Original subtitles

Cinema

is the Dream Factory

or are

dreams, the Factory

of Cinema?

I'm Silvia, and I am dead,

while the Earth has just been destroyed.

But is it really my earth which has been annihilated?

And where am I in this mysterious and inextricable labyrinth of parallel worlds?

So that you too can better understand the incredible succession of events

which led to an old piece of film taken at the time of the Lumiere Brothers,

and of Georges Melies being decisive for the salvation or destruction of the world,

I will begin my story very far off...

There are numerous discoveries which have brought us to

the creation of what constitutes the key to this story,

the motion pictures camera,

and first among them was the “dark room, intuited by Aristotle,

and taken up by Leonardo da Vinci, in the 15th century.

It was Leonardo who opened up the way for Paracelso's

studies, the Swiss magician and alchemist.

And then, after Paracelso, appeared a mysterious man:

the Italian, Aureo Silvestre, mathematician and member of the Accademia de' Luminosi.

A man whose traits fade into legend, for the sinister

reputation which accompanied him all his life.

In 1645 in the Castle of Fossombrone, he perfected some of Paracelso's

studies on the occult powers of reflected images and of mirrors.

The result of his studies was the treatise

“Where with the light, the light is destroyed”,

the book which will prove fundamental for our story.

The time was now ripe for all the research to

reach the goal which had been the dream for many.

It was 1826, and Europe was just recovering

from the turbulence which Napoleon had created,

when in France, Joseph Niepce managed to create the

first true photograph, finally pinning down the light.

Then, in 1887, Hannibal Goodwin devised a flexible

film of cellulose nitrate which was called “film”,

a true revolution, marketed just two years later by George Eastman,

a revolution without which it would not have been

possible to take the last and definitive leap forward.

The 16th September 1890, the French inventor Louis Le Prince

got on a train for Paris, with two of his patented inventions:

a machine to take moving images, and a device

to project them, enlarged, onto a screen.

But Louis Le Prince never got to Paris...

he disappeared mysteriously, and forever, on that very train.

If he had not so inexplicably vanished into the void, today,

he would probably be credited as the real inventor of cinema.

Instead, five years later, on the 13th February 1895, it was

Louis Lumiere who deposited the patent of “Cinematographe”,

a machine capable of simultaneously, recording

moving images, developing, and projecting them.

And 1895 became the universally recognized date for

the official beginning of the history of cinema.

But the big question remains: what happened to

Louis Le Prince, the real inventor of cinema?

Why did he disappear? Where did he end up?

And how is it, that the mystery of the man called

Le Prince and the work of other great film pioneers

such as the Lumiere brothers and Georges Me lies,

are interwoven with the story that swept me up too, in this chaotic contemporary Rome,

when the existence of the human race itself was inadvertently put in danger,

by two women who wanted to have a little “fun” with the occult:

Barbara, naive and suggestible,

and Chiara, a student of quantum physics, obviously very skeptical about all things

connected with the afterlife, and the supernatural...

who without intending to, contributed to throwing

open the doors which separate the invisible worlds,

and by so doing, setting off on our World, the madness of Parallel Universes.

By doing so, setting off on our world, the madness of Parallel Universes.

-We are... - I know. Follow me.

The images are starting to take shape.

Here we are...

It is Paris...the Paris of over 100 years ago...

and that is the famous Boulevard des ltaliens!

That's number 8 of the Boulevard, where there was the theater of Robert Houdin,

dedicated only to the magician's and jugglers' shows

and that is Richard Bessiere,

...and this other man is himself a magician,

with his lovely assistant, the woman he loves

and he, Richard Bessiere...

...It was he who in 1897 opened the door, the Door into the Parallel Worlds...

Here, I believe this is for you.

I am afraid that not only the book came to dwell here...

Get away from here!

A package from Paris.

From Pier Pierpoljakos... what a strange name...

Georges Me lies... Le Voyage dans la Lune... but this

is the first feature film in cinema history...

and what is this... A DVD? ... So big... it seems strange...

fabulous! Me lies' Moon!

Dario Argento is preparing his Macbeth... the Opera, in Novara...certainly...

yes, Dario Argento is directing Macbeth,

Shakespeare's Macbeth, and with music by Verdi...

Alright... Goodbye...

