"Sari..." "Sari..." "I am going to move here." "It's the same dysfunction of the cortex we saw when you were small." "Tell me what you felt." "Shadows." "A presence." "A black creature at the edge of my vision." "Why did it occur right now?" "I haven't had a fit in years." "We don't know." "You've been through some changes." "Studying, moving out." "Leaving home is a big thing." " It would have been." "Now they won't let me move." "We have to put you back on medication." " No!" "No more blood tests." " On a drug that won't result in hyponatremia." "There will always be side effects." "I can't be on medication and study." " Look over there." "You see that girl?" "She's just been diagnosed." "She won't take her medicine, she's a chain-smoker, hardly sleeps." "She wants another seizure because she hates herself and her disease." "I'm not refusing because I want a seizure." "You think that without the drug, you don't have epilepsy." "That's wrong." "You're just as wrong as Riikka is." "Do you still swim?" "Make sure you always have someone with you in the pool." "Spontaneity, inspiration, - the Romantic urge to seek heavenly guidance - was uninteresting to Baudelaire, for whom poetry was endless toil..." "Here we go again." "...a deliberate exploitation of memory and the senses." "They brought the elements of strangeness into areas..." "You're not too familiar with the female anatomy." "To Baudelaire, beauty was ugly, unpredictable, even frightening." "The connections between things, be they vertical, - connections between the visible and invisible worlds, - or horizontal, synesthetic connections between the senses, - revealing these connections was the poet's work." "I'd like to see her notes." "Might be a billion times more interesting than Groman's bull." "Excuse me, sir, I'm not sure I got the thing about the vertical..." "Baudelaire used language to connect - the culturally accepted with the vulgar." "At least that's how I've seen it." "What does Ms Karaslahti think?" "Have you thought about these vertical connections?" "I think... well... the vertical movement used to be between man and God, - but Baudelaire left God out." "So the movement was between man and the world." "All you may fear or wish for is already here." "Not only the sexiest, but the smartest woman in the building." "Hey." " Hi." "You busy tonight?" "Want to see a movie?" "There's a Carné series at the Film Archive." "Hi, sweetie." "Helena, Sari's mother." " Ilari Vuori." "We're taking the same lecture." "So, how about tonight?" "They're showing Port of Shadows." "It's a wonderful movie." "Thanks, but I'm training tonight." "Maybe some othertime." "Sure." "It was nice meeting you." " Likewise." "Come on!" "Some othertime?" "What's that?" "A student clarified what I've tried to say about Baudelaire's..." " Right." "Are you two OK?" " Who, me and Baudelaire?" "You and Mom." "Baudelaire..." "Do you even live in the same world?" "Marriage is like that." "Every relationship has phases." "It's normal." "Just like it is for a 1 5-year-old young woman to wonder about it." "There is more to life than Baudelaire." " There is." "Cervantes." "Can you get me volumes 3 and 4 from the shelf, please?" "It's on top." " I know." "There you go." " Thank you." "I know." "Leif, long time no see!" "Where've you been lately?" "An incredible thing just happened." "I found the Heptameron, in Chilton's translation." "As it happens, I already own two copies." "Still, it's a good book." "You can have it." "It's yours." "What?" "I'll call you." " Leif..." "What's happened?" "Mikko, listen to me!" "Hi." " Hi." "Are you coming to Sivenius' class?" "No, I've got Heikkinen." "Are you alright?" " Yes." "See you tomorrow." "Listen..." " Yes?" "About that movie thing?" "Does the invitation still stand?" "Yes." " Okay." "What's happened?" "Your mother has decided..." "And we don't have a say in this..." "Don't hide behind the child!" " Decided what?" "I'll find a place nearby." " A place nearby..." "Look at yourself!" "This doesn't affect me and you." "You can come over any time, and I'll always be your Dad." "Leif is a good man." "For fuck's sake!" "What are you talking about?" "What's wrong with you two?" "Are you listening?" "I guess it's based on a book." " A novel by Dumarche." "It says so here." " Right..." "You can pin it on your blouse." " Thanks." "What did you think about the film?" " Well, I..." "An impressive purity of narrative." "Ofthe arts, I like film best." "I've thought ofwriting