"'Suppose, One Night at Dinner'" "Why did you want to see me?" "Why did you disobey the order?" "What is it?" "Why did you want to see me?" "Why did you disobey the order?" "Who knows?" "God, it's cold down here!" "Don't you have a blanket, or something I can put on?" "Or do we have to make love with our coats on?" "What is it?" " A flag!" " It's my only blanket." "It's horrible." "Yes, but it's needed!" "It still has some use." "Why have you started writing for the cinema?" "Because they paid me a fortune." " Is money important for a writer?" " Yes, it's very important!" "An intellectual shouldn't care about money." "What did you say?" "An intellectual shouldn't care about money." "That's your opinion." " Why do you need so much money?" " So I don't have to write films anymore." "I've had enough of this press conference." "I only came because you forced me to..." "And you threatened not to pay my last installment if I didn't." " Do you think you're a real writer?" " No, I'm a terrble writer, write that..." "Go ahead and write it." "Show them your legs." "They like them." "I'm so sorry." "Excuse me." "What a pigsty." "It's hell." "Silvia Monti!" " Always so graceful!" "And Michele?" " He insulted everyone and left." "See what you can do." "And bring him back." "Michele." "You've arrived." "I've had enough, I'm a prisoner out here." "At least you can breathe here." "Where are you going?" "You're not going back in there." "Come on, let's go." " Where are we going?" " Who knows?" "We'll pop up somewhere!" " And Nina?" " She's expecting us at ten, there's time." " I'm thinking of writing a comedy." " For me?" "For whoever wants to be in it." "What do you mean?" "You're writing a comedy and it isn't for me?" "I don't think you'll like it." "Take note..." "The usual triangle:" "Wife, husband, and lover..." "And just like every respectable middle class comedy..." "The lover is the husband's best friend." " Could it be any worse?" " Bad start, I don't understand you." "But it's right..." "Why challenge the system, I asked myself." "I want to take the most worn subject and see if I can enoble a subject that's so..." "Repulsive." " Have you written anything?" " No, just notes." "Take us two, for example..." "Suppose a newspaper has sent me overseas for an article..." "The trip lasted longer than planned..." "My wife's impatient, nervous..." "And, needing my affection more than ever..." "Suppose you're acting at the time..." "And one evening, not knowing what to do, Nina goes to the theatre..." "And, as usual, she goes crazy when she watches you perform." "You take her out to dinner and exhaust all of your irresistible repertoire." "Suppose she's had a bit to drink." "She doesn't want to go home, to bed." "She says she feels alone, strange, curious." "So you say, "Come back to mine for a drink, I'll take you home later."" "She couldn't ask for more." "And precisely because of that incredible trust that exists between you..." "She ends up falling asleep in your arms." "But she isn't really asleep..." "Hers is an ephemeral sleep, that torments her." "And you end up making love." "From that moment you become lovers..." "Because it isn't true that you'll bury the affair in your subconscious..." "There's always an outcome from a physical relationship." "From that moment on you're forced to behave like squalid adulterers..." "And the consequences affect your behavior, as this classic situation demands." "Does Nina have the tickets?" "Let's go, or we'll be late." "If I were to become your wife's lover..." "Why should I have to wait until you're far away?" "That's she's alone, and I lose control." "If you're going to screw a friend over you do it in style, or not at all." "No, sorry..." "Suppose, one night at dinner, the three of us..." "You, your wife, and me, as happens almost every night..." "You could study the things we say, and don't say." "Imagine a more direct relationship." "That might work better for your comedy." "Don't you think?" "It's simpler..." "And far more likely." "You, Max." "You should sleep with Giovanna." " You're the right type." " What do you mean the right type?" "Father a child, then disappear." " Don't you agree?" " No, I don't, and I don't understand." "And why should I?" "She needs someone who will father a child and then disappear." " Who told you?" " I'm telling you." " Not marry her?" " No, Giovanna's filthy rich..." "She can find as many husbands as she likes." "It's the lovers that are hard to find." "She needs a baby, not a husband." "Besides, Max isn't the married type." "You call someone who fathers a child then disappears a lover?" "Are you listening to the nonsense that's coming out of her mouth?" "For what reason am I the type to mechanically father a child and then..." "Disappear?" "Because women don't exist for you." "They're things that just pass you by." "When you need one, you catch one." "Indeed, women don't exist." "We invent them." "And you invented me badly." "I'd know how to invent myself and I'd do it a lot better than you, if I wanted to." "One day you'll see, and you'll be the