"The building you see is a school one of those institutes where youth are educated to learn the worst tricks to get into the so-called adult world, to make their way cheaply, often to the detriment of someone else." "One day, the youths in this institute will no longer be young." "With their failures, regrets and shipwrecked projects they'll recall these years as the best of their lives." "They'll pretend not to remember how stupid they were, how selfish, ignorant, apathetic, indifferent, hypocritical incapable of any sincere, authentic thought or aspiration." "Those very rare specimens that stand out from the majority, the few who still have dreams, are actually the most unlucky, defenseless" "They're the ones, especially to be discouraged." "Hello, Principal." "Lucio!" "I thought no one was here." "This is me, Professor Fiorito." "Most of the years I spent here, especially recently, were in "dishonorable" service." "I grew old in this school, doing all I could not to hide it." "Then there are those like him, the sowers of illusions, twenty adjectives wouldn't suffice to describe their good qualities." "A substitute on his first day of teaching those who never stop hoping in a better tomorrow." "He's the beautiful soul, the missionary in the frontier wasteland." "Ferrario, the Principal." "Go into class, but next time try to be in class before the bell rings." "I'm late, excuse me." "Welcome!" "Good morning." "Here's the register." " What's all this ruckus?" " Knock it off!" "I'll handle it, thank you." " Good morning guys" " Good morning." "I'm Mr. Prezioso, substitute in Italian." "Another one!" "Alessi?" " Baldacci?" " Here." "It's not for order and discipline but when I call you, stand up, you can help me remember you" "Turn off your cell phones!" "Grimaldi Antonella, 333-1615108." " Write it down, prof?" " Sit down." " You just can't resist?" " What do you mean?" "Some parents have complained you smoke in class." "They complain?" "I should be complaining!" "For what?" "You think there's something in these kids' heads?" "Still I don't complain to their parents," "I don't accuse them for giving them birth!" "And it's not true I smoke in class." "Maybe once or twice, but I didn't even realize it." " It happens." " Make sure it doesn't happen again." "Go to class." "Good morning." "Lucio!" "Don't forget to go to the post office." "Who's that guy?" "Brugnoli, a sophomore." "What are you doing there?" "Get to class." "Go!" "Come on, go!" "Get moving!" "Move it!" "Lucio, go along!" "Well?" "Brugnoli, that sophomore... wasn't the psychologist assisting him?" " We terminated the position." " What, terminated?" " You made the cut." " Me?" "Guess I had to." "Hello, I'm Prezioso, the substitute for Italian." "Zambardino." "For photocopies?" "Please, excuse me." "Sure, it's easy." "You file a request with the secretary three days before." "If you go over 60 copies, you pay 3 cents voluntary contribution for every copy." "Welcome." "What did you say your name is?" "Prezioso, substitute for Italian and History." "Emma, nice to meet you." "I mean Tassi, Science, 9th and 10th grades." "I do Chemistry too, juniors." "For a video projector?" "There used to be one..." "Sorry, I don't..." "there's a multimedia board but not many know how to use it and the room's scheduled... get these in get those out." "Okay." "Fiorito, Art History." "He's been here ages, but has never made friends." " Tassi?" " Science, sections E and F." " Prezioso, thank you." " You're welcome." "Professor Fiorito?" "I'm Prezioso, the substitute for Italian." "I saw you at the end of class." "My drawer's below yours." "Then, be careful, since the locks don't work if, by mistake, you put something above that should go below, from above, I'll throw it out." "At 10, when my friends were collecting soccer cards" "I had a collection of the greatest painters in history." "At 16, my classmates were listening to the Rolling Stones, it was Bach for me, at most Umberto Bindi." "They'd go to parties, I'd read." "I'd read almost all you can read in a lifetime... the great Russians, German philosophy, political economics," "I knew everything about Art History." "Belletti..." "Lisa Belletti." "Maranescu..." "Adam." "Ciacca Massimo." "Petrucci..." "Silvana, professor!" "Silvana." "Sorry." "Ndamer..." "Ndamar Safyra." "Angela Mordini." "I never remember her!" "I don't know your name!" "What's your name?" "Chiara..." "Rosati Chiara." "Rosati Chiara, I know that!" "It's Latin, does anyone know what it means?" " It's Kant quoting Horace." " Wait, I know it!" "It's Horace, right?" "Although it's said by Kent." "Right, Kant!" "It's a Latin quote..." "Professor, I don't know!" "It means "have the courage to use your intelligence"." "Something you could do too, Ciacca, if you were more courageous." "I don't think that's in this year's curriculum." "In fact, it's not in this year's program." "Don't worry, we'll do the program." "I don't care if you learn everything in the program and then forget all of it." "My job is to find something that excites you." "That's why we won't follow the program punctiliously." "We, punctiliously, have