"¤ EGGS OF THE CARNATION ¤" "This story of the carnation egg is a legend told to children in wartime." "It is a magical egg, very small, which can be found only at dawn." "If you put it under your pillow, dreams, all dreams come true." "Come on." "I'm tired." "Look how wonderful it is." "¤ Death is in the house,... ¤ making love to the daughter of the doctor, the doctor is sick,...¤" "What's that, Dad?" "You see that?" "That's the house where I was born." "I spent my whole childhood here." "And here in the well, my mother hid the door key." "¤ Who has walked in the woods?" "Boom!" "Who has walked in the woods?" "Boom!" "¤ Who has walked in the woods?" "Boom!" "¤ Who has walked in the woods?" "Lali lali lali lali lalero lala. ¤" "Dad, a spider." "The others..." "¤ Lai lali lalero, the can on fire, Lali lali lalero, the dwarf igniting the fire. ¤" "He said that no one should raise the hood." "Otherwise, the sisters'll get angry." "Do they get angry?" "Not only that, they'll chase everybody out." "Do you understand well, Giorgio?" "Do you understand?" "Yes, sure, I understand." "Because men are forbidden to enter the convent." "Two by two, in silence." "¤ They'll bury him out of the bombing debris,... ¤ Injured, about to die,... ¤ And he sent word to his Alpines troops... ¤ to come meet him again. ¤" "Apply whiskers, mother, please, please." "Captain Benelli fought in the mountains of Russia,... to defend the country and to pay respect the work of his Alpines." "But what has work to do with it?" "Play the music, mother." "I can't, it won't work." "The first part for my country." "The second part, for the battalion." "The third part, for my mother." "The fourth part, to my love." "¤ The fifth part for mountains... ¤ that in my life I will see no more." "¤ The last part for the mountains... ¤ That you have not seen, nor will you see anymore. ¤" "Where are Nicola and Silvano?" "Giorgio has hidden them." "Have you thanked our neighbor for this beautiful clothing he provided for the parade?" "Thank you." "Don't thank me." "If today in the parade you'll wear this handsome clothing... it's not me due the credit, but the party." "However, Elisa, the poetry, do you still won't recite it?" "If you want to go, make sure you know it perfectly." "You should be able to recite it standing on one leg." ""Oh, God, who rules all people,..." ""save our people,..." ""save our leader,..." ""feel your strength."" "Bravo, bravo." "For Silvano, in black, like Christ." "Children, I understand, but you, why go around dressed like a clown?" "Lady, it is fortunate that your husband is my great friend,... otherwise I'd even report you for what you've said, you know?" "Open!" "Open, open!" "Open!" "Open up!" "I'm coming, I'm coming." "All wet." "Wait until Mom sees you." "Cretin." "I found it on the street." "They bombed the barn, and I know all the dead." "It was the Pippo's airplane." "¤ There was a tiny boat... ¤ that did not want, did not want to sail...¤" "Watch out to see if they go to the mountain,... don't go near Crimen's house." "Crimen." "Why?" "He's dangerous." "An old man lives there on his own." "They say that when he was young, he feared his wife was going to leave him,... so he ate her." "That way he'd be sure she was always around." "He ate his wife and then went to the police." "He's at the door." "Quiet, let's hide." "Maybe before eating her...he sliced her up with that ax." "I think maybe a little flour can be found." "Tomorrow I'll go with two ration cards." "And how'll you go?" "Rather discreetly." "Lady Ana will lend them to me..." "Quiet!" "The neighbor's hanging around, and then there's the parade tomorrow." "They want another four prisoners." "Adriano told me..." "Piero is constantly guided by instinct." "I beg you to please avoid him." "That sounds good to me." "I." "Silent." "He wouldn't find the key today." "He had a mark on his forehead." "And you, what side are you on?" "And now, you have to decide." "The war will end sooner or later." "Things are about to change." "You have to decide which side you're on." "Do you understand this?" "We have always sided with the Catholic Church." "The Catholic Church." "Dominus." "Amen." "And even now we continue to live well." "There, standing by the Church." "But Elisa and Silvano seem fine." "Even so, have a little talk with Silvano." "He's the one you see the least of." "Oh, I fell!" "But where's the blanket?" "It'll have fallen down there." "Elisa." "It's the Virgin." "Come, Graziano, it's almost day." "You ought to stare at the sun at dawn." "When you look at the sun you count to twenty, otherwise the Virgin doesn't