Bonjour, Mr Cozzi! Pierpoljakos... I have sent you various letters...

electronic correspondence, e-mails...

Ah, Professor Pierpoljakos! You sent me the package with Méliés' Moon...

and I read your articles on insertion of reality in the fantasy of cinema,

but I believe reality... reality... reality has little

to do with the world of fantasy, according to me.

But no, it's another type of reality. Truly there is an objective reality...

but we're talking about a dreamed reality... phantomised... phantasmagoric... understand?

- Phantasmic? - Yes, phantasmic...

You know, I consider you as my favorite Italian director...

Ah... thanks

And do you know what I prefer about you? Your work on archive images,

because I really find that it has, something of alchemy in it...

you know when we are talking of...

the images of lava flows ... from the film “When Worlds Collide”, right?

Well, this is George Pal, right? A great man... the great cinema of George Pal...

who then used the same shots in "The Time Machine", and

also in "Atlantis, the lost continent”... sure, sure...

And...

Alright, in my "Hercules", certainly. I took those images

of Pal, because I wanted... to use it in my film, and also for "Hercules", because

it's nothing more it's nothing more than a simple homage.

Yes! So you say you chose these images...

Right!

And you never think that the images have chosen you?

Come on Mum!

Yes, what do you want now? What has happened? Eh?

Eh! No, speak quietly, because I am in Church...

yes, I went to Church, I went out before...

Yes, I'm coming home!

And put the pasta in to boil...

Look, I can't speak now, yes... Yes! Throw it in the water... I said throw it in!

Okay! I love you, bye!

Look, let's talk about it...

No, but look, I came from Paris to be able to talk you about it!

Speak then... I don't doubt it... but no, we can talk... let's talk...

From Paris, to be able to talk with you! Excuse me! It's not like I want...

Signor Cozzi, I risked my life to come here... because

I've a secret which only you are worthy to hear...

But it's important...

They are the images which we see...

But will you really call me? Call me!

You are a terrific director!

Really! I am your admirer, but call me!

Thanks, so much! Thanks!

What a strange guy!

Mamma mia, what a weirdo! But I don't understand: they all come here!

Has any one gone down into the Museum?

Is there anybody down there?

"The images look at you"

The images look at you... look here... what vandals! They ruin everything, Fuck them!

The mask of “Blood and Black Lace” by Bava is ruined!

They're just like savages, savages! They haven't got the slightest passion,

or interest for these classic movies! And I've got to clean up, I have to...

But Luigi... you scared me! Have you gone crazy?

- What do I look like? - You're such an idiot, look!

An idiot? I did all this to mask myself,

to let you see how good I am at playing a monster... and this is the result!

No one understands my talent in this house, no-one, no-one!

- Go to sleep, it's almost midnight... - No-one understands me!

How sad! How sad, no-one understands me!

And this?

Ah, this is the bag from the museum!

The museum bag...

let's see if there are some documents in it...

There's nothing...

a book...

what book is it?

Written all in French...

a sheet with some notes on it...

Another sheet...

And who knows French?

Let's see...

Maybe the documents are here...

Let's see... maybe here inside... let's see what's inside...

What is there here?

And this?

This could very well be the lipstick with which they wrote on the mirror...

No document... a lipstick... a book... I don't understand anything!

Luigi

Wake up! Listen to me!

Even if the book finally ended up with you,

that's not enough...

you must hurry up...discover its secret...

because there's a big danger... a terrible danger... for you too!

The key which opens the door of the mysteries is hidden in a name...

Louis Aime Auguste Le Prince!

Louis Aime Auguste Le Prince!

Le Prince!

So Professor Arquati, what can you tell us

of the new discoveries of Physics on the structure of the Universe?

Well let's say that the recent confirmation of the existence

of the Higgs boson has allowed me and my colleagues in Geneva

to complete the standard model which we use for the forming of the universe...

Which is?

The theory which explains the architecture of the intimacy of matter,

which should bring us to establish the secret essence of the infinite...

but in reality we scientists

know how incomplete our theory is

because it explains only 5% of the world around us...

ah yes, while all the rest, the 95% of the world

that we know, is composed of dark matter,

which is called “dark” because today, we scientists completely ignore what it is.