first to be surprised." "You're kidding!" "I wouldn't want to get mixed up in that adventure." "Listen to this..." "Instead of going to bed with Giovanna, you sleep with her, Max..." "Realise your secret nature with him." "The real one." "I haven't said I wouldn't." "How can you live with him?" "Money and success turn people into comformist fools." "That's why I don't write." " You know this flag is really warm." " All flags are made of wool." " Why?" " Ask the Ministry of Defence." "Your husband should stop writing." "He writes too much!" "It's repulsive!" "Haven't you noticed?" "How can you enjoy being the wife of a writer like that?" "You'd be better off being a footballer's wife!" "Have you noticed how provocative footballer's legs are?" "What do footballer's legs have to do with it?" "You don't like anything, do you?" "You know you're very boring." "Footballer's legs seem provocative because they do something!" "And yours, dear..." " They perform well, naked." " But they're a bit short!" "Listen to me, I'm still the best writer in the world..." "Because I still haven't written anything." "Who says I have to do something?" "Nobody demands it." "But the day I overcome the repulsion..." "And slide a pen between these fingers..." "I'll write the one and only classic of our times..." " The book of all books." " The Bible!" "Sometimes you're very intelligent." "Sometimes you're dumb as a goose." "Women are all very intelligent now, that's why they're less liked." "I'm defending my ounce of stupidity." "In fact, I hope it increases!" "Ask your husband to help you." "You really are trying to upset me." "No, look, I don't want anything from you." "But you want this." "My solitary struggle was worth much more." "Have you heard the latest?" "Your husband is writing a comedy in which you and I are lovers." "Really?" "How does that happen?" "I haven't worked it out." "Needing models to base my characters on, I chose the closest, us three." "Right, and how does it happen?" "I still haven't figured it out." "Listen, what is there to figure out?" "No, that's the best part, because there's nothing to figure out." "The wife sleeps with her husand's best friend, you sleep with your best friend's wife..." "Simply because there's no reason not to." "But a writer has to understand what motivates his characters." "That's old fashioned..." "It's impossible to understand why someone does something or not." "I never understand it." "I can't stand these matches anymore." "I'm tired." "Max will take you home." "Listen..." "I don't write comedies..." "And I'm certainly not an elegant man like him, you know that." "I'll break your legs!" "Where were you tonight?" "Leave me alone." "Where have you been?" "I'll break your legs!" "You know this comedy he's writing is just a trick to get you to talk." " Of course I know." " Why didn't you tell him everything?" "You should be grateful." "I really do love him." "He can be so sweet it's moving." "He's the only man I know who never disappoints me." "Don't push me." "You shoud have talked to him." "Help him understand." "How can you be his best friend?" "But I did help him, I talked to him about dinner..." "About our conversations that night." "If he wanted to understand, he would have." "Queers!" "(finocchio:fennel/queer)" " It isn't the season." "Pedophiles, homosexuals, sodomites." "Okay?" "I was saying, in a public garden in New Orleans, these poor unfortunates..." " Translation;" "Unhappy!" " Max!" " Let her continue." " Right!" "They speak French in New Orleans!" "These poor unfortunates happened to meet some guys in the fur trade." " Fur coats?" " No, their fur." " Furriers." " Why not?" "Let's call it a fur exchange." "I'm a 48!" "What about you?" "50?" "I'll give you my otter." "Will you give me your sable?" "God!" "What a beautiful leopard skin!" "You're not funny, you know." "I'm losing my train of thought." "Let's say they're trading in an obscure service." " A very clear service." " Yes, a very particular service." "Okay, we get it." "Go on." "After a while, the police..." "Come on, stop it, Max!" "They send in some undercover agents, with such irresistible goods..." "That those poor fools get arrested." "They caught them in the act!" "In fact, every time they reached out their hand..." "Handcuffed and back to the station!" "The next night, one of those unfortunates appears in the usual grotty place..." "Muddy." "Okay, muddy, if you prefer." "He wants revenge, he finds a spot in the garden..." "And, as soon as the undercover agent shows him..." "He brought some cutters with him..." "And he traps his..." "Can you imagine it?" "Is that the way to tell such an indecent tale?" "It isn't a tale." "It's a very real fact." "Serge Marchese told me, when he got back from New Orleans." "You know what I say?" "If I could live my life over again..." "I'd get into the fur trade." "To remain alone and honest, that's indecent." "I'm not so convinced you're still honest." "Well you're wrong." "One can not be a spinster and still remain honest." "You'd be a real slut if you had the courage." "But you