never done the program." " We don't even know what it means!" " Program or punctiliously?" " Punctiliously I know." " What do you know?" "Have any of you read a book in the last six months?" "Petrucci, what are you doing?" "Turn that thing off!" " It's off!" " You're singing!" "I know it by heart" "Mordini, what are you doing?" "Ask for permission to open the window." "Can I open the window, please?" "Well'?" "No one's saying anything?" "Adam, professor!" " Mordini, where are you going?" " I need air." "I'm only studying what's in the program..." "Foscolo, Leopardi..." "by Leopardi we read" ""The Night-Song of a Wandering Shepherd of Asia'"" "Let him hear it, Adam!" " He knows it all!" " Really, do you?" " Yes." " Come on." "Why are you there, Moon in the sky?" "Tell me why, silent Moon." "You rise at night and go, contemplating deserts, then you set" "Are you not sated yet with riding eternal roads?" "Are you not weary, still wishing to gaze at these valleys?" "It mirrors your life, the life of a shepherd" "He rises at dawn, he drives his flock over the fields and sees the flocks, the streams and grass, tired at evening he rests..." "You know you can't go out during class." "I had to give something to my uncle." "Why?" "Nothing, go along." "For its geographic location it has a name which in Arab means "proboscis"." "It's the capital:" "of Somalia, of Chad, of Eritrea," "of Sudan?" "Just remember the shape of these countries." "Adam, know it?" "It's Sudan, the capital's Khartoum." "It's located where the White and Blue Niles meet." " I'd choose Somalia." " Look at me!" "Leaving the center of the two Niles, it's a proboscis going that way." "In Arab, Khartoum the capital of Sudan!" "Good for you!" "Leave him alone, he has to study." "Quiet, he never loses his concentration." "And speak Italian, we're in Italy!" "Adam, what are you studying now?" "Quadratic equations." "Hear that?" "Quadratic equations!" "What did you bring me today?" "Were they in an Easter Egg?" "I won't even get 3 euro for these." "Look at me, Romanian." "Think I'm someone you give things like this to?" "Abram, if you want my attention you'll have to try harder." "Okay?" "Adam, my name's Adam!" "Take your agendas and write." "We should have studied the Baroque today." "We should have studied the Baroque... comma, but, because we are fully aware we understand absolutely no..." " Absolutely?" " Nothing." "Come on, you can get there!" "Ciacca, tell them." "Aware we understand absolutely no..." " Shit." " Out." " Why?" " Out." "Aware we understand absolutely no blessed thing, nothing, nothing, nothing." "Three times "nothing"." "Clear?" "We've made it impossible for Professor Fiorito to do his usual activity." "Period." "Bring it tomorrow, with your parents' signature." "Hello..." "Professor, what's going on?" "Erica!" "Find a seat." "It should start." "I like it, thrilling." "Common, prof!" "What's this junk?" "Ciacca, relax!" "It doesn't work." "Won't start." "Pull the blinds up." "... Those azure hills, that I can see from here" "And that I hoped to cross one day imaging secret worlds and arcane delights to support my existence" "Ignorant of my fate, how often I wished to exchange this sad, naked life of mine for death." "I never thought in my heart, I'd be condemned to waste away in my barbarous native place, among a vile loutish race;" "where learning and wisdom are foreign words, cause of mockery and laughter and they hate and ignore me, not just through envy, since they don't think me superior to them but they consider that I do think so, in my heart" "even though I give no sign of that to anyone" "Hidden, abandoned here I spend my time, without love, without life;" "becoming coarse perhaps among this crowd of ill-wishers this place strips me of all pity and virtue, and makes me scornful of all mankind..." " Can I ask you something?" " No." "Do you have it in for me?" "I don't like substitutes, full of good intentions, they cause irreparable damage and then leave." "What are you doing?" "It hasn't worked for years." "How do you do it?" "I don't know how to interest these kids" "I make attempts, maybe by bending the rules." "Unusual!" "Here it's all unusual!" "Nothing's usual." "That's the problem." "But these kids, different from you have one quality, they're fair, they don't play favorites, they hate everything," "Mathematics, Art, Poetry." "So don't worry, forget the projector." "What do you think we can do?" "They deserve to flunk, be kicked it the seat, one by one." "But I've decided to be even more vicious." "At the end, but only at the end" "I pass them all." "Everyone gets 'D', I have no hassles and I ruin them for life." "You must have been one of those who, of all the essays, would choose current events." "All you had to say is you were for equality, peace, the elimination of frontiers and you'd steal a good score, with easy content." "And what essay would you choose?" "The ones on literature with in-depth criticism." "You had to study, there was no way out." "The poems, for instance all by heart!" ""The pomegranate green in the garden," ""towards which thy baby