
Hint of carefree expenditure?
Waft of wealth?
134
00:09:59,700 --> 00:10:02,650
How lovely.
135
00:10:03,230 --> 00:10:05,240
I hope I'm not late.
136
00:10:05,340 --> 00:10:06,980
You're not late at all.
137
00:10:07,080 --> 00:10:11,700
So, the human paradox.
The same and changed.
138
00:10:11,790 --> 00:10:16,280
All that he remembers,
vivid in the differences.
139
00:10:16,380 --> 00:10:17,990
Is she thinner?
140
00:10:18,090 --> 00:10:21,750
Somehow there's a sharper outline
which is not just smart tailoring,
141
00:10:21,840 --> 00:10:24,420
and her hair looks better behaved.
142
00:10:24,510 --> 00:10:27,880
She hangs her bag,
pampered scarlet leather,
143
00:10:27,970 --> 00:10:30,630
over the back of her chair
and skips into the seat.
144
00:10:31,630 --> 00:10:34,930
'Now,' that movement says.
Quick, eager, a touch needy,
145
00:10:35,020 --> 00:10:38,470
as if she were beginning a lesson
in a subject she's good at.
146
00:10:38,570 --> 00:10:41,480
It puts him on his mettle.
147
00:10:41,570 --> 00:10:43,480
There!
148
00:10:43,570 --> 00:10:45,270
Here.
149
00:10:45,370 --> 00:10:48,730
Lips, eyes, eyebrows
and the new lines in her forehead
150
00:10:48,830 --> 00:10:51,150
fill out the harmony.
151
00:10:52,350 --> 00:10:53,730
Have some wine.
152
00:10:53,820 --> 00:10:57,520
I'm afraid it... hasn't really had time.
153
00:10:57,620 --> 00:11:00,820
He pours into the two glasses,
154
00:11:00,910 --> 00:11:04,450
measuring by ear identical notes.
155
00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:10,550
This is a disappointment.
Remember the old flasks?
156
00:11:10,650 --> 00:11:12,890
Kitsch, I know, but didn't you
have a soft spot?
157
00:11:12,990 --> 00:11:17,560
Snug in their raffia
like fat cuckoos in small nests.
158
00:11:17,660 --> 00:11:19,650
Still, nothing lasts.
159
00:11:21,100 --> 00:11:24,110
- What's the toast?
- Happy days?
160
00:11:24,210 --> 00:11:26,280
"Happy days" it is.
161
00:11:26,370 --> 00:11:31,280
Rims meet and clink,
swaying the cradled liquid.
162
00:11:31,380 --> 00:11:36,500
Dark, sluggish ink.
And they drink.
163
00:11:36,800 --> 00:11:39,220
Becoming palatable.
164
00:11:40,560 --> 00:11:43,150
- You haven't changed.
- Oh, I have.
165
00:11:43,250 --> 00:11:45,660
Witness this morning's
bathroom mirror.
166
00:11:45,750 --> 00:11:47,990
The grey, the flab, the stoop,
the frown,
167
00:11:48,090 --> 00:11:51,700
and in the deliberating,
disbelieving eyes,
168
00:11:51,800 --> 00:11:56,130
something like... terror.
169
00:11:56,800 --> 00:11:58,520
Not to notice.
170
00:11:58,620 --> 00:12:01,190
Was that one of the problems,
he wonders,
171
00:12:01,290 --> 00:12:06,740
her blithe rebuffing of such facts
as didn't match an optimistic outlook?
172
00:12:08,310 --> 00:12:13,240
He could argue but the waiter
intervenes with a second menu,
173
00:12:13,340 --> 00:12:19,460
which slices into the infant conversation
like a sweetly swung axe.
174
00:12:19,550 --> 00:12:21,960
- The menu, senora.
- Thank you.
175
00:12:27,740 --> 00:12:31,210
It's almost all pizzas.
176
00:12:31,300 --> 00:12:33,540
I'm afraid the place has gone to
the dogs.
177
00:12:33,640 --> 00:12:39,010
Don't be absurd - it's fine.
In fact, at first glance, it's improved.
178
00:12:39,100 --> 00:12:42,640
You know, when you suggested this,
I wasn't so sure.
179
00:12:42,730 --> 00:12:44,110
Almost any other venue.
180
00:12:44,200 --> 00:12:46,320
All that surly waiter business
was much more your kick than mine.
181
00:12:46,510 --> 00:12:49,210
But when I came in the door,
I thought, 'Well, OK.'
182
00:12:49,310 --> 00:12:52,280
And I'm quite glad to see a menu
that doesn't make a fetish
183
00:12:52,470 --> 00:12:54,150
of stracciatella and pollo sorpreso.
184
00:12:57,100 --> 00:12:58,200
Good.
185
00:12:59,480 --> 00:13:00,870
Excellent.
186
00:13:02,320 --> 00:13:04,410
If you say so.
187
00:13:07,450 --> 00:13:13,450
Did he play the wrong card?
Could things be turning nasty?
188
00:13:13,550 --> 00:13:18,710
Retreating to cover,
he concentrates hard on the antipasti.
189
00:13:19,740 --> 00:13:24,500
Come on. No sulks.
Be nice. Sois sage.
190
00:13:24,600 --> 00:13:28,590
Cajoling English
and caressing French.
191
00:13:28,690 --> 00:13:31,260
How long has it been?
Ten years?
192
00:13:31,360 --> 00:13:32,350
Eleven?
193
00:13:33,670 --> 00:13:35,140
Fifteen.
194
00:13:35,240 --> 00:13:38,400
No, it can't be that.
Let's settle for twelve.
