1990 Oscar Nominee for Best Foreign Language Film
1989 Cannes Film Festival Special Jury Prize
Golden Globe Award Hollywood Foreign Press Association
1989 Special Jury Prize European Oscar "Felix"
1989 European Oscar "Felix" Best Actor - Philippe Noiret
Nominee for French "César" for Best Foreign Film
Nominee for French "César" for "Best poster of the year"
Japanese magazine "Mainichi Elga" Readers' Prize for Best Foreign Film
Japanese Golden Globe Nominee Best Foreign Film
"EuropaCinema" Prize Best Technical-Artistic Contribution
"Confédération International des Cinema d'Essai" Prize
"Pasinetti" Prize Union of Film Journalists
1989 "David di Donatello" Best Musical Score
Prize awarded to Ennio Morricone for Best Soundtrack 1989
1989 Special Prize "Efebo d'Oro"
1989 "Cinema & Società" Prize
Presented at Film Festivals in:
Yes, Salvatore. Salvatore Di Vita.
What do you mean you don't know him?
Yes that's right. This is his mother.
I'm calling from Sicily. I've been trying all day.
I see. He's not there.
Then can you tell me please-
656-229-56.
Thank you. Good-bye.
Mama it's no use calling.
He's a busy man. He could be anywhere.
He won't remember anymore.
Come on, let it go.
He hasn't been here in 39 years.
You know how he is.
He'll remember.
I'm sure he'll remember. I know him better than you.
If he finds out later we didn't tell him, he'll be upset.
I'd like to talk to Mr. Salvatore Di Vita.
This is his mother.
Salvatore...
what time is it?
It's very late.
I'm sorry. There was no way to let you know.
Go back to sleep.
Your mother called.
She took me for someone else.
What did you tell her?
I played along. I didn't want to disappoint her.
We had a long talk.
She said you haven't visited her in 30 years.
When she wants to see you, she comes to Rome.
She called just to say that?
No.
She said someone died- someone named Alfredo.
The funeral is tomorrow.
Who is he, a relative?
No. Go to sleep.
This boy will be the death of me.
Toto!
Better late than never.
How often must I say it? Without the bell, I lose my place.
You're always sleeping. What do you do at night, eat?
Father at my house we don t even eat at noon.
The veterinarian says so. That's why I'm tired.
I know why you're tired. Don't think I don't.
Now run along home. I've something to do.
- Can I come? - No, you cannot.
- Yes, yes! - Toto out!
I want to! I want to!
Alfredo.
You can start.
Here we go again.
Fix the picture!
Pepe, one day we'll have it all.
We'll go away together...
live the easy life...
where no one knows us.
Forget it.
You don 't love me anymore.
One pair, two pair!
One hundred lire! Real nylon!
You mustn't come here.
Can't you get it through your thick skull?
If the film catches fire...
little as you are, you'll go up-voom!
ÒAnd turn into a lump of coal."
Like to wag your tongue, eh?
One day I'll cut it off.
Like that.
Can I have it?
Come on can I have it?
Well can I?
What are you deaf?
I have to splice it back in before I return the film.
You're such a pest!
Why didn't you splice these in when you gave the films back?
Sometimes I can't find the right place so they stay here.
Anyway, they kiss too much.
Then I can have them.
No. Now look, come here.
Before I kick your behind, let's make a deal.
All those are yours- a present.
Thanks.
But one, you keep out of here and two they stay with me. Got it?
All right.
Right. Then we agree. Now scram.
What kind of a deal is that?
If they're mine, how come you keep them?
Don't come back, or I'll split your head open!
"Shoot first think later."
"This is no job for cowards, you backstabbing dog!"
"Hey, you! Hands off the gold, you rotten bastard!"
"You dirty swine stay away from me...
or I'll smash your face in."
Mama if the war's over why doesn't Papa come back?
He'll come back, you'll see. One of these days.
I don't remember him.
Where's Russia?
It takes years to get there...
and years to come back.
Go to bed. It's late.
You can fool your mother but not me!
Get your diploma and join the police! Lazybones!
Good-for-nothing!
Well? What is 5 times 5?
Thirty.
Silence!
The fives times table, dimwit.
One times 5 is 5...
2 times 5 is 19...
3 times 5 is 15...
4 times 5 is 29.
5 times 5?
Forty.
Silence!
Boccia...
twenty-five.
Learn your times tables or you Il never get a job.
For the last time...
what is 5 times 5?