screenplays." " Really..." "I've written a few for television." "Like to read them?" "Me?" "Why?" "Well, you're intelligent and good-looking." "I guess I could." "You mean now?" " I happen to have one with me." "I'll have one more." "I always start with a sequence, not the traditional single scene." "Are you alright?" " Yes, sure." "How do you like the dialogue?" " Well, it's..." "I'm pretty good at it, even if I say so myself." "I like the way I use the word "maybe" in three different ways." "As "absolutely not", - then "perhaps" and then as "definitely."" "Want to goto the movies again?" "Maybe." "Shadows." "A presence." "A black creature in at the edge of my vision." "Mikko's got no money." "He's lost his family, his home." "It's a wonder he can still work." "He's been here for a month." "There are apartments, for Christ's sake." "Do you think this is easy for me either?" "The professor's chair has been vacant for a year." "If I play this right, I'll get it." "Groman could have silenced that moron's questions." "Was Groman somehow absent?" " No wonder, his wife kicked him out." "Didn't you know?" " No." "Want to goto the movies again?" "Let's see." "How's the apartment hunting?" " There are possibilities." "I'll find one." "Expensive?" " Yes." "You can stay in our guest room for as long as you like." "Thanks." "I have to go, Otto's waiting." "We need to talk about your work." "Our lecturers must be academically active, you know." "I'm working on my book." "We talked about it." "The pre-symbolic poets as challengers of Romanticism." "It's a work in progress." "A student said something so clever that I got Baudelaire's point." "The topic still requires some work." "Publish it ifyou want to be considered." "For what?" " Forthe professorship." "I haven't a chance." "Your's and Jarkko's names are being submitted to the chancellor." "Mom said you can't afford the... the..." "The deposit for the apartment." "How would Mom know?" "I can lend you some." " No." "Come here." "You're not here, you're somewhere else, in your own world." "You live like a monk." "You're a pile of dust." "You're as dusty as your damn books." "Let's forget what happened." "I'll come back home." "Mikko, I don't want you back." "And such is the meaning of the sonnet Correspondance." "Or, as translated:" ""In a deep oneness, as wide as the night, like an endless brightness, - so do sounds, colors, fragrances correspond..."" "Well, naturally it's very difficult to grasp the connotations..." "I think we'll call it a day." "Good bye." "You're a pile of dust." "You're as dusty as your damn books." "Look at yourself!" "Could you show me your bag?" "What the fuck?" " Just show me your bag." "Let's look at it." " Don't you touch!" "It's my bag, don't dig in my bag!" " Let me have it." "Don't touch!" "You've got no right to touch me..." " Be quiet!" "What's wrong?" "Get up." "Excuse me." "Out of the way." "No, nothing in the mouth." "What's wrong?" " Call an ambulance." "Put something under her head." "Quite a bad seizure." " It was." "Better let a doctor see that." "It's very important you take these regularly." "I think I should speak with Riikka." "What the fuck do you want?" " I was at the bookstore." "So?" "Are you writing a fucking thesis about me?" "Thesis." "I'm not in the field." "Who the fuck are you then?" " I'm not a fuck." "And stop fucking talking to me like that." "You think I'm a fucking retard." "There's nothing wrong with me." "Yes, there's something wrong with your brain." "It causes spasms, unconsciousness, - black-outs, depression, a sense of not belonging." "You're ashamed, you don't want anyone to know, - you'd rather be alone than tell anyone about it." "I have it, too." "Epilepsy." "I'm sorry." "In that case, what is Goethe's eternal emptiness?" "What's on the other side, beyond the senses and reason." "Death." "You're getting into Thomas Mann's themes." " Death in Venice is good." "Isn't it relevant here, too?" " Of course it is." "Tadzio's calling begins as Aschenbach sees the red-haired man." "A better example of Mann's works is..." " Let her continue." "Mann gives his character Hermes' attributes." "He is Hermes, the downward blowing wind." "In mythology, it's often the descent to the kingdom of the dead." "I have a million examples from film." "In Titanic..." "You must mix with people in the faculty." "You know, mingle." "Come to the party tonight." "I'm not in the mood." " Bullshit." "You don't go to the pub anymore." "Everyone should have at least one