hands thou didst reach out... " go on." "Forget it." "You don't remember it, and you talk your students down!" ""The pomegranate green in the garden... "" "No interpretation, no intentions." "You look for the sense, error!" "These kids understand nothing about sense." "Maybe tomorrow..." "Concentrate on the rhythm of the words." "The pomegranate green in the garden towards which thy baby hands thou didst reach out still stands." "The tree of scarlet flower." "The orchard now lonely and silent renews it's green with spring, and June once more will bring back light and warmth as her dower" "Blossom art thou of my tree, withered, struck by the cruel blast of this vain life, the last, thou art, and its rarest flower" "Now 'neath the cold earth thou art lying, beneath the dark cold earth;" ""the sun brings thee no mirth, to wake thee, love hath no power"" "When you live alone for a long time, life is a discreet sequence of modest rituals." "The unexpected is an unbearable sign of fate." "I don't fight boredom, I second it." "I don't go to nightspots debates, meeting, no kind of friendship, but at least once a month" "I make sure I have a social life, see people of different cultures and countries." "Hello?" "I hope I dialed the right number." "I'm looking for Professor Fiorito." "This is Elena Togani, you may not remember me." "You were my teacher a long time ago at high school." "I hope this is you, I've thought of calling you so many times." "Alright, I'll call back." "Well?" "Nothing, no answer." "The mother hasn't been at work for three days." " The father?" " None." "Never been one, I think, he has only his mother." "Brugnoli, stay seated." "What are you doing?" "Close that." "It's not yours!" "Got the house keys, at least?" "Turn right." "Now though, not tomorrow." " Come on!" " Calm down!" "No, no one answers." "The neighbors say she left." "I don't know where." "It seems she stays out for days but then comes back." "Just a second..." "A long espresso with cold milk." "Yes." "I don't know..." "Excuse me... and some very hot tea." " I don't like tea." " Quiet, tea's just fine." "So, I don't do all the procedures." "I go to police headquarters and legally I'm all set?" "Okay, thanks, yes." "I don't know." "Antonio, I can't believe how I didn't notice." "Can I be accused of anything?" "No, fine." "So, I go to the police and they'll call social services." "Look, Mom will be back, don't call anyone." "Alright." "They'll call social services?" "Brugnoli, I don't touch you you don't touch me." " Hear?" " Yes, but Mom will be back" "Yes it's him..." "Drink the tea!" "I didn't notice." "He's red, dirty." "I don't know how to judge really." "Come here!" "Let me feel." "Yes, he's very hot." "What, duty to rescue?" "Okay, I'll go right now." "Alright..." "I'll be right back, check the treatment." "Respiratory problems, we're hospitalizing him." "Is it an infection?" "Could it be contagious?" "No, nothing specific, but we'll keep him here, we'll run some tests." " You can go in." " I can't, I have to go." "The last time, we read a poem called "Memories", especially the verses where Leopardi describes his barbarous native place." "To understand what, Baldacci?" "Want me to tell the story?" "What story?" "It's a poem, the sense!" "The sense is that..." "Guys, we talked a lot about it!" "Remember?" "Welcome back, Mordini." "No photocopies?" "No one gave her photocopies?" " Adam?" " No, I'm sorry." "I'll lend you mine." "I added poems which were out of the program." ""... becoming coarse perhaps among this crowd of ill-wishers"" "What's that mean?" "The people around him think poetry means nothing, they're ignorant!" "That's why, I think he's forced to..." "He's forced to...?" "Be an asshole." "That's right, but you can find a better way to say it," ""becoming coarse"." "He's forced to be different from what he really is." "Like when the others think that Ciacca, for example... can only say stupid things to make people laugh, despite the many deep things he has inside." "But don't worry, Ciacca, it's nice to make people laugh it's generous and noble." "Mordini, read at page 9." " Emily Dickinson" " No, thank you." " No, thank you?" " Common, don't make me read!" " I don't have a nice voice." " We'll settle." " We like her voice, right?" " Not only!" "It was a joke." ""Solitude. "" "There is a solitude of space, a solitude of sea a solitude of death" "Oh, God, I feel sick!" "Keep going." "But this Society shall be compared with that profounder site, a polar privacy, a soul admitted to itself" "I don't understand a thing, please!" "Hello?" "I'd like to know the idiot who calls during class." "Hi, dad." "No, it's the sub, he's trying it on." "This is Prezioso," "I'd like to say you can't call during class." "You can't, and what's more your son can't answer." "Unless it's an emergency Is it an emergency?" "There, see?" "I don't think so." "If you don't mind, I'll get back to the lesson." " I'll keep this." " Common, prof!" "No!" "Angela, go on." " I don't want to, I'm tired." " Read!" "What for?" "You know yourself it's useless." "What the fuck?" "Get back to class." "What's