We would like to thank the citizens of Emilia
for their participation in this film.
They have made an invaluable contribution
to the picture
by sharing with us their experiences
and rich cultural heritage.
(MAN SINGING IN ITALIAN)
25th of April 1945 Liberation Day
(SHEEP BLEATING)
(GROANING)
The war is over.
(EXPLOSIONS)
(BELLS CLANGING)
W-Why?
MAN 1: Hurry, comrades, in the name of Stalin!
The Black Shirt bandits are here!
Quick! Let's wipe them out! Come on, it's the partisans.
MAN 2: Yeah, let's go finish them.
MAN 3: Isn't that black smoke? Come back!
Every last one of them.
(ALL CHATTERING)
MAN 1: Grab these. Go, go on.
I want a gun, too.
(ALL SHOUTING IN ITALIAN)
What are you doing? Let go.
I want a gun, too.
Come on. I was good enough to cut the telephone lines,
so I'm good enough to carry a gun.
Come on, Wildcat. Come on.
Give me one. You promised.
Wildcat!
Leonito, what are you waiting for?
Take this. The magazine, too.
Here.
Where are you going? I want to kill, too.
(EXPLOSIONS)
(DOOR OPENING)
MAN ON RADIO: ...the commander of the Matteotti Partisan Brigade
for the liberation of Italy.
Within the last few minutes, we have seized a radio station in Milan.
The city has been liberated!
And, at last, a free Milan salutes its fellow countrymen.
I repeat, this is the commander of the Matteotti Partisan Brigade
for the liberation of Italy.
In the excitement and joy of this memorable moment,
our thoughts must go to those who gave their lives
to bring an end to the enslavement of Italy
at the hands of the Nazi Fascist barbarian regime.
But our thoughts, above all, go to our brother partisans
who fought so bravely... Leonito,
what are you doing in here?
...and sacrificed even their lives. I didn't even see you.
Leonito, what is all this nonsense?
Give me that gun.
(OLMO GRUNTING)
Let go!
Long live, Stalin.
Have you gone out of your mind?
(GUN FIRING)
...commander of the Matteotti Partisan Brigade for Italian liberation.
Fascism has left us an inheritance of misery,
humiliation, and death. Long live Stalin.
Attila and Regina.
(SHOUTING) Attila and Regina!
(MAN SINGING IN ITALIAN)
(REGINA SOBBING)
(LEAVES RUSTLING)
(GASPS)
(ALL GRUNTING)
(YELLING)
(WOMEN CLAMORING)
REGINA: Shoot, Attila! Shoot!
Kill her!
Bitch! Dirty Cossack!
WOMAN 1: Kill her! WOMAN 2: I'll murder you.
ATTILA: Regina!
Regina!
Attila!
(SCREAMING)
I'm coming!
(GROANING)
Come on. Come on.
Oh, the swallows are back.
(SWALLOWS CHIRPING)
Wait, wait.
(COW MOOING)
My grandfather died here.
Stand up!
Sit down.
Sit!
Did you know that in America every cow has its own drinking trough?
American cows are lucky. They're well off.
Hey,
wouldn't you like to go to America, Leonito?
Call me Olmo.
I thought your name was Leonito.
Olmo's my partisan name.
Do you know who Olmo was?
I know he was the bravest.
The bravest.
Well, my little partisan friend,
what do you think of your master?
There are no more masters!
Many years before...
MAN: Verdi is dead!
(SOBBING) Verdi is dead!
Giuseppe Verdi is dead!
(GIRL GRUNTING)
(GRUNTING) Push! Push!
Push! Push! Push!
(CHILDREN LAUGHING)
It's born! It's born!
GIRL: Look what a nice baby I made.
(CHILDREN LAUGHING)
WOMAN: Keep going.
(ROSINA GROANING) Come on. It's coming.
(ROSINA SCREAMING)
Rosalba, the door. Close the door, Rosalba.
Shh, be quiet, children. Hush up.
It's a boy!
MAN 1: It's another mouth to feed.
Rosina had a boy!
MAN 2: Another little ass to clean.
It's a boy!
Don't touch him, Rigoletto, he'll get a hump on his back.
(MEN LAUGHING)
She had a boy!
RIGOLETTO: It's a boy!
A boy!
We have another boy!
Damned woman.
It's a boy!
You hear that, you good for nothing?
The bastard's born before the master's son!
I'm going to get a stick and come up there.
Eleonora, push. It's coming.
I can feel it coming. Push!
Go on, harder! Push!
(GRUNTING)
Go!
(LAUGHING)
Bitch.
Papa!
(BABY CRYING)
(BERLINGHIERI EXCLAIMING)
Alfredo is born!
Alfredo!
The same name as mine.
(BOTH LAUGHING)
And if it's a girl, huh?
It's not a girl, is it?
Papa, I think I can tell a boy from a girl.
He's got all the right things.
He's got his father's expression already.
And his grandfather's money already.
Oh, what a pretty little boy.
Giovanni, Giovanni. Giovanni!
GIOVANNI: What is it?
How is the mother? Just fine.
Give her a kiss for me. "May the fruit of this union,
"by heaven blessed,
"plucked from the Garden of Eden
"be the heir to the lordly graces,
"the pious heart,
"the virtues of the patriots..."
Oh, shut up!
Giovanni, Giovanni.
Yes, Papa.
Write to that playboy brother of yours.
Write as I say.
Yes, Papa.
Ottavio...
Why don't you have anything to write with?
Ottavio Berlinghieri, Hotel Des Bains, Lido, Venice.
Announce birth, first Berlinghieri, 20th century. Stop!
Pray God he doesn't grow up like you. Stop.
Found wife yet? Question mark.
Affectionately, Papa. Have you got that?
Of course, Papa. Good.
Sister Desolata.
Sister Desolata is here!
Dear brother.
It's a boy, a boy.
Bravo! Bravo!
You can take down the trunks
because I shall never again return to that nunnery.
The monsignor has turned very cruel.
He prefers the novices, and he neglects me.
He does.
And I can't tell you how lowbred they are.
Listen, listen to this. Just the other day, I...
Rigoletto, my hat.
Alfredo. RIGOLETTO: Yes, Signor Padrone.
The Lord be with you.
And with your spirit.
A priest here, too. It's a conspiracy, I tell you.
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
Well, humpback.
What do you see in there, eh?
Snow. It's covered with snow.
Like in winter.
What else? Huh? A church.
A cathedral with spires.
And what else?
Bottles.
Bottles?
Bottles!
(SINGING LOUDLY IN ITALIAN)
It's like paradise in there.
(LAUGHING) And you're the padrone, the lord, the master.
And I'd be Saint Peter, if you'd give me the keys.
(WHISTLING)
Stop, no more work today.
(MEN EXCLAIMING) Thanks, padrone.
Hey, thanks.
Stop! Stop!
Hey, drink up, drink up.
For you. Stop. No work today.
Today, you're the padrone, too.
Penzo, special wine.
Celebration.
Salute, padrone.
Where's, uh, Dalco?
Leo's in the vineyard. Ah!
That's the last bottle.
MAN: Wine from the city.
What about mine?
It says "sparkling champagne."
Hey, Libero, what's this for, a wedding or a funeral?
There, in the vineyard.
(CLACKING)
(CHUCKLING)
Destiny.
Both born on the same day.
And destiny calls for a drink, right?
Signor Alfredo, you know how many of us Dalcos there are now?
I've lost count.
Well, I know that when we sit down to eat,
there are 40 of us at the table.
You're a lucky man, Leo. Admit it.
He may be a bastard, but at least he's a boy.
Don't boys eat like everybody else?
What the hell is bothering you?
Mine was born first. It's only natural.
First came the peasants of this world, and then came the padrone.
Masters, peasants. Balls!
When you're born, you're all born equal.
All equal, huh?
You!
What are you standing there for? Drink up.
Drink up, you bastards!
(METALLIC SCRAPING)
Drink with me.
(GRUNTS)
(LAUGHING)
Are we drinking or not?
Born together. Must mean something.
Uh-huh.
Probably means we die together.
(LAUGHING)
You shit-pile philosopher.