Practically, you are telling me that you scientists, even today

know almost nothing about the structure of the universe...

on what exists, and what is not there?

Exactly!

But... according to me, dear Luigi, you watch too many films

and you end up confusing reality with fantasy.

Yes, up to a certain point, however! I know these things well...

it's not as if I dreamed them!

What is the book?

Well, it's a science fiction book, a very old book, a collector's item,

and thus accurately chosen, but it's written in French,

and I don't know what it contains...

A French science fiction novel...

I think someone could help you!... Lamberto...

Lamberto Bava?

Yes, because his father, Mario... Mario Bava had... do you remember?...

a large science fiction library...

Ah, yes! I remember: I was going to see him near Piazza del Popolo...

and behind the sofa there was his huge

science-fiction library...

Maybe you could find something there, maybe an Italian translation

of this novel...

Are you saying that his son could have conserved it?

- Well then, we're friends... I can ask him... - Why not?

Sharon, you're on air in 4 minutes!

Yes, just the last touches, and I'll be there

You go in the meantime. I'll be with you immediately.

Lamberto!

Ciao! - Ciao!

Let us in!

Come up!

What are you drinking? Water?

You, wine? I've got some wine, you want some wine?

I made this, with my own hands...

wait... wait... we've got to put it in... take your hand away...

- I've already eaten... - No, no, no! Come here... put yourself here...

But can I go pee?

Pork cooked by me. No, you must eat this, because if you don't...

Here we are Lamberto, I'm here, yes for dinner. I really thank you...

You enjoyed it?

- Exceptional dinner! - That's alright then...

But also because I wanted some advice from you,

because something strange happened which has to do with an even stranger book...

it's a French science fiction book... "The Vagabond Universe"...

according to you, was it ever translated into Italian?

Your father maybe had it among his books?

You inherited his book collection?

Yes, yes, I inherited it. There are many books here, others no,

but I can assure you that my father did not have this book.

He didn't have it. If you like, we can go and check on internet...

Maybe you can have a look too...

Let's see! You see there is something...

something is written about it... but I know nothing of this...

But what is horror?

Horror has its own dignity as a genre, even though not so enormous,

when there were men behind the camera such as Fritz Lang,

Murnau, such as Alfred Hitchcock...

not like in this case

when behind the camera there's hidden a creepy movie director called Luigi Cozzi,

a person who we could maybe compare to another big scoundrel

of celluloid from the Hollywood era, called Ed Wood.

Cozzi could be defined as the Italian Ed Wood: the Spaghetti Ed Wood!

I am not the Italian Ed Wood...

The Italian Ed Wood! The Spaghetti Ed Wood, if you like!

The poor-man's Ed Wood!

I am not the Italian Ed Wood!

Me, Ed Wood...

What's the matter with you, Luigi?

I had a nightmare. They were saying that I am the Italian Ed Wood, but I... I...

What's the problem?? Come on, sleep!

- You say that there isn't a problem? - No.

Well... maybe it's true.

Certainly. It's true, you're right!

It's not a problem, because Ed Wood is famous: if I am the Italian Ed Wood,

even I would be famous... I'd become famous too!

Really famous, Luigi... Now go to sleep...

Come to think of it, maybe Tim Burton will come to me: like he shot a movie

about Ed Wood, he'll make another one about me, the Italian Ed Wood!

And so everybody will know me,

I'll become super-famous, all over the world!

Yeah, very famous...

And maybe I'd play the part of myself in this new movie by Tim Burton.

Just think, I'll play Luigi Cozzi!

Surely...

Do you think I resemble him? Eh? Could I play him well?

Very well...

Ah, what joy!

Turn off the light...

Yes, you're right... Me, the Italian Ed Wood, how lovely! Wonderful!

I can't believe it: Tim Burton who comes to me from Hollywood...

to get me to be the Italian Ed Wood! But... no you sleep... rest, sleep, sleep...

Where are you going?

I'm going to the bathroom for a moment, if I can get up. Yes, I've managed it...

Oh my God!

My image... my image... yes, I'm here, in front of

the mirror, and I'm looking at my reflection,

and my face in the mirror is looking at me...

but which of the two images is the real one? Which is the authentic me?

I am myself, or am I my reflection?