Christmas!
I paid to get in. I'm seeing the movie.
Get down from there, you rascal.
Go back to your seat.
Worse than rabbits. They're all over the place.
Little monsters.
I'm Off to Oregon.
Wait for me at my ranch.
Wait for a dead man?
A star-studded cast...
featuring John Wayne...
Claire Trevor-
Hello, everyone!
- Can't I say hello? - It's a double feature today.
So? I'm here to sleep.
- Got some smokes? - American.
Cut the news Alfredo!
The men and women who fought in secret...
our brave partisans are reunited in Rome...
for the first Resistance Rally...
organized by the CVL.
Parri is the acting president. Sandro Pertini-
ÒPlayed by Sicilian Fisherman"
- What does it say? - I'm illiterate.
You too?
ÒItalian is not the language spoken by the poor in Sicily."
Twelve hours of blood and sweat...
and what they bring home barely keeps them from starving.
Yet when they pulled in their nets...
they were full.
They wanted 750 lire.
It's always the same.
But they don't pay us enough.
That's how it's always been.
And it's never going to change.
I knew it!
In 20 years I've never seen a kiss on the screen!
As if they'd let us!
Kiss my ass!
- Don Vincenzo. - You and you, to work.
What about me?
Go ask Stalin for a job.
His day will come. You watch.
I always get left out.
Good movie. The kid really acted well.
Too bad he was so unlucky.
What a jackass to buy that boat.
Idiot, you didn't get it at all.
Right boys, you work from dawn to dusk.
And don't ask how much it pays.
I've been looking for you all day. Did you get the milk?
Where's the money?
It got stolen.
You spent it at the movies?
Movies, always movies!
Signora Maria, stop.
Leave him alone. Take it easy.
And you why do you tell lies?
You know you got in for free.
Tell your mother.
Maybe he lost the money inside.
- How much did you have? - Fifty lire.
What did you find under the seats tonight?
A comb.
Two shoe lifts.
- A can of tobacco- - And...
fifty lire.
See?
Thank you, Alfredo.
I knew where you were going.
The square is mine! It's mine!
It's midnight. Midnight!
Out! Shoo! I have to close the square.
Hard on the feet, eh Father?
On the way there, it's all downhill and all the saints help out.
But coming back, the saints just watch.
If that's God's will.
See you tonight.
What's wrong?
Your foot this time.
It's always something with you. What can I do?
Alfredo, did you know my father?
What a question. Of course I knew him.
Tall, thin, friendly guy with a big mustache like mine.
Always smiling. He looked a lot like Clark Gable.
Now that I'll be in fifth grade...
I don't say I should come in the booth...
but can't we at least be friends?
ÒI choose my friends for looks, my enemies for intelligence."
You're too sly to be my friend.
I always tell my children...
ÒBe careful how you choose your friends."
You haven't got any children.
When I do, I'll tell them.
Don't cry, don't cry. It's all right.
The fire's out. It's over. Mama's here.
What happened?
Monster!
Your little sister could have burned to death!
It's all your fault!
I told you not to keep your film under the bed by the fire pan.
Even the photographs burned!
He could have set the house on fire!
You and your stupid movies!
Aren't you ashamed to play with a little boy at your age?
What did I do?
Who gave him the film?
Don't do it again. He's crazy. Crazy, I tell you!
All I hear about is movies and Alfredo.
Alfredo and movies!
Swear you won't let him in again. Swear it!
You have my word.
May God grant me one wish.
May he send your father home to whip you!
Papa won't come back, and I know why.
He's dead.
That's not true.
I'll show you. He'll come back.
They smoke like chimneys!
No. Go buy a ticket.
What was that?
I'll make mincemeat out of you! You'll have to reckon with me!
Signora Anna!
Don't blame me. Your wife told me to bring your lunch.
I told my mother you didn't give me the film.
It wasn't your fault.
I thought it was a joke about film catching fire.
I just wanted to tell you. Now I'll go.
Toto, come here.
Come on and sit down.
Now listen. I got into this business at age ten.
Back then, we didn't have fancy machines.
Movies were silent.
You turned the projector by hand...
with a crank.
All the livelong day!
And that damn crank was so hard.
If you got tired and slowed down a bit...
like a shot-voom!- everything went up in flames.
So why not teach me?
Now that there's no crank and it's easier.
Because I don't want to.
This is no job for you.
You're like a slave...
and always by yourself.
You see a film 199 times. You've nothing else to do.