I want mine to study law.
Mine thieving.
You might as well make him a priest.
Oh, this wine's not ours. Too dry.
I didn't like it, either.
(LAUGHING)
BERLINGHIERI: Rigoletto, run down to the town hall.
Tell them the boy's name is Alfredo.
Berlinghieri, Alfredo,
born of Giovanni and Eleonora nee Rosetti.
Leo,
what will you call yours?
Huh?
What are you going to call yours?
Olmo.
Like an elm tree.
Born of the late Oscar and Rosina Campo.
Oscar?
Oscar's been dead for four years.
That's the point. Have some respect for the dead.
(LAUGHING)
Oh, you bastards.
♪ In the deep of the summer
♪ In a heat that was stifling
♪ There were born two male children
♪ The distance was trifling
Rigoletto, here, have a drink.
(ALL LAUGHING)
Jackasses!
♪ With the Pope as a peasant
♪ Linked by fate in that hour
♪ To the padrone's grandson
♪ Heir to riches and power ♪
What do you think, huh?
(CHILDREN SHOUTING)
Leo. Leo, come on. You must try it, too.
I'm not climbing on that red devil.
I can't tell who rakes faster,
a man with a horse and a machine
or a man with heart and muscle.
ALFREDO: Orso! Orso, come and see it!
Go a little faster! We'll soon be able to tell.
There.
What? What is it?
(MEN CHATTERING)
There.
What's written there?
What do you think of that? Half an acre in, uh,
10 minutes, all alone.
It would have taken six men at least half a day.
What about this?
Surely you can't call this a good job, eh, Signor Giovanni?
Look at all the hay it leaves behind.
(LAUGHING) A little hay is nothing, huh?
You don't agree, huh?
Don't you realize, you dumb ox,
that this is an imported piece of machinery,
and we're the first in the whole valley to have a mechanical hay-raker?
LEO: Well, then blessed are the last to have one.
Who needs a machine that looks like a hyena, Signor Giovanni?
(MEN LAUGHING)
(CHILDREN SHOUTING)
(FROGS CROAKING)
Ah!
Nineteen!
They stink, and besides, you're disgusting.
Hey! Twenty!
Twenty!
(BOTH CHUCKLING)
You haven't seen anything yet.
Here, kiss it. Bite it.
Eat it. Jump in the lake.
♪ Olmo, the bastard
(BELL TOLLING)
♪ Olmo, the... ♪
Here, eat it, and burn in hell.
(GRUNTING)
Coward!
Go ahead! Run, you yellow-belly!
You're the yellow-belly. You pick on girls and babies.
I say you can't even last at follow the leader.
And I say I can, too.
Go piss in your pocket!
(CRYING)
I'll fix you.
Ah!
What are you doing?
Screwing the earth.
Now what are you doing?
Listening to my father speak to me.
In the telegraph pole?
I can't hear anything.
Are you crazy?
We'll see who's brave and who's yellow.
(TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWING)
When it starts to go over, shut your eyes,
or it will blind you.
I'll make sure you don't run away.
No, no! Let me go! Let me go!
You see? You're yellow! You're a coward!
Olmo! Olmo!
(WHISTLE BLOWING)
Olmo!
Are you dead or alive?
Ding-dong, ding-dong.
The devil cared, the padrone's scared.
(WOMAN SINGING IN ITALIAN)
(BABY CRYING)
How far is it from here to the Madonna of the Fields?
As far as it's always been, about 3 kilometers.
Once I saw a train
as long as from here to the Madonna's shrine.
I got a train in my pants that's longer than that!
Listen, he's only bragging.
(ALL LAUGHING)
MAN 1: Talk about trains. You see that contraption outside?
You don't want to use it because you are ignorant, afraid.
You're an enemy of progress, that's what you are.
With that contraption, I work less, and that's fine with me.
MAN 2: Well, who pays for it, huh? Who pays for it?
The padrone, who else?
Everyone but the padrone. It's we, the workers, who pay the bill.
That's what we're for.
He even infected you. Look at the bugs.
Olmo gave the lice to everyone.
Your son's filthy. He should be deloused.
Of course he should be deloused!
Someone must help me.
Your Olmo's a pig.
Today your little Olmo found a live frog and forced my little Nina to eat it.
MAN 3: Besides, what do any of you know about philosophy?
(SCOFFING) Nothing at all, that's what.
I'm the only one here who's been to any meetings
to try to create a union.
Because anyone who understands must follow those meetings,
and must travel around to preach the great, new justice
to the unlucky peasants who work out their lives and sweat,
profiting not themselves, but only the padrone.
MAN 4: Amen.
(ALL LAUGHING)
Look at that.
(SOBBING)
Who is crying?
Rosina wants to send Olmo to the seminary.
Why? Why?
The boy's the devil.
ROSINA: They want to take him away from me, my own son.
Turn him into a priest.
(SOBBING)
Nothing's for nothing. You had your fun. Well, now you pay.
Come on, now, it can happen to anybody.
Cut it out.
It seems to me, she's got a lot more than most.
When you hatch a bastard, he always turns out evil.
Bastard?
Who said, "bastard"?
There are no bastards in my house.
Olmo's the brother of your sons
because his father's one of us.
Is that true or not?
Hey, Rosina?
Is that true or not?
You tell them, Rosina. You know.
It's true. Of course I know.
If I don't, who does?
(ALL LAUGHING)
Olmo!
(WHINING)
NINA: Olmo, they called you.
It was Leo.
Hey! Hey!
Dalco, Olmo.
Where's he going? WOMAN: There he is.
(WOMEN CLAMORING) Come on, give him here!
Let go! Let go!
Get him up on the table.
MAN: Get up there!
LEO: Dalco, Olmo,
now that you are grown...
And still piss in your pants.
(LAUGHING)
Come here.
Remember this.
You will learn to read,
you will learn to write,
but you will still remain Dalco, Olmo,
son of peasants.
Doomed to hunger.
You will go off to the army, huh.
You will see the world.
You may even learn to obey.
With kicks in the ass from morning till night.
You will take a wife. Huh?
You will work for the lives of your children.
The best thing is to learn to be patient.
But who will you remain always?
Dalco, Olmo.
And that's who you are, Olmo.
A peasant!
Understand?
No priests in this house.
What do you have in your hand?
Nothing.
Signor Giovanni gave it to me. I sold him my frogs.
It's mine.
If it is yours, then it belongs to all of us.
It's too high. I'll fall.
(MIMICKING) "It's too high. I'll fall."
I wish you would and break your neck.
You're nothing but a big sissy.
ELEONORA: Alfredo, Regina, come to dinner.
GIOVANNI: A card came from my brother, the Parisian.
"Here, in the ville lumiere, I'm thinking of you all with affection.
"Best regards as ever, Ottavio."
Alfredo!
Affection and best regards.
He hasn't written in over a year.
GIOVANNI: He doesn't feel at home here and never has, you know that.
He has nothing but contempt for us.
What are you saying? What contempt?
You're always exaggerating.
Ah, your brother Ottavio, he knows how to live.
Paris, Maxim's, champagne, gigolos.
We sacrifice, while he devours money.
His allowance is a good meal.
Got here first. Why do we have to keep calling you?
Regina!
I'll serve. The frogs look juicy.
Mmm-hmm. Really plump.
Alfredo. No, no frogs.
Oh, come on, don't be a baby.
Ugh! They're really disgusting. Awful.
Where are your manners, Alfredo?
Wait till you get in the army.
You'll wish you had something as fresh and delicious as that.
Bullshit.
Oh, my brother? Was that my brother who spoke?
Regina.
Thank you. Who are those two?
You ask me the same thing every evening.
It's my sister and her little girl, Regina.
Oh.
Alfredito,
my dinner.
Go, and come right back.
Gets worse every day.
How much longer can he last?
Oh, patience, patience.
He's eight years younger than me, my brother,
and you would have him dead already.
(EXCLAIMS)
Can you imagine Ottavio, with the excuse that he's the oldest,
coming here to act as lord and master of the place?
He was born with the grace of true nobility. Well, it is the same with me.
I was certainly not born a nun.