the matter'?" "I've got problems, professor!" "You act sensitive, but you're blind." "What's the matter'?" "My father lost his job, my scooter broke down." "And she died." "Who?" "My mother." "I'm sorry!" "Your scooter, your mother..." "How did she die?" "Why didn't you tell anyone?" "Want to talk to me about it'?" "Professor?" " Can I go to the bathroom?" " Yes, go ahead." "Today an extraordinary thing happened." "Know what Ciacca said?" "He was serious!" ""Professor, was Piero della Francesca a man or a woman?"" " He's a genius!" " Angela's mother died." "He deserves a 'B', but I'll give him an 'A'!" "You don't give a damn?" "People die everyday, but Ciacca..." "Know who she is?" "Angela Mordini, a junior, the girl with the big eyes who always dresses outlandish..." "No!" "You remember them all, don't you?" "They're our students." "Our students..." "Know how many I've seen?" "They pass, disappear, like shadows." "Did you hear what Ciacca said?" "These kids don't give a fuck about you, me, their fathers, their mothers or the school!" "Feeling guilty about something?" "Want meaning to your life?" "Why did you choose this field?" "Tell me, I don't understand." "Because I like it." "Not because someone pushed me or tried to prevent me." "I like it, that's all." "Fits, doesn't it?" "Roll the sleeves up a little." "You're just too small." "You say "thank you"." "Your hand." " What did the doctor say?" " If you don't heal, you'll die." "No!" "They don't really understand much, they need tests." " They saw a shadow." " A shadow?" "Yes, but it could be pneumonia, pleurisy, an infection." "Am I a doctor'?" "I don't know!" "Anyway, you should survive." "But you need treatment." "You'll heal..." "Sure, you sleep in the gym!" "Whatcha bringing' me?" "I brought pajamas." "What... don't talk sloppy to me, Brugnoli!" "Talk right, hear me?" "What did I bring you?" "I'm not your mother." "Where's it say I have to bring you something?" "I'd say you have all you need right here, don't you?" "I met the social worker, Daniele." "He's nice, huh?" "Listen, I'm here because I have responsibilities." "I had to make sure things were okay." "People will take care of you, also as regards your mother." "I've done what I had to." "I have a million things to do..." "Will you stop nodding?" "Brugnoli, are you listening?" "I can't take care of you." "Stop making that little orphan face," "It won't work." "Hear me?" "Here's Daniele." "Hello." "Enrico, how's it going?" "Do you need anything?" "Nice pajama!" "I was going to buy you one." " Who brought it?" "Her?" " Yes, it's really nothing." "I bought it at a market stall, but it's nothing." "If you need to talk, I'll leave you two alone." " I can't..." " I'm right outside" "I have a lot to do." "Brugnoli..." "good luck, take care." "Because soon you'll be well!" "Did she call?" "Who?" "I tried but there's no answer, she must have lost her cell phone this time too." "Sure." "She never remembers my number, she's nuts!" "Bye, Brugnoli." "How do you say "eye" in Romanian?" "Nose?" "Mouth?" "Love?" "Kiss?" "Kiss?" "Kiss..." "Elena Togani..." "That isn't her, maybe this one." "I'm not here?" "Yes!" "What a face!" "What a face, poor me." "This morning's news... the arrest of professor Luigi Ferrari, president of the Botti Libonati Foundation." "The arrest was made thanks to a joint operation of Interpol..." "Professor Fiorito?" "Professor Fiorito!" "Luigi Ferrari, remember?" "11th and 12th grade." "1987-88, I sat near the window." "See how your lessons on beauty paid off?" "I still remember your classes." "Classicism and Romanticism!" "I still remember!" "Well?" "What are you looking at'?" "Oh, it bothers you!" "Too bad." "You think it's an injustice, right'?" "Yes, I shouldn't." "But I do." "You can't smoke and I can." "If it bothers some of you, go to the Principal, tell your parents." "Report me!" " Professor, what are you doing here?" " I'm teaching." "That's what I'm doing, I'm teaching." "Zambardino, please!" "Yes, but you're in the wrong room you should be in class F this is class D." "Quiet!" "Okay." " Good evening." " I'm Adam Maranescu's father." "A pleasure, please sit down." "There's really very little to say," "Adam is the ideal student." " Really?" " Yes." "He's prepared, attentive, intelligent and also very polite which I believe is thanks to you." "Adam is everything for us, I'm a gas station attendant, my wife cleans stairs, but we feel lucky to live here." "To live here..." "If you behave well and do what's expected of you, study, no one will say anything to you." "That's what I try to teach him." "Very well." "Hello, Ciacca's father." "You're Ciacca's father?" "Mr. Ciacca!" "He's making no progress." "I had to fail him on his last Italian test but he was almost an F..." "Andrea has a hard time expressing himself." "In other words, I don't know..." "Are there family problems, anything I should know..." " I don't know, how..." " How what?" " How, what?" " How what, what?" "I don't know." " Maybe you didn't understand." " No." "What I'm trying to say is..." "How do you talk at home?" "If..." "I mean, does he read books