do, don't you?" "Lots." "That isn't funny." "It's the truth." "Vice is our salvation, dear Giovanna!" " What's going on?" " Nothing, he's making obscene proposals." "Vice is our only salvation, believe me." "Decent or indecent, you two will end up actually doing it." "Impossible, she's mad about you." " Here he is, take him." " He doesn't want me." " You don't have the courage." " Leave me alone!" "Poor Giovanna, Michele isn't available." "You should sleep with Giovanna." "You're the right type." " Sorry, right in what way?" " Father a child, then dissappear." " Don't you agree?" " No, and I don't understand." " And why should I?" " Isn't it obvious?" "Giovanna needs someone who'll father a child and then dissappear." " Who told you that?" " I'm telling you." " Not marry her?" " No, Giovanna is filthy rich..." "She can find as many hubands as she wants." "It's the lovers that are hard to find." "She needs a baby, not a husband." "Besides, Max isn't the married type." "If I wanted this son, as you say, I'd ask Michele." " And what should I do?" " I know, I know very well..." "If I were you I'd let him." " Really?" "And you'd insist on it, perhaps?" " No, that's not what I'm saying..." "I'm just saying Michele is Michele, and he can do what he wants." "And you think Max is someone who would father a child then disappear." "Exactly." "And what would you call someone who fathers a child and runs off?" "A lover?" "Are you listening to the nonsense that's coming out of her mouth?" "Right, but if we follow your logic we'll all end up miserable, inhibited." "Look at Giovanna." "I am neither miserable or inhibited." "I have my principles, if you don't mind." "And I don't like being judged by my every move!" "No, sorry!" "I can't stand it any more." "I've had enough." "For what reason am I the type to mechanically father a child?" "Because women don't exist for you, they're things that just pass you by." " When you need one, you catch one." " Indeed, women don't exist..." " We invent them." " And you invented me badly." "I'd know how to invent myself and I'd do it a lot better than you, if I wanted to." "One day you'll see, and you'll be the first to be surprised." "You're kidding!" "I wouldn't want to get mixed up in that adventure." "Listen, instead of sending Max to bed with poor Giovanna..." "You sleep with him and realise your secret nature with him, the real one." "I haven't said I wouldn't." "Who knows who you'd end up with if I wasn't around." "I'm only with you because I want you to stay with him." "Sometimes I think you're serious." "I love him much more than you." "Twenty years." "Yes... that I've loved you." "Come here." "Come on, tell me." "Do you love him?" "Would you leave him?" "Do you want him to leave you?" "You think your marriage is a failure." "Now let's talk about me..." "Do you love me?" "Would you leave me?" "Do you want me to leave you?" "Do you want me to be your husband?" "You'd never marry me!" "You see?" "How can you make sense of all this?" "Why do you mask yourself as an adulterer?" "You don't have a conscience." "Accept things the way they are." "Don't worry about it." "The rest is silence." " Will you tell me where you've been?" " I don't want to..." " And you can't talk to me like that." " Just answer my question." " And you would be the lover." " What did you say?" "No, I'm saying you would be the lover..." "Count Vronksi, from 'Anna Karenina..." "Madame Bovary's lover..." "What's his name?" "Is that your idea of a lover?" "You're completely crazy!" "Marvelous." "But I'm not the lover..." "I'm the other man." "The word lover doesn't apply to us any more." "The trouble is the word is becoming old fashioned." "How things have changed." "Now, you have fun with your husband." "But, with you lover..." "It's just boring." "Boring..." "Boring!" "Damn you!" "Look at this, I'm standing in shit!" "Wait!" "What are you doing?" "I don't want to see you any more, I'm running away with him!" " With who?" " With my husband!" "Wait!" " I don't want to see you any more!" " Where are you going?" "Who sent her?" "Yes, they want me to meet them at the beach house." "Sure, I can hear them now." "Well?" "Go on, hurry!" "Go, with your blinkered adoration." "Disturb their solitary hell, which was my only hope!" "Go and convince Nina that he's better." "That she'll be losing the catch of her life." "It's written on your forehead:" "'I'm the one for him'" "I can read it on your sewn lips;" ""You don't deserve me!"" " You're unbearable." " Stand still." "Are you finished?" "Run along..." "Run along and hurt me with your gold, incense, and mir." "They're waiting for you!" "Go ahead, I'll just be here slitting my throat on the sacred altar!" "You're a slut." "We're not going anywhere until you tell me where you've been." " Do you have your suspicions?" " Yes." "Yes?" "Then I'll put you on the right path, I did something very patriotic." " Such as?" " I touched a flag." "What is it, charades?" "It's the truth, I was among some flags." "Yes?" "Why?" "Is there a national holiday?" "Have they killed another president?" " Has