I'm going to be a nun, too, when I grow up.
Oh! Oh!
(LAUGHING)
(GUN CLICKING)
Ah!
Want a shot? Oh, yes.
Hug the stock.
Right elbow out.
Mmm-hmm.
Keep both eyes open.
You see that family of vultures?
Yes.
The old black one with the beady eyes, hmm?
Yes.
That's your target.
Bang. Bang.
You got her. You got her!
(LAUGHING)
AMELIA: Imagine the shock.
My husband goes bankrupt and runs off to South America,
leaving his wife and little daughter penniless.
If it hadn't been for all of you...
ELEONORA: Don't, Amelia.
Won't I ever see my father again?
He's your new father, now. Aren't you, Giovanni?
Of course. If I didn't support them, who would?
But you. You will go on calling me uncle. Hmm?
(BERLINGHIERI LAUGHING)
(COUGHING)
Shh.
There they are. I'll take Regina.
No, Regina's mine. Regina's mine.
Aim, fire! Bang!
Right between the eyes.
(BERLINGHIERI AND ALFREDO LAUGHING)
And now for the jackals.
Aim, fire!
Well?
(LAUGHING)
Old fool.
Get back to the table.
Get back to the table, I said.
And you. Shame on you.
The table! Get going!
Idiot.
Shame on you, at your age.
There's an ocean between us.
Between me and the rest of you.
An ocean!
Talk, talk.
Buy machines.
The place is going to rack and ruin.
You'll find that mechanical reaper up your ass, Mr. Modernizer.
You eat your meal.
You go to hell if you don't eat.
Piss in your pocket.
Where did you hear talk like that?
From a friend.
I mean-- I mean, I'm not about to part with a cent,
or give away the tiniest piece of land.
You can believe me.
Big talk, my dear, since your father prefers Ottavio.
Look, I only happen to be here because all of this estate belong to me.
All of it to me! Else, I be...
You know how I feel about Ottavio?
Well, I'm envious. Yes, dear.
(GRUNTING)
To be able to escape this family.
Oh, just imagine how it would be to spend all that money in six months.
A millionaire surrounded with whores.
(LAUGHING)
Oh!
(BERLINGHIERI SINGING IN ITALIAN)
(CHUCKLING)
An ocean of shit.
Oh, really, now!
What was the point in hammering at the poor child like that?
I prefer educating my boy the way I see fit.
Alfredo!
Don't worry. When he's hungry, he'll come back. I assure you.
(MAN SINGING IN ITALIAN)
These aren't lice. They're roast chickens, that's what they are.
Keep still, keep still.
(RIGOLETTO HUMMING)
RIGOLETTO: A little fuzz on top, and the rest bald as a cucumber.
Keep still, keep still.
(EXCLAIMING)
RIGOLETTO: ♪ Once a hunchback Win a lady hunchback
♪ Win her with a song
♪ And a lot of little hunchbacks came along
♪ Came along ♪
I'll never return home anymore.
I'm going to live with Uncle Ottavio.
GIOVANNI: Alfredo!
Alfredo, where are you?
MAN: Evening, Signor Padrone. Good evening.
Come back to the house, you hear me?
Good evening, Signor Giovanni.
Hey, you.
Have you seen Alfredo?
No, I haven't.
Go to bed, pumpkin head.
It's late.
Olmo.
OLMO: What is it?
Come to bed.
You know I can't sleep if you don't.
If my father was here, they would never shave my head.
He would've shown them.
Once I heard him calling me late at night from inside a well.
GIOVANNI: Alfredo!
Let's both of us run away.
Alfredo!
And I heard him once in an old squash calling out to me. Olmo!
Alfredo.
And in a dark cellar, from inside the bottle, I heard him call.
Olmo!
Alfredo. Olmo.
(PLAYING A NOTE ON OCARINA)
(RESPONDING ON OCARINA)
(PLAYING OCARINA)
BOY: Hey, let's see you fly, cuckoo birds.
GIRL: (LAUGHING) No, don't, you're going to make me fall.
Red, but not ripe. Your daughter?
Your daughter's marrying Mario, the cripple, in August, eh?
What do you think? What's the problem?
Go and dance, eh.
(PEOPLE CHATTERING)
BERLINGHIERI: Hey.
Hey, you, driver.
Come back here. Come back.
Don't leave that horse standing there untied.
Come back.
You son of a...
(DOGS WHINING)
(PIGS GRUNTING)
I don't have the breath to
give a simple order anymore.
God damn it!
Listen.
Beautiful music.
Young people dancing, embracing.
Before the day's out, they'll be fucking.
(PIGS GRUNTING)
(DOGS BARKING)
Anyway, this is no place for old men.
(OCARINA PLAYING)
Ooh, it's a hot day, eh, Signor Padrone?
Who are you?
Sir, it's Erma. I'm the youngest daughter of Adelina.
I'm not used to wearing shoes, and my stupid feet swelled up.
But they're pretty, aren't they?
They're a present. The padrona, she said they're Regina's.
Erma, come.
Erma.
(DOGS BARKING)
Signor Padrone?
(COWS MOOING)
Signor Padrone?
Don't be frightened. Don't be frightened.
Take it.
You squeezed me, so I got scared.
Milk her. But the cows aren't mooing yet.
Can't you see how full she is?
Milk her.
Squish, squash.
Cows full of milk and shit.
A curse.
A curse we carry with us.
It grows worse with age.
You know what the worst curse in the world is?
Hailstorms.
Not hailstorms.
That's no curse.
Milk and shit in the brain.
War and disease,
they're no curse, either.
Squish, squash.
The curse is when you can't do it.
Milk and shit.
Can't do it.
It won't get hard.
See?
Put your hand inside.
Hey, Signor Alfredo, nobody can milk a bull.
(CHUCKLING)
Go.
Go back to the dance.
Can I really go? Uh-huh.
Go. Go.
Erma.
When the dancing is over,
tell them I'm dead.
Yes, signor.
(COWS MOOING)
Remember,
I'm dead. Yes.
(OCARINAS PLAYING)
The padrone, my God.
The padrone is dead.
The padrone told me to say he's dead.
I was supposed to.
You think it could be true? Mmm, uh...
Pour the water out so we can get the nightingale drunk.
Up to the top.
ERMA: The padrone wants us to keep dancing.
MAN: He's giving us orders even after he's dead.
(ALL LAUGHING) Music!
(OCARINAS PLAYING)
(COW MOOING)
Ah, if only you could see yourself now, Signor Alfredo.
Oh, this is no way for a padrone to die.
What did you have to turn the cows loose for, eh?
So I'd have more work to do?
Maybe...
Maybe the truth is that when a man does nothing all his life,
it leaves him too much time to think.
And thinking too much makes him...
Makes him stupid.
(GRUNTING)
At least I knew who you were, and you knew me.
I knew who gave the orders.
A big, ugly bull!
But now, who knows what will happen without you?
(BREATHING HEAVILY) I, Alfredo Berlinghieri,
being of sound mind and body,
wish to make my last will and testament.
I hereby declare
my younger son, Giovanni,
as my sole heir.
And I leave to my elder son, Ottavio...
What did he say?
"To my elder son, Ottavio."
...elder son Ottavio,
I leave an annuity of 5,000 lira a year,
to be paid to him for the rest of his life by my sole heir,
Giovanni Berlinghieri.
And I also leave him my town residence.
Furthermore, it shall hereby be understood
that the entire Berlinghieri estate consisting...
Go back to bed, Alfredo.
Grandfather's not well. Go back to bed.
Consisting of
the entire Berlinghieri estate...
ALFREDO: Grandpa's dead!
No. No. No, no!
Consisting of... Grandpa's dead! Grandpa's dead!
...900 acres of cultivated land,
the family villa,
the farmhouses,
(DOOR CLOSES)
machinery and tools,
and all the livestock,
the cattle,
the horses and the pigs,
the sheep,
I give to my son, Giovanni.
This turban
once belonged to a hunter of tigers.
Uncle Ottavio, let me go away with you.
Why? Don't you like it here?
They're all liars.
Oh.
And where shall we go?
On a sail ship.