You talk to Greta Garbo and Tyrone Power like an idiot.
You work like a dog.
Even holidays- Easter, Christmas.
You only get Good Friday off.
And if they hadn't stuck Christ on a cross...
we'd even work then.
So why don't you change jobs?
Because I'm a nitwit.
Who else around here could run a projector?
Nobody. It takes an imbecile like me.
I never had any luck.
So, you want to be a stick-in-the-mud like me? How about it?
Attaboy, Toto.
I'm telling you for your own good.
In here, you suffocate in summer and freeze to death in winter.
You breathe all these fumes.
And you earn chicken feed.
Don't you like anything about it?
Oh you get used to it.
Sometimes you can hear...
that the house is full of people...
laughing and having fun.
Then you're happy too.
It makes you feel good to hear them.
Like you're the one who made them laugh-
who made them forget their troubles.
That part I like.
I might as well be speaking Greek! What're you up to?
You pretend to listen, then you trick me!
Your mother's right! You're crazy!
How'd the rascal do it? He learned by watching.
I'm telling the cashier not to let you in!
And I'll see Father Adelfio! No more altar boy! Finished!
Up yours!
I got it! I won! I won the football lottery!
The Neapolitan won the lottery!
Hey, Ciccio from Naples won the lottery!
It's always the northerners who get lucky.
The square is mine! All mine!
Hold still! Got ants in your pants?
You got a lice factory up here.
Beat it.
What're you after?
Get out of here.
A merchant owns two stores.
In one, he sells fruit.
Be seated.
Professor...
the night-school students are here for the grade-school diploma exam.
Silence!
Rotten little stinker!
- Toto help me. - Silence!
I can't do this damn thing!
Francesco Messana...
you're under arrest.
Good riddance!
Kiss my ass! Pencil pusher!
Right here is where it can catch fire.
If it does, cut here and here, or the whole reel will burn. Got it?
Never! We'll never have that here.
Which side is the gelatin on?
It tastes good.
The shipping invoice for the film. Always keep these.
I will, Alfredo.
Don't ever forget them.
This is for you. Today you load the reels yourself.
- It's so high! - Now you can run it alone.
Hold it.
- What a build! - My turn!
Say good-bye to Peppino. He's leaving for Germany.
Why won't you say good-bye?
My father says he's a communist.
God keep you, Mama.
Will he really find work in Germany?
Who knows? It's an adventure.
All you can do is hope.
Screw this country!
Go work in Germany you and your Stalin.
Good-bye, Mama.
Good-bye, Peppino! Come back soon!
We'll see you.
Lucky thing Germany is closer than Russia.
After six years the return of spring fashion.
Fresh and breezy, unlike the stodgy wartime styles.
I'll make mincemeat out of you!
ÒYou'll have to reckon with me!"
Another sad chapter...
in the tragedy of our men in Russia.
The Defense Ministry...
has released a new list of Italian soldiers killed in battle...
until now considered missing.
The names will be posted by local military authorities...
who will directly notify the families involved.
However, we don't know where he 's buried.
Here 's the form for the pension. Sign it please.
Get out! Go home! We can't have another show!
It's late. Be reasonable. We can't show it again!
Some people sat through it twice!
We've been waiting for an hour!
Tomorrow we'll have another movie.
A western. Word of honor! Go home to bed.
They'll wreck the Paradiso! All hell will break loose!
Alfredo, let us in!
What can I do?
ÒA mob doesn't think.
They don't know what they're doing."
Spencer Tracy said that in Fury.
Well, what do you say?
Shall we let the poor devils see their film?
Sure. But how?
ÒIf you have no faith in me, have faith in what you see."
Now get your butt off that stool.
Get ready.
Abracadabra.
Look the other direction.
Go look out the window.
Alfredo it's beautiful.
Over there! It's the movie!
Bravo, Alfredo!
Thank you Alfredo!
What's going on?
It's a movie!
To hell with you all!
There's no sound!
Shall we make them happy?
Want to go down?
Go on.
- Look. - Good Lord!
And Nunzio, half price.
You have to buy tickets, folks.
Reduced rates.
Up yours! The square belongs to everyone!
Oh, no!
The square is mine! Don't joke about that or you'll piss me off!
Someone, help me!
- Nunzio what's wrong with you? - I can t breathe!
Alfredo! Alfredo!
Help! Help!
Poor Alfredo. What a shame.
All burned!
It all burned down!