Or maybe... both of these two images exist, live,

both exist in two different universes in formation, in expansion,

which touch, which cross, which sometimes merge into just one...

vagabond universes which sometimes collide, explode...

sometimes... or never, never, never!

But... did I see... or did I not see it?

Another illusion? But what is happening to me?

How is it that at this time of night, all this bullshit comes into my mind?

Where with the light, the light is destroyed

Yes, but come on, you know that I'd happily come with you to the seaside.

But Luigi, you've got to drag him there...

come on...you know very well, for many years, that if I say

“Let's go to that bookshop, at the end of the world”,

he, is ready in 15 minutes.

If instead I say “Let's go to the seaside', it becomes a tragedy.

Why don't we go alone?

I don't mind, at least... leaving him to his commitments,

I don't know what he is doing, he's preparing a film,

yes, also his books, and I see him very

nervous, and always wrapped up in his thoughts...

In Mexico they invited him to the Film Institute of Mexico City...

yes yes, we also went to the pyramids there,

they are wonderful, huge...

and.. all right, he says that the Martians built them...

but his imagination is really... well, without limits...

Luigi! Luigi! - Letizia!

What's going on?

Luigi, there's... there was someone here in front, where you are now. I was frightened...

A customer?

A customer? He was dressed in black, a disturbing presence, ... He was a...

A priest!

A priest? Am I not able to recognize a priest, Luigi?

So what was he?

I don't know, he was dressed all in black!

He was also wearing a hat...

- And where did he go”? Where did he go? He isn't here! - He was frightening!

I'm not crazy!

And you haven't seen him again...

He disappeared, into thin air!

The shop is empty...

Yes Luigi...

Excuse me...

we're looking for someone.

My aunt Barbara. She's been missing from home for three

days, she's disappeared, as if she's evaporated...

Let them see the photo.

Maybe you saw her two or three days ago. Please help me.

Never seen her.

And yet Barbara told me that she was coming here... she wanted to visit

the “Dario Argento's Museum of Horrors”... to leave a book there.

A book?

It's an old book of French science-fiction, L'Univers... The Universe something...

The Vagabond Universe?

Yes, yes...

Even if the book has finally come to you, it's still

not enough. You must hurry up and discover its secret...

The contact... is limited...

Now you'll see him in the time when he was still a human being...

the theater...

there he is, the magician...

with his beautiful assistant...

and then, here they are,

at the Grand Charity Ball at the Charité Bazaar, in Paris, on the 4th May 1897...

But suddenly...

the fire... the fire... the flames... everywhere...

Isabel!

Over 100 dead, burned alive by the fire...

Isabel too perished in this tragedy...

he saved himself, but he would have preferred death...

the heat, and the flames devastated his face...

but the Magician resumed performing, covering his

wounds with a mask, and taking on a new name...

Le Magicien Masque!

Becoming the disciple of Aureo Silvestre, the Lord of darkness and terror!

Trying to find his lover in other worlds, the Magician lost himself in mirrors...

and finished in a dark dimension, dominated by

evil... and became infected, possessed by it!

Who's there?

Who's there?

Who is it?

Hello? Hello, Chiara, it's Federica. Can you hear me?

Hello?

Yes... yes, Federica...

I'm listening to you.

We've finished with the Medium. Now I'm at Luigi and Letizia's. Want to join us?

No, not tonight.

Okay. We'll see you tomorrow...

I think I have some information about what Luigi is looking for.

The Medium told you about Aureo Silvestre... this man really existed.

“Aureo Silvestre” was the pseudonym used by a famous alchemist,

magician and mathematician from the past called Caracci.

This gentleman was involved in the transformation of the

light, when it is reflected in a very particular way...

I have discovered various historic confirmations about Le

Prince. Effectively it is he who invented the moving pictures.

Just think, that in Leeds in England, there is still a plague on

a bridge put there by the City Council to commemorate the place

where this unknown inventor shot the very first

footage ever in the history of moving pictures.

You are telling me that it was not the brothers Lumiere who invented

the moving pictures, but this Le Prince man ten years earlier!

He put the results of his studies about light's

secret properties all together in a single work.

In this book he demonstrated a knowledge of mathematics

and of geometry, absolutely ahead of its time,

that came from a very particular study of the Kabala.