A sail ship? Yes.
Like this one?
(THUNDER CLAPPING)
(RAIN PATTERING)
Put that silkworm down!
Put it down! Why should I?
Because you know they're all in my care.
But I can touch all these silkworms as much as I please.
You're stupid.
No.
You know, I'm padrone.
But the nests are mine. Nobody's to interfere.
Why not?
Because I feed them, understand? Set them down.
Only when I feel like it.
Even if you feed them, the silkworms are still all mine.
And the fruit is mine, too.
And the mechanical reaper.
And the wheat is mine.
This worm is mine. The cows are all mine.
Even the Dalco family belongs to me.
And you belong to me, too.
You filthy maggot, let him go!
No!
ALFREDO: Burn in hell! You'll burn in hell!
Burn in hell!
Come back here, you yellow-belly.
(BOTH GRUNTING)
Oh, Madonna. Give me a hand before we both get it.
Hmm, I could beat you with one hand behind me.
I'm afraid you couldn't beat a frog, not if you tried.
Here, you may have your stupid silkworm back.
This one's still squirming. The others have already woven their nests.
It's not a bird, you dunce.
Those are called pupae, or cocoons if they're already formed.
You better take those wet things off.
Pretty light.
And, look, whenever it finally flies off, it'll be a butterfly.
I missed ever seeing them. Like my little sister.
She hatched in the night, and like a butterfly, just flew away.
Why did she fly away?
She was born dead.
That isn't true. When you're dead, you're dead.
You don't fly anywhere.
You get buried in the ground, and that's it.
It must hurt a lot.
Why should it hurt?
Skin's all back.
Let's see if yours is any different.
Looks just like a cocoon.
Pull the skin back and it'll look just like mine.
It won't go. Well, pull harder.
Oh, it burns.
Ah, it burns because you're not courageous, and you're not a socialist.
What's that mean?
You're talking to a socialist with holes in his pocket.
"A socialist with holes in his pocket"?
Oh, forget it. What do you know anyhow?
Ah, don't be so smart, and put this on.
No, I don't want it.
Don't be so childish.
(MOCKING)
It stopped hailing. Listen.
Look, look. Look out of this window.
What's that? It's the city, of course.
It can't be the city. The city's too far away.
That's the city, I tell you. Look.
And there's the cathedral, with the dome.
I recognize it 'cause I've been there with my Uncle Ottavio.
And way on top, there are all those tall houses.
Those aren't houses. They're bell towers.
Look at the fire that's pouring out of that one.
That's a factory, Olmo.
Do they have a view of us,
just like we have a view of them, would you say?
Papa, you can see the city from the loft,
and we could see the buildings and the stables.
Not now. Later. Ah, Signor Giovanni.
Not since the year I was married have I seen a hailstorm such as this.
Get all your people here.
The day laborers, too.
I'll be waiting in the field.
Hey, Orso!
Orso!
Turo! Turo!
Penzo! Penzo!
Oreste! Oreste!
Amoretto! Amoretto!
Ganco! Ganco!
Reccione! Reccione!
Montanaro! Montanaro!
LEO: Everybody! Everybody in the field!
Now, let's face facts, men.
We lost everything.
Wine, tomatoes, potatoes, corn, everything.
So now, we'll have to make some kind of sacrifice.
Isn't that so, Leo?
What's happened? Lost your tongue, have you?
Go ahead, tell them.
How much grain have we lost? Tell them.
Half.
Ah, half, you say. Uh-huh.
So, it's simple.
We'll have to be satisfied with half pay.
Take it or leave it.
When we harvest double, we don't get double pay.
If I were to be honest...
(COUGHING)
If I were to look after my interests alone,
I shouldn't need you, fire the lot of you,
especially all you day laborers.
And if you here weren't such an ignorant bunch,
you would thank me,
because the one making the biggest sacrifice is me.
What's the problem, anyway?
Who gives the orders here? Who's the padrone?
Hey, you!
We've lost nearly everything, didn't you hear?
And yet, your ears are both big enough.
(LAUGHING)
Padrone, what you're doing is a sin, and we'll remember it.
Your father was good. He never did us evil.
You are an evil man. You bring sorrow to us.
That man has lost his ear, but you have lost your soul.
I leave you with a curse,
a curse no priest can ever lift,
to rule by the new padrone.
It's food. Everyone into the house.
Were you hurt bad?
No.
An accident, my own fault.
Poor Vittorio.
(FLIES BUZZING)
Papa, there's no more polenta.
GIRL: Papa, I'm still hungry.
You will forget about hunger if you listen to me.
(WATER TRICKLING)
(PLAYING OCARINA)
Water!
Let the water through.
It's the beginning.
What of? Workers' leave.
What did they say?
To move on.
Call the strike for tomorrow.
You're going to go?
Everybody's got to go.
Uh, well, what's going on here?
We're striking, that's what. Everybody's agreed.
Striking?
(GRUNTING)
You know what that means, strike?
I said, do you know what that means?
That means these hands won't work anymore, huh.
They won't reap anymore.
Never harvest anymore.
Never, never, never, never milk.
Never dig anymore.
Everything comes to a standstill.
And the land... The land dies.
Do you really think you can go through with this?
Yes. Now we got the League.
The League?
What is this League?
Does the League tell you
that--that we'll end up eating the grass from these ditches, eh?
That we'll become evil, really evil?
The League tell you all this?
It did. The League understands.
The League is for us.
You can fight back with the League, and I'll show you how.
The strike is on!
MAN 1: The strike is on!
MAN 2: Strike!
MAN 3: The strike is on! MAN 4: The strike is on!
MAN 5: The strike is on! The strike is on!
MAN 6: The strike is on! MAN 7: The strike is on!
Strike! Strike!
You know I like this song.
MAN 1: The strike is on!
Strike! Strike!
Strike is on! Strike!
Strike. Strike!
The strike is on!
Strike! Strike!
(COWS MOOING)
They should milk the poor things. They're mooing.
I hear them. The strike paralyzing the servants, too?
Dear Zolina, send a boy out to buy some milk in town.
Tell him if he sees a Dalco to move along.
Don't talk to those people.
It's absolutely ridiculous.
Over 100 cows in the barn and we have to buy milk.
Those bastards are absolutely going to ruin me!
It's against the law.
What they're doing out there is uncivilized.
And I can't beat any sense into them.
Not even with old Leo.
Sooner or later they'll have to give in. Mmm.
Meanwhile the cows are full to bursting,
and the grain rots in the field.
Why don't you eat?
Listen to this.
"Talks between the Labor League
"and the Landowner's Association have been broken off.
"The strike area is patrolled, day and night, by a cavalry regiment.
"'We will not be coerced,' said the association's representative..."
Stop that.
"'...by a league of rabble-rousers.
"'We'll oppose their boycott by imposing lockouts.
"'We'll counter violence with violence.'
"The speaker went on to say that the only fair verdict is the whip,
"to be used on those workers guilty of sabotage."
OLMO: Grandfather, what are scabs?
LEO: Uh, scabs are lousy bastards who work when other men are on strike.
Why don't they want to strike, too?
Because they're ignorant.
They're even more ignorant than we are.
(MUSIC PLAYING ON GRAMOPHONE)
Listen, listen. Hear the music.
(PEOPLE CHATTERING)
MAN: Of course.
Good day, padre.
Hey, look over there.
Look at Signor Giovanni trotting up and down.
Oh, there's Passetti. He has to work sitting down.
And over there, that's Carbonini.
He's the lawyer.
And the girl with the long braids, that's his daughter.
Are they all scabs?
LEO: No, no. Landowners.
♪ How funny they look
♪ Din-dong, ding-dong, ding... ♪
(LAUGHING)
LEO: Olmo.
Olmo, come here.
Can this be what they call socialism?
All the rich out there sweating
and the poor folks lying under a tree,
flat on our backs?
It's too good to last.
You're a lucky boy, you are, Olmo.
Why? Why?
(CHUCKLING)
It took me 73 years to see a landlord working.
(LAUGHING)
LEO: That's right. You finish setting the traps.
Hey, Olmo.