sin." "Maybe I will." " Good." "You'll see, it'll do all of us some good." "Don't get me wrong, but you've become uptight." "Yo, Sari." " Hi." "Listen, I've been thinking about us." "We've been tothe movies, - and I'd like to get to knowyou better." "I'm just rambling." "Want to go tothe department Christmas party?" "Why not." "I found a few." "Oh?" "Thanks." " Which one?" "Let's try this one first." " How are you and Ilari doing?" "We're not "doing" anything." "I told Aunt Eeva not so save the apartment for you." "I'm on the medicine." " Sweetie, you can't live there alone." "Eeva's going to rent it." "She put an ad in the Sunday paper." "People are beginning to notice." "It's not good for the department." "Mikko is a very competent teacher." "Mikko is a fine man, - but he's completely lost." "Look at him, " "Like a wino dragged out of a shelter." "How's the competition for the professorship?" "You think you have competition?" "Sorry, I have to go." "I can't dance to this!" "I can't dance to this!" "What are you taking?" " I'm not feeling too well." "Give me one." " Absolutely not." "You're not as damn perfect as you think." "Are you alright?" "Yes." "In principle." "Are you alright?" "Yes." "In principle." "At least it's in the city center." " Yes." "I can't understand what happened to my life." "Do you think I'm perfect?" " No." "No one is." "Are you dating that Vuori kid?" " Ilari." "Not actually." "I have nothing to offer here." "I'm OK." "I have epilepsy." "In ancient times, epileptics were considered damned and holy." "The holy and the insane." "The damned and the witches." " I'm sorry." "Is this dump expensive?" " Yes." "800 a month." "That is expensive." "My aunt Eeva has an empty apartment." "She'll rent it to someone else if I can't find a roommate." "Because of the seizures, I can't live alone." "Mikko who?" " Mikko Groman." "Did you meet at the university?" " Yes." "Is this Groman your boyfriend?" " No." "Is he a doorman?" " No." "A showman?" " No." "Then he's a snowman." " No." "That leaves us with ploughman." " Not that, either." "Then what is he?" " He's just a friend." "And he's allowed to move in with you." " What do you mean allowed?" "Maybe we should talk to his parents." " What?" "No, you shouldn't." "Not a boyfriend, just a friend." "What a no-man, this Groman." "Fourth floor, apartment 1 2." "I can't go up alone." "If you're going to live there, I suggest you learn." "I'll be back in an hour." "Do I look really stupid?" " No, you're looking good." "I keep thinking about death." "What about it?" "That I could die having a seizure." "Yes." "Yes, you could." "That totally sucks." "To be afraid at my age." "Do you have kids?" " No." "Can you have sex normally?" "I don't have sex." " You don't have sex?" "Are you a virgin?" "I lost my virginity when I was twelve." "I think you should try." "To see if sex gives you a seizure." "Before you goto bed with someone you really like." "Mikko Groman, nice to meet you." "Mikko Groman, hello." "I'm Sari's roommate." "She must have..." "Perhaps she hasn't told you." "Just you watch it, pal." "Let's go." "Do you really have a driver's license?" " Yes." "I just haven't been driving for a while." "You're certainly giving me new things to fear." "Have you told anyone I'm your teacher?" "Does it matter?" " At the university it might." "What did you parents say?" " They were pretty shocked." "They thought you were a student." " Did you explain this?" "Yes." "A practical arrangement." "Nothing more." "In principle." "Didn't it turn out the way you wanted?" "Come on." "That Dad got an apartment?" "You think he should suffer, 'cause you want to punish him." "I want what?" " Revenge." "Listen, Lotta." " You're hoping he'll lose it and commit suicide." "If you want to know, your Dad's moving in with some little girl." "What do you mean?" "A student." " What?" "Well, ask him." "One, Sari's not a little girl." "Two, this is a practical arrangement." "Happy now?" "A crappy idea, in that ad ofyours." "No meaning, no content, - not a thing." "Tell me it's bullshit." " What?" "Let go of me." " Are you not involved with Groman?" "Bitch." " Easy now." "Leave my father alone." " Are you Lotta?" "What else do you give him, but pussy?" " Shut up!" "Beat it, scumbag, it's none of your business." "Me and Mikko share an apartment, nothing more." " You think I'm a kid?" "Yes, but I'm telling you the truth." "Hey, let's go and talk this thing over like adults." "Good morning." " Morning." "Mikko, in a civilized