Aureo Silvestre was able to carry forward a task which today would seem shocking,

that is to exceed the normal physical space to have access to other universes

which compose the complex of the cosmos, as it was conceived by God.

The Robert Houdin Theater is where the

Magician that you told me about, performed...

The Magicien Masque, of course!

...this theater was in Paris, inside a building

at number 8 in Boulevard des ltaliens...

On the ground floor of this building there was the

theater, above there were many apartments and offices...

and you know what company had its office there?

That of the brothers Auguste and Louis Lumiere!

That is, they too were there in that same building, above the theater?

Exactly.

But that is incredible! An extraordinary coincidence!

Unless there is a link, some connection that we don't

know about, between the brothers Lumiere, the Magician,

and maybe even with this mysterious Le Prince who disappeared years earlier!

Maybe we have brought to light, an ancient, but very intricate story!

Luigi... it's me. I've got very good news.

This morning I met Fusco, and he told me where

the last copy of Caracci's book could be found.

It is at the National Library in Paris. By

coincidence, my sister has recently moved there.

She works there, but she's also doing researches at the Sorbonne University.

I talked with her about our problem, and she decided to help us...

There is a whole literature on alternate worlds...

on parallel dimensions...

SO many books...

There are also so many graphic novels...

like these... about parallel worlds... about other dimensions...

What a mess!

And what do you think, my friend, Eh?

What?

A total fuck-up! You're right!

Hi Luigi, It's Silvia here, Federica's sister.

I did as you said: I went to the National Library here in Paris,

and I found there the book that you were looking for.

Yes, the one by Caracci, that is, Aureo Silvestre.

I had them make photocopies of only the most important parts.

Yes, it seems to be more of a mathematics book,

than a book of magic. However, it's all here now...

Yes... I wait for you to call me... okay...

...with quantum physics and the microcosm...

...with the interpretation of quantum physics,

noted as the interpretation of multi-worlds...

...the Door into other Worlds is still open...

...that man who suddenly shrank ...

...reality is not limited, but there exist infinite realities on the same plane...

...the Magician...

Aureo Silvestre...

...I'm beginning to become smaller...

...even if the book has finally got to you, you must hurry to discover its secret...

...every action would create a crossroads...

I'm trying to communicate with you through time, space and dimensions...

le Magicien Masque has found, and studied Caracci's book,

has sought to project himself through other worlds, and dimensions,

searching to rejoin himself with his lost soul-mate, Isabel.

I have shot his experiment with my camera, as he asked me to do,

and thanks to this film of mine, you can see everything again,

because in leaving our world, le Magicien Masque has

left open behind himself, the dimensional threshold

and it is from this door, opened up, that for over 100 years, the malign forces

of the Black Universe are infiltrating ever more into our same Universe...

polluting and contaminating it.

But careful!

Because the evil forces of that other Universe have sent back

the Magicien Masque, the magician with the mask,

so that he himself can prevent you from

sealing the threshold... he is now one of them,

he is no longer a human being, but a monster, a ruthless alien assassin!

You should absolutely close the threshold and you must do it immediately,

before it is too late to save yourself,

your loved ones, the entire Earth!

I have understood everything! Louis Lumiere! Louis Lumiere!

Letizia! Letizia!

What in heaven's name is it, Luigi? Does anyone ever sleep in this house?

What's happening?

I've found the solution! Louis Lumiere sent me it...

- What? - I saw him, I saw him in a dream...

And who is this Lumiére?

Lumiere was the inventor of cinema, didn't you know?

Like...yeah!

And he shot everything, he shot the Magician's

experiment, and I just have to find the film,

and I repeat the experiment backwards!

Oh God, Luigi, let me sleep, and you go and save the Earth...

Okay, sleep, sleep, in the meantime [I'll...look at you!

Goodnight!

Here, they want to clip my wings. I instead will save the world.

So sleep then! Sleep, but I'm still going to save the world...

Go for it, Luigi! Go for it!

So then, it's all ready, to begin to save the World. Ah, the book...

I'll bring it along with me, even if I don't know if it is necessary.

This is the history of cinema, I will read it on the trip... a shirt is indispensable,

This one... ah, these are my sexy French under-pants... Ooolallaal...

toothpaste, razor, toilet paper for emergencies, perfect, I've got everything

...but how... how can I find this old piece of film? Where should I go to look for it?