Fetch some leaves. Make a little breeze.
I always loved the wind.
I would like to learn how to make a trap like that.
Shh. Grandfather's dozing.
Olmo, does your grandfather always go to sleep with his eyes open?
He could do anything. He once even saw Garibaldi.
Better look out. If they see us together, you're going to get it.
No.
Anyway, everyone knows I'm a socialist, too, now.
Hey, come here. I'll show you something.
It's like yours now.
How'd you do it? Easy. I yanked it back.
You big liar. You went like this...
Look, I'll teach you something.
I know.
I know how you do it.
I'm a socialist with holes in the pocket, too.
(BOTH CHUCKLING)
ZAMBRONE: Hey, Fasuline, what's that cloud of dust want from us?
You dumbbell, that's no cloud.
They're kids that come from the farm.
What did they come for?
FASULINE: They came to Genoa, same as we did.
Oh, for the onion season.
No, ignoramus.
They were invited by the backwaters in Genoa,
because after three months of striking, there's nothing left to eat.
And so the Workers' League chartered a train for Genoa.
Long live the kids from the farm!
Long live Genoa! Long live the children!
(ALL CHEERING)
FASULINE: Well, Zambrone, what do you think?
ZAMBRONE: If I have to think, Fasuline, I'll need my thinking cap.
Didn't you hear? The reformists want to give 10 pennies more an hour.
More per hour? Yeah.
Well, let's see now, 10 pennies more an hour
multiplied by 18 hours work a day.
Oh! We'll be millionaires by nightfall.
Go jump in the lake, bubblehead.
Hey!
That wasn't nice. Now I get water in the ear.
(LAUGHING)
Listen, Zambrone, on the other hand, the revolutionaries say
that the land should go to those who work it, you hear,
and eliminate owners and slaves alike.
You get the gist, young man?
I got it. I got it. I read and write, you know.
I'm a scholar and I practice my pinctuation.
(FASULINE SPUTTERING) Punctuation!
ZAMBRONE: Let's check the vacobulary.
(SPUTTERING) BOY: Vocabulary.
Well, what do you think?
I think it's time.
Time? For what?
The time has come to say, long live the revolution!
Hurray!
BOTH: Hurray! Hurray!
ALL: Hurray!
Long live the strike! Hurray for the strike!
Long live the Workers' League. Long live the strike.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(PEOPLE LAUGHING)
(LAUGHING)
Oh, Zambrone, look who's come. Look. I see guards, policemen.
ZAMBRONE: Oh, Fasu, what will we do? What will we ever do?
Listen, we can give them a lesson, but we need a stick.
Quick, quick. Grab a stick.
Ready, Zambrone? Now let's hear what they got to say.
Hey! Who dares defy the law? Aha!
Caught red-handed. Drop that stick and come here quick.
Traitor!
POLICEMAN: All right! That's enough! Out! All of you, out!
Out!
Come on! Move it out of here!
(POLICEMEN SHOUTING)
(PEOPLE CLAMORING)
(BLOWING WHISTLE)
Hurry, the train. Go. Go on, children. Hurry.
Ashamed!
You ought to be ashamed! You even pick on puppets!
You cowards! Go back to the landowners!
(PEOPLE CLAMORING)
ROSINA: Get down off those horses!
You cowards! Traitors!
You sold out to the landowners! Renegades!
Drop dead all of you!
Olmo.
Olmo, you forgot your clothes!
Long live the great agricultural strike
June 1908
(CHILDREN CHEERING)
Olmo!
Olmo! Olmo, where are you?
Olmo, you forgot the bundle with your clothes and things.
Olmo! Olmo!
(ACCORDION PLAYING)
(TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWING)
(BELL TOLLING)
You thought I was a coward, Olmo.
I'm not a coward.
BOY: Over there. I can see my house.
Look, look, the church steeple.
World War I is ending...
MAN 1: Hey, Aranzini. ARANZINI: Huh?
I dreamt of your sweetheart again.
She had tits dripping with honey.
I had a dream of your sister. She'll do it with any man.
(MEN LAUGHING)
(MAN 2 GROANING)
MAN: This one's leg is turning blue.
WOMAN: Call the sergeant! Call the sergeant! Not the sergeant.
Get a doctor over here.
SOLDIER: Move along! Move along!
(MEN SINGING IN ITALIAN)
MAN: Look at them, men.
Filthy strikers and traitors, a disgrace to the country.
Have a good look at those subversive swine.
Turo! Turo!
Olmo! Olmo!
The bastards got you.
The country is in the hands of murderers.
SOLDIER: Quiet! God damn the whole nation!
God damn the King!
Olmo! Olmo!
Olmo! SOLDIER: Quiet!
(MACHINERY RUMBLING)
It's you.
(PEOPLE CHATTERING)
(HORN BLOWING)
Regina! Huh?
Go away!
The masquerade's over. Take that costume off. The war has ended.
Yes, Lieutenant.
I said, out, out, out!
And close the door, Regina!
(SPUTTERING) Close the door!
(HORN BLOWING)
(MAN SHOUTING)
(EXCLAIMING)
Will you look at that?
Vincenzo!
ALMEIDA: Oh, back!
(ALMEIDA EXCLAIMING)
Almeida.
WOMAN: "'Please, Father,' said the young prince.
"'I can't tell why, but my heart will not be at rest
"'till I find the three nectarines of love.
"'I beg you, let me go search for them.'
"The boy's plea was so sincere that his majesty promised
"that the moment spring came..."
BOY: What happened? Aren't you going to read anymore?
(MUMBLES)
BOY: I think I heard the story before.
You must be Olmo.
Yes.
And you?
Anita. Anita Forlan.
You're from the north?
Province of Verona.
Verona?
We camped near Verona.
Are you a refugee? Yes.
I lost all my family.
Go on.
It's heavy, huh?
BOY: Aren't you going to tell us how it ends?
GIRL: Does he find the nectarines?
Tell us, Anita.
All right. Be good.
ANITA: "The boy's plea was so sincere..."
Attention!
At your order, sir.
At ease.
Hey, soldier, don't you recognize me?
It's me, you stupid jackass. It's me.
(CHUCKLING)
(GRUNTING)
(BOTH GRUNTING)
I don't want you. You're a lowly civilian.
The war is over. Nobody gives us orders anymore.
Now, I like you better.
Hey.
"Oh, kiss me, my hero."
(PANTING)
There was no one to take care of the silkworms anymore.
There's nothing up here but rats now.
Like in the trenches.
Hey, remember when no one believed you could see the city up here?
But we managed to see it from here.
How close it seemed, huh?
Did you manage to see the whole war from here, too?
Dreamed all the night in the barracks bed
of his sister, his brother, his father, his mother.
Next morning, in the barracks bed, they found him dead.
They found him dead.
(SPEAKING ITALIAN)
No, Olmo, no!
Our part in it is finished. Done.
Don't we share half and half anymore?
Try to understand, Olmo.
You've been away, and there are a lot of new things you don't know.
I know we always get half the harvest.
Not this year, though.
They rented new machines and hired extra labor.
(GRUNTS)
This is no time... Let go.
Long live our hero.
Even sharing half and half is robbery since we do all of the work.
And now not even that.
You know why I have to hire these hands?
Because almost all of you men
got yourselves killed in the war
like idiots.
ALFREDO: Papa, what's wrong with you?
Papa, you have no right to say something like that.
You keep quiet. And play soldier if you like.
Do you know how much I spent to keep you at home?
No, I don't know. How much did you spend?
More than you're worth.
Well, you know, I wanted to go. You didn't want me to go.
(CHUCKLES) Oh, of course.
Well, what a handsome saber you have.
Yes, this is a handsome saber. Very handsome.
And it cuts well! It cuts very well!
Watch, Papa! Watch!
Bravo, Lieutenant.
So, that is what you're good at?
At your age, I used to get up at 4:00 in the morning to check the stable.
Everyone here remembers that.
And at threshing time, I was the first to be up
and the last to go to bed.
Isn't that so? Can anybody deny that?
Go ahead! Go ahead! Speak up! Isn't that so? I know it is.
Bravo, my little cousin.