195
00:13:38,490 --> 00:13:42,230
And we've only got lunch
in which to tell each other everything, so...
196
00:13:44,930 --> 00:13:46,030
Truce?
197
00:13:46,120 --> 00:13:51,070
For a moment, he withholds,
mouth full of pause...
198
00:13:52,690 --> 00:13:56,360
which he can either spit out
or swallow.
199
00:13:56,460 --> 00:13:57,900
What's the use?
200
00:13:58,000 --> 00:13:58,990
Pax.
201
00:14:04,090 --> 00:14:08,600
His glass is drained,
hers is barely touched.
202
00:14:09,680 --> 00:14:14,900
Judiciously, he brings the levels level.
203
00:14:17,270 --> 00:14:22,030
So... who's to start?
204
00:14:22,130 --> 00:14:23,610
You.
205
00:14:23,710 --> 00:14:24,700
Right.
206
00:14:26,230 --> 00:14:30,370
I'll tell you everything I can.
There's little to relate.
207
00:14:30,470 --> 00:14:32,420
It was an aged, aged man.
208
00:14:32,510 --> 00:14:34,330
- Stop!
- What?
209
00:14:34,430 --> 00:14:38,590
If you can't be serious, we'll talk
about something else or nothing at all.
210
00:14:38,680 --> 00:14:41,000
I was about to do that.
That's my whole story.
211
00:14:42,660 --> 00:14:46,840
- Signora, signore. We haven't...
- Yes, thank you.
212
00:14:46,930 --> 00:14:48,300
Impeccable timing.
213
00:14:48,390 --> 00:14:50,010
But I'd like some advice.
214
00:14:50,100 --> 00:14:54,340
She doesn't need it, but it's her style
to entrust herself in unimportant matters,
215
00:14:54,540 --> 00:14:59,070
pose questions that are easy to answer,
and indeed it makes the waiter smile when,
216
00:14:59,170 --> 00:15:00,910
tapping the menu decisively,
217
00:15:00,990 --> 00:15:04,660
she requests the pumpkin ravioli
because he has recommended it,
218
00:15:04,860 --> 00:15:07,210
with sea bass to follow.
219
00:15:07,300 --> 00:15:07,670
Signore?
220
00:15:07,860 --> 00:15:09,060
His turn.
221
00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:12,270
Carpaccio.
222
00:15:13,600 --> 00:15:17,740
And in the absence of... pollo whatsit,
223
00:15:17,830 --> 00:15:21,910
pizza Napoletana, extra anchovies.
224
00:15:23,760 --> 00:15:27,380
No-one smiles at that,
because he is not nice.
225
00:15:32,960 --> 00:15:36,260
What say we start again?
Wind back the years?
226
00:15:36,460 --> 00:15:39,620
Minutes. You know what I mean.
227
00:15:39,710 --> 00:15:43,120
Ah, my autobiography.
No change there.
228
00:15:43,210 --> 00:15:46,660
Confessions of A Copy Editor,
Chapter 93.
229
00:15:46,760 --> 00:15:50,580
It's an ordinary day in a publishing house
of ill repute.
230
00:15:50,680 --> 00:15:53,360
Another moronic manuscript
comes crashing down the chute
231
00:15:53,450 --> 00:15:55,380
to be turned into art.
232
00:15:55,480 --> 00:15:58,260
This morning it was Wayne Wanker's
latest dog's dinner of sex,
233
00:15:58,430 --> 00:16:00,860
teenage philosophy
and writing-course prose.
234
00:16:00,960 --> 00:16:03,680
Abracadabra, kick it up the arse
and out it goes to be Book Of The Week
235
00:16:03,770 --> 00:16:05,660
or some other bollocks.
236
00:16:05,750 --> 00:16:09,940
What a fraud. What a farce.
And tomorrow, which of our geniuses
237
00:16:10,040 --> 00:16:12,610
will escape from the zoo
and head straight for us
238
00:16:12,710 --> 00:16:17,490
with a new masterpiece
lifeless in his jaws?
239
00:16:18,170 --> 00:16:21,470
That's about the size of it.
What about you?
240
00:16:25,050 --> 00:16:26,980
Business as usual, then.
241
00:16:27,070 --> 00:16:28,400
Yes.
242
00:16:29,540 --> 00:16:33,240
Business... as usual.
243
00:16:33,330 --> 00:16:37,160
After such a rant, he finds it difficult
to look her in the eye,
244
00:16:37,250 --> 00:16:41,740
which is bright, amused,
searching, pitiless,
245
00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:43,500
but he has to try.
246
00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:48,710
A sip may help.
247
00:16:50,410 --> 00:16:52,960
When he notices
for the first time the faint,
248
00:16:53,060 --> 00:16:58,590
faint nimbus of the lens
circling the gold-shot azure of each iris.
249
00:16:59,970 --> 00:17:03,690
Well, of course.
'Oracle eyes' he used to call them.
250
00:17:03,780 --> 00:17:08,690
The harder you looked, the more sublime
and unreadable they became.
251
00:17:08,790 --> 00:17:12,160
But have they lost their old force?
252
00:17:12,250 --> 00:17:17,790
The heretical question
strengthen his own stare.
253
00:17:17,880 --> 00:17:24,920
Gaze meets gaze, revealing, as ever,
everything and nothing there.
254
00:17:25,990 --> 00:17:29,630
Flyaway thought. Back to life.
255
00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:30,710
And you?
256
00:17:31,740 --> 00:17:35,340
Oh! The good wife and loving mother.
257
00:17:35,430 --> 00:17:38,180
That keeps me occupied.
I've no complaints.