war broken out?" " I hope not!" "That's enough, I've already told you too much." "How on earth can you talk about flags?" "There wouldn't happen to be a flag in a basement..." "Where someone I don't know lives?" "Or rather, I shouldn't know." "Why?" "Did he wrap you up in that flag as well?" "Would you like a tea?" "Something to eat?" "You know I've never eaten anything in my life!" "Not even a bite out of a little boy's arm..." "In passing?" "Get the net!" "A marvelous fish!" "It's this big!" " Where?" " There!" " Is this the net?" " Yes, that one." "Come on!" "It's not moving, is it already dead?" "Jump!" "There you go!" " Just the two of you?" " Yes." "Listen here, worm!" "We had a deal..." "More than a deal, it was an order..." "Because I'd never have trusted a good for nothing like you." "It's over!" "Disappear." "There's nothing left for you here!" "I paid you for a job, and I paid you far more than you were worth!" "And the tips." "Because you got them as well..." "They were for your ramblings!" "We've said everything!" "One day, I'll cut those two little chords you've got in your throat..." "That you need to perform, just those!" "I can't now." "It wouldn't work..." "Surgeons need meditation." "I'll wait until you come back to me." "In tears!" "In tears?" "How many times have you come back to me?" " You haven't counted?" " I've never come back to you." "I've always used you." "Megalomaniac." "It was Max on the phone, he says he's sick and there's no one to help him." "I'm going to see what he needs." " Anyway, Giovanna's here." " Do you want me to go?" "It wouldn't be the same, Max trusts me." "It's stealing the fish!" "The fish!" "I'm taking the car." "But you were doing just fine..." "My mistake was believing you really were alone and sick." "I was happy with Michele in that moment, and you took me away from him." "Exactly." "And it's so easy to take you away." " When Max calls she goes running." " He's her best friend." "Right." "But women today get on better with their best friends than with their husbands." "I'm chasing my best friend as well." "Hadn't you noticed?" " You don't have a husband." " It wouldn't change anything." "That isn't true, you wouldn't do the same thing." "I'd do worse." "You'd make love to me, not giving a damn about him?" "You're very smart not to reply." "Who is this marvel?" "Where did you fish him?" "A private ghost." "Consistent, for a ghost." " What's his name?" " Rick." "Riccardo?" "Well?" " Rick, Rick, that's it." " What does it mean?" "R.I.C..." "Attractive,young,virgin..." "Willing,vulnerable,intellectual..." "Replice,immediate,coito." "You choose." "The ghost is explicit!" "Where did you find him?" "We've always known each other!" "Isn't that right, Rick?" "That's why I used you..." "As bait, when she runs away from me to go to the coast with her husband." "This doesn't concern you." "Get that into your skull." "I've never come here in tears to have you..." "That's what Nina is like." "You always have to invent things around her." "Okay, you needed me..." "But you know why?" "You weren't enjoying yourself anymore, that's why." "That's the truth, you weren't enjoying yourself with her anymore." "I know you well." "If only you knew!" "You just needed someone to stoke the fire a little, that's all..." "And that someone is called Rick!" "It's impossible..." " The gentleman participates too much." " Is that bad?" "In a sense, yes." " Okay, then I'm a bad actor!" " No..." "You're paid to perform with all of your faculties." "Always knowing what you're doing, and what you must do..." "If not, go to the public gardens with the servants and do things that don't concern us." "I don't like how you talk." "I'll break..." "You're not breaking anything." "Got it?" "Don't let him get to you." "Max, you're going too far." " I wanted to say..." " That for some time when you make love you become detestable." "We're not under the light of an inconsitent moon..." "We don't meet secretly at night, but in the light of day..." "In a house that doesn't have normal blinds, but squalid metal fixtures." "You lower the blinds, I turn on the electric light, and you..." "You play four of the wrong records, and we start again!" "Before one of you makes a mistake." "And that's you, Rick!" "Why do you care about a waste of space like him?" "What use is he without me?" "He's a slob." "You still haven't noticed?" "The flag!" "Purchased in a market selling old things." "It would've been easier to buy a blanket." "But, no!" "A flag is something else..." "It's much more suggestive!" "Makes things even stranger!" "My discoveries." "Extraordinary, as you called them..." "You liked them once." "I also liked it when you two were together." "Stop it." "Leave him be." "Don't be so dramatic." "I just spent a few hours with him, I wanted to see him alone..." "I wanted to find out what kind of man he was." "I was curious." "Come on, let's go." "I don't care about him." "Everything is like before, Just the three of us, as always." " That's our story." " No, our story is different." "I swear, and I..." "Lady..." "This