Thank you.
The next time you'll be pierced.
GIOVANNI: I sacrifice for this farm.
Sacrifice.
There aren't any ideals anymore. No respectability.
Devotion to the church, love for the land,
loyalty to the family, and credit in the bank.
Come on, Uncle. You're getting upset. Don't.
And respect.
Respect! Respect! Respect!
MAN: What the padrone meant
was that because there was no one here to work,
he had to buy modern machines.
Machines are like peasants.
They need their share of grain, too.
But they make life easy.
It's a change,
but it's progress.
Look.
Beautiful.
Heavy?
Hey! Hey! Stop that!
Are you crazy? Hey!
Hey! No, wait.
Why would you do a thing like that?
The army teach you nothing?
Who's this? This is-- This is Attila Mellanchini.
My father's new foreman.
I'm a soldier like you.
Hey, you heard what the padrone said.
You've had your share of grain.
He gives you all he can.
We'll work together.
Hey, I understand you.
(MACHINE RUMBLING)
(GRUNTING)
Olmo. Olmo.
Olmo.
Did you hear, women, what our padrone had to say?
It's our men's fault
because they got themselves killed in the war.
And the fault of the day laborers
because they work like beasts all day
and then expect to be paid for it.
It's all our fault that our families go hungry,
and that half of us end up sick with goiter trouble,
and it's always our fault when so many of our children are born dead.
Come, follow me, women.
The master should be really content if we take only a little grain
and leave him the rest. For the moment.
Come on, women, come on.
You speak too well for a little country girl.
I'm a schoolteacher.
That was the first time I ever kissed a schoolteacher.
ATTILA: Hey, schoolteacher,
finish the lesson.
Ah!
Look, women, our rooster is crowing.
Here, peck. Eat. Go on.
(WOMEN CLAMORING)
Oh!
Very funny. All right.
(IMITATING ROOSTER CROWING)
What's the matter? Why are you leaving?
To find another place to work and die.
Who put you out?
Ah, who can put you out? Landowners.
Even though our contract hasn't run out,
they're giving us the boot.
We formed the Workers' League.
They're making us pay the price.
And if you saw how our padrone took advantage. It was a shame.
We have to put up with the padrone fooling with our women.
You say we'll find work near Mantua?
Let's go. No sense in fighting, Oreste.
Not when you haven't a chance.
But our contract hasn't run out yet.
If they don't mean to pay us for our work,
then still I'll stay on this soil.
By Christ!
MAN: Oreste!
Oreste!
Run away, Oreste!
The demons are coming on horseback
to carry you off!
Run away, Oreste!
Not even the Pope, not even Jesus, the Lord,
is going to make me budge my ass!
Because I gave 40 years of my life to this valley.
Enough of your kind!
Lousy bastards,
you're afraid 'cause you know that you're getting away with murder.
New laws are what we need, and a new government,
so injustice comes to an end.
Laws that are going to get rid of all these delinquents.
Oreste! Laws!
GIRL: Papa, stop!
Good laws that will give us all a voice...
You're out of your mind! Oreste!
...so we are heard. Because we know how things stand.
Because those who till the soil are more intelligent
than those with nothing to do.
The poor peasants can't go on like this.
Enough, Oreste! Come back! You want to strip us.
You want to bleed us. Well, I'll go naked to Rome.
They'll here me talk. I'll go in my underwear.
You Judas bastards. Oreste, stop! Stop!
Let me go! No!
Oh, no! Let me go! Let me go!
No! Let me go!
WOMAN: Look what you've done, you cowards!
ORESTE: Go to work! Bend your backs!
Go to work! You know what that means?
You miserable, lowly sons of bitches!
(GUNS FIRING)
(HORSES NEIGHING)
About time they arrived.
They'll get those jackasses to lift their hooves.
(MOANING)
You make me come. Oh, you make me come.
You make me come.
You can't come.
Come on, an elephant couldn't make you come.
(SHOUTING) All I need is a real man!
In the name of the law, disperse.
Where will my family sleep tonight?
By the roadside?
They will sleep in a jail if you don't disperse.
Put the landowners in jail for not respecting their contract.
In the name of the... Law! Law! What law?
Contract's our law,
and their contract still has one year to go.
The padrone want to do them out of a whole year's work!
The padrone are thieves!
They want us out of the way because we're socialists.
OLMO: We want our rights. Then what are you waiting for?
Women, get down, you hear me? All of you. We need everybody.
Get down, all of you. Don't give up now. Don't give up, women.
ORESTE: They don't respect the law.
The padrone make the law and break the law!
A law for thieves and murderers!
Don't go away! Stop! Don't be afraid!
Stop! Get down! We can't let them pass!
Come with us tonight!
Stop! Wait!
They're taking Oreste away! Stick up for your rights!
You've got to help him!
Get down! ANITA: Get down!
Hurry! Hurry! Get down, get down!
OFFICER: Left turn. Forward.
Close formation! Double up column!
Aranzini.
Now the royal guards can take care of providing
a nice harvest holiday for them.
Unsheathe sabers!
Let's get some sticks! Come on, we have to fight them!
Let's go! Let's go!
(ALL CLAMORING)
Now is the time. We'll show them.
(WOMEN SINGING IN ITALIAN)
You'll have to kill us all!
You won't pass here!
(OLMO WHISTLING)
(MEN WHISTLING)
(WOMEN SINGING IN ITALIAN)
Go, men, go on! Teach them a lesson!
Tell them to go find their own property to huddle on!
The property is inviolable!
Halt! Squad, halt!
OFFICER: Go on back! Move out!
(ALL SINGING)
Ha! Congratulations.
Afraid of peasants?
You're to protect us? What a joke!
Religious cowards! You're a disgrace!
I'll drive you off myself! Stop it.
Criminals! Bolsheviks! What are you doing?
What are you doing, you fool? You're starting a one-man war.
(PEASANTS CONTINUE SINGING)
Damn you!
Go!
(GRUNTS)
REGINA: Go on. Go on.
You look fine. They must see you. No, I'm not dressed right.
It's not the way to start. They must get to know you.
Your time has come. This is your chance. Go on.
PIOPPI: We can't do what the fascists did at Rivarolo.
One of the reds there was murdered,
and so now he's their martyr,
and they're giving him a monument in the piazza.
I say what we should do...
Forget it, Pioppi.
You don't make deals when you've got all the trumps.
They made a mistake at Rivarolo, let me tell you.
They made only one martyr, that was their mistake.
(MAN CHUCKLING)
MAN: It's the same with my dog. If you hit him once, nothing.
Hit him again, still nothing. On the 10th crack, though,
he does learn to obey with his tail between his legs.
May I speak, please?
Here, in church,
they baptized us,
they confirmed us.
Here in church, we were married.
And one day,
they will carry us in
through that door
feet first.
(LAUGHING)
As late as possible, I hope.
All of you know what the Crusades were.
Do you know what the Crusades were?
Young man, we're discussing things here that concern you, too.
You wanted me to come here, so at least leave me alone.
The church.
Yes, even the church, when it was necessary,
clamped down hard on its enemies.
Who are these Bolsheviks, anyway?
Huh?
Semi-Asiatics, that's what they are.
Like the Saracens,
Mongol subversives.
And if things go on like this much longer,
they will kill us, kill us all,
and take over everything.
Am I right or not?
Hey, Pioppi?
Talk, nothing but talk.
I know what has to be done. Get rid of them all.
GIOVANNI: But the new fascist movement doesn't want vengeance.
We want order first.
We are the new crusaders.
And we must instill courage in our youth.
They're waiting for a sign from us.
So let us give them this sign.
(SOFTLY) Go on. Go on.
We've already saved the country once.
We answered the call in the trenches.
And now we're here.
MAN: It's only right.
When you start a new enterprise, you need a little capital.
Total solidarity, eh?
This is what Italy needs to get the ball rolling.
Not even a bastard would've done this.
(HORN HONKING)
They work hard in the city, too, huh?
Imagine the look on my father's face if he knew we were here together.
(EXCLAIMING)
Your father, "Respect! Respect! Respect!"
Your father is just a thief who longs for respect, like all masters.