258
00:17:38,270 --> 00:17:41,960
And Paris is a fabulous city.
You really should visit.
259
00:17:42,060 --> 00:17:43,630
He has,
260
00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:48,840
but is it the moment to mention
that crazed escapade?
261
00:17:48,940 --> 00:17:55,470
Skulking at dusk in her prim grey square,
address folded in his raincoat pocket,
262
00:17:55,570 --> 00:17:59,650
with no real intention of ringing
the doorbell, yet unable to depart.
263
00:18:01,070 --> 00:18:03,420
Until the horrible shock of the pigeons,
264
00:18:03,510 --> 00:18:06,670
an entire flock rising at some scare
into the diminished light
265
00:18:06,770 --> 00:18:10,550
like a thousand umbrellas
simultaneously opening
266
00:18:10,640 --> 00:18:14,180
and telling him to go.
267
00:18:15,900 --> 00:18:19,490
No, he thinks. No.
268
00:18:20,530 --> 00:18:24,620
She seems not to have noticed,
averted from him,
269
00:18:24,720 --> 00:18:29,030
twisting in her seat,
chin raised, eyes reconnoitring.
270
00:18:29,580 --> 00:18:32,850
He'd like to kiss her long neck.
271
00:18:34,170 --> 00:18:36,390
Nibble it.
272
00:18:36,490 --> 00:18:40,440
Nuzzle her jawbone with his nose.
273
00:18:42,180 --> 00:18:45,980
Which one is our waiter?
We could do with some more water.
274
00:18:47,020 --> 00:18:49,700
- That's... That's him over there.
- Are you sure?
275
00:18:49,790 --> 00:18:52,840
You can't have forgotten - you were
practically seducing him a minute ago.
276
00:18:52,850 --> 00:18:55,010
It's nice to know
you're still madly jealous.
277
00:18:55,110 --> 00:18:58,430
Oh, yes, he's rotten with jealousy.
278
00:18:58,530 --> 00:19:01,600
Absolutely I am not.
279
00:19:01,700 --> 00:19:05,100
And now we're on the subject,
how is the old pseud?
280
00:19:05,200 --> 00:19:09,360
He means her husband,
the celebrated novelist.
281
00:19:09,450 --> 00:19:14,770
The ubiquitous jacket photo,
the wintry smirk that stole her from him.
282
00:19:14,870 --> 00:19:15,770
She throws out a laugh.
283
00:19:15,970 --> 00:19:16,960
Ha!
284
00:19:17,050 --> 00:19:18,420
A single syllable.
285
00:19:18,510 --> 00:19:19,830
Flourishing, thank you.
286
00:19:19,930 --> 00:19:22,660
How could she have been so gullible?
287
00:19:22,760 --> 00:19:25,470
There's a new book of stories
out in the autumn
288
00:19:25,560 --> 00:19:27,450
and right now,
he's hard at work on some lectures
289
00:19:27,540 --> 00:19:30,430
that Harvard have asked him to do,
290
00:19:30,520 --> 00:19:31,760
so... everything's perfect.
291
00:19:31,860 --> 00:19:36,140
And how could he have been
so abject as to let it happen?
292
00:19:40,600 --> 00:19:43,040
Once more she is distracted,
catching the eye of the waiter
293
00:19:43,140 --> 00:19:46,420
with a demure flutter
of restaurant semaphore
294
00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:50,010
and asking for more water.
295
00:19:50,100 --> 00:19:52,590
And we'll need another bottle of this.
296
00:20:20,870 --> 00:20:26,010
Right. So, er, does he,
does he know that we're...?
297
00:20:26,270 --> 00:20:27,360
Having lunch?
298
00:20:28,560 --> 00:20:31,570
Yes. Of course. I told him.
299
00:20:31,670 --> 00:20:34,830
And he instructed me to pass on
his warmest regards,
300
00:20:34,920 --> 00:20:38,040
which I've no intention of doing,
as he well knows.
301
00:20:38,710 --> 00:20:41,420
That's very kind!
302
00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:46,760
Of both of you, I suppose.
303
00:20:59,370 --> 00:21:01,380
He watches,
304
00:21:01,480 --> 00:21:05,100
and his companion
watches him watch,
305
00:21:05,190 --> 00:21:08,600
the flexing of supple back
and sturdy haunches
306
00:21:08,700 --> 00:21:15,020
as the waitress raises and twists
the head of the wooden phallus,
307
00:21:15,120 --> 00:21:16,440
scattering seed.
308
00:21:19,270 --> 00:21:21,200
- Buon appetito.
- Thank you.
309
00:21:26,900 --> 00:21:30,940
First mouthfuls are discussed
and pronounced delicious.
310
00:21:31,040 --> 00:21:34,490
Then, as of old, forks trade
between dishes
311
00:21:34,590 --> 00:21:38,040
and swaps are analysed.
312
00:21:38,130 --> 00:21:39,750
Mmm. You chose well.
313
00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:43,580
Nutmeg, I think.
Or could it be mace?
314
00:21:43,680 --> 00:21:46,920
Sweet accord of comparisons
and compliments,
315
00:21:47,010 --> 00:21:50,840
recalling a time before the souring.
316
00:21:50,940 --> 00:21:54,640
Beef's beautifully lean, and the
capers are not too overpowering.
317
00:21:54,730 --> 00:21:57,970
I suppose this is nothing
to what you're used to.
318
00:21:58,070 --> 00:21:59,000
Paris?
319
00:21:59,040 --> 00:22:01,070
You know, we never eat out.
320
00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:04,280
The boys have appetites
but absolutely no taste.
321
00:22:04,370 --> 00:22:06,400
It's like feeding large dogs.