sometimes, how do you communicate?" "Professor, let's not lose our heads." "I'm not one of those who says:" ""You don't know who I am!"" "But really you don't know who I am." "Do you?" " No, I don't." " See?" "Ciacca is..." "How can I say... stuck at the first level of existence." "He is, to use a euphemism a dolt of rare proportions." "To use a euphemism!" "Do you know what a euphemism is?" "Sure, it's something positive." ""Eu phemism"." "The boy's bad at school?" "Is it my fault?" "Or do we lay the blame on him who's 17, 18..." "I don't even remember." " 17." " Thanks." "It's your fault!" "Learn to do your job, you fucking slouchers." "First, don't raise your voice, this is a school." " Thanks a million." " Well done." "You'll give a good example?" "It's my own fucking business how I talk at home, okay?" "How dare you!" " What are you doing?" " What are you doing yourself!" "Think I'm scared?" "You should be ashamed." "You don't even remember your son's age." "17, you just told me." "What do you get a month, 1,100 euro?" "I'll buy you and this whole school." "You wretch!" " You're just a skeptic." " Insulting again!" "I'll smash you!" "Take him out of here." "Go fuck off!" "That tramp, scrounger." "I'm gonna wait outside for him and I break his neck, the asshole!" "Who was that?" "But you... transcended." "You called him a skeptic." "I'm 16 today" "I'm getting ready to reject the laws of the world." "I'm 16 today and my mother forgot." "The guy she used to be with came around, so they went out to celebrate alone." "I'm glad!" "Restaurants are revolting, the waiters spit in the dishes." "I'm 16 today and my shitty father gave me a make-up case like stuffed bear." "I haven't seen my father in three years." " Get out!" " Let go of me!" " I'm coming back here." " I don't think so." "You didn't lift a finger, Romanian." "And you're gypsies, you should be good at ruckus." "Alright, chief, I'll be there at 7." "I'll expect you, thank you." " Adam, what is it?" " You always say "thank you"." "You asshole." "Professor, it's me again, Elena," "Elena Togani, I called once before." "Maybe you don't want to talk to me!" "I hope not..." "So, you're still teaching in the school I went to, how nice!" "I work in a medical lab near there." "Sometimes I walk down that street and it takes me back..." "There was a bakery, remember?" "Now they make kebabs at 9 a. m.." "Then there's the medical lab that's where I am." "I hope this is your number." "That's it..." "I hope to see you again." "Your worst student." "You once called me your worst student." "Oh well, goodbye." "Turbot filet au gratin on a bed of artichokes, in savory almond sauce." "An oil dip with raw vegetables." "Good." "You make noise when you eat." "What?" "Excuse me, I'm sorry!" "Preparation time:" "1 hour and 18 minutes" " I'm very unpleasant, aren't I?" " Pretty much." "Forgive me, I'm sorry you always do the cooking." "I'll cook tomorrow." "Nothing comes to me, I don't know." "Nothing comes to me." "Rossini, it's just a thought that's really your own and no one else's." " Nothing comes to me." " It will." "The only thing I know is I don't want to suffer, not even one second." "No one wants to suffer not even one second." "Suffering is useless." "Sometimes I think:" "What were you like at our age?" "I don't know what to say." "Alessi?" "You have nothing to say?" "It's impossible." " Dunno." " A thought." "I just don't get this thing about merit." "Meritocracy... what's the mean?" "If you don't merit?" "Those like us who are behind and can't keep up?" "Don't we count?" "I'm in love now." "Anyway..." "I hate my mother and everyone who says love's not important, that it never lasts." " I think it's not true." " Your mom's got it right." "That's enough, kids." "Thank you, Belletti." "Speaking of that, I'd like all of us to write a thought for Mordini who lost her mother, did you know?" "No." "Something that tells her we're here we're waiting for her, since she didn't come today either." "Who has a pen?" "Safyra, I'll take yours." "Do you have paper?" "How should we start?" "Dear Angela." "Dear Angela" "Sit down and give me your arm." "Take your jacket off." "Is this routine or something specific?" "Just routine." " Needles scare you?" " Yes." "How are your eating habits?" "I don't have an exact idea about what I eat." " Do you eat meat?" " Yes, especially red meat." "All kinds of sausages and salamis." " Do you drink?" " Of course." "Alcoholic drinks and hard liquor." "I always wondered how Penelope, after such long waiting, couldn't recognize Ulysses." "Done." "Already over?" "Now I'm curious to see the results." "Me too." "All her eyes see is an old man, poorly dressed" "The Odyssey, book XXIII:" "Howbeit she sat long in silence and amazement came upon her soul..." "What are you looking at'?" " Why do you dress like that?" " What?" "Like an old woman." "How dare you?" "Mom has clothes you'd just dream of, she's got jackets like you've never seen." "I'm sorry, this is me." "I see you're better." "I wanted to tell you." "I don't know if you can come back to our school" "Why not?" "The situation's all very