And then, I'm not in great shape, I've just lost 10 kilos,

three days in the toilet, after a plate of moldy mussels...

before I get going I must find a clue, discover the right track...

ah ... but sure... sure... of course!

Italian Film Institute - Rome

Well, about the Lumieres, you told me that maybe those two

brothers knew the Magicien Masque, the strange stage magician,

given that both worked in the same building situated at nr. 8 on Boulevard

des It aliens, and that could be a hidden link between them, right?

Certainly!

Exactly! But I don't believe it, in fact, I exclude it.

In fact, the man who appeared in your dream, saying that

he had shot the Magician's experiment with a movie camera,

was neither Auguste Lumiere, nor Richard Bessiere.

I found it, surfing the net, after you called me.

And this explains everything, and resolves the mystery...

Effectively, this changes everything.

Yes, because in number 8 on Boulevard des It aliens, there weren't just

the Magician Bessiere and the Paris Office of the Lumiere Brothers,

but also that true genius of Show-Business Georges Me lies,

and it was he, with his wife's and his family's money,

who bought that theater, where he performed before the

audience with his closest friends and colleagues,

one of whom was, in fact, that Richard Bessiere, who,

after the fire at the Bazar de la Charite was to become known as the Magicien Masque.

Yeah I shouldn't look for a movie by the Lumiere

Brothers, but for a movie by Georges Me lies!

Good Day!

Good Day!

Is anyone here? Where are you?

I am here, Monsieur Cozzi!

But you...

You, dear Mr Cozzi, if you had listened to me from

the beginning, you would've understood everything...

instead of considering me a mad man, a fanatic, and not wanting to

hear me speak about these images which observe us, which call us...

it is they which study us, while our doubles

try to send us messages from parallel worlds...

I know this now. But would you be prepared to help me, all the same?

Certainly! For this, I will present you... Count Dracula!

Dracula? - Yes!

A noble immortal blood-sucker!

Jacques Sirgent is the greatest vampirologist in the world.

He knows everything about the cinema, from

“Vamp yr” to “London After Midnight”, “Nosferatu”...

he will tell you about films, which I'm sure

even you, a historic scholar, don't know exist.

Two friends have just confirmed

that they have found numerous Me lies films.

They are Jeanne Vandel, who is to be found here in France,

and Beppe Cordivani who is a compatriot of

your friend, and lives in Ascoli Piceno town.

Yes, then Luigi needs the addresses of these two people, for reasons that...

I'll explain you later.

Very well, it's the same to me. I know that

with Pierpoljakos, there are always mysteries.

I'll go and get the addresses.

Luigi, we have to do it very soon. Alright, let's do something:

you go and see your compatriot, and I'll deal with Jeanne Vandel.

And then we'll meet up again soon.

Yes, I agree.

Mr Cordivani, I'm Cozzi from Rome...

I'm Cozzi...I'm here for those movies of your great-grandfather...

where are you?

...the lost movie by Méliés... I've found it...

but a man with a mask came... He took it...

why...

why...

Finally!

I have been waiting for you for some time!

But... shouldn't you be at Audincourt? And how did you get in? It was closed...

Yes, yes, I was at Audincourt,

Nice place but the wrong track. You however, have

you seen your colleague at Ascoli, Mr Cordivani?

Yes, Cordivani, yes. But the Magician got there before me,

he killed Cordivani and took the lost movie by Me lies...

What a mess!

But all is not lost, because I have one more card to play. My joker...

The joker?

Sure! I'll explain everything when we get back to Paris, because

now I am convinced that the Magician is hiding out there.

So let's go to the airport!

No no no, it'd take too long!

We'll go there at once with the book, the Univers Vagabond! Where did you put it?

It is there under the counter, but I don't understand

what the book has to do with going to Paris?

You will understand. Take this...

But how can we go to Paris with this?

Is there still a meadow in Rome?

- A meadow? - Yes!

Yes yes, there are some meadows in Rome...

So, lets go!

We'll immediately go to the first meadow that we find. Come on!

All right... and in that way we'll immediately arrive in Paris?

Yes.

Alright, and now let's go to the meadows! Come on!

Is this place ok for you?

It's a bit squalid, but it's alright. There is plenty of space here.