322
00:22:06,490 --> 00:22:09,870
Smart restaurants, haute cuisine,
would be a total waste.
323
00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:15,660
So this, even Zanzotti's,
is a rare treat.
324
00:22:15,750 --> 00:22:19,830
Despite the qualification,
satisfying to hear.
325
00:22:21,690 --> 00:22:25,670
He has killed a bottle
almost single-handed.
326
00:22:25,770 --> 00:22:28,920
When he seizes the new one
and nods it in her direction,
327
00:22:28,940 --> 00:22:33,350
her flattened hand places an interdiction
on the half-full glass
328
00:22:33,440 --> 00:22:36,100
that would be half-empty to him.
329
00:22:38,570 --> 00:22:46,280
Slender fingers, once so intimate
and versatile and tender.
330
00:22:46,370 --> 00:22:51,990
Whirls of wrinkles sealing
the knuckles deeper now,
331
00:22:52,090 --> 00:22:57,460
though the lacquerless nails
remain buffed and neat.
332
00:22:57,490 --> 00:23:01,640
Admitting defeat,
the bottle withdraws backwards.
333
00:23:01,740 --> 00:23:07,650
Still bowing like a courtier,
turns to his own glass and...
334
00:23:09,040 --> 00:23:16,620
'A word in your ear' blurts out
its sorrows in a splashy gabble.
335
00:23:20,040 --> 00:23:23,590
With the blade of her fork
she presses down, punctures,
336
00:23:23,690 --> 00:23:29,010
gashes, saws, seesaws, slices into a plump,
glistening pasta packet,
337
00:23:29,110 --> 00:23:34,390
then scoops and carries half to her mouth.
338
00:23:34,990 --> 00:23:37,710
Chews.
339
00:23:37,810 --> 00:23:43,510
Chews, he observes, with less
conspicuous relish than she used to.
340
00:23:43,710 --> 00:23:48,060
Have all her appetites
turned less lusty?
341
00:23:49,890 --> 00:23:51,320
Mind your own business.
342
00:23:52,890 --> 00:23:59,200
But isn't it his business
to remember certain times?
343
00:23:59,300 --> 00:24:03,250
Old times, bedtimes,
between-times, any-times,
344
00:24:03,340 --> 00:24:07,040
of a startling impromptu
innocent lasciviousness
345
00:24:07,140 --> 00:24:09,130
that he'll never know again?
346
00:24:09,220 --> 00:24:13,590
Sleep-musky kisses that roused him
in the small hours,
347
00:24:13,690 --> 00:24:16,050
peremptory custody of light, firm limbs,
348
00:24:16,250 --> 00:24:19,950
the polyrhythmic riding
he'll never know again.
349
00:24:20,040 --> 00:24:23,240
Caught a fish and let it go.
350
00:24:23,340 --> 00:24:27,960
Woe, woe,
woe, woe...
351
00:24:34,580 --> 00:24:38,140
Found a treasure and threw it away.
352
00:24:38,230 --> 00:24:39,220
Hey, hey.
353
00:24:39,350 --> 00:24:41,320
Drop it now.
354
00:24:56,840 --> 00:24:59,520
Figure of folly and pathos.
355
00:24:59,610 --> 00:25:03,980
Figure of folly and pathos.
Voyeur of the past, and of the present.
356
00:25:04,070 --> 00:25:07,110
He steals a peep.
357
00:25:07,200 --> 00:25:13,360
Every movement has elegance and economy,
is swift and deft.
358
00:25:13,460 --> 00:25:17,830
The jut of her wristbone, marvel
of engineering, holds the secret,
359
00:25:18,020 --> 00:25:19,590
and as a connoisseur,
360
00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:24,850
he yearns to inspect it at closer quarters,
by eye and by touch.
361
00:25:24,950 --> 00:25:27,590
But how can he catch it?
362
00:25:27,690 --> 00:25:31,720
Like a butterfly hunter,
he ponders the problem.
363
00:25:37,510 --> 00:25:40,650
Sweetheart...
364
00:25:41,570 --> 00:25:45,340
Sweetheart...
I hate to say it, but you're leering.
365
00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:51,760
My God. You're right. I'm sorry.
It's the old male gaze.
366
00:25:51,860 --> 00:25:54,000
Through alcoholic haze.
367
00:25:54,150 --> 00:25:55,950
You can say that again.
368
00:25:56,980 --> 00:26:00,290
I think I've fallen in love
with your wrist.
369
00:26:00,380 --> 00:26:02,830
I think I've become a wrist fetishist.
370
00:26:02,930 --> 00:26:04,880
You're an everything fetishist,
always have been.
371
00:26:04,890 --> 00:26:06,310
Guilty.
372
00:26:06,410 --> 00:26:09,190
You know, it's one thing
to ogle a waitress's bum,
373
00:26:09,280 --> 00:26:12,510
but this is the wrist of a married woman.
374
00:26:12,610 --> 00:26:15,930
Private property. Look.
375
00:26:16,030 --> 00:26:19,560
I'm sure you can see
the mark of the manacles, so...
376
00:26:19,660 --> 00:26:21,230
kindly desist.
377
00:26:21,330 --> 00:26:24,730
Now, where are the toilets?
378
00:26:44,890 --> 00:26:47,570
Half-empty. But that can wait.
379
00:26:47,670 --> 00:26:51,160
How's the bottle?
Plenty.
380
00:26:51,250 --> 00:26:59,080
He thinks. Thinks about drink,
about his drinking.
381
00:26:59,180 --> 00:27:04,410
The taste of his last mouthful
lies like rust on his tongue.