is not who I am." "I notice that it's all too easy." "To arouse, use, take, leave..." "Removing curiosity, thinking things will be like before." "You're mistaken." "Max is right." "But I don't care what you say." "I take back everything I've said and done." "I love you, Nina!" "I love you, I love you..." "Please..." "Love me, Nina." "Please." "Love me." "Okay, you didn't dream it..." "Why don't you just forget about it, like me?" "I may have even raped her, in a moment of boredom." "But I did you a favour." "You weren't expecting anything else." "And you wanted to hear me say it so it would become true again..." "And to enjoy again!" "Go on, say it." "Free yourself, say it;" ""You were the only man in my life."" "Turn it into a comic, a tragedy, say it in prose..." "Sing it, even!" "Bloody devotion is your greatest vice." "That cream, for example." "You decided yourself, that I really like it." "Well I don't like it, and I never have." "I'll never eat it!" " Are you working on the comedy?" " No." " What are you writing?" " Who knows?" " It's your Yiddish phase." " No, black." "You can't write this comedy because you don't want to." "Do you really think Nina is sleeping with your best friend?" "Well it's true, Max and Nina have been an item for a number of years." "Maybe even before you were married." "Probably forever." "I told you what was going on between me and Max because I don't want it to stay a secret..." "This isn't what we want." " That's the only reason I told you." " Thanks!" "I don't do anything to hide it..." "I behave normally, both with Max and Michele." "I don't understand why you're turning to me?" "Who else?" "You're my best friend." " Does my relationship with Max upset you?" " Me?" "No, not you, for Michele." " You'll suffer for him." " I could also be happy." "But you love him, don't you?" "I mean, in your own way." "In my own way, yes, I love him." "I understand." "And it upsets me that you should suffer." "I'm not suffering at all." "I would be already." "I already knew about you and Max." "And you know what I say?" "If I could live my life over again I'd get into the fur trade." "To remain alone and honest, that's indecent." " I'm not so convinced you're still honest." " Well you're wrong." "One can not be a spinster, and still remain honest." " You'd be a real slut if you had the courage." " But you do, don't you?" "Lots!" "Why don't you sleep with Michele, seeing as Nina's sleeping with me." "That isn't funny." "It's the truth." "Look under the table, Nina's got her foot between my legs." "Vice is our salvation, my dear Giovanna!" " What's going on?" " Nothing, he's making obscene proposals." "Vice is our only salvation, believe me." " I've always known." " I don't believe you." "If you thought you were getting back at me, you're mistaken, I've always known." "You're not telling me anything new." "It's typical of Max..." "To choose the least appropriate place to tell you something shocking." "I figured it out from the way he was whispering in your ear." "An accomplice to share a secret in front of everyone is the kind of thrill he goes looking for." "I expected it from Max." "Max knows I won't be surprised and that takes away half the fun." "Nina..." "Between you and me she's a fool." "You know what the most disturbing surprise was?" "That I don't feel any jealousy." "Let me make that clear, I mean a disturbing surprise for them." "The only thing that's destroying me is my desire to understand." "I want to know why this happening." "I wish I could suffer..." "But, being unable to understand, I'm also unable to suffer." "What a shock." "What a surprise." "I tried to take on a challenging role; the husband." " What a terrible role." " Yours is a terrible theatre." "But it's better than your theatre of silence." " What an unpredictable night." " What does unpredictable mean?" "I wouldn't have believed them if they'd told me." "There's nothing unpredictable about tonight." " Do you think it's possible?" " What?" "Nina leaving so suddenly." "They might be..." "If Max is ill I don't see why it's unpredictable that Nina would help him." "He's all alone." "You're the one who complains when Nina goes running to him." "That isn't what I wanted to say." "What other unpredictable things have happened?" "This long sunset?" "We're by the sea, sunsets are always long." "Okay, you don't like my cream!" "You won't eat it." "You're not a man." "A man wouldn't let himself be treated like that." "And I'm not a woman." "A woman doesn't treat the man she loves like this." "We're two failures." "You're here!" "What is it?" "It's cream!" "Nice!" "Did you make it?" "The finest quality!" "Then it's true..." "Even if you don't like something..." "The moment it's under your nose you end up tasting it!" "Post for you." "Max, you should have known he was a delinquent!" "Listen, I've always trusted him." "Trusted him blindly!" "I was sure he was a serious person!" "I'm sorry, someone I don't know, joins us in bed for a threesome..." "For money." "It's his job, and he does it happily." "He enjoys it, he even seems