country, you'd be locked up - and out of here." "Otto is looking for you." "Mr Groman, in my office." "It's the same student who made you understand Baudelaire." "Yes." "Sari is a talented young woman." "Move out!" "I can't give you an order, only a piece of advice." "You're ruining your chances." "I don't stand a chance." " Of course you do." "Should we give the professorship to Jarkko?" "I guess he's a better man than one who sleeps with his student." "I'm not sleeping with my student." "Besides, it's nobody's business." "It's not an affair?" " No." "I have to live somewhere." "How the fuck" "Mikko, now you're being naive." "Mikko needed an apartment, that's all." "There's plenty of room." "That's all there is to it." "Mom said you used..." " I don't know your Mom." "Now we've come to the conclusion that Sari is not dating your dad." "I'm not." "Speaking of dating, what is dating?" "Sari, would you say we're dating?" "I guess we could start calling it that." "Should I give you something to drink?" "Yes, if I ask." "Water." "Water." "Make a note:" "Nothing in the mouth." " Nothing..." "If the patient bites her tongue?" "Then you carefully open the jaws." "I'll go to the library to read about epilepsy." " The Internet's better." "You can use my machine." "Will you show me how?" "Can't you use a computer?" " Word processing, yes." "Word processing." " I don't know a thing about computers, - nor digital cameras, nor flat screen TVs, - nor pension insurance, nor investment funds, " "nor my almost full grown daughter, - nor my ex-wife, " "nor cheating, nor divorcing..." "You know, Sari, " "sometimes I think I don't know anything." "Have you ever been online?" "In principle." "In principle." "That'll get you to Neurocentral, " "and this is about medication." "Could you see me as a professor?" " No." "Of course I could." "Really?" " Sure." "Last year, I submitted my application, - but I don't stand a chance." " Why not?" "I ought to finish my book on pre-symbolic poetry." "You can write on my computer." "Your classes are the best thing in the university." "Mikaela says I'm living in a reality nobody's seen in a hundred years." "Not true." "I don't know, maybe it is." "When I'm lecturing, I get all these ideas, but when I try to write, - it's all lost." "I might be able to help." "What's this?" "Notes from your classes." "This is awesome." "Have I said something this profound?" "I've done something really stupid." "What are you doing for Christmas?" "Having dinner with my parents." "And you?" "Lotta invited me over." "Leif's coming, too." "Not to mention other relatives." "They're so formal, they won't notice anything strange." "Oh, so I could come, too?" "You could come." "I just might." "Good evening, children." " Dad." "Merry Christmas." " Merry Christmas." "So, Mikko, how's your doctoral thesis?" "Been done for years." "I guess you meant publishing it." "Mikaela, don't you feed this man, he's a skeleton." "Oh, a butler, too." " Lotta has made some mulled wine." "Where's Lotta?" "Well, merry Christmas to you all." "Merry Christmas." "What's wrong?" "I'm not a virgin anymore." "We could ask if the Forss' apartment is free." " You'd be close to us." "I have an apartment." "You father searched around for indoor locks." "Oh, why?" "Sometimes, you want your privacy, especially now, - in these circumstances." " These circumstances?" "You two are impossible!" "First, you want someone to live with me..." "A middle-aged man wasn't exactly the idea." "So, merry Christmas to you all." "These are difficult times, Mikko, - and ifyou're worrying about that punch, I don't hold it against you." "So, you're Leif, Mikko's friend." "Yes, I'm Mikko's friend, too." "Leif is Mikaela's new boyfriend." "Is this salmon from the deli or did you prepare it yourself, Mikko?" "I wouldn't know, since we're divorced." "I would have put a little less salt in the salmon." "Merry Christmas." " Merry Christmas." "You said he was your friend from the university." " Well, he is." "These divorce dudes can be..." " Divorce dudes." "Divorce dudes." "They're out there." "They can play a really long-term game." "I'm not listening to you." " Yes, you are." "We're thinking of what's best for everyone." "Splendid salad." "You're sitting next to him." "What's wrong with you?" "You split up with Mom, then you spend Christmas here even though..." "You sit with him, but last time you punched him." "Lotta, go to your room." "Trying showthings are going well with the little girl?" "ls the sex