"Our bodies are inhabited." "What we experience doesn't end up in the brain, but miniaturizes somewhere in our systems, in our organs, our bones under our teeth." "Memories lurk in our bodies, sometimes taking over, replacing our reality." "TEETH" "As a child, I'd hoped my teeth would fall out." "They had come like rocks springing from my throat." "Enormous, impossible to hide." "At school I was "Beaver", "Bucky", "Bugsy", "Biter"." "I couldn't wait to change teeth once more." "In time I realized they'd never change again." "I remember eating my mother's omelette in Pompei on the amphitheatre steps, and those pillars seemed to me like the city's teeth biting the sky." "I stretched out to feel the sky on my teeth, to see if they could stand that weight." "Antonio!" "What are you doing?" "My mother was different from all the others." "She was French, when she spoke it sounded like singing." "I was 13 when she died." "You'll have to see a dentist." "Antonio, stop it." "I don't mean to butt in, but we both decided I should stay!" "Please!" "Living here is impossible, it's a crappy life!" "Phone ringing all damned hours, people with wrong numbers!" "Don't any of these people have a phone book?" "It's ridiculous!" "I know it's your house and I'm a guest." "But I'm the one always here, you never are, you're always out with the girls!" " Mara, how damned many?" " I'm trying to watch a film." "I'm trying to say I may be naive, but not a dim wit!" "I know what's going on between you and your dentist!" "Thanks a lot." "A guy leaves his wife and kids and she takes up with somebody!" "You've taken up with another guy, true or not?" "At least give me an answer." "Is it true or not?" "Speak to me again like that and I'll smash your teeth." "Won't bother you anymore, but I've something to tell you." "It hurts me to say this." "You're a whore!" "Asshole!" "Pain, chest pain, then an unbearable emptiness." "Like my internal organs had been sucked out and replaced by vulgar images of Mara." "It always starts like this." "Jealousy seizes me like a savage beast, digs its teeth into my flesh and vanishes in the dark forest, leaving me bloody on the ground." "Let's see the damage." "I'm not sorry for you." "Try to say "Sarasota"." "Try again." "I swam to Sarasota." "What is it?" "I saw things." " Like?" " Wait." "When my tongue touched my alveoli, I saw things..." "They're memories." "I get memories." "The last time I put my tongue to my alveoli, I was a child." "And so?" "Do you think we have a stomatologic memory?" "I don't know, but you'll have to see a dentist." "I don't have the money." "I'll lend it to you, but you have to go right away." " Luca will find you a slot." " What?" "I should go to your dentist?" "I should go to the guy you sleep with?" "Again?" "I don't know why I let the man I consider my woman's lover put his hands in my mouth!" "The same hands which may explore Mara's body, with ability, force and agility." "It might be the urge to give form to my ghosts, to have him hurt me." "A tangible, physical pain, more bearable than the other, made of images." "Come in." "I can only take a look today." "Thank you, very kind." "Only because Mara asked me to, it's a hell of a day." "My case is urgent, I need a prosthesis." "Open your mouth." " Something serious?" " Keep your mouth open." "Why doesn't he ask how I got like this?" "He already knows and if he knows, it's because Mara told him." "How long have you lived with Mara?" "Why's that important?" "Just to talk." "Three years." "Open your mouth." "This one is dead, this one too, numbers 23 and 14." "I don't think I can help you." "Has to be done from from scratch, it's a long job." "Painful and very expensive." "What is this eternal struggle between you and the others?" "What is there to love about this man?" "You know, earlier, as my tongue touched the alveoli, to pronounce a sound," "I felt not only pain, but also emotion, very strong emotion." "In your opinion, can a stomatologic memory exist?" "I wouldn't know." "Open your mouth." "He wants to see what kind of man I am, but I won't give in." "I know how to control pain." "Money's not the problem, there's always a way." "What is the problem then?" "Something's wrong in your mouth." "It's correct to take care of your teeth, change them." "But with a mouth like yours, on the whole," "I'd be worried." "Everything that was beautiful, has become ugly." "Magic has turned to madmagik." "That "ma" as first letters..." "Mara, for example." "Could she be an incarnation of madness?" "Mama!" "Things change, you know." "People change, teeth grow in, hair changes colour." " You too?" " Me too." "If you want another mama, you can have one." "It's not