appear." "It's dangerous." "Wait there." "If the Virgin shows up, I'll call you." "Now she'll come, you'll see." "Just like in the book?" "No." "Do you see Her or not?" "Clouds." "The clouds are hiding Her." "Come, come, come, come!" "Here She is!" "She's here." "Can you feel my hands?" "Yes." "Does it hurt?" "No." "Tell your mom next time you want to see the Virgin,... and she'll make you look through the window." "Ah!" "Besides being blind, you also have scabies." "Let's see your feet." "There." "This child has scabies." "Look at what's resulted from this bombing!" "And now, the only one missing is the Virgin!" "Drink the juice." "Apply the ointment twice per day." "Thank you, doctor." "Bye, bye, dear." "They bombed the friends' hospital." "Come on." "Pinuccia Girelli." "Emilietta Fracassi." "Bombing a hospital, that says it all!" "Bomb, bomb!" "Poor thing!" "Ruccietta Severino." "Wow, look how bad they are." "Come on." "Requiem aeternam." "We can't get in, it's all locked." "Ferrerini Alcido." "Five hundred silver beads, and then..." "Don't move." "Halt, for God's sake!" "I'm tired of the bombs." "They're hidden back under the bed." "These two here, tomorrow, I'll take with me to the villa." "Holy Virgin, what a bombing!" "Aunt Olga worked as a waitress at the headquarters of the German High Command." "It's very nice here." "¤ It's beautiful here, my sweet love... ¤" "Quickly, children, everyone's at the table." "This is the grand vizier of Amman." "Wait here." "I'll be right back." "Let's go down to see." "But what are you doing?" "I have written to the devil." "I want to kiss your hair." "¤ I want to kiss your black hair," "¤ Your own lips... ¤" "Elisa, wake up." "It's Aunt Olga." "~ ¤ Tell me about love, Mariú, my life is you. ¤ ~ Look." "It's love." "Ah, yes, love!" "It's just love." "The dancer Kamir, the favorite of the Maharaja." "While Italian mothers and wives... offer their children and their jewelry to the homeland... gracefully, the young daughter of the wolf... pays homage to authority." "A junior fascist officer accompanies Elisa... daughter of the wolf, to pay homage to the statue of the Duce." "Long live the Duce!" "Viva Italia!" "Yes?" "Yes?" "Yes, your excellency!" "Hello, hello." "Yes, my name is Elisa." "Right." ""Oh, God, who rules all peoples,..." ""bless our people,..." ""bless us, unwavering,..." ""feel your strength!"" "Hello?" "Hello, hello." "Servant and master, the Duce, fight for the glory of Italy!" "For you there sounds the song of your children." "Long live the Duce!" "Long live the homeland!" "Silvano has fallen asleep." "If you find a twilight carnation seedling... well against the setting sun... squint you eye and you'll find a tiny egg." "Now tuck it under your pillow and your dreams will come true." "Is it true?" "Eat, eat." "Oh, how nice!" "I'm not afraid of Crimen." "He might be old, but he couldn't have eaten the whole woman." "He's just a crazy man." "I'm sure he didn't eat his wife." "The crowing of the cock instantly destroyed the barriers between us and Crimen." "The desire to run into his arms had become both necessary and natural." "Look how beautiful this man is with the beard." "That's my grandfather." "My mother told me: my great-grandmother... ~ had met Giuseppe Garibaldi." "~ Shh." "Together, they made a daughter: my grandmother." ""My darling, Giuseppe Garibaldini"." "Garibaldi." "Garibaldi." "And this is my poor wife." "But my great-grandfather, Garibaldi, I never met him." "No, I didn't eat her,... like everyone says." "I'll tell you how things happened." "The things people say about me are just a fantasies." "The truth is that when I was young, I traveled the world,... looking for any trace of my grandfather Garibaldi." "I crossed all the oceans." "In Japan...but..." "Maybe I'm boring you." "No." "I've been to every city in the world." "New York, Paris, Singapore,..." "In Japan, I fell in love while in Japan,..." "I returned here with her, my wife." "For a few years we were happy." "How beautiful!" "Is she Chinese?" "My wife?" "Then she fell in love with a merchant but when she abandoned her, she refused to eat any more." "She wasn't hungry, and ate nothing, and died of melancholy." "Stop, Silvano." "She wouldn't have died if she hadn't come with me." "And then I stuffed her body." "I have it hidden in a box." "Then I took her to a secret place among the trees." "Since I didn't say where her body is,... they put my into an asylum for most of my life." "So where is she, then?" "Now I've put her in my plot." "You will look a lot like her, you know?" "The Hebrews have their dicks clipped when they're