Go with the kiss!
Kiss!
Don't overdo it, though.
Look at her belly! How many months are you?
- Lila, what are you doing? - She's out of her mind!
Where did she get her manners?
What did she do?
Nothing happened, keep playing!
It's nothing.
I'm sorry, madam.
She's so rude.
- What happened? - I don't know how he puts up with her.
What happened?
That lady lifted Pinuccia's dress to show her big thighs
and said to Stefano: "Look what fine thighs your sister has, what a belly!
Women today look like broomsticks,
whereas those like her are made to bear children."
And Lila?
And Lila threw her wine at her.
I know why she's acting like this.
We all know,
but that's not a good reason to make him look bad.
Why?
They had her examined.
- Who? - Stefano, his parents.
They want to know how come she only got pregnant once.
Everything seems to be in order.
The doctor said she only needs to get stronger.
"Get stronger," that's what he said.
It meant that Lila, despite the strength she manifested at all times,
was weak.
It meant that children didn't come to her
not because she possessed some mysterious power,
but because, on the contrary, she was fragile.
My resentment died down.
Lila.
Lenù.
Why did you throw wine at her?
- They told me you went to the doctor. - Yes.
How did it go?
He poked around inside me with a metal thing.
I gave him a lot of money only to find out I need to get stronger.
I have to go swimming in the sea.
They say if you swim in the sea you get stronger and children come.
Stefano wants to rent a house in Torre Annunziata.
He wants me to go with my mother and Pinuccia for two months.
It could be worse, I'm working all summer.
Two months with my mother and Pinuccia, I'll kill myself.
Don't say that. Go swimming, get some sun.
If I could get stronger in your place I'd go tomorrow.
Then come with me.
I can't, I have to work at the bookstore.
Quit.
I'll pay you what the bookseller does.
Don't be silly! My mother would never let me.
I'll take care of your mother.
All right.
But let's go to Ischia where I've already been,
that way my mother won't worry so much.
Gee, it's hot!
I can't wait to get in the water.
Come on, get going!
- I can't walk anymore. - It's not far.
You already said that twice. Look at my swollen ankles.
We're nearly there.
If we're nearly there, let's stop here.
It's nicer there, trust me.
No, okay, let's stop here.
Lenù!
Who's that?
- What a surprise! - Good morning, how are you?
Well! I'll help you.
- No, don't worry. - I wouldn't dream of it.
What a surprise!
Come and say hello to my wife.
Lidia!
Look!
They were girls, look what lovely young ladies they are now.
I didn't think I'd see you.
Nella didn't tell us.
We're vacationing in Cuotto and we came for a walk down here.
Walking under the sun, I can't take anymore.
Then get undressed and go for a swim.
Kids! Look who's here.
Hi, Lenù!
Come for a swim with us.
Leave Lenù alone. You go for a swim, then we'll eat.
You're so pretty, Lenù.
I'm so happy to see you.
Sit next to me, so you can tell me everything.
School?
Good, I passed.
You're so modest! Who knows what grades you got!
Marisa has to repeat four subjects.
As punishment she stayed with her aunt and uncle.
She has private lessons almost every day.
Some subjects are hard to get the hang of.
You're too kind, the truth is that Marisa's a shirker.
Don't worry about Marisa, if need be, I'll help her.
No, in that case, there's Nino, too, he's clever like you.
- Where is he now? - Here he is.
Maybe you wanted to go for a swim and I'm keeping you here.
Don't worry, I haven't seen you for a long time.
Sure?
What are you doing here?
Hi.
I came to visit Signora Nella.
Isn't that Lila?
Yes, and that's Pinuccia, her sister-in-law.
I don't know if you remember her.
We've rented a house at Cuotto,
we're staying until early September.
Nunzia, Lila's mother, came with us.
How is she? I haven't seen her for ages.
The husbands come on the weekends.
Come to the beach at Citara some time.
This is the address I'm staying at.
In Forio.
It's not hard, it's a big white house with an angel on top.
- I have to go. - Already?
- I have to study. - Eat something first.
Bye, Lenù. Bye, Mamma.
Bye...
Can you float?
So, now go from here to there.
Take care, the lady's pregnant.
I'll carry her like a princess.
Holy mother!
Go slowly!
You'll come back to visit?
Promise me?
Lenù!
You're sneaky.
You made us come just so you could see Nino.
Whatever do you mean?
Confess.
You like him.
If it's true, you really are selfish.
All this effort just to see a guy?
But you had fun, didn't you?