betrayal, on the contrary." "Everything changes." " My mouth too." " Let me see." "Your teeth look like the roof of a small temple." "The dentist said something's wrong inside my mouth." "I like your mouth." "Sorry." "Why did I end up with someone like you?" " Honey, we have to hurry." " To do what?" "Luca invited us to eat at 8:30, he's a stickler for time." "Who?" "Luca De Rosa?" " Your dentist?" " He's a great cook." " This is crazy!" " He's just a friend." "He called and invited us to dinner, he likes you." "You have an appointment tomorrow at 3:00, don't you?" "Something that gets us out of the house!" " What's strange about it?" " Nothing." "I've talked to Luca a lot about your situation." "What?" "You talked about me?" "You talked about my situation with your dentist?" "What did you tell him?" "You don't like university teaching, you'd like to stop..." "Why?" "Why talk about us to a dentist?" "I put my heart into cooking." "Can we talk as friends?" "Would you mind opening a bottle?" "Where are the glasses?" "What did you say?" "Where are the glasses?" "You won't make a good impression at the interview I've set up." "Hope you won't embarass me." "He's a friend, a publicity agent, he's looking for advisors." "You teach Philosophy, right?" "It's set up with him for the day after tomorrow." "Could be interesting, don't you think?" "Might be difficult to chew." "Hi, Suk." "He doesn't do that with everybody, he's fussy." "I'll show you." "Excuse us?" "You've no idea what these animals can do." "Do you see that cornice?" "Suk comes out of there, goes all that way, jumps to that roof" "and meets with a pussy at the same time every evening." "He's a real Don Juan." "Slow down a little, please." "I'm happy, we had a good time." "At first I was a little biased." "Nice house, cooks really well." "Would you mind not smoking?" " Does he smoke?" " I don't know." "He doesn't smoke!" "In fact, he's a man of culture, he's a man like... the others." " Would you please slow down?" " He's very nice." "It's obvious he has a zest for life..." "Even the knick-knacks were little works of art." "I had a real good time." "Slow down!" "How the hell did you know the cat's name was Suk?" "One day I was in the office waiting room and the nurse told me its name was Suk." "And Luca always talks about his cat." "Honey, just don't worry." "Say something sweet to me?" "I like it when you whisper to me, in the dark." "Then I have lovely dreams." "My mouth hurts too much." "What is it?" "Nothing." "I heard a noise." "Tell me what's wrong then!" "Nothing, I told you." "I wanted to see who was in our bed." "Maybe there's a set amount of happiness for each of us." "Maybe I've already had mine." "REMEMBER THE appointment with LUCA AT 3:00." "I should have paid more attention to those happy moments." "Professor Calendar's office." "It's urgent, I need an appointment right away." "I'm a good friend of Doctor De Rosa's." "But life, when it's happy, goes on casually." "What are my teeth hiding?" "What secrets?" "Someone help me discover what's dwelling in my body." "Good morning." "Are you Doctor De Rosa's friend?" "Please take a seat." "Did I ever show you my catalogue?" "Uncle Nino!" "Didn't you ever see my collection?" "Sit down." "These are Angela's hairs." "If you like, you can touch them." "Gently." "This is Angela." "Maria." "This is Teresa." "Antonella!" " Are they all loves?" " All loves." "Of course!" "You need strength to have all these loves." "Your uncle is very strong." "Touch my muscle, it's like steel." "Please, come on." "Please, come on." "It's like steel." "Come on, please." "Right away." "Don't be afraid." "I'm not afraid of dentists, I hate my teeth, sooner you pull these out, the better." "What's wrong with them?" "They grew in unexpectedly and ruined my face." "I'd like you to change the two front teeth." "Open your mouth." "Watch it, I'll chomp your fingers off!" "They are not unsightly." "Prognathic, of course." "Too big." "The molars are enormous!" "Who broke those incisors?" "Took a lot of energy to break teeth that strong." "Open your mouth again." "Do you have children?" "Their teeth like this too?" "Spit." "See that?" "It's blood." "Don't underestimate this, many things can hide in that pulp." " Like what Doctor?" " Anything." "Take nothing for granted." " Something serious?" " Ever had X-rays taken?" " What's tomorrow look like?" " It's a long day." " Find an hour there." " I'll try." "Find an hour there!" "Women are excellent organizers." "It's a painkiller, one each morning and evening." "Excellent organizers, but never give them too much rope." "Maria, for example, has taken over too much power." "Women enter your life quietly then