Come on, hurry up!

And now?

This book... Méliés sent you it from his dimension. It is his latest invention.

It is much more than a book, it's a thinking object, which understands us,

and knows that we should be in Paris in a few minutes.

This book... acts!

Death is only the beginning with the book of Mélies!

And so let's go to Paris!

We have penetrated into the Universe of Me lies,

the Universe of the first silent movies...

and so that's why now I speak with captions...

only with captions and music!

The Universe of Méliés today, is full of traffic!

But that... that is Stella Star! The main character in my movie “Star crash”!

Hi Stella!

Paris!

Fortunately it has turned again into the book one moment before crashing.

Otherwise we'd have ended up as pancakes! We'll need it again...

That book? Why?

Luigi, remember the phrase on the mirror, “The images are looking at you”!

There are eyes which watch you from other dimensions, but

they also observe the Magicien Masque, who is stuck here

and... they know what he has done, and this is thanks to the genius of Me lies!

Am I not clear? Well then, open, look, look...

The book? Should I open it?

What kind of place is it?

It is the Villa Mais d'lci, a former paint factory which became a great

center of popular theater, where there are excellent hiding places

and... it's certainly there that the Magicien is hiding...

I'm sure we'll find there Me lies' famous movie.

Well, lets go immediately!

No no no no! It is a very very delicate affair.

I'll take care of this. You go and see the beautiful Silvia.

She will give you a copy of Caracci's book which will be indispensable.

So, go, and don't waste time!

Alright, I'm going immediately.

Silvia?

Silvia.

Silvia...

Luigi! Oh God, sorry...

Mamma mia, what a beating you gave me! Why?

I didn't know it was you. I thought he had returned.

He... who?

The man with the mask.

I think he wanted to kill me and take away the photocopies of the book...

The book? Caracci's book? But I just saw it over there.

Why then did he not take it away?

I don't know. That man suddenly appeared, out of nowhere, leaned

over me with a knife, I felt it was the end for me, and then...

Then?

Then he stopped. He looked at me intensely and

stayed still for some seconds looking at me,

then he lifted his hand, and...

and... he caressed me sweetly, on the cheek.

He whispered a name: Isabel...

And he went away.

But... It makes no sense... Isabel...

Of course! His Isabel! The woman who was the Magician's stage

assistant, whom he loved madly, and who died in the fire of 1897...

Luigi, I am Silvia! Silvia, Luigi!

Sure, I know that, but the Magician doesn't!

I don't follow you, I don't understand, Luigi...

Like this, with your hair down, you're just like her... Isabel!

I know you're in there!

Open up!

Open up!

Open up!

Where are you? Come out!

You're hiding? You can't escape me...

I've finally found you!

The game is over!

Welcome professor...

It has taken you a long time to get here...

More than a century, after our unpleasant meeting on the train...

I have had to change identity innumerable times to find you...

and now you must pay for everything, Gormak!

You have not changed at all...

Still today, you are the same arrogant...

presumptuous...

and too sure of yourself!

Certainly! Because I have nine lives like cats, and maybe even more!

You don't frighten me, I know how to treat you.

I am here to take back Me lies' lost movie that your Master stole!

Will this small piece of film that the Magician gave me be enough for you?

It is the last remnant of the Belle Epoque,

after the Magician burned all the rest.

And so, no-one can ever again discover the secret

of the mirrors to close the dimensional Door.

Now this Earth of yours is doomed!

Just one frame of footage is enough for me...

Come and take it, then...

I'm not frightened of you, Gormak!

You are mistaken not to be afraid...

Get ready to die!

Where are you... where are you?

Where are you!

You cannot escape me!

You have a long body, Gormak, but your memory is too short...

You know it was me, a century ago who taught the Magician...

how to de-materialize and pass from one dimension to another!

Show yourself!

Here I am!

And here too!

And also over here!

This is what I was looking for! It's not going as you thought, eh?

You feel a little scorched?

The last time you saved yourself...

but this time you won't be able.

Here with me is the Magician, my Lord and Master...

and nothing can oppose him!

You forget that love

is a far greater force

in this parallel world, than hatred and evil!

Love can do nothing against the Magician!

I'm here...

you are tall, Gormak, but not tall enough to get me here!

Come down!