still children." "But what you are saying, asshole?" "It's called circumcision." "It's just a small cut, that's all." "Yeah, a very small cut!" "Come now, children." "Do you want some cookies?" "Good day." "Is it true that if you get caught, you get killed?" "Allow me." "True, but whoever wants to can come by." "And why do they want to kill you?" "Because of my religion, I'm Jewish." "~ Like Jesus." "~ Like Jesus." "They'll hang you on a cross?" "Now we'll see a magical game,... invented by two twin brothers,... brothers called Light, Lumière in French." "You want a kitten?" "You're crazy!" "Now I've got one, too." "Me, too." "Lumière, Light in French." "Blow out the candle." "What fun!" "It's a movie." "Out there." "Hurry, or you'll get caught." "Where are the others?" "Wake up!" "Head there, don't pretend you're dead." "They sent us, children, to rob armed trains,... because grownups, if they were caught stealing or working the black market... would be shot." "We, however, any carton suited us." "And in exchange for a pack of cigarettes we'd get a trip to the city on armed trains." "Let's escape, it's the railroad dick!" "Don't try to escape or I'll stuff your leg down your throat!" "Fourteen, fifteen, and sixteen." "Did they give them to you?" "And how!" "Dig in." "How is it?" "Not smoking is stupid." "I like it." "Can I have another sardine?" "I'll tell mom you've been smoking." "If you say that, I'll kill you." "Let's see the boy with the dog's head." "~ He was born last night." "~ Where?" "His mother was frightened by the bombing,... and then she gave birth to a child with a head like a dog." ""A head like a dog." Don't speak nonsense!" "I'll ask him." "Crimen." "Why does war exists?" "I can't see them." "War exists because there are men." "Today I'll take you to see the big secret of my life." "But you must promise not to tell anyone." "Don't be afraid." "Reach out." "Doesn't she seem to be asleep?" "How beautiful!" "It look just like she's sleeping!" "How does she eat?" "What does she eat?" "He wants to know what she eats." "The dead do not need to eat." "Like the bears, when they hibernate." "You see this huge stone?" "It's taken me five years to put it here." "I used a method I was taught in the east." "Normally, it would have taken twenty horses." "When I feel death looming I'll undress and I'll lay down beside her,... and we'll rest together forever." "And you shouldn't mourn, because I'll be happy." "You know what will happen if they found you in this uniform?" "Do you know?" "They'll arrest us all." "We'll all end up in jail." "What should I do, huh?" "What should I do?" "Go immediately and get out of these clothes and don't cry." "You hear me?" "And you go immediately to my bedroom, and get ready for punishment." "I don't want backtalk." "What are you doing, Elisa?" "Don't lose your sense of proportion!" "I only told you to get out of this uniform." "I'm just caressing you." "Don't be afraid of your dad." "It's for your own good." "Here, come here." "And tell your brothers, too, that you can't play with these things anymore." "Teresina, Teresina." "Come here a bit and help the girl." "You take care of her." "I have to go down to the city." "But my father always forgot about me,... and I even fell asleep while waiting for him,... even losing myself in the uncertainty of dreams." "Can you help me?" "I can't, you have to do it on your own." "Help me." "Okay, look." "You should know that if you drop your pee into the sea... then you won't pee in the bed." "But there's no sea here." "One, two, three, four, five..." "One, two, five..." "Seven --- stop." "Two --- stop." "And if you find a little plant at sunset,... then you will feel a cold chill,... and over the highest leaf... tiny as a grain of dust,... find an egg,... a magic egg,... a carnation egg." "Look." "There's the sea." "Do it now." "Immediately." "It's not time to play yet." "It's still night, no yet time to play." "I'm ashamed." "It's not time to play." "Come with me." "What was the sea like?" "It's great, it's great." "You have to put your arms straight ahead, like Mom does." "Do it gently, or you'll wake Grandma." "We must get that pot." "Done." "Come to bed." "Let's hug." "Why?" "I like it." "Renata, have you closed the windows?" "Yes, Mom." "~ Renata!" "Renata!" "~ I'm coming!" "Renata, now!" "I'm coming." "What are you doing?" "Nothing." "You made me scared." "I dreamed of you exactly identical to this." "Is it a premonition?" "It was a strange dream." "Renata!" "Renata!" "Did you find her?" "What?" "Children at the table." "But where is she?" "Where is she?" "When the war's over..." "I