slowly take over." "They organize your existence, start telling you what you should do." "Maria was hired to answer the phone and little by little got the others sent away." "She was monstrously clever." "I know!" "I allowed her to do it!" "Now I can't do without her." "I need her and this makes me nervous, you know?" "I've become dependent." "I've always had to do everything myself!" "Just as I feared." "There's widespread inflammation, infiltration of something." "We'll have to investigate." "X-rays tomorrow, take nothing for granted." "Maybe cut into the gums." "We'll see what's hiding in that shark's mouth of yours!" " Beaver!" " Bucky!" " Bugsy!" " Biter!" "The next time your classmates say that, you bare your teeth to them." "Take your hand from your mouth." "Bare your teeth and say:" ""With these teeth..."" "and pause here for dramatic effect, then speak clearly so they'll know you're not joking." ""With these teeth, if you don't stop, I'll savage your mothers' hairy sex." "One after the other."" "Don't be angry, it's me." "I'd like to stop by to see the kids." "Really?" "Great, thanks." "Be right there." "See?" "See where that girl's back ends?" "Just a span from where the curve of her bottom begins, her butt, in other words, that's where your thumb goes, the other fingers must be in tension, far from her butt." "It's time for you to learn to dance the tango." "Just the thumb, remember." "Give your lady the impression you are a trustworthy partner, not one of those who seize the opportunity to touch." "Let's start, slowly." "One, two, three..." "Concentrate on the lady." "Half turn." "The idea of the tango isn't to feel the music." "The idea is to feel the lady." "And above all, to make her feel you." "Feel the leg?" "The leg should go deep, drives women mad." "One, two..." "Legs together, excellent." "Why is it so difficult to find a mentor?" "To stop being children and become fathers." "I've got homework." "Hi Michela, how are things?" "He's got no more teeth." "Were you in a fight?" "Did they beat you up?" "And you?" "It went..." "like this!" "Help!" "Michela jump on!" " Jump on who?" " On him!" "Cinzia." "If you're going to be an idiot, you can leave." "We were wrestling." "Michela, come here." "Can I see your teeth?" "Don't be afraid." "They're very nice." "Good girl." "Go do your homework now." " What are you doing?" " There's a rat in the house." " Where'd it come from?" " Give me a hand." "I can't stand rats." " Is it a big one?" " I don't know." "Why don't you just set out a trap with cheese?" "It's quieter." "What a great idea!" "Good thing you showed up." "Just an idea, then if you still want to tear the house apart..." "Why don't you calm down?" "You're making me jittery." " There it is!" " Where?" "Are you crazy?" "You're completely out of it!" "You'll kill me like that." "Cinzia, you're primitive." "You've got a primitive way of reacting to things." "You're still in the Stone-Age." "Can't make you out!" "Anyway Michela needs an orthodontist." "He wants five million lire to start, have you got it?" "I don't." " I'll get it." " What a thoughtful father!" "You haven't been around or given us any money for four months." "I'd keep the children with me if I could, don't forget they're my kids too." "The kids belong to who looks after them, you use them for loneliness." "You show up, roughhouse around and leave." "You're cheating them." "That's wheedling, not love." "The same thing you did with me." "The run-around!" "Don't tell your Mama lies." "I was the last to know about Mara, when everyone was already talking." "How can you have so little respect?" " Who the hell are you?" " I was seized by passion!" "Something which you evidently know nothing about." "You are rationality personified." "The groceries, the house, the rat." "Me, the groceries, the house, the rat and you the passion." "His heart was pounding and he lost himself." "No more house, or kids, or wife, no more years of sacrifice, no more promises of eternal love!" "Jerk!" "You should have ripped your heart out." "Mara will do to you what you did to me." "If you make Mama cry, someone will make you cry too." "Did Mara do this to you?" "Get your mouth fixed, maybe then you'll improve too." "He's a dentist, Lotto, a friend of mine's brother." "Take care of your own teeth, I'll see to Michela's." "How many secrets do the people we live with hide?" "What did I hide from Cinzia?" "What is Mara hiding from me?" "You can't ask others to be transparent, if you yourself are not." "Yes, but I don't have a family, don't have a house, I don't even have my teeth anymore." "I feel lonely, you know?" "You're not the only one." "At least there was you before, but now?" "And