Why? I've got a great view from here!

I think that you are a fool, Gormak!

You are like...

a clock without cogs, a bicycle without wheels, a servant without a master.

But what are you saying?

Now that he has found his lost love

the Magician has changed again.

So now the moment has arrived to rid myself of this

useless parenthesis that you have become, Gormak!

Forgive me if I have bad breath!

So Gormak...

Now you can tell your demon colleagues

of the warm send off that I gave you!

And instead, what do you say to me, professor?

My dear friend...

are you ready for a finale all fire and flames?

A Mélies-style Grand Finale!

Good evening, I'm looking for Professor Pierpoljakos...

Come in... I was expecting you.

I don't understand. Here... I have returned to “Profondo

Rosso” in the Museum of Dario Argento... how is that possible?

How did I get here?

You entered the ultra dimensional mirror of Aureo Silvestre, which the

Magician Masque used 100 years ago to open the Door into the Worlds.

Come on, give me the book.

No no, no, not this book! The other one! The “Vagabond Universe”!

- This one? - Certainly! Finally!

And with this frame and the book, we can

definitively destroy the threat of the Dark Forces!

I don't see... were we not looking for this book, the one of Aureo Silvestre,

containing the secret of the coordinates for the positioning of the mirrors?

But no, no no, that was just an excuse to make you lose time.

I always knew everything which is written in there. Do you know why?

Because I wrote it.

You?!

You wrote this book?! Then...

this means that you are Aureo Silvestre?

But he was born 500, 600 years ago, and you are still

here... would that mean that you're hundreds of years old?

Certainly!

Since I discovered the elixir of long life,

I have had to continuously change identity,

otherwise my secret would have been suspected,

and they would have accused me of sorcery, and I might have ended up at the stake...

and so every 50 years, I disappeared, simulating

my death... as I did for Auguste Le Prince...

You... you were... Le Prince?

Le Prince, the inventor of cinema? Incredible...

And now I have modestly chosen to be a simple

University Professor of cinema, Pierpoljakos.

But now we begin the journey... it is now time to cross the threshold.

With a book?

I told you! This is much more than a book. This is also a weapon,

an antimatter bomb which could blow up a planet in a few seconds...

and also the parallel worlds... and now I will leave with it, cross the

threshold and blow up this dark world of evil affecting the Earth.

So you will die too!

I am beginning to feel tired. I have lived long enough, and what is

more beautiful than to save humanity and all the parallel worlds?

But you will never be able to launch that weapon, the forces of evil of that

world will stop you, capture you as it happened before to the Magicien Masque

No, because now I have a great ally, someone who knows

well all the demons of that world. Look at him!

The Magicién Masque! The emissary of the enemy!

No longer! He has changed...

This girl, Silvia, gave him back the humanity

which he had lost. And do you know why?

Because Silvia is the reincarnation of his beloved Isabel.

And now, what can I do?

You have completed your mission, Luigi.

You have given me the fatal weapon at the right time,

but now you must go... return to your dimension, come out

of the mirror before the implosion begins. Hurry up! Go!

And thank you my friend. Goodbye!

Goodbye.

I [1] - I too hope it's “See you again!” - Now go!

- Goodbye Silvia - Isabel, I am Isabel...

Right... goodbye, Isabel!

My dear friends, you can do extraordinary things with a book... even save the world.

So... let's go!

Let's go!

Let's go!

And so it was Luigi who saved the world...

but maybe it was not really him, but we'll let him believe it.

So all ended well, Evil was defeated and the

Door into the Worlds sealed, at least for now.

Of course, Silvia is no more, but that doesn't matter,

because now Isabel has returned. I am Isabel!

And I have finally reunited with the man who loved me... in another universe,

certainly, but what does it matter? What counts is only our love

and the certainty that from now on, nothing can disturb the peace on this planet...

but can we really be sure?

While Luigi, the Luigi who has crossed the mirror twice, once forwards

and once backwards, has he truly returned to his own world?...

or maybe he too has in his turn, ended up on another parallel Earth?

Hi! Here I am, back again in my normal Rome...

well, normal isn't really the word, but let's say... almost normal.

Yes, because there is a small difference, even if I am used to it by now:

this is the Rome of another twin Earth, where everything is the same, except...

except me!