confused." "Not until..." "You're way behind, and you've got lots of free time here, why don't you study a little?" "Now they're changing my school?" "Who'll tell my mom?" "It's not a sure thing." " Your mother might be back." " Why shouldn't she?" "I don't know a thing!" "But if you don't study, you'll flunk." "I'll flunk!" "What are you saying?" "Maybe you'd better go." "She'll be back, she won't..." "You're crazy, did you come here on purpose?" "Leave, the door's open." "Want something with the books?" "Cowboy Bebop and Ramna 2." "They're manga comics." "And a "hentai", but don't read it it would bother me." "Understand?" "Hentai with an H, don't forget." "No comics!" " I meant..." " Forget it, go!" "Okay, I'm going..." "Bye, Brugnoli." "What's your name, professor?" " Can I drop formalities?" " Giovanni." "I'd rather you keep formalities and call me professor." "Don't turn around, it's the Principal." "Where?" "You fell for it!" "The substitute having a drink with a young girl!" "Have you finished?" " Can I call you Johnny?" " No, call me professor." "This is for you." "It's the story of a girl who despite adversity, manages to determine her fate." "The spitting opposite of me!" "That's a token from all of us." "Who's us?" "Me and your classmates, the school." "You paying' me, prof?" "What'?" "Don't be silly." "I'm just your teacher and I want you back at school." "You been absent too much, you have your future to think of." " Especially now that..." " What?" "Now that..." "the thing about your mother." "I know it's a tough moment for you your father, who needs your help." "I'll talk to him if you want." "I'll call him." "I mean something to you right, professor?" "I saw you out here the other day with a man..." "Who was it?" "A guy, a friend." "Someone who can help me out." "Anyway, prof, I'm no Einstein, not even if I start studying." "The only thing is I'll get old and without concluding anything." "Just reading "Jane Eyre" will take me a year!" "What?" "Don't talk bullshit, don't do bullshit!" "You're 17!" "You have to come back to school promise me." "Understand?" "Okay." "Good afternoon." "Come on, cut it out!" "Let me talk." "Angela, is this you?" " Angela, where are you?" " Stop!" "Hello?" "I don't understand photosynthesis." "I know cell respiration is nothing compared to the synthesis of the photosynthetic cycle." "But reasoning in the abstract, if plants emit carbon dioxide at night, why don't we all die at night?" "I know all the formulas, but I don't understand photosynthesis." "Maybe because my aunt always said not to keep plants in the room at night, or I'd suffocate." "I can't explain it to them." "What do you think?" "Of photosynthesis." "I don't know, sorry I have to go." "It's late." "Hello." " Mordini, sit down." " There's no chair." "Isn't there an empty chair'?" "Did you ask Lucio?" "Not one chair in the whole school?" "I'll leave, what am I doing here?" "Where are you going?" "Wait." "I'll resolve this." "Don't worry!" "Ciacca, look." "In section D?" "Hello, we need a chair, do you have an extra?" "There's one!" "No, that's Falconetti's, he's absent." "It took 2 months to get all the chairs, I'll defend them one by one" "Lucio, professor, what is it?" " I can't right now." " Down there to the left." "I'll question you, a name at random." "Ciacca!" " Where's Mordini?" " She left." " Can I go out?" " No one leaves." "Professor Prezioso?" "I understand your enthusiasm, but you're going overboard." "Overboard?" "I remind you the school has an inside and an outside, we handle the inside, I say this because you're young." "It's not our job to save these young people but we try hard to teach them something, within the imposed limits of place and work time." "So we should do the least possible?" "No, so we should know the difference between outside and inside, what's allowed and what's not." "It's disastrous here, we do what we can." " So do I." " You've taken that girl to heart." "She's just a student to me." "Of course, but may I remind you collecting money for private use is not allowed." "I put it off, but I won't do it any more" "Now go back to class." "You can't be close to a classmate, not even if she just lost her mother." "What kind of people are you?" "You're stuck on Angela Mordini." "Are you crazy?" "How dare you?" "I saw her mother yesterday, she didn't look dead at all." "What?" "Aren't you ashamed of you superficiality?" " Davoli was there too." " It's true." " What is it?" " You took my pen." "You should give it back." "I haven't got it here." "I'll bring it tomorrow." "Professor..." "Guess where I am." "Right outside your house, I brought your analyzes." "Can I go inside?" "You come to the lab and don't say a thing!" "I didn't even recognize you." "Open up?" "Will you open or not?" "Professor, open the door I'm right outside." "Professor, you don't realize." "Your tests are perfect." "It's incredible." " Aren't you glad?" " I'm jumping for joy." "Thank you." "I imagined your house just like this, full of books." " Have you read them all?" " Yes." " But I don't any more." " How come?" "I know them by heart." "Besides, I tend