382
00:27:04,510 --> 00:27:08,000
Harsh,
and yet his tongue craves more.
383
00:27:08,150 --> 00:27:12,850
At rest in the glass,
the wine is rusted purple.
384
00:27:12,950 --> 00:27:19,690
So there exists an affinity, a strong
mutual pull between wine and tongue.
385
00:27:20,370 --> 00:27:25,220
They are complementary.
They are in love.
386
00:27:27,020 --> 00:27:29,910
The silent tongue calls out,
and the wine,
387
00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:33,370
though inanimate,
will heed the call.
388
00:27:34,440 --> 00:27:37,460
Well, it's a theory.
389
00:27:37,550 --> 00:27:41,670
Lent support when the glass rises
and, this time,
390
00:27:41,760 --> 00:27:46,830
not stopping short,
delivers one lover to the other.
391
00:27:50,200 --> 00:27:51,960
They kiss.
392
00:27:52,050 --> 00:28:01,220
There's a little death, an insufficient
bliss, but repeatable later.
393
00:28:11,180 --> 00:28:15,980
But he's interrupted by mention of a book
he's actually written.
394
00:28:16,080 --> 00:28:18,040
His own. His only.
395
00:28:18,140 --> 00:28:21,130
I read your book.
Are you working on any more?
396
00:28:21,230 --> 00:28:22,920
No.
397
00:28:23,020 --> 00:28:26,550
Blow-all.
Not a squeak.
398
00:28:26,650 --> 00:28:29,390
True. The Muse of Misery,
399
00:28:29,480 --> 00:28:33,550
so lavish in her attentions
for a year or two, has not revisited,
400
00:28:33,650 --> 00:28:39,680
and that modest volume of 36 wounded
and weeping lyrics remains unique.
401
00:28:39,780 --> 00:28:45,020
The book conceived in tears
will be born drowned.
402
00:29:06,150 --> 00:29:08,210
That's a great shame.
403
00:29:08,300 --> 00:29:12,040
Naturally,
I wasn't your most objective reader,
404
00:29:12,140 --> 00:29:15,880
but I thought the poems had real power.
405
00:29:15,980 --> 00:29:20,640
Some of the mythic stuff was over the top,
but I could see your...
406
00:29:20,730 --> 00:29:23,720
Our... Stop right there!
407
00:29:23,820 --> 00:29:25,720
What do you mean, "mythic stuff"?
408
00:29:25,820 --> 00:29:29,440
The mythic stuff
was the whole fucking point.
409
00:29:31,010 --> 00:29:34,210
Well, for a start, I'm not actually
in thrall to the King of Death,
410
00:29:34,240 --> 00:29:36,610
or whoever he's meant to be.
411
00:29:36,710 --> 00:29:38,680
Yes, you are. Don't you see?
412
00:29:38,780 --> 00:29:40,390
And you're totally Orpheus?
413
00:29:40,490 --> 00:29:41,930
- Right.
- And I'm...?
414
00:29:42,130 --> 00:29:43,520
You're my wife, you're dead,
415
00:29:43,620 --> 00:29:47,490
and it's my business to bring you back to
life, which I very nearly succeed in doing.
416
00:29:47,580 --> 00:29:51,340
But you don't. No way.
Because I like being dead.
417
00:29:51,430 --> 00:29:54,340
And that's where the metaphor,
the analogy,
418
00:29:54,440 --> 00:29:58,100
the whole preposterous contrivance
falls apart.
419
00:29:58,190 --> 00:30:00,000
- So you loathed it.
- I had my quibbles.
420
00:30:00,220 --> 00:30:01,870
- You loathed it.
- No.
421
00:30:03,240 --> 00:30:06,660
It's the little dark agile waitress,
422
00:30:06,760 --> 00:30:09,540
the athlete-ballerina with her
deadpan demeanour,
423
00:30:09,640 --> 00:30:11,670
who serves them both.
424
00:30:11,760 --> 00:30:18,840
Refusal to smile explains her style.
That and heavy black eyebrows.
425
00:30:18,940 --> 00:30:22,220
- Sea bass for the signora.
- Thank you.
426
00:30:22,320 --> 00:30:24,210
And for him...
427
00:30:24,310 --> 00:30:29,510
a wheel of gloop-smothered dough,
singed at the rim.
428
00:30:38,530 --> 00:30:40,830
No swaps this time.
429
00:30:41,990 --> 00:30:44,040
Conversation on hold,
430
00:30:44,140 --> 00:30:50,010
the scuffle and clack of her cutlery send
out signals not difficult to interpret.
431
00:30:53,710 --> 00:30:59,560
But he's soothed by the ambient blah,
432
00:30:59,650 --> 00:31:05,020
the big white noise of a room that's full
of anonymously feeding humans.
433
00:31:05,120 --> 00:31:10,270
Even the too-near table of boisterous
boys contributes to its euphony,
434
00:31:10,360 --> 00:31:12,810
its equilibrium.
435
00:31:12,910 --> 00:31:20,690
There is peace at the heart of the din,
concord in babel.
436
00:31:22,230 --> 00:31:23,700
Then a kick on the shin.
437
00:31:23,790 --> 00:31:27,990
This is ground control.
Can you hear me?
438
00:31:28,130 --> 00:31:31,640
- Loud and clear.
- I seem to have hurt your feelings.
439
00:31:31,730 --> 00:31:33,700
Not at all. I've had my feelings
surgically removed.
440
00:31:33,710 --> 00:31:35,950
They can't be touched by anyone now.
441
00:31:39,950 --> 00:31:41,540
Oh, my dear.