experienced, and he's certainly very inventive!" "All of a sudden he's standing in front of me, shouting..." ""I love you, please love me!" You call that someone serious?" "It isn't white, it's striped." "But that doesn't matter." "He behaved like an amateur, not a professional." " We'll take away his union card." " Max, this is no time to joke around." "I'm at my wits end." "I'm drowning in parcels full of love letters..." "Hundreds of pages torn out of books, full of annotations..." "Telephone calls at every hour of the day and night..." "I can't take one step, it's like he's following me everywhere." "I'm sure of it!" "You want to know the truth?" "I don't know what to do!" "Kill him!" "Kill him!" "You're immoral." ""You are cordially invited to assist in a death for love... "" ""The appointment is tomorrow at midnight." "Execution:" "Immediate hanging."" "I told you he's a slob." "Why do you let it get to you?" "What is it?" "Blackmail?" "Does he want money?" "Listen to me, just ignore him for now." "There's nothing else you can do." "He'll get bored eventually." " I can't." " Why not?" "His declarations of love, his love letters..." "His silences of love..." "They're driving me insane!" "They make me feel uneasy." "Do you understand?" "They embarrass me..." "They make me blush." "You, blush?" "You laugh." "Go ahead, laugh!" "Because he's in love with me, and not you!" " Me?" " You!" "Otherwise you know how much I would have!" "That would be great!" "You don't understand anything!" "Rick." "I have to go." "It's late." " What's the time?" " Seven." " You're not looking at your watch?" " No." " You have hands in your head?" " Yes." "Isn't there anything you're curious to know about me?" "Now I'll tell you about how I met my husband." "You speak badly of him because you don't know him." "He didn't say a word to me when we were introduced." "The second time we met, he said;" "I want to make love to you." "I replied;" "Yes, after you marry me." "So I married him!" "Look, I told him, I believe in marriage." "Too bad for you, he said!" "And we got married." "But there is a reason..." "From the moment I first saw him, I knew he would be my husband." "And that's why I loved him." " What are you telling him?" " I was telling him about Michele." "Yes!" "I said to Nina..." ""Listen, don't tell him that we know each other..."" ""Let's keep that quiet."" ""It's for the best."" ""Otherwise he'd catch on."" ""Then let's marry him."" ""What do you mean, let's marry him?", Nina said.." "And I told her..." ""If you marry him, it's like me marrying him as well."" "Isn't that right?" "And so the three of us got married." "What does that have to do with it?" "Isn't that what you were talking about?" "My son!" "He's dead!" "Pook kid, he's dead!" "What on earth?" "He's not dead, he's acting!" "What act?" "Reality." "Reality." "Reality!" "Reality, gentlemen." "Reality." "I'm loved!" "You know, I'm incredibly loved!" "Someone is so in love with me..." "That he doesn't want to share me, not with my husband..." "Or anyone else." "He wants me all to himself." "It's a sensation that leaves me breathless..." "It makes me dizzy!" "Is that what you call it?" "Someone must have written these phrases..." "If I've read them so many times." "There, that's exactly how I'm feeling." "What shall I do?" "Leave you and go away with him?" "He's young, handsome, with no serious attachments." " You mean he's laughable." " No, he's someone who is what he is." "And I feel much more relaxed." "Michele, what shall I do?" "Leave you?" "What do you think?" "And you, Giovanna?" "I don't understand any of it." "Let me explain it a bit better..." "The worst thing that can happen to a woman happened to me..." "A man, a stranger..." "Has fallen madly in love with me..." "He's a brute, who hates my husband..." "Detests my friends, he wants to tear me away from all of you..." "It's like someone wants to take you away from all of us, Giovanna." "It's a horrible adventure." "But that's what makes him fascinating." "Don't you find?" "He's one of those who still believes there are solitary holes on the face of the earth..." "Where two people can still live alone, without sharing it with anyone else." " Yes, in a cemetery." " Careful, Max..." "We're talking about very serious decisions." "It's monstrous." "I've never heard anything so obscene." "He also says I can't give up on..." "How did he put it..." "Yes!" "The only decent thing in my life." " Nice, it also rhymes!" " Yes, it also rhymes." "What does it mean?" "And you've fallen for a trick like that?" "A trick by a... hypocrite!" "Who uses the religion of love, the fanaticism of feelings..." "The mystique of unrequited love, to..." "To insert himself into the bosom of a family..." "With the intention of robbing them." "Michele will never allow it." "Don't tell me you believe this nonsense." "Then we've lived together for no reason." "Michele, why don't you do something?" "Is it up to me to defend your home?" "You can't leave Michele." "Tell me you're joking, that you want to scare us." "Then why don't you do something?" "It