to always use the same quotes." "I love to hear you talk!" " You haven't changed much." " You didn't even recognize me!" "I'm an old man." "Yes, an old high school professor, arrogant, conceited, nasty, you've gotten worse." "Why, what was I like?" "Sometimes you were unbearable, but you were also... generous, fiery, brilliant." "A jerk!" "It was great coming to school when you were there." "Don't go overboard with this though." "Look what I brought back to you." "Recognize it?" "One day you did a lesson on Classicism and Romanticism and, as usual, I got there late and missed it." "The next day the whole school was talking about it." "I don't know what I'd give to go back and be there." "I've never forgiven myself." "You were always so angry with me, so I stole your book." "Professor..." "Professor Fiorito." "Professor, what joy to see you again!" "It's such a joy for me!" "I've thought of you so much." "I mean, you were very important for me even if you'd never speak to me." "Maybe I was also a little in love with you." "Remember the graduation banquet'?" "I wanted to dance with you and you, I've never understood if you were shy or if you just didn't feel like it." "Okay..." "Well, the analyzes, the book..." "I'm off." "I did other analyzes, but they weren't ready yet so I'll bring them the next time." "You can't imagine how important you were for me." "There, I guess I wanted to tell you all this." "Good bye." "Would you come to the park with me, Tuesday?" "No!" "The park entrance at 11." "Sorry, I..." "Tuesday." "Five down: son of Erebus and Nyx." " Have you seen hentai comics?" " Six letters, the third is T." "Aether, the atmosphere." "Bright, glowing upper air." "It goes!" "He stole fire from the gods and gave it to men." "Prometheus." " It won't go." " What?" "I have to move a black space." "What do you want, Romanian?" "Shouldn't you be doing homework?" "What are you doing?" "Look at this shit, just think of all the shitty people who come here." "I have to do something." "Do you really want to go back to that shop?" "Why?" "I can get hold of a gun" "A real gun!" "What's the matter?" "Aren't you happy?" "There's not much left after 16." "Time isn't kind to women, the system asks you for just one thing." "I'm not part of the herd." "I won't do what they all do." "Come here, Adam." "Kiss me." "I'll never be like this again." "Like how?" "Kiss me, Adam." "I'll never be so pretty again." "Professor!" "Why don't you stop?" "Common, Johnny!" "Not talking to me any more?" "Sorry." "Sorry, sir." "You should be in class." "I know what they told you." "Look my mother really is dead, they saw her twin sister." "What's so funny?" "I see who you are, you're a soap opera character." "No one ever believes me!" " Can you see me?" " Where?" "You said I could be a character and you're not the first." "You like me a little, don't you?" "I don't like you at all." "For me you're just a student who risks getting flunked." "I didn't ask you for anything." "Your mother's not dead, is she?" "Bye." " Are you dumb?" " Scared you, huh?" " You thought I'd gone." " What a fright!" "Here." " You read them?" " I don't read that muck." " See, you read them!" " What are you saying?" "Stop it." " Where did you get this?" " Why?" "Isn't it good?" "They screwed you." "That's strange, I got it in one of the best places in Rome." "Where's that best place?" "I made it, if you don't like it." "No, I do, it's good!" "Thank you." "The doctor says I'm better, he'll release me in a couple of days." "Good, right?" "Is there a room for me at your house?" "What?" "Just kidding." " I guess my mom won't be back." " How do you know!" "Why say that?" "She can't hack it, she just can't." "It's not her fault, she tried." "She didn't even know how to do the shopping." "I did it all." "I'd wake her up, dress her, get her breakfast, everything." "I can do everything, you know?" "Even iron." "How can she get along without me?" "Who'll take care of her?" "What's the matter'?" "Nothing." "I'm going to the bathroom." "Good morning, professor." "Please sit down." "Angela, you're back." "Yes, professor." "I read it." " Professor?" " Ciacca." "I wrote a poem, really a sonnet." ""Hendecasyllable in alternating rhyme", can I read it?" "Alright." "When I look at the future ahead my poor beating heart tries to hide, the sky becomes dark and I dread the world will then put me aside..." "Professor, my pen." "Professor, my pen, it's mine, I want it back." "Give me my pen back." "My pen!" "It's my pen." "Yeah, this one." "Yes..." "It was very similar to this one, but the cover... it's bigger, larger." "Excuse me." "Can I see that one?" "This one?" "It's red." "Yes, it's red." "Don't you have a blue one?" "No." "Adam, I expected more from you." "I'm sorry." "You could have given me a D!" "Safyra, I have something for you." "My pen's not here." " What, it's not?" " My pen's not here." "You can keep these, look what nice pens." "But I want mine back." "Of course." "Got everything?" "From there too?" "Don't wear these." "Is the shirt nice?" "It looks good on you?" "Your hentai comics, with an H." "Brugnoli!" "Go