442
00:31:43,870 --> 00:31:50,430
He cannot not feel her middle finger
lightly and with calm, rotatory strokes
443
00:31:50,520 --> 00:31:53,720
massage behind his knuckles,
444
00:31:53,820 --> 00:32:01,510
then her thumb shove into his fist
and nuzzle against his palm.
445
00:32:01,610 --> 00:32:04,220
Just what he doesn't want -
446
00:32:04,320 --> 00:32:10,730
the untimely stirring of what could become
by not so slow degrees a major bonk.
447
00:32:12,220 --> 00:32:14,730
Not now, please...
448
00:32:14,830 --> 00:32:17,630
It's like an old tired, foolishly
friendly, mostly forgotten dog
449
00:32:17,720 --> 00:32:20,050
that's chosen an awkward moment
to rouse
450
00:32:20,140 --> 00:32:24,130
and shake itself from its basket
and demand a romp.
451
00:32:24,330 --> 00:32:27,860
Down, boy, down.
Thank you, Robert Graves.
452
00:32:27,960 --> 00:32:29,740
'Down,' I said.
453
00:32:29,840 --> 00:32:33,080
And he can't be sure
if it's willpower or the wine,
454
00:32:33,170 --> 00:32:37,080
but the dog reluctantly behaves,
455
00:32:37,180 --> 00:32:44,250
retreating to its lonesome,
malodorous nest for another long nap.
456
00:32:44,440 --> 00:32:47,890
Good chap.
Good chap.
457
00:33:06,540 --> 00:33:07,640
Penny?
458
00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:13,890
- Sorry?
- Your thoughts.
459
00:33:14,030 --> 00:33:17,660
No. I wasn't thinking, exactly.
460
00:33:17,760 --> 00:33:22,880
More probing a mental dimension
beyond time and space.
461
00:33:24,550 --> 00:33:26,870
Typical.
462
00:33:26,970 --> 00:33:30,790
You can't even pay attention
for the few minutes we have.
463
00:33:31,180 --> 00:33:35,060
I've come all this way, dropped my family
at not the most convenient moment,
464
00:33:35,160 --> 00:33:37,480
hopped on the shuttle,
taken the taxi ride from hell,
465
00:33:37,560 --> 00:33:40,000
convinced at every traffic light
I'd be late, and here I am,
466
00:33:40,010 --> 00:33:42,420
all tuned up for our little reunion,
only to find your physical,
467
00:33:42,520 --> 00:33:45,470
guzzling, tippling self
recognisably present,
468
00:33:45,560 --> 00:33:47,430
but your mind appears
to have flitted off on holiday.
469
00:33:47,520 --> 00:33:50,180
You're out to lunch
at your own lunch.
470
00:33:51,340 --> 00:33:53,770
That's nicely put
and no doubt true as well.
471
00:33:53,860 --> 00:33:56,080
The sort of thing they used to say
on my school report,
472
00:33:56,190 --> 00:33:58,160
along with 'un-teachable'
and 'half-witted'.
473
00:33:58,260 --> 00:34:00,330
'Guzzling' is unfair, though.
474
00:34:00,430 --> 00:34:03,340
I really can't manage the rest of this.
'Tippling', however...
475
00:34:08,160 --> 00:34:09,830
"I take it...
476
00:34:10,950 --> 00:34:13,750
Antidote to all life's ills.
477
00:34:13,850 --> 00:34:16,840
- Are there so many?
- Ha! Funny!
478
00:34:16,930 --> 00:34:19,590
I wasn't trying to be.
479
00:34:19,690 --> 00:34:21,380
I suppose, in number, not many.
480
00:34:21,480 --> 00:34:23,050
That's reassuring.
481
00:34:23,150 --> 00:34:28,890
Just one great, big drink to me only!
482
00:34:34,010 --> 00:34:35,980
Seems to help.
483
00:34:38,830 --> 00:34:41,210
I appear to have lost
my appetite as well.
484
00:34:45,880 --> 00:34:50,890
You'll leave a fishy.
Half a fishy.
485
00:34:50,980 --> 00:34:53,230
Sad waste.
486
00:34:53,320 --> 00:34:55,380
Borrow a taste?
487
00:34:55,480 --> 00:34:57,340
Better not.
488
00:34:59,460 --> 00:35:02,680
This hasn't gone
quite as I expected.
489
00:35:04,360 --> 00:35:08,790
How did you expect it to go?
490
00:35:10,570 --> 00:35:14,630
Oh, I don't know.
More of the old... whatever we had.
491
00:35:14,720 --> 00:35:19,550
Which wasn't too bad, was it?
492
00:35:19,650 --> 00:35:23,180
# We did have fun.#
493
00:35:23,270 --> 00:35:25,680
Didn't we?
We did.
494
00:35:25,880 --> 00:35:30,250
# Da-da-da
# And no harm done.#
495
00:35:34,320 --> 00:35:38,920
Till the King of Death
arrived on the scene.
496
00:35:39,020 --> 00:35:41,200
Or should I say "the King of Prose"?
497
00:35:41,300 --> 00:35:43,710
Or should you say nothing.
498
00:35:49,910 --> 00:35:52,510
- Have you finished?
- One minute!
499
00:35:52,600 --> 00:35:56,260
Yes, thank you, and I believe
my friend has finished with his.
500
00:35:58,550 --> 00:36:01,180
- Any desserts? Coffee?
- No, thank you.
501
00:36:01,280 --> 00:36:08,190
HER no to both.
Dully he concurs, till an idea glows.
502
00:36:08,280 --> 00:36:10,980
Glows and grows
in the murk of his brain.
503
00:36:11,180 --> 00:36:14,510
Fine, fiery, feisty candle flame.