What do we do now?
We have no more entertainment. Nothing.
Where will we get the money to rebuild?
Take a look at Ciccio. So spiffy, you'd hardly know him.
Who has that kind of money?
The new Cinema Paradiso!
Come in, come in!
This theater is for you!
He's just a boy. What about labor laws?
I got the license through connections.
Don't ask me how their minds work.
Officially, I'm the projectionist, but the money goes to Toto.
Stay on your toes, Toto. No sleeping.
We've had enough disasters.
Do what poor Alfredo taught you.
And God bless you.
Thank you, Father.
What is this, a funeral? Life goes on! Gaiety! Music!
Get a load of that!
Our Father!
By God, they're kissing!
I won't watch pornography.
Three cheers for Ciccio!
Any room for me in this new paradise?
Bring him home after you close.
I'm going, Alfredo.
I'm glad you're here.
How're things at school?
Fine, but now that I'm working...
maybe I won't go anymore.
No. No Toto.
Don't do that.
You'll end up with egg on your face.
Why? What does that mean?
It means...
that this isn't your real work.
Right now the Paradiso needs you...
and you need the Paradiso...
but it's a stopgap.
One day you'll go on...
to other things.
Things...
that are more important.
Definitely more important.
I know.
Now that I've lost my sight, I see better.
Things I never saw before.
All thanks to you who saved my life.
I won't forget it.
And don't look like that.
I'm not senile yet. Want proof?
Well, let's see.
For example...
right now, the film's out of focus.
Go check.
You're right! It's out of focus.
How'd you know?
Too hard to explain.
What's the idea? Watch the screen, you perverts!
Don't touch.
I told you: It doesn't catch fire.
Progress always comes too late.
Workers-
She's new.
Not bad.
She looks nice.
Her father's the bank manager. Pride pomp and circumstance.
Jerks off with his shirt to keep his hands clean.
Go, man, go!
Excuse me.
You dropped this.
Oh, thanks.
I didn't even notice.
My name's Salvatore. What's yours?
Elena. My name's Elena.
I wanted to tell you well, the other day at the station-
The small projector? Your footage?
What do you see?
Slaughterhouse workers butchering a calf.
Blood all over the floor like a lake.
Another calf passes over the lake...
on his way to being slaughtered.
Why'd you stop? What do we see?
Nothing. We don't see anything. It's all fuzzy.
A woman.
It's a woman.
Yes a girl I saw at the station.
What's she like?
She's very nice.
My age, slim, long brown hair.
Big blue eyes honest and direct.
A little beauty mark on her lip.
Very small. You only see it up close.
When she smiles, you feel like- I don't know.
Love.
I know how it is. The blue-eyed ones are the worst.
No matter what you do, they'll never be your friends.
There's nothing you can do.
The bigger the man, the deeper the footprint.
And if he loves, he suffers, knowing it's a dead-end street.
That's nice, what you just said.
But sad.
I didn't say it. It was John Wayne in The Shepherd Of the Hills.
You old pirate!
Hello, Elena.
Why are you running?
Because...
I wanted to tell you-
You remember when we-
Nice day, isn't it?
Yes really nice.
Excuse me, I have to go. Bye.
What a jerk. What a jerk!
ÒNice day, isn't it?"
What an idiot!
I told you so.
You thought I was joking.
But take it from me: The blue-eyed ones are the worst.
But why? There must be a way to make her understand.
Don't even try. With feelings there s nothing to understand...
and no way to explain.
You talk like you made the world!
With all due respect to the Lord...
who made the world in two or three days-
I'd have taken a bit longer...
but in all modesty I would've done it better.
Like I said: You always have an answer.
Just for you, Toto, I'll tell you a story.
Let's sit down a minute.
These old bones of mine-
Once upon a time...
a king gave a feast...
for the loveliest princesses in the realm.
Now a soldier who was standing guard...
saw the king's daughter go by.
She was the most beautiful of all...
and he instantly fell in love.
But what is a simple soldier...
next to the daughter of a king?
Well, at last he succeeded in meeting her...
and told her he could no longer live without her.
The princess was so taken by the depth of his feeling...
that she said to the soldier...
ÒIf you can wait...
for 199 days and 199 nights under my balcony...
at the end I shall be yours."
With that the soldier went and waited one day...
two days then ten, then twenty.
Each evening the princess looked out...
and he never moved!
In rain, in wind, in snow, he was always there.
Birds shit on his head, bees stung him...
but he didn't budge.