Really? Uh-huh.
Wait till I become the master, because I'll be twice as hard on you.
And on that day, I'll kill you.
(GRUNTING)
(LAUGHING)
No, seriously, when you see my uncle, you'll really like him.
He's much nicer than my father.
(OCARINA PLAYING) He's totally different. He's more like us.
Hear that music? I know it.
Montanaro! Dalco, Olmo.
Don't you remember me?
(GROANS) Oh, your foot. I'm sorry.
Aren't you Olmo, the bastard child? Really?
Remember all the polenta we used to eat?
Always polenta. ALFREDO: Olmo! Olmo!
Don't go. We'll talk later.
We'll talk later. Don't go.
Come on. Let's give this lovely young lady a hand.
Oh, uh, you don't have to bother.
Alfredo, it's Montanaro.
The one who cut his ear. He's right there. See?
(PEOPLE CHATTERING)
(MAN SINGING IN ITALIAN)
Signorina, I bet you'd never guess we're twins.
Oh, you're lying. You're making fun of me.
ALFREDO: Oh, no, that's the truth. We share everything.
What's his is mine, and what's mine is mine.
Yeah, that's about it.
Good morning, signora.
WOMAN: Where are you going, Nicoletta?
NICOLETTA: I'm going down.
ALFREDO: Service with a smile. WOMAN: Thank you.
Where, signorina? On the table.
Ah! Will you look at that?
It's been ages since I've had homemade liqueur.
You want some? Oh, yes, I would indeed,
but it has to be my treat.
Don't worry, I'll pay very well for anything.
I have money. I'll pay you very well.
Very well.
Someday you'll choke on your filthy money.
It makes her happy.
Hmm?
You should have a drink, too.
I better not. It's bad for me.
Then don't waste time. Get undressed.
Huh? Huh.
(WHISPERING) You see? I told you she was a whore.
Didn't I?
The girl is poor, but that doesn't mean she's a slut. Does it?
If she wasn't a whore, she wouldn't take my money.
But it's your money.
It corrupts her.
Well, anyway, she cleaned me out.
Aren't you two going to get undressed?
Go ahead. You go first.
No, no, after you.
No, no, you go. Go ahead. I insist.
No, no. You paid. You have the right.
I'm cold. I'm freezing.
You're older than I am.
(CHUCKLING)
Who do you want to go first?
Both.
You mean both of us together?
Why waste time?
I went under that train.
What train? Remember during the strike?
I was under the train you were on.
Who goes first?
Your friend...
Maybe you can do something better.
Don't you have a girlfriend?
(MOCKING)
What's so funny?
I was just thinking about Anita.
Leave Anita out of this. Is she your girl?
Come on. Have a drink.
Oh, no, no, thank you.
I feel strange if I drink.
But that's what's so great. Come on.
Have a drink. Have some fun.
Are you going to marry her?
She's already my wife.
But without being married. She's my comrade.
No marriage. They're Bolsheviks. They believe in free love.
Your hand getting tired?
You really know what free love is, don't you?
Hmm?
Huh?
Don't ask me so many questions.
Answer! Leave her alone.
I don't know if I'd be answering right.
Don't lie to me, you little whore.
You know what free love is.
I'm ashamed.
(SHUDDERING) I'm ashamed.
Please.
You must go away.
Go--Go away.
(CHOKING)
Go away now.
(SOBBING)
Please! Go away!
(MOANING)
Oh! Oh, no! Oh, God! Oh, God!
She's an epileptic.
Come on, let's go. Hurry up.
Call somebody. Go on! Call somebody!
Signora! Signora!
Stop. Please. Please.
Stop! I beg you.
Don't.
We didn't do anything.
Let her go.
Stupid.
She knows she must never drink.
Shall I get a doctor?
It wouldn't do any good.
She'll stop. Have to have patience, that's all.
Alfredo.
Uncle Ottavio?
It's me, Alfredo.
Anybody home?
Hello?
Who is it?
I'm really very sorry. I didn't mean to disturb you.
Ottavio is not here.
Ah, well, perhaps I'll come back later.
Do you have a cigarette? Yes.
Oh, I don't smoke.
How nice. What did you come for?
Who are you?
My name is Ada, and I want a cigarette.
I'm Alfredo, and I want my uncle.
(GASPS)
Have a cigar?
Oh! My savior.
(CHUCKLING) For so little.
Good afternoon, Uncle.
Well, what are you doing here?
Uh... Well, I had a rotten day.
I came into the city to have some fun and I saw an epileptic.
Have you ever seen an epileptic?
I'd like to take a bath.
Of course.
OTTAVIO: Mario, in here.
There. Set it down there.
ADA: How did the auction go?
Ah, all morning a bad sale.
I didn't know that the search for pleasure could be so tiring.
Oh, poor dear. You work so hard.
Uh-huh.
Take a look at this. It's exceptionally beautiful.
So, naturally, no one liked it.
He's a young German painter.
A new discovery of mine.
What do you think the man is doing?
ADA: He's sleeping.
No, he's dead.
He's asleep, I tell you.
He's dead.
Look at the hand.
The hand may be dead but he's alive.
Guess what? Hmm.
I've fallen in love.
Again?
But this time it's serious.
Oh...
Let's see if I can guess.
Blanchi?
Bugatti. Mmm.
The Roadster? No, Torpedo.
Mmm.
But it's an impossible love. It's too expensive.
Torpedo. Oh, I was just thinking of buying one tomorrow.
Can you drive? Yes.
I mean, no, but it's not difficult.
(CHUCKLING)
This nephew of yours is really a bit of a liar.
(OTTAVIO LAUGHING)
Bravo. Bravo.
Make that tight, stingy brother of mine spend some of his money.
(CHUCKLES)
How's your mother?
She still paints
endless ancestral landscapes.
Mmm.
My lost countryside.
Ottavio, lend me the car.
If you're ready, I'll give you a lift home.
I'm ready. Let's go.
"Vroom, roar
"First, second and third gears
"Dry my tears and leave me cold
"Bureaucratic, gray and old"
You like it?
Uh...
Yes. It's, uh... Yes, it's good. It's nice.
It's a little modern but...
Modern? The hell it is. It's futuristic.
Read the other one.
"Gypsy, what you rouse in me lingers still like a kiss
"and your traitorous smile."
Uh, yes, it has a certain, uh...
I like it. It's good. It's too bad that it's so short.
That's what's nice about it.
What are you doing?
Two of us have read them. That's already too many.
And you just throw them away like that?
(MEN CHEERING)
Why don't those pigs let me pass? Bastards!
(SCATTING)
ADA: I saw you.
(MEN LAUGHING)
I want to pass.
Come on!
What did he say? Go ahead. Pass them.
(MAN SINGING)
Now, come on. They're letting us through.
Go ahead.
(MEN CHEERING)
Are they friends of yours? They look like murderers.
No, no, they're not friends of mine.
I know that whenever they go out like that, there's trouble in the making.
They revolt me.
I don't want to see. I don't want to see anymore.
I'm blind!
Wait a minute. Wait, wait, wait.
Come on, now. Try not to go blind. Not on a curve.
I don't want to see. I don't want to see.
I'm blind! I'm blind! No.
Blind! No.
(SHUSHING)
OLD MAN: "Gives
"youth
"to mankind."
ANITA: Pietro, read aloud what you've written there.
"Communism gives youth to mankind."
And now Olmo will explain what that means.
(LAUGHING) OLMO: Well, um...
What does it mean?
It means...
Schoolmistress? Comrade.
Comrade schoolmistress,
I am close to 71, and being a communist,
I find I still do for a woman more than youngsters do.
You big bull, we don't come here to be braggarts.
We come here to learn.
(LAUGHING)
School's over for today.
Go on, we'll keep an eye on the community house. Don't worry.
And we studied this whole bottle.
(OLD MAN EXCLAIMING)
Well, shall we go?
Huh?
What a rotten day.
I went into town with Alfredo.
Look... I had no fun at all.
Drawn nicely, isn't it?
We walked around.
Drank a little bit.
You know...
You know how it is in the city.
I know. I know.
You know.