good?" "It's time for someone speak up." " Not now, Line." "Are you at all thinking about how Lotta must be suffering?" "They say that college girl is your..." "Yes, his student, and leaving your family for a child..." "Dad..." " He's a pedophile." "Lotta, it's not your fault." "I guess I'd better thank all of you." "You're all such exemplary people." "Aunt Line, who tolerates Valentin's affairs." "Aunt Liselotte, who's subjected us to her alcoholism for years." "Erik, who places ads for underage boyfriends." "So, merry Christmas, and have a great life." "And, when it comes to sex..." "Oh, you're home." " Yes." "So are you." "I've got a present for you." "I've had it for years." "You could keep your pills in it." "What's this image?" "The goddess Astarte." "It's beautiful." "Astarte descended to the Kingdom of the Dead to find her lover." "She had to take off all ofher seven veils to get there." "Where's my father?" " Mikko is at the library." "What happened?" " None of your business." "Would you like something?" "Hot chocolate?" "An abortion." " What?" "Lotta, what?" "Lotta, open the door." "Tell me what happened." "It's your fault." "Everything went wrong when they split up." "I didn't even know your father then." "Or I did, but only as a teacher." "And now you're only roommates." "What are you doing?" "Lotta, open this door!" "Lotta, open the door, please!" "Totally irresponsible, Lotta could have died." "You let her alone in the bathroom in that state." " Nothing happened." "My daughter OD'd on some psychopath drugs." " Epilepsy." "She gets poisoned and the baby I didn't know of had to be aborted." "You're saying nothing happened." " Mikaela." "Why were the drugs there?" " It's my bathroom, they're my drugs." "Lying around." " No, in our bathroom." "Yours and yours." "It's sickening." " Quiet, everybody!" "Lotta will make it." "That's the main thing." "How do I know it wasn't her idea?" " What?" "The abortion." "Your girlfriend's idea." "Excuse me?" "What did you just say?" " Easy now." "We're all in a state of shock." "Mikaela is just upset." " Mikaela isjust upset." "How do we know what you know about abortions?" "Say something to her." "This has been a terrible shock." "Why won't you defend me?" "Let's calm down." " Calm down..." "Sari, we'll talk later." " No." "How can you let her say these things?" "Try understand how Mikaela..." " You're on her side." "It was a mistake to move in with you." " I guess we all knew that." "I want you to get your stuff." "I want you to leave my home." "You can leave the key on the table." "Is there anyone from the family here?" "Hello." "What?" "I still don't understand why they didn't fire J.P." "You'll get other chances." " They had to scale down the writing team." "Soon, when the deadlines are closing in, I will not help them, never." "Nothing remotely realistic will do, they want even dumber characters." "Maybe a daily soap isn't the place for anything complicated." "What?" "I mean, your approach to human life - doesn't make room for anyone's opinions." "Me, me, me." "Me, me, me." "You're the champ at getting attention." " What?" "You screwed me and dumped me." "Are you a fucking nympho?" "Don't you have any compassion?" "Don't you realize how bad that made me feel?" "Sari, you're sick." "Don't go." "I had a crappy day." "Can I at least get some compassion?" "Where've you been?" "I love you." " I don't love you." "Let me go." "Sometimes, the patient doesn't fully recover from a seizure." "I've known Sari since she was little." "She's a strong girl, - won't show her fear." "Sari needs someone who doesn't fear what she's afraid of, " "someone who can help." "That's a huge responsibility for another person." ""everything you wish for is already here"" ""In a deep oneness, as wide as the night, like an endless brightness, - so do sounds, colors, fragrances correspond..."" "Sari." " Hi." "Are you coming?" " No, I'm busy." "Working tomorrow." "This is yours, I guess." " Yes." "Thanks." "Listen, Sari..." "During those years, poetry made a 90-degree turn." "It stopped simply idolizing beauty - which Romanticism had forced it to do, " "and looked both above and beneath it." "However, above didn't mean Heaven anymore, - but seeing things from a new perspective." "And below didn't mean Hell anymore, - but the mundane, - whose very crudeness gave them a newway of speaking about beauty." "In Flowers of Evil, Baudelaire brought beauty back into the world - and gave it to the people, " "to us, to all of us."