At the end...
of 90 nights...
he had become...
all dry all white.
Tears streamed from his eyes.
He couldn't hold them back.
He didn't even have the strength to sleep.
All that time, the princess watched him.
At long last it was the 00th night...
and the soldier stood up...
took his chair...
and left.
What? After all that?
After all that.
And don't ask what it means. I don't know.
If you understand it, you tell me.
Only two days?
What do I care If you've rented all the prints?
I've only had it two days. They'll rip my head off here!
I wouldn't make it even if I opened at 8:00 a.m.!
This is a big town, and you know it!
If you screw me over, I'll go straight to Rome!
You'll pay for this!
Don't mess with me cause I Il split your skull open!
We see the crib. The child's asleep.
Help her!
ÒThe lawyer told me. Now I know."
The lawyer told me. Now I know.
ÒAnd everyone must know. Yes, everyone must know."
Everyone must know.
ÒYou believe me?"
You believe me?
ÒYes I believe you."
Yes, I believe you.
ÒOur own home. How I've dreamed of it!"
-Our Own home. - How I've dreamed of It!
ÒTonino!"
Tonino! Mama!
Mama.
ÒMama."
Mama.
Mama!
ÒThe End."
I don't like it! I don't like it!
I cut the end credits to go faster.
Hurry back with part one. I'll show a newsreel.
I'll call the police. Take him.
Just a minute. Just a minute!
Give me part two. Here's part one.
Hurry, the house is packed.
What are you doing? Hurry up! Light the coal come on!
- The audience is protesting! - Get her rolling!
Bunch of animals! Quiet!
Come on Toto. They're gonna explode!
It's been a half hour!
What can I do?
Where is that son of a jackass? I'll be ruined!
Calm down, calm down.
I'll have you know, just to see this movie...
I left my wife home sick in bed...
and I haven't seen a thing.
If it's not here in ten minutes, give us back our money...
me and everyone else here...
or I'll wreck the place with this cane!
Calm down! Calm down and let me talk.
Tell you what. I'll show part one over again.
Quiet, quiet!
I've seen the whole movie. I'll tell you the plot.
Alfredo, what is it?
I can't. It's time for Mass.
Father I need you urgently...
because I have doubts...
terrible doubts tormenting my soul.
Your soul!
Father, I've sinned.
- We can discuss that later. - But who-
Stay there. Don't move.
Just act normal. It's Salvatore.
How'd you get in there?
Alfredo, that's a terrible thing to say.
I know.
But take the miracle of the loaves and fishes.
What about it?
I always wonder: How is it possible?
I had to talk to you.
You're so beautiful Elena.
That's what I wanted to tell you.
When we meet I can't say anything right...
because you make me tremble.
I don't know what others do in a case like this.
It's my first time.
But I'm in love with you.
Father, I have sinned.
I absolve you in the name of the Father...
the Son and the Holy Ghost.
Go in peace.
When you smile, you're even prettier.
Salvatore, you're very sweet, and I like you very much...
but I don't love you.
I don't care. I'll wait.
What?
Until you fall in love with me.
Now listen.
Every night after work, I'll come stand outside your house.
And I'll wait. Every night.
When you change your mind, open your window.
That's all. I'll understand.
You understand now?
Yes, I finally see the light.
Next time, don't talk heresy.
You survived the fire in the theater...
but no one can save you from eternal fire!
Fifteen seconds to the New Year!
14, 13, 12-
The movie's over! Turn the lights on!
This is just the test drive.
How'll we get home?
Oh, God it's my father!
Good evening, Mr. Mendola.
ÒSummer Screenings Will Be Held at the Arena Imperia"
Standing room only!
Come on in. The show just started.
Have your tickets ready.
Salvatore, my love...
a whole summer with my family far away from you...
my days here drag On forever.
I see your name everywhere: in a book, a crossword puzzle...
a newspaper.
You're always before my eyes. Today alas I have bad news.
In October we 're moving to Palermo where I'll go to the university.
So we won 't see each other every day.
But don 't worry. Whenever I can get away...
I'll come to you at the Paradiso.
By God's might by man 's actions! Rise up!
When will this rotten summer end?
In a film, it'd already be over.
Fade-out, cut to storm. Wouldn't that be great?
Tell them I am Ulysses!
Elena! But when-
I got back today.
You can't imagine the excuses I made up to come here.
I have to do my military service in Rome. I'm leaving on Friday.