I should teach my students something!" "But who'll teach me anything?" "Five million lire." "Where are you going to get it?" "Is Cinzia trying to ruin you?" "And you with this obsession of perfect children!" "I don't want Michela to go through what I've had to." "Michela just has to take care of the teeth she's got and keep them healthy." "If she were my daughter, I'd make her brush three times a day." "That's the problem, no prevention!" "It's never our children's fault." "You're living proof of how badly we're raised." "You brush only at night and never stimulate your gums and you rarely change your toothbrush." "Your mouth is a wreck!" "Apart from the teeth I broke." "I'm sorry." "I didn't see your dentist." "Cinzia gave me another name," "Dr Lotto, Via Carducci." "I'll go to him." "Why do you trust Cinzia and not Luca?" " Did you see Luca's teeth?" " What are they like?" "Beautiful, perfect, bright!" "I can't take anymore." " I can't take anymore of this!" " What do you mean?" "What do you mean?" "I don't want that guy in this house anymore!" "I know what's going on, I'll make a racket about this." " You already have." " This'll wind up bad!" "Really bad!" "When I was a child I had two or three hiding places." "My favourite place was on top of the wardrobe, in my mother's bedroom." "My hideout was up there, no one could find me." "I'd read about mermaids and mythological animals." "Sometimes I'd fall asleep, and have strange dreams." "Would anyone like to see what I look like?" "So?" "No one wants to see my magic?" "Too bad." "I'll just disappear then." "Why did you leave her?" "What?" "Why did you leave your wife?" "I'll tell you why." "If Cinzia had died young and beautiful, you'd be here in despair, instead she started aging and you got rid of her." "To receive eternal love, women mustn't live to be more than 25." "That's not exactly what happened." "I gave Cinzia the name of a good orthodontist for the girl, but Michela needs a father and then a doctor." "Cinzia told me terrible things about you." "For example?" "Let me see your mouth." "A real disaster." "Come here." "You're wasting your time here." "Doctor Lotto talks a lot but doesn't do much." "He's only interested in dental impressions, collects them like stamps." "There are so many deserving people who need the work." "I have the names of many dentists better than he is." "If you'd like a couple..." "Thanks just the same, no need." "Are you next?" "Come in." "Open your mouth." "A moment's patience." "Take it easy!" "Patients just don't want to suffer, not one little bit." "What kind of patients are they?" "If they have no patience!" "Only the instruments reassure them." "the more new instruments, the more they relax." "I can't breathe." "This stuff is sliding down my throat, it'll harden in my larynx, and can't be unstuck from there." "I'll suffocate to death." "Almost done." "Know where you're sitting?" "It's called "reunited"." "Good design, chairs in imitation leather, basin, multi-coloured lights." "Cost?" "30 million lire." "There's a water and air syringe over there, a small motor, a painless drill and think that's enough?" "Next year I'm buying one with 8 instruments for 50 million lire!" "He's getting distracted, forgetting my impression, the stuff is getting too hard." "I'll be left with this thing stuck to my teeth forever!" "Let's see." "No problem at all." "Just relax, sit back." "Relax." "Limber, that's good." "Brace yourself, counter me!" "Resist me!" "Like that." "Unbelievable." "They seem so robust and yet..." "The state of your mouth bodes nothing good." "I just need you to substitute the broken teeth." "Mustn't move too fast, we need X-rays." "I have to work, I teach Philosophy." "My job is talking." "What good am I like this?" "I can't handle too many expenses," "I've got a daughter needing more attention than me." "You know her, my wife brought her here a week ago." "So you're the one who abandoned his kids?" "Let's see." "No, doctor..." "Open your mouth." "What are these two nuts?" "You see?" "You've been hiding something under here for decades." "Ostitis, cysts and who-knows- what else." "We'll have to take X-rays." "Let's do it right away." "First of all, look after your daughter." "We already have our armour, but the children?" "Have you seen how swollen your daughter's gums are?" "I'll show you." "Here it is." "Take care of your daughter." "We've had our due." "Changing woman, family, destiny." "At our age life, my friend, has gone by." "Take one, morning and evening." "He got your impressions." "What did I tell you?" "Would you give me those names you spoke of?" "Here, this one's just right for you." "He's not too well equipped, but with