isn't up to me any more." "You, who won't dare say a word..." "He's shouting." "Either you reply or shut him up!" "People like him end up on the winning side, I'm sure of it." "Love makes him so strong that I'll end up loving him..." "And I'll be so unhappy, I'll be lost..." "And terribly unhappy." "Truth is, none of you love me enough to save me." " You would be shattered?" " Yes." "You wouldn't be able to write anymore." "Probably." " And it would all be my fault?" " It would all be your fault." "How nice!" "I can exit your life happily." "Is this what a woman wants?" "Yes." "To have made a man so happy, to leave him..." "Irreperably empty." "No matter what the cost?" "No, it doesn't matter." "You're right." "Max, you're screwed." "Nina is in love." "You fanatical visionary." "I know Nina like the back of my hand." " Love calls love." " Your love is just dirty propaganda." "Propaganda triumphs in the end." " People will notice." " It will still be too late." "Let go of me." "You make me sick!" "What were you missing?" "You had everything." "The best!" "You were her favourite in bed..." "I had to make do with the crumbs." "Aren't you ashamed?" "If love meant being faithful, love wouldn't exist." " Love can't contain it." " Then what is love?" "Perhaps love is perseverance." "A perseverance maintained no matter how, but rigorously." "You're so smart, Michele..." "What will become of me once I'm torn your arms?" "You'll go on loving me..." "But it won't benefit either of us any more." "Then why am I leaving you?" "Tell me." "Because he tells you things that are absolute, enchanting..." "So much so that you can't resist the temptation of taking the risk." " How do you feel?" " Like an orphan." " What do you mean 'an orphan'?" " An orphan, I've left my people behind." " And me?" " What about you?" " Don't I count?" " But I left them for you." " You shouldn't feel like an orphan." " I didn't say widow, I said orphan." "There's a difference, you are love with a capital 'L'." "'Jealousy'" "The timing, Rick." "Think about the timing..." "How on earth is it possible?" "I left this place..." "Got to my husband's house, took the elevator..." "Rang the doorbell, got undressed, got into bed..." "Made love to him!" "Got dressed again, went back down the stairs..." "Returned here." "Went back up the stairs..." "No, down them, because you live in a basement..." "And I find myself in front of you again, all in twenty minutes." "No." "You're talking nonsense, Rick." "You know you worry me." "You don't need to get into to bed to make love!" "You're right." "Yes..." " I made love in the street." " I don't doubt it!" "Do you realise how ungrateful you are?" "I'm jealous!" "Then find a cure, dear!" "I can't help you." "Jealousy is some sort of exotic illness I'm unfamiliar with." "But, if you catch it in time..." "And with a little goodwill, you might recover." "My love." "'The Past'" " I'm cold today, Nina." " Do me a favour!" "You've lived half your life naked, why should you feel cold?" "Have you gone mad?" "What's that got to do with it?" "My love, don't you realise your observations are unbearable?" "What observations?" "I just said it's cold today." "And you can't say that." "You're at your best when you take your clothes off." "Why should you be cold if you're always naked?" "You don't have an ounce of sympathy, Nina." "But I love you." "I love you, too..." "But I think you're completely insane." "'Money'" "I'm going out." " And this?" " A little gift for you." "You're wrong, you've lost control!" "Your gesture reveals what you really think of me." "It would have been much better watching you make love to your husband..." "I could have overcome it." "But not this." "I don't know how to explain it..." "Try to understand me!" "Money from women is always welcome..." "They were impudent, barefaced cynics..." "But this is pathetic." "It's unbearable." "It makes me want to vomit!" "I'm sick." "I feel sick!" "'The Tower Game'" "Between Michele and me, who would you throw off the tower?" " Neither of you, I'd throw myself off." " You can't." "There's a German S.S. soldier behind you with a machine-gun, stopping you..." "You have to throw one of us off." "Who would you throw off?" "Michele, or me?" "I don't know, I refuse to say." "When someone refuses it's obvious what the answer is." " And what is the answer?" " You'd throw me off." " Yes." " It seems fair." "But if I love you?" "I left Michele, I destroyed his life, he can't write any more..." "And you want me to throw him off as well?" "No, I'm not touching Michele." "But me, on the other hand, loving me as you do, you'd throw me off." "But then I'd jump off after you." " Between me and Max?" " No, I've had enough of this stupid game!" " You're doing this to upset me." " Yes, because it forces you to tell the truth." " Then answer me, me or Max?" " I don't know!" " Look, it's like you're saying me." " I said I don't know!" "I could say Max today, and you tomorrow!" "Okay." "So, at this moment, today, according to your mood..." "Who would you throw from the tower, me or