I'll come say good-bye at the Paradiso.
I'll arrive Thursday on the 5:00 bus.
This film is too highbrow for us. One day is more than enough.
Load the reels for tomorrow, ready for the new guy.
All right.
Hey, cheer up!
I'll wait for you. Don't worry.
The job'll still be here.
I'll wait, you hear?
Don't look so gloomy.
Come on, now!
Radioman Di Vita 3rd Battalion, 9th Company, sir!
They transferred her father? It can't be!
And no one knows where?
Screw you If you won't tell me! Asshole son of a bitch!
ÒAddress Unknown"
You're thinner.
I can tell you've been unhappy.
They tell me you never go out...
and you never talk to anybody.
Why?
You know how it is.
Sooner or later a time comes...
when it's all the same whether you talk or not.
So you might as well shut up.
It's hot in here.
Take me to the sea.
At a party, a lieutenant pinches this girl's ass.
She turns around. It's the colonel's daughter.
Terrified the lieutenant says...
ÒIf your heart is as hard as what I just felt I'm a dead man."
You haven't seen her?
And no one knows where she is.
That's probably how it was meant to be.
Each of us has his own destiny.
Get out of here.
This land is cursed.
Living here day after day...
you think it's the center of the world.
You believe nothing will ever change.
Then you leave for a year or two.
When you come back everything's changed.
The thread's broken.
What you came to find isn't there.
What was yours is gone.
You have to go away for a long time...
many years...
before you can come back and find your people.
The land where you were born.
But not now. It's not possible.
Right now, you're more blind than I am.
Who said that? Gary Cooper? James Stewart? Henry Fonda?
No, Toto.
Nobody said it.
This time it's all me.
Life isn't like in the movies.
Life...
is much harder.
Get out of here!
Go back to Rome.
You're young, and the world is yours.
And I'm old.
I don't want to hear you talk anymore.
I want to hear others talking about you.
Don't come back.
Don't think about us.
Don't look back. Don't write.
Don't give in to nostalgia. Forget us all.
If you do and you come back, don't come see me.
I won't let you in my house. Understand?
Thank you.
For everything you've done for me.
Whatever you end up doing, love it.
The way you loved the projection booth...
when you were a little squirt.
He's gone. Toto! Good-bye!
I got here too late. What a shame!
It's Toto. I knew it.
- Toto. - How are you?
See how nice the house is?
We had the whole thing redone, all thanks to you.
I have a surprise for you. Come.
Are you tired?
You have time to rest before the funeral.
No Mama, it's only an hour by plane.
You shouldn't have said that after all these years.
Come. I put all your things in here.
He must be glad you came, Toto.
He always talked about you. Always.
Right up to the end.
He really loved you.
He left something for you.
Before you leave...
come see me.
When did you close it down?
Six years ago in May. Nobody came anymore.
You know better than I, Mr. Di Vita- the economy TV, videos.
The old movie business is just a memory.
The city bought the site for a parking lot.
They're demolishing it Saturday. It's too bad.
What's this ?Mr. Di Vita"?
You used to order me around.
Now that you're a big shot, it's a little different.
But If you insist, Toto.
Excuse me.
Who would've believed it? Little Toto.
These are the things he left for you.
- He never asked to see me? - No, never.
Once your mother said to him...
that you'd surely come If you wanted to.
He was furious and said...
ÒNo Toto must never come back to Giancaldo!"
He didn't say it to be mean.
He was a good man.
Who knows what was going through his head?
Towards the end he started saying strange things.
A moment before he closed his eyes...
he told your mother she mustn't let you know.
What are you thinking?
I was thinking that you and I have never spoken Mama.
And now, after all these years, I thought I was stronger...
that I'd forgotten a lot of things.
But in fact...
I find I'm right back where I was...
as if I'd never been away.
And yet I look at Lia and feel that I don't even know her.
And you, Mama...
I deserted you.
Ran out on you like a bandit...
without any explanation.
I never asked for any.
You don't have to explain anything to me.
I always thought you did what was right. Why dwell on it?
You were right to leave.
You did what you wanted to do.
Every time I call you, a different woman answers.
But I never heard in any of their voices...
that they really loved you.
I would've known.
All the same, I'd have liked...
to see you settled down...
in love with someone.
But your life is there.
Here there are only ghosts.
Let go, Toto.
It's my square. The square is mine.
Check the leader. Roll when you're ready.
- I liked your film. It was terrific. - Thanks.