504
00:36:14,600 --> 00:36:19,220
But I think I could handle
a little grappa.
505
00:36:21,540 --> 00:36:23,890
Una grappina. Si, signore.
506
00:36:23,980 --> 00:36:28,090
And away he zooms on waiter business,
waiter among waiters,
507
00:36:28,190 --> 00:36:32,720
zapping and arabesquing from table
to table like bees between blooms.
508
00:36:32,820 --> 00:36:35,640
Business and buzziness.
509
00:36:35,740 --> 00:36:41,130
Now, that busy waitress, the bee ballerina -
is she sting or is she sweetness?
510
00:36:41,720 --> 00:36:44,230
Nowhere to be seen.
511
00:36:45,680 --> 00:36:47,690
Where are you this time?
512
00:36:49,260 --> 00:36:52,110
- God, I'm sorry.
- Sorry indeed.
513
00:36:52,200 --> 00:36:56,000
I hadn't expected you to have gone
to seed with quite such abandon.
514
00:36:56,100 --> 00:36:58,260
Or is this some sort of...
515
00:36:58,350 --> 00:37:02,550
cock-eyed performance you're putting on
for my special benefit?
516
00:37:04,800 --> 00:37:07,680
I think I need to think about that one.
517
00:37:07,780 --> 00:37:11,590
Right. Well, while you're doing that,
I'll tell you what I think.
518
00:37:11,690 --> 00:37:14,010
For which we need to go back to your poems.
519
00:37:14,210 --> 00:37:17,870
It strikes me you don't understand them
yourself. They're not about me.
520
00:37:17,960 --> 00:37:22,010
I wasn't the kidnap victim - it was you
who were snatched and carried away
521
00:37:22,100 --> 00:37:24,250
to some region of darkness by...
522
00:37:24,340 --> 00:37:28,290
Oh, Let's call her the Queen of the Fairies.
Don't interrupt.
523
00:37:28,390 --> 00:37:30,330
I'm finding the words as I go
but when I've stopped,
524
00:37:30,420 --> 00:37:32,920
we'll see if the theory's up to scrutiny.
525
00:37:33,020 --> 00:37:35,180
Now, according to my logic,
the Eurydice
526
00:37:35,280 --> 00:37:37,680
that you're trying to rescue
with your brave little song
527
00:37:37,770 --> 00:37:39,860
must be yourself,
your inner self, your soul.
528
00:37:39,870 --> 00:37:43,700
But you've not been in touch
with that in your entire life.
529
00:37:43,800 --> 00:37:47,160
Which puts you in a hole,
strategically speaking.
530
00:37:47,260 --> 00:37:49,520
And who was it dumped you there
in the first place?
531
00:37:49,530 --> 00:37:52,040
The kidnapper I was talking about,
whom I can now reveal
532
00:37:52,080 --> 00:37:54,520
to be the Lyric Muse,
who should have left you alone
533
00:37:54,620 --> 00:37:57,350
to work out your problems
in some healthier fashion,
534
00:37:57,440 --> 00:38:00,500
and not led you on, not made you
confuse poetry with therapy.
535
00:38:00,660 --> 00:38:04,010
And who's also to blame
for your present state of emotional arrest,
536
00:38:04,200 --> 00:38:07,360
infantile truculence
and drunken flippancy.
537
00:38:07,450 --> 00:38:11,360
It's not just that you're stuck in the past.
You're stuck in your poems.
538
00:38:11,460 --> 00:38:13,660
Which have their merits.
539
00:38:13,750 --> 00:38:15,460
They're nicely written,
they're clever and so on.
540
00:38:15,760 --> 00:38:20,790
But they're misconceived, false,
hollow, wrong.
541
00:38:20,890 --> 00:38:24,380
You should never have gone there.
Yet you did.
542
00:38:24,470 --> 00:38:28,210
That... That's the catastrophe.
That's the disaster.
543
00:38:31,880 --> 00:38:35,580
You're going to have to repeat that.
I want to write it down,
544
00:38:35,780 --> 00:38:39,160
especially the bit about flippulant...
545
00:38:39,260 --> 00:38:42,220
Yes... What?
I'm perfectly serious.
546
00:38:45,130 --> 00:38:48,430
The Oracle Eyes appear
to have tears in them.
547
00:38:48,630 --> 00:38:51,060
But too proud to fall.
548
00:38:52,680 --> 00:38:56,270
Ever the escape artist,
ever the clown.
549
00:39:03,520 --> 00:39:08,750
Nip of grappa,
distillation of grape pips,
550
00:39:08,840 --> 00:39:11,040
sits on the tongue a moment,
551
00:39:11,140 --> 00:39:14,210
transmitting warmth
to the outer limbs,
552
00:39:14,300 --> 00:39:18,340
then slips to its doom.
553
00:39:26,000 --> 00:39:27,670
No, I'm sure you're right.
554
00:39:29,080 --> 00:39:32,510
My little book
was a great big bag of shite,
555
00:39:32,610 --> 00:39:37,110
when I thought I was writing hymns
to your sublime beauty
556
00:39:37,200 --> 00:39:39,270
and our lost love.
Thank you for the elucidation.
557
00:39:39,360 --> 00:39:41,390
Now, if you'll excuse me,
558
00:39:41,490 --> 00:39:46,320
I need to find my way to the little girls'
- sorry, not funny - little boys' room.
559
00:39:50,270 --> 00:39:54,540
The big noisy boys are getting up to leave,
so he chooses a round-about route,
560
00:39:54,840 --> 00:40:00,250
taking care from a safe, but visible,
distance to throw them a killer glare.