We did, but Nino didn't give you much encouragement.
That's how he is, he had to study.
How he is... is bad. He's as rude as his father is nice.
His father has the manners of a gentleman,
he even taught me how to swim.
He's great.
He wrote that the panel at Piazza dei Martiri was ugly.
He was right.
Have you forgotten? He was the one who ruined Melina.
Or maybe,
he made her feel good for once.
Nino gave me his address.
When Stefano and Rino come I'll go visit him, do you mind?
Hear that? Lenù has a date!
She's even got the address!
When your husbands come, what am I supposed to do?
You know what you can do?
Keep my mother company.
I didn't bring you here to have fun.
Boss! How much longer?
I'm getting nauseous.
Ten minutes and we're there, ma'am.
I held back from saying anything.
"Cut your tongue out and don't provoke her," I thought.
After all, I had obtained what I wanted.
- I can't do it! - Keep still.
Then tell me what I have to do!
Put your head back. Put it back or you won't float.
But like this I'll drown.
I'm holding you up.
- Don't take your hand away. - I won't take it away.
Close your mouth, or you'll take in water.
Good, that's it.
There they are!
Nino!
Lenù!
You've organized your day very well: you study and I cook and shop.
Why, can you see me cooking?
- Why me and not you? - You're better at it.
If you don't like it, take me out to eat.
Wouldn't you like that?
Bruno's a catch, his father owns the Soccavo salami factory.
Is anyone hungry, thirsty?
Maybe something cool.
- Let's go get coconut. - Shall we go, Lenù?
You wanted to take a walk.
No, maybe I'll join you later.
If you like, I'll bring it.
No, I'll come with you.
Wouldn't want the baby to be born craving coconut.
Lenù, sit here.
Bruno's kind.
You can tell he comes from a good family.
I wouldn't know.
I don't trust people who do business in this region.
Naples, Ischia, the whole of Campania
is in the hands of the worst people who think they're the best.
They're predators, destroyers, bloodsuckers.
People who've raked in the money but don't even pay taxes.
And the builders, the Camorrists' lawyers,
Christian Democrats, shopkeepers...
They behave as if cement were mixed in Heaven
and God himself, with an enormous trowel, flung blocks of it
down onto the hills, the coasts.
Excuse me, who are shopkeepers?
Tradespeople.
- So why call them shopkeepers? - That's what they're called.
My husband's a shopkeeper.
- I didn't mean to offend you. - I'm not offended.
Do you pay taxes?
You'd have to ask my husband,
it's the first time I've heard of it.
- Really? - Yes.
Taxes are important to plan the economic life of a community.
Does planning put an end to Camorrists, shopkeepers, cement?
Of course not. But, if done well, everything works better.
Do you remember Pasquale Peluso?
He's a bricklayer.
Without all that cement, he'd lose his job.
But he's a Communist.
He also thinks it's dirty money and that all this cement is disgusting.
I don't understand what you're getting at.
It's a mess.
I hoped I'd understand things listening to you two study.
I'm going to get some coconut, too.
Lila's really lost.
What a pity.
I'm glad you came here to the beach.
Me too.
Thank you.
Bruno's a guy with manners.
At the beach bar he bought me things without showing off.
Everything he wears is expensive, he's a catch.
But Lenuccia likes the other one.
What are you talking about?
She likes the son of the poet, the railway worker, remember?
Sure.
Real skinny, tall. He thinks he's better than everyone.
It's not true.
Sure it's true, you can see it in his eyes.
What does Sarratore's son do?
He's a university student.
Well, if you love each other, you'll have to wait.
There's nothing to wait for, Signora Nunzia.
We're just friends.
Yes, but let's say you get engaged...
First he has to finish his studies, then he has to find a suitable job.
And only when he finds it can you get married.
- Who's getting married? - No one.
Pinuccia's being funny.
Would you like some lemonade?
Lenù...
- Come with me for a moment. - Yes.
Will you give me one of your books?
Why?
Because I want to read.
All right.
THE IDEA OF NATION
HIROSHIMA, THE DAY AFTER
THE THEATER OF SAMUEL BECKETT
- What is it? - Theater plays.
- Have you read it? - No.
But it's the easiest one.
Thank you.
She wanted to read.
How long since she had opened a book? Three, four years?
And why had she decided to start again now?
Leaving for Maronti...
They're here.
We're over here!
They look a prince and his servant, only the prince is skint.
- Cut it out. - It's true!
Yeah, but that's enough.
Hi.
We came here because it's quieter.
Good idea.