will come marry you." "Good." "And you'll come to England with me when the war ends." "Renata!" "I heard a noise." ""Love"?" "You heard "love"?" "Noise, not love." "It's love." "Giorgio." "Giorgio!" "Piero, to the table!" "I'm scared." "~ No one." "~ I won't date anyone." "My God!" "God, what a disgrace!" "Tell me, who was the man they saw you with?" "Tell me who he was." "Who was it?" "I don't know." "Dad'll kill her." "Poor Renata!" "It galls him." "I don't know!" "I prefer you dead than without purity." "I don't know!" "I don't know!" "We will conquer!" "Thus it is written in the book of fate." "Because, gentlemen, it is beautiful to die for the fatherland!" "Long live the king!" "Long live the king!" "Goodbye, Duce." "See you soon." "Slowly, go slowly." "Bring it." "Frightened by shelling...." "Palmira gave birth to a girl who weighed one pound." "Her name is Ana." "And does she have hands?" "Sure, but they're as small as doll's legs." "The old guy was fishing with his net,... and the old woman was spinning wool." "~ What next?" "~ One day..." "What next?" "The bomb, the bomb!" "I got here first!" "Doctor!" "Doctor!" "Doctor!" "Doctor!" "Doctor!" "Doctor!" "Doctor!" "Attention:" "His Majesty the King and Emperor has accepted the resignation from the post of prime minister..." "What are you doing, son?" "What?" "Mom said to come immediately." "A soldier has an open wound in the head." "Have you finished?" "Now bring the rest of the letters." "Hurry, hurry!" "Sorry, your excellency, what about these?" "Should I burn them, too?" "And do not call me excellency." "What were you saying?" "No, put these aside for me." "I found this jacket." "Thanks, it suits me very well." "I must disappear for a while." "If they catch me, they'll kill me." "Take this money." "~ No, no, for charity's sake, excellency." "~ Don't call me excellency." "~ And the flag?" "~ Burn it, burn it all." "...the head of government, Prime Minister and Secretary of State" "His Excellency, the knight, Marshal of Italy Pietro Badoglio." "Those are exactly photographs of me." "Do you remember?" ""Jews rule the people..."" "The head wound's cured." "Try again." "He just wailed." "~ He's gone again." "~ He's gone." "No, no, and no." "We can't put everyone in danger over some stranger." "The doctor can take him home if he wants." "So much of a professional!" "We have a family." "These are huge risks we're taking." "And anyway, whose idea was this?" "Does anyone know?" "Silvano found him in the field." "We've hidden him." "Where?" "In the chicken coop." "Tomorrow, anyway, he must go." "The wounds are very deep." "But give me a break!" "Come and see." "Fire!" "Fire!" "I'm a poet, I'm a poet, you can't kill me!" "Come here, sir, please, take it easy." "No, no!" "They must know me!" "Baldini, type twenty-seven." "Now finish off these four." "Fire!" "No more singing, a little respect!" "Come see a woman who speaks with the dead." "Let's peek a little more." "No, let's escape." "Let's escape!" "Let me at least close the gate." "They got me up in my pajamas!" "Good morning, Captain." "Doctor, please, your turn." "Doctor, now it's your turn." "With your permission." "Remove the bandages." "Examine these wounds." "But what do you want?" "Quiet, quiet, doctor!" "You have to stabilize him." "All the bandages, remove them all." "Damn!" "Damn!" "Doctor, this guy needs specialized care." "I want to be your wife for life." "I hated those men in uniform whose only strength was destructive weapons." "I hated the doctor, who had agreed to take the bloody bandages off the wounded guy." "I hated my mother and my sister, who cried in the basement over a stranger." "And I hated my father, since even in this crisis he was in hiding." "He was my love!" "He was...!" "I know where he is, down there!" "But there is another in the cave, near the grove." "Come over here." "Remember, remember,... how we got down there!" "Pass me the bottle." "To arms, to arms, fellow fascists, against the communist hordes!" "That Jesus guy, we have tuned his violin!" "¤ San Marcos, San Marcos, what if you die... ¤ With a little pain...