Max?" "You!" "Magnificent!" "No one's going to save me!" "But I told you love you!" "Well I don't want to be loved, if it means being thrown off the tower." "I want to be hated, like you hate Michele and Max!" "But I don't hate Michele and Max at all!" "Try to understand." "You're happy with me, and they're unhappy without me." "Great." "So, to free them from the desperation that consumes them..." "Who would you throw off the tower first?" "Michele or Max?" " I'm not on the tower!" " We're all on the tower." "Anyway, it doesn't matter because you're happy." "Because I'm happy and they're unhappy, I know, I know!" "That's enough." "It's a stupid game." "I told you." "It's just an exercise in cruelty." "And you know I'm a happy woman now." "Happy?" "How?" " Frighteningly happy." " It's not enough." " Desperately happy." " More." " Excruciatingly happy." " More." "Shockingly happy, sordidly happy." "Obscenely happy." "Disgustingly happy." "I'm deformed and destroyed by happiness." "And you?" " I've come to turn myself in." " You're late." "I've been waiting for you for some time." "Have a seat." "Please." "I resisted, but it's stronger than me." "I can't bear to see someone I love unhappy." "Marriages are held together by the unhappiness of one of the spouses..." "In the best hypothesis:" "On the unhappiness of both." "It's precisely this unhappiness that makes a marriage strong." "You're a fragile man." "Go back home, think about it." "I don't take orders!" "Do you think it's been easy for me?" "Throwing in the towel?" " I hate you more than anyone else." " Yet I've done you no harm." " No, but you saved it till the end." " What end?" " The end!" " Calm down!" "You're a typical rebel..." "One of those who shouts to get things we gave up a long time ago." "A real rebel stays in his seat, quiet..." " Refusing to be part of the crowd." " I didn't come here to listen to you." "I'm here to give Nina back to you." "Who told you that's what I was waiting for?" "Then why were you waiting for me?" "For the pleasure of receiving my surrender." "With no conditions." "By the rules." "And you're suggesting giving me back something I never asked for?" "You don't want her back." "You just want a rematch." "Your cynicism is simply repulsive." "Listen..." " Come with my wife one night for dinner." " What did you say?" "Come with my wife, one night, for dinner." "Come as many times as you like, you don't need an invitation." "It's the only way you'll be happy." "Trust me, it will be better for both of us..." "It wasn't by chance that King Arthur discovered a table could also be round." "I will never sit at your table." "Give it some thought." "I've read everything, I don't know what to read any more." " Read Mao's Quotations." " Sure, right..." "From the first to the last." "I can't wait!" "what a great idea." "China is China!" "No, look, my American friend Michael Stone told me..." "That the last hope for world peace is in the global movement of homosexuals." " Who is Michael Stone, a philosopher?" " No, a cannibal I met at a party." " You do meet them!" " What are you getting at?" "Nothing, I'm just saying you don't meet any normal people." "It's not my fault." "That's how the world is today." " No, you attract them." " Give over!" " You're a kind of litmus paper." " That's just cruel." "Next you'll be saying I'm the only abnormal one here." "Moreover, in his after dinner dialogue during The Symposium, Plato says..." "Upon reaching maturity, only men of such nature are cut out for politics." " You're interested in philosophy?" " No, I read Plato." "What else does Plato say during his famous dinner?" "Which was certainly more noble than ours." "Divine things about love." "They all talk about love, those great men." "But at the start of their discussion..." "They also all say something quite unusual..." "That men of worth go to the parties of worthless men without invitation." "It may surprise you but I've also done some reading..." "And I have a good memory." "They also discuss Homer's opinion, who disagrees..." "That worthless men also attend the parties of men of worth, without invitation." "I don't understand, is there someone here who hasn't been invited..." "Or is there someone we're thinking of not inviting again?" "As you're there, will you pick up my shoe..." "It must have ended up between Michele's feet." "Thank you, Michele." "I'm warning you, you won't be able to not invite me..." " I'm not moving from this table!" " Actually, it isn't a table..." "It's a raft." "We were talking about China." "As soon as China has the nuclear capability necessary they won't think twice..." "Suppose one Wednesday, at 11:58..." "I don't know which month, but in a year closer than we think.." "Simulataneously, from a secret Chinese base, three groups of missiles..." "With nuclear warheads, will be launched..." "Destination America, Europe, and Russia..." "A few minutes later the civilised world will cease to exist." "Why would China care about us and our culture?" "Go talk to a Chinese person from the mediteranean..." "The cradle of civilisation."