You've made your own private room.
May I?
Yes, I've read it.
If you're interested, there's a good article about neocolonialism in Africa.
God help us. What a drag.
Pinù, look what I brought you.
Thank you!
- This is the one I like. - I know.
You and I together equal eight eyes.
Pinù, let's go, I'll treat you to something.
Yes, I'm coming with you.
Forget them.
Thank you.
They're acting like intellectuals.
Have you ever been to see a play?
A few times.
- Did you like it? - It was okay.
I've never been, but I've seen it on television.
- It's not the same thing. - I know, but it's better than nothing.
Have you read this?
No.
So, there's something you haven't read, then!
Very funny.
You should read it.
There's this character named Dan Rooney.
He's blind,
but he doesn't care,
because he thinks life is better without sight.
At a certain point he wonders, if he became deaf and mute,
life would be even more life.
Pure life.
I didn't understand a thing.
Did you really like it?
It made me think.
What does it mean that life is more life without seeing, hearing, speaking?
- Maybe it's just a gimmick. - What gimmick!
It's something that suggests thousands more.
It's not a gimmick.
Did you finish it?
- Yes. - Will you lend it to me?
It's Mrs. Galiani's, she lent it to me.
Have you read it?
I thought I'd start tonight.
Well, when you're done, give it to me.
If you're so interested, you read it first.
Tomorrow we can discuss it, Lila.
Not tomorrow, we won't see each other.
Why?
My husband's coming tonight.
But we can see each other.
I'd really like that, but I remembered I can't come tomorrow either.
Bruno's parents are coming back and I'm going to sleep at Barano.
Monday?
All right, I'm going for a swim.
If I lend you a book which, by the way, isn't even mine,
don't bring it to the beach.
I can't give it back to Mrs. Galiani with sand in it.
Or else I won't lend you any more.
Sorry.
You're right.
Don't eat them all, you'll ruin your appetite.
- Want some? - Don't bug me.
Calm down, Pinù! What's wrong?
Don't tell me to calm down. Your calm gets on my nerves!
I can't stand your calm.
What's wrong? What happened?
- Did Bruno say something unpleasant? - No.
- So, what happened? - Nothing.
- Don't you feel well? - No, no...
I don't know.
Anyone home?
They're here.
Hello, Mamma!
- Hello, everything all right? - Welcome.
Hi, Lenù.
What's this delicious smell, Mamma?
- In front of everyone? - What's the big deal?
Beautiful!
Shall we go upstairs?
I'm already hungry.
Stop it! You oaf!
Mamma, we're going upstairs.
We'll go up now, too.
Walk.
What's wrong, Pinù?
Nothing, it'll pass.
Pinuccia gets all twisted up but then she straightens up.
It's the pregnancy.
Remember when Lila came back from her honeymoon?
And look at her now.
That's life: one time it kisses you and another it hits you.
My husband was like that,
sometimes good and sometimes really bad.
You can love someone all your life and not know who they really are.
Go get me some rosemary.
Kids, come here!
Throw the stick.
I spent the weekend reading on the terrace.
I woke up late and as soon as I opened my eyes I was met
by a distant sensation of longing that distressed me.
Mamma!
- How was the water? - Fantastic, calm.
Lila, I'm going to take a shower.
We're late, will you get my bag ready?
Darling, will you pack my case? We have to go.
- What will we eat tonight? - I did some mullet.
I'll do them with potatoes.
Here, Lenù, peel them.
- Lila, are you getting my stuff ready? - Coming!
You didn't go to the beach?
You were here all day?
Yes.
I finished this.
Will you give me another one?
When you take a book, you have to ask me.
All right. Sorry.
How come you suddenly want to read again?
Lila, where are you?
Coming.
None of your business.
Hi!
Why didn't Bruno come? He had something better to do?
No, his parents are still there. He'll come as soon as they leave.
He's coming, he'll be here in ten minutes.
You sure? If not I'll go home. I'm fed up with you three.
Whereas you have no idea how happy I am to be here.
My father got his leave extended with a fake medical certificate,
a friend of his wrote it for him.
That man is in every way the negation of the general good.
- Michele, I'll have a soda. - All right.
I'm so glad to see you.
May I give you a kiss, too?
Sure.
- Can I have a cedrata? - Right away, miss.
There he is!
This one?
Come!
Come on, you slacker, hurry up!
Let's split into teams.
I'll hold the scarf.
Number...
one!
No! Go, go!
That week, the wary distances gave way.
We became a group of friends who had fun with little or nothing.