What a class.
The youngest must be at least 80.
The youngsters are dancing at the Risotti barn, that's why.
(OLD MEN COUNTING)
You're wasting your time.
Giving lessons to four old men, what good does it do?
I wanted to dance, too, but I had to wait for you! No?
Dancing with that belly?
Anita. Anita. Anita.
No!
(GRUNTING)
Anita!
I feel better now.
Yeah, I feel better, too.
(LAUGHING)
Help.
Eight. Six. Seven. Two.
One. Eight. Nine. Three. Seven. Six.
Nine. Seven. Three. Five.
Eight. Eight. Six. Five.
What do you have inside that head?
What do you have?
(MOANING)
You have another woman. No.
No? No, no. No.
No.
Come on, let's go dancing.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
ALFREDO: Have you ever danced in a barn before?
ADA: No, it's the first time.
Wait. Wait here. I'll go get something to drink.
Wait!
Two glasses. Thank you. I'll pay later.
Certainly.
ADA: Alfredo!
Alfredo, where are you?
Alfredo!
Don't leave me alone!
Oh!
Alfredo.
MAN: What's wrong with her?
It's nothing.
I don't see. I'm blind.
This music is so beautiful.
Please don't stop dancing just for me.
Play on. Play on!
(MUSIC PLAYING)
Faster. Faster.
Faster! How wonderful!
Make me fly.
And to think she has such beautiful eyes, huh?
Mmm, oh, yes. Very beautiful.
(MUSIC STOPS)
(PEOPLE CHATTERING)
Alfredo, give me a kiss.
WOMAN: Hey, look at the blind girl.
Would you like a drink?
No, no. I think you need a drink. I know I need a drink,
and therefore if I need a drink, I know that you need a drink,
and, therefore, we should both have a drink.
All right? Yeah.
Blind, eh? You're not Alfredo.
Who are you?
How awful! You have no pity for a blind girl.
Monster!
(MUSIC PLAYING)
Oh!
Oh, Alfredo. Come on, stop this game.
WOMAN: Pretty, isn't it?
ADA: Alfredo, how could you do that to me?
You mustn't ever leave me alone again.
Oh, stop it.
You're outrageous.
I'm an animal de luxe.
This is my, uh, best friend, Olmo.
This is Anita. This is...
Anita, this is Ada. This is Anita. This is Ada.
WOMAN 1: It's soft. WOMAN 2: Imagine if we had one like this.
It's warm. WOMAN 3: It's warm. Yes.
Oh, it feels good. Oh, yes.
Beautiful. Beautiful.
This morning with an epileptic and now with a blind girl.
One more like this and you can open a hospital.
You're the one that's blind.
Are they ready?
(GASPS)
A blind girl, huh?
Thank you. Thank you. You saved me.
I was afraid I had to go on all evening.
So you come in here all dressed and perfumed
to make fools of us.
Stupid, spoiled.
How is it you call us? Hicks? Peasants?
Uh...
I know. You're right.
But it always happens like this.
I can't stand it.
So I close my eyes and I bang into people.
Does it scare you to look?
What do you see? What do you see?
What does she see? She sees someone who's so happy...
I don't want us to change.
I--I want everyone to stay still. Stay still.
Give me your hands. Everyone give me their hands.
Put your hands here. Here, here.
Hey, look.
It's horrible.
Oh!
ADA: I'm sorry.
I apologize to all of you.
It was just--just a stupid joke.
It was very silly of me, I know.
Nothing to worry about.
I'm sorry!
I didn't mean to offend anyone!
Forgive me!
I'm not blind! Forgive me!
I can see very well! Look, I'm not blind!
I see all of you!
Is she drunk or...
ADA: Why don't you believe me? It was all a joke!
She's not drunk. I can see like you...
She's fantastic. ...and you!
She smokes, she drives, she writes poetry.
She's-- She's very modern, something you don't understand.
OLMO: Hey!
Something you don't understand.
You're a country bumpkin.
MAN: Help! Help! Wait.
Wait! I want to tell you something. Wait!
Don't fall.
MAN: Help! Everybody! Hurry!
And she's wild berries.
I'll kill them all.
(CHILDREN CHATTERING)
(TRUMPETS BLOWING)
Hey. Hey.
Hey.
Who are you?
You don't know me.
What the hell do you want?
(TRUMPETS BLOWING)
You're boring.
My name is Ada Fiastri Paulhan.
I'm 21, the worst age in the world.
(GASPS)
My father designed the head of the king on the 10 lira note.
So we've always been surrounded by money
and never had any.
I'm an orphan.
Three years ago, my parents had the bright idea
of organizing an Alpine expedition for millionaires.
They disappeared into a crevasse on the Matterhorn.
They died the way they lived, beyond their means.
I have no sisters, no brothers.
I can live where I like and with anybody I like.
MAN 1: The community house is on fire!
MAN 2: The community house is burning to the ground!
(PEOPLE CLAMORING)
The community house is on fire!
I don't want to.
I don't want to! I don't want to!
No!
No.
(BELL CLANGING)
Come here.
(SCREAMING)
(BOTH MOANING)
Kiss me. Kiss me.
Why didn't you tell me you were a virgin?
Because you would never have believed me.
That's right.
But aren't you Ottavio's mistress?
(LAUGHING) No.
Oh, no.
OLMO: Wake up!
ANITA: Pietro Pecurare!
Seventy-eight years old!
Wake up!
Farm laborer!
Wake up!
Exploited by the landowners!
Murdered by the fascists!
Wake up!
Vircimo Bonazza, age 74,
(WOMEN SOBBING) day laborer from the age of seven.
Exploited by the landowners!
Murdered by the fascists! Murdered by the fascists!
Wake up!
Jofren Zuelli, age 72.
Wake up!
Farm laborer from the age of seven.
Exploited by the landowners!
Murdered by the fascists!
Wake up!
Open your windows!
Why don't you come down?
Wake up!
Don't you want to see?
Come down and look at them!
OLMO: Wake up!
ANITA: Wake up!
Wake up!
(SOBBING) Wake up!
Look, there's no one!
(CRYING)
It's over. It's all over.
It's the end. No.
No, no!
We're strong!
We're many!
We're united!
They'll kill us all. They'll kill us all.
No, no, no.
No.
(BAND PLAYING)
Listen.
They're coming.
Yes. They're coming.
They're here. Look, Anita.
I'm not well.
Could it be the baby?
What a child you are.
There's time.
It's finished.
Hey, did you see?
MAN 1: A crowd like that.
No one will believe that all those people are relatives.
I don't believe it. They were over 1,000 of them, Barone.
Over 1,000, at least.
They're saying it was no accident.
It was deliberately set.
(MAN WHISTLING)
(MEN LAUGHING)
There are 2,000 reds out there!
Hey, Barone, you look like you've been to a funeral.
You feel sad?
You think we made a mistake?
Never regret anything. Never be afraid.
The only thing a man has to fear is fear itself.
Shall we take some tucks?
They give the shirt a greater elegance.
ATTILA: I don't want it to look elegant. I want it to look strong.
This isn't a shirt, it's a symbol.
You're not a tailor. You're making a flag for the people.
Does it look good, Barone?
Uh-huh, more manly.
More manly, yes, but not pretty. Not pretty. More manly.
Well, good. All of you get one. You all get one.
You all look like this. Give the people something to follow.
Yeah. Give me that pussycat.
(CAT PURRING) Listen.
Communists are smart.
They play on your human feelings.
They're like this little pussycat.
It plays on your human feelings. Huh?
Communism is a disease.
It can destroy the world. Come outside.
If this little pussycat has got communism,
(CAT MEOWING) you can't think of this little pussycat.
You got to think of all the other pussycats in the world
and you got to protect them.
You got to protect all those pussycats.
You got to look at that pussycat and you've got to say,
"That's not a pussycat, that's a communist."
And you've got to destroy it!
(CAT YOWLING)
(SINGING IN ITALIAN)
(ALL SINGING)
(MEN CHEERING)
Where do we make the communists go?
ALL: Jail!
Where do we make the Workers' League go?
ALL: Jail to all!
End Act One