¤" "It will end, it will end." "Keep still, or I'll poke you." "Still..." "Done." "Give me a kiss before closing up." "We must live then, when the time comes." "Tell the children I'm in the hospital." "All right." "I'd be shamed for life if they should happen to know." "Watch closely." "Do you see the coin?" "I put it in my hand." "And it's gone!" "Where is it?" "In the hair of the beautiful aunt." "That's all." "Tell him you brought rabbits, two dogs, four eggs." "He should be treated in a bigger hospital." "You don't speak?" "And now I'll make the game more difficult than any magician can do." "See how it's daytime?" "I will say one, two, three...and it will become night." "One, two, and three." "Voilà!" "I can't resist this delicious creature." "For sure!" "Fascist pig." "From now on you'll be able to preach of a republic only in the parlor." "Come on, fellows." "Let's see the Republic." "This war will never end." "It's ending, it's ending." "In three months, how will we manage to get you married?" "She says they're communists, fascists!" "Who are they?" "~ The poor thing." "~ Fascists!" "No, no, no, please!" "You're right." "It's time to go to you." "I'm coming." "Silvano, Silvano, Silvano, Silvano!" "Silvano, Silvano, Silvano!" "Want to play hospital?" "Did you know that Crimen is dead?" "Crimen is dead, Crimen is dead!" "Crimen is dead..." "Crimen is dead!" "He's properly dead!" "And now you'll die like Crimen!" "Aunt." "I am here, by your side." "We must accompany him to Milan." "~ How is he?" "~ Better." "I took him to Milan." "How are you, dear Silvano?" "Do you eat well in the hospital?" "Are you all right?" "He will get rid of me, he'll come for me any moment now." "Don't worry, try to rest." "Teresina, Teresina!" "Teresina." "Is that you, Teresina?" "Teresina, Teresina!" "Teresina!" "I'm suffocating in here." "Open, open!" "Don't shoot unless it's necessary." "Look over there." "You, upstairs." "And you, over there." "What do they want, Mom?" "They're looking for dad." "~ I hope they don't find him." "~ Let's hope." "Damn, there's nobody here!" "Look everywhere." "In the cellar, let's look at the winery." "And what are you doing here, still standing around?" "Have a candy." "Here." "So what do we do now?" "The poor people!" "Enough is enough." "Come on." "Her husband, where is he?" "In the hospital." "Suffering from scabies." "Quick, quick, roll up the truck!" "Bring it here!" "What are you doing here?" "Excellency...!" "For charity's sake, lady, don't give me away!" "They'll kill me if I get caught." "Then it's you who brought them here." "What an idiot!" "Lady, wait." "I had no choice." "You just inspired mercy in me." "The vanguard of the armed wing has entered Rome." "The British are likely to reach Milan within a day." "Meanwhile, rumors of a total capitulation of the German armed forces in Italy... are confirmed time after time." "Come and see." "Dad's left the mattress." "On behalf of the Italian people, the National Liberation Committee for the New Italy... assume all civil and military powers." "Teresina!" "Teresina!" "Marco!" "Teresina!" "What should I do?" "Come greet me!" "Come out and say hello." "And pretend that nothing's happening." "Now, we must celebrate the expulsion of the Germans." "What was the hospital like?" "It was very hot." "~ He doesn't speak?" "~ No." "He doesn't dare do it." "But why doesn't he speak?" "Come here!" "Come here, you both, come here." "That day I risked start to lie forever." "All three!" "I always thought of adults that way during our childhood." "Honest, in the daily household duties." "However, at that very moment I completely loved them both." "We were together, and it was so real as to bring forth in me a feeling of tenderness." "Long live America!" "Hurray for the Americans!" "Renata, right away!" "Long live the Americans!" "Teresina." "Now, you, in your country, you're like a pet under America's wing." "And you don't want any candy?" "Aunt, can we go with the guy to America?" "No, no, he doesn't want candy." "He thinks they're all explosive,... like those that you Americans like to give your pilots." "Eat them, they're good." "I've already eaten thirty." "~ Thirty?" "~ ¤ For thirty days I've loved you... ¤ For thirty nights I haven't slept. ¤" "You're great, aunt!" "May I ask why you don't want the candy?" "He's afraid it'll blow up in his mouth." "You must eat." "Just leave him alone!" "Eat them!" "For your dad." "Eat it, come on." "Eat." "And eat!" "Did you see that?" "He spat in my face!" "In my face!" "He spat in my face!" "Did you see that?" "He spat in my face!" "Crimen!" "Crimen!" "Lorenzo!" "Lorenzo!" "Where are you, Lorenzo?" "Lorenzo!" "Lorenzo!" "I've searched so hard for you!" "You must tell your father when you go away." "I'm here." "This is Crimen's house." "Crimen." "Elisa, Silvano." "My children." "Dad." "Dad, come on out, I'm scared." "There are bugs in the cave." "Crimen." "I'm sacred of the dark." "I'll be right there." "Look what I found!" "You're lucky, it's a carnation egg." "So what's that?" "This film is dedicated to children who wanted to live but who died during the war."