Thus, a thread of happiness began to extend
through the hours and the days.
Put her here!
I no longer minded that Lila took my books,
in fact, I thought it was a good thing.
What's going on? Are your husbands coming today?
Of course.
And what do you get up to?
We eat, we drink and we go to bed.
Do they stay on Sunday nights too?
On Sunday, we eat, we drink and we go to bed in the afternoon.
Whereas I don't eat, I don't drink and I don't go to bed.
I'm free.
Good.
Then you and I will come here tomorrow morning at eight
and we'll hire a boat, what do you say?
All right. At eight.
I'll bring food.
And us?
You've got your husbands.
I'll take her to get coconut.
Shall we go for a swim?
It's hard to describe the sudden sense of completeness that overcame me
when Nino said: "I'll see you tomorrow at eight."
I felt proud to be there,
with the two people who had always been important in my life,
happy as I'd never been before.
"Now they'll stop," I thought.
Maybe they're having a race.
Lila!
Wait!
Lila, although inexpert, didn't give in.
She wanted to keep up with him and she pushed herself,
past the imaginary line we had decided not to cross.
- Where's Pinuccia? - She's gone.
- Where to? - Home.
What happened?
She says she wants to leave,
that she doesn't want to leave her husband alone for so long.
I have to go to her.
When she comes out, tell Lila to go home.
You needn't worry.
Rino knows how to cook.
His father's with him, his friends.
He knows you're here to rest, to make a beautiful, healthy baby.
Pinù...
Rino's worked all week.
Don't let him find you like this, please.
'Cause then he'll worry,
he'll get angry and who do you think he'll take it out on?
Pinù, what are you doing? Calm down.
You want to leave to be with him, he's left to be with you.
Come now.
What made you angry?
Bruno?
Everything okay?
You've certainly learned to swim well.
What do you mean by that?
Speak to Pinuccia.
They're on their way.
Fix yourself up and wash your face.
Do you like it?
I'll put it on for you.
There, let me see.
It's beautiful, but nothing in comparison to you.
Let's sit down.
How about you, Rino? You got nothing to give to your wife?
You really thought I didn't have a present for my wife?
Here we go!
Here, Pinù.
- I made spaghetti with mussels. - It's a poem, I can see from here.
I'll put it on for you.
Move your hair.
- Mamma, did you see the presents? - They're beautiful.
Beautiful.
You look great.
None for me.
- You're not eating? - No, I'm tired.
You sure?
Try the wine, a villager on Vesuvius gave it to me.
Pass me your glass.
Tell me what you think.
Here.
I'll try it too.
- Mamma, will you have a drop? - No, thanks.
Just a little, we're on vacation.
- How is it, Rino? - Good.
Enjoy.
If you don't like the necklace, you can change it.
No, it's beautiful, I love it.
That's it, I want to pack my bags.
I want to be with you.
I want to be with you too.
Excuse me.
Pinù?
Come back to the table. It's not polite.
What happened?
It's the pregnancy.
To hell with it! The pregnancy...
If it's your fault I swear to God I'll smash your face in!
Why me?
Come on, let's eat.
Pinù!
Come down!
I've fucking had enough!
I'm hungry and I wanna eat, understood?
- I'll be right down. - You'll come down now!
You know what?
I'm not hungry anymore.
We're going to a restaurant.
Let's go.
You and me need to talk, come.
What's gotten into her?
Nothing, she's just scared.
I didn't care about their tears, their fights anymore.
My only thought was how much I desired Nino
and how wonderful it would be the next day
to go out early in the morning with the cool air and see him.
- Did I wake you? - No, Lila.
Don't turn it on, I'm only staying a moment.
See how good I am at swimming now?
Yes.
I have something to tell you.
What is it?
Nino kissed me.
When we were alone out in the water he kissed me.
I kept my lips closed, really tight.
I said: "Are you crazy? I'm married."
And he said:
"I've loved you much longer than your husband has,
since we had that competition in class."
I told him to keep away from me.
Be careful, Lenù.
Don't go anywhere with him by yourself,
he's dangerous.
He pressed so hard he hurt my lips.
And they still hurt.
What's wrong?
Are you afraid he'll kiss me, too?
There'd be nothing wrong with that.
I'm not married.
Only, it's a pity I don't like him.
A kiss from him would be like putting a dead mouse on my mouth.
Good night, then.
Good night.
Are you crazy?
I'm married.
I've loved you much longer than your husband has, Lila...
I've loved you since we did that competition in class.
Don't ever do that again.