561
00:40:00,340 --> 00:40:03,500
One of them catches it, baffled.
562
00:40:09,790 --> 00:40:12,250
The gents' -
he doesn't need the arrow -
563
00:40:12,340 --> 00:40:17,090
is along the passage and down
some narrow steps that tip him in...
564
00:40:17,180 --> 00:40:20,010
faster than calculated.
565
00:40:22,290 --> 00:40:24,680
But he's made it.
566
00:40:24,770 --> 00:40:29,180
Knows at once the old chemical fragrance,
which only partially smothers
567
00:40:29,280 --> 00:40:34,730
the jabbing kidney reek
that proclaims all men brothers.
568
00:40:35,850 --> 00:40:38,820
And there's the familiar porcelain goblet
569
00:40:38,910 --> 00:40:43,120
with its ancient stains
and crazed glaze.
570
00:40:46,480 --> 00:40:50,790
It is while he is standing
watching his yellow stream
571
00:40:50,880 --> 00:40:56,880
slither sluggishly away along the gully
that he conceives his scheme.
572
00:41:00,200 --> 00:41:08,090
To find the dark-browed waitress.
To find her and ask her to marry him.
573
00:41:12,750 --> 00:41:15,930
Once out the door and up the short
flight past the ladies',
574
00:41:16,020 --> 00:41:19,040
then left again down the doorless
corridor with, at the end,
575
00:41:19,240 --> 00:41:22,520
a longer flight to a windowed half-landing,
view of brickwork and drainpipes.
576
00:41:22,620 --> 00:41:25,590
Turn about and aided by
a shaky handrail up to the first floor.
577
00:41:25,790 --> 00:41:28,860
Two doors, both rattled, both locked.
578
00:41:28,960 --> 00:41:32,450
Then up, up, up by steeper steps
and odder odours...
579
00:41:34,270 --> 00:41:36,410
...to the very top.
580
00:41:48,490 --> 00:41:50,080
He sits.
581
00:41:54,120 --> 00:42:01,090
An erupting pigeon briefly interrupts.
Otherwise, silence.
582
00:42:03,710 --> 00:42:04,800
Non-event.
583
00:42:17,190 --> 00:42:22,290
Now he can't decide
whether to weep... or sleep.
584
00:43:59,310 --> 00:44:06,410
He is woken up by somebody waking
up inside him, abruptly and roughly.
585
00:44:06,500 --> 00:44:12,280
After some seconds' ugly tussle,
he identifies his assailant...
586
00:44:14,230 --> 00:44:16,780
as himself.
587
00:44:19,360 --> 00:44:24,790
They reach an agreement - encourage
each other to consciousness and become one.
588
00:44:26,910 --> 00:44:31,340
What is he doing
crouched on this high shelf?
589
00:44:34,290 --> 00:44:38,560
The brick view illuminates nothing,
590
00:44:38,650 --> 00:44:42,500
but a wheedling smell - mixture of
kitchen wafts and structural mildew -
591
00:44:42,610 --> 00:44:45,020
helps him to recall.
592
00:44:49,770 --> 00:44:52,070
Lunch!
593
00:44:52,170 --> 00:44:53,700
Oh!
594
00:44:56,560 --> 00:45:01,070
Nicely judged lurches propel him
down to the ground floor.
595
00:45:03,060 --> 00:45:10,000
And a more stately progress,
just once cannoning off the wall,
596
00:45:10,170 --> 00:45:16,500
brings him back to the restaurant,
now almost deserted.
597
00:45:16,600 --> 00:45:20,590
That's his table over there.
Unoccupied.
598
00:45:20,680 --> 00:45:24,470
Less than an hour has passed,
599
00:45:24,560 --> 00:45:27,850
but he might have died
and be returning as a ghost.
600
00:45:27,900 --> 00:45:29,680
The lady, she go. You no come back.
601
00:45:35,350 --> 00:45:37,310
No, no, no, no. She pay.
602
00:45:37,410 --> 00:45:41,560
Airy hesitation.
He tucks his wallet away.
603
00:45:41,650 --> 00:45:42,770
Was...
604
00:45:44,470 --> 00:45:46,230
Was she angry?
605
00:45:46,330 --> 00:45:50,480
Big shrug. Big shake of head.
Comical, big-mouthed grimace.
606
00:45:50,580 --> 00:45:52,860
Wouldn't care to say,
same as enough said.
607
00:45:55,690 --> 00:45:59,490
Look! They've looked after
his shoulder bag.
608
00:46:05,080 --> 00:46:09,300
Now he is saddled
and ready to depart.
609
00:46:09,400 --> 00:46:13,560
But first,
a last goodbye to the old place.
610
00:46:13,650 --> 00:46:16,440
Nothing more empty than
a room full of tables,
611
00:46:16,530 --> 00:46:20,980
laid... but without occupants.
612
00:46:23,150 --> 00:46:24,900
No, wait.
613
00:46:26,480 --> 00:46:31,740
There's someone seated by the window.
A very old man.
614
00:46:31,840 --> 00:46:37,670
Parchment face, sparse white hairs
combed in strict parallels,
615
00:46:37,770 --> 00:46:40,390
blind, staring eyes, black tie, black suit,
616
00:46:40,400 --> 00:46:44,840
rigid as a cadaver
from some Sicilian catacomb.
617
00:46:44,930 --> 00:46:50,800
Husk of life.
Without sap, without savour.
618
00:46:50,900 --> 00:46:54,350
Nudge him, he'll crumble.
619
00:46:57,390 --> 00:47:03,660
As he turns to go,
the recognition... pierces him.
620
00:47:07,130 --> 00:47:08,720
Massimo!
53326
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