on." "Brugnoli, listen..." "I even thought about it but I can't keep you." "Not because of you I think you're nice." "I told you, if you were always around, I couldn't take you." "Really!" "That's why I never had children, not even a dog or a cat." "Understand?" "I'm not cut out for it, it's no crime." "But we've become friends, understand?" "We can see each other when we want." "Understand?" "Go, Brugnoli, they're waiting for you." "Good evening." "Sorry, I'm late." "As you know, we've decided to have these meetings before you give final grades to be one step ahead." "They're very informal meetings, but this way, we can tell families about the desperate cases to avoid later arguments or legal action." "Like saying: "We'd warned you!"" "Professor Fiorito is absent for important family reasons." "Family reasons?" "When did he ever have a family?" "Zambardino, please!" "He trusts our judgment and especially... yours, professor Prezioso." " Mine?" " Yes." " Are you sure?" " Yes." "He says he trusts your judgment very much." "Mordini Angela." "She was absent a lot, but is still within the legal limit so, technically, we could save her." "I wrote a couple of words." ""Mordini, absent, unmotivated, distracted and totally uninterested in the lessons"." "Therefore, no chance of making up." " Do you all agree?" " She has too many absences." "Even if I wanted to help her, she never comes to class." "I think we can't do anything too." "Alright." " You're sure?" " Yes." "Then we write a statement to her parents." "He dedicated the poems to Ippolito Pindemonte." "Who was Ippolito Pindemonte?" "His translation of the Odyssey..." " What happened?" " I don't know, it won't start." "Must be the gas." "Stop!" "Run!" "Leave her alone!" "What the fuck's he saying?" "Don't worry, it's nothing serious." "He asks if you're my girlfriend." "Yeah." "Don't say anything, if someone asks you, say you found me like this when you got there." "Yeah?" "Understand?" "What will you say, Adam?" "When..." "Professor." " Don't you know me?" " Angela." "The letter came, damn!" "It was Zambardino, she could never stand me." "You're good, you tried to help me, I know." "This is best, what good is school for me?" "I found this job." "I'm done in ten minutes will you wait for me, you can walk me home." "Okay." "What is it?" " You still have..." " Sparkles." "What do you really think of me?" "Think I'll ever amount to anything?" "Last time you said terrible things." "What did I say?" "I won't see you again anyway, right?" "No." "So..." "So?" "Come on..." "Hi, dad." "This is my Italian professor." " Professor Preziosi?" " Prezioso." "Angela talks a lot about you." "I should have come to the parents' evening, but how could I?" "The house, forget the job..." "Since my wife passed away..." "Guess I did all wrong." "If I'd come, maybe Angela wouldn't have flunked." "It's not your fault, dad." "Didn't you offer him anything?" "Please sit down." "No, I have to go." "Excuse me." "Goodbye." "Stay in touch, professor." "Alright." "And that one?" "It's my mother with my aunt, they were 20." "Pretty, weren't they?" "Bye, professor." "Elena, here are Fiorito's missing analyzes." "Classicism and Romanticism." "Close your notebooks, forget dates, periods of history, in case you remember any at all." "There's something in art, as in nature too, that reassures us and something which, instead, torments us, disturbs us." "We find reassuring a green field full of flowers, a blue cloudless sky, but the immobility of a lake disturbs us, the violence of a storm." "We find calming a Greek statue by Phidias or, maybe, the Venus de Milo." "We're dismayed by Friedrich's "The Monk by the Sea", alone before the immensity of the sea." "Excuse me, do you know where section F is?" "The stairs on the left, first floor, the hall on the right, last room." "Two eternal emotions in constant struggle:" "the search for order and the fascination with chaos." "Within this struggle lives man." "We're in there, you too Ciacca." "Order and disorder." "We look for rules, forms, norms, but we never grasp the true working of the world." "The real form of all that's outside us just like all that's inside us, it's an eternal mystery for men." "The inability to resolve this mystery terrifies us, forcing us to sway, between the search for an impossible harmony and the abandon to chaos." "But when we become aware of the gap that there is between us and the world, between us and us between us and God, then we discover that we can still feel amazement, that we can look around ourselves" "as if we were really capable of seeing for the first time." "Good bye." "Always last." "In the Italy of Foscolo, memory has become mute useless, only the tombs of the great, those defined as "urns of the strong" are able to..." "Allowing the transmission of values showing models..." " How are you doing?" " Bad." " Have you made any friends?" " No." "Perfect." "Brugnoli, don't play sly with me." "And don't make that face." "What did you bring me?" "What did I bring you?" "I'll show you." "Keep your hands off." "Translation Charlotte Lantery subtitles OMBRE ELETTRICHE" " Roma"