little money he'll put that ugly mouth of yours in order." "He's experienced." " Why is he so cheap?" " He was unlucky." "His name's Cagnano." "I'd already heard that name and it struck fear in me." "Good morning." "How are your teeth?" "Something's under here." "I made coffee." "Have some with me?" "Not even Cinzia's dentist panned out?" "He's criminal, almost suffocated me." "I've got an appointment with someone called Cagnano, like the first dentist I went to as a child." "Let's hope he works out." " My mother took me." " It's late!" "How much I look like my mother!" "Don't you think I'm looking more and more like my mother?" "Maybe." "Maybe a person who's no longer here continues to work inside you, modifying your DNA." "Anyway, she's your mother!" "Wait, why do you have to go?" "I'm talking about myself." "Why not see Cagnano together?" "The very name terrifies me." "Come with me, I don't feel well." "I can't, I have to work." "I'm not as important as your job, right?" "That's not true, you know it." "In fact, I know how it is." "And how is it?" "Everything's more important than me, even Luca's cat, Suk." "This 5 million is for your daughter's and your teeth." "Tooth fairy, what will you bring in exchange for my teeth?" "Mara, she and Luca seep into my brain without asking permission." "I can't defend myself, they appear without warning." "Some obsessions stick to you, you've no idea how they started, how they nested, the shape they imposed on you, the life they kept you from living." "You're on the cusp, right?" "Between Sagittarius and Capricorn?" " How do you know that?" " I can tell." "What else can you tell?" "Death, birth, losses..." "I'm sorry, I haven't got time." "Everything will unravel in dance." "I can't dance!" "Look who's here!" "Hurry, let's run away!" " Are you kidnapping me?" " Borrowing, I'll give you back." "Stop it!" "Where are we going?" "We're going to a dentist with the same name as one I went to at your age." "He was General Cagnano's son." "He had a mother who always wore black, and a beautiful maid he called Ciuta." "What was this Ciuta like?" "She had black hair and very white skin, her eyes were dangerous like a witch's." "My mother took me the first time." "What was Grandma wearing?" "Grandma had an all-red dress, all she did was talk with the dentist's mother." "I don't know what they said, but they never stopped." "I think she's a witch." "As soon as she came, she riveted my son's attention." "I think she cast a spell." "He stopped eating, sleeping, always hanging around Ciuta." "I understood right away she was a witch, and she'd cast a spell." "It's like she made my son slide under her skin." "I could see him under her skin, like you can do with a pin, inside her skin, like wearing a shirt." "I thought: "Is this what a woman can do to you?" "Capture you, like that?"" "What was the dentist like?" "He was all pink like a piglet, with short hair." "Anyway, have you ever seen a piglet with long hair?" "They don't exist." "I decided right off I hated him." "His gaze stuck to my mother." "Please, madam." "Now open your mouth." " No drill please." " Not for the moment." "I looked at that man lying over my mother and thought he wanted to get under her skin, like with Ciuta." "I had the feeling she had lost something, still she was the same as before, beautiful, like all mothers." "Then suddenly I understood." "My mother had lost her invulnerability, she was exposed to the perils and the wickedness of the world." "To share her with the world and its mysteries, to see she could feel pain..." "She was the one who needed protection and I just sat there watching while she suffered." "What did Grandma die of?" " A toothache?" " Die?" "From each life, your grandmother pulls out another and then another..." "She's a seamstress, she knows how to use scissors." "Does this... and begins again." " Of course she didn't die!" " So where is she?" "Somewhere around here." "If we look hard, maybe we'll see her." "It's your turn, young man." "I didn't want to give him satisfaction, not even a moan." "I began to slide deep down, beyond the floor, beyond the house foundation, to the centre of the earth." "There was no pain down there, only outlines, coloured stars and my mother walking on the ceiling." "What a good boy!" "And then?" "And then Ciuta, the enchantress, flew out the window and hasn't been seen since." "Will you tell me another one?" "Afterwards, sweetie, the dentist is waiting for us." "Please sit down, the doctor will be right here." "I beg you, please be kind to him." "Certainly." "I can't find the crumbs anymore that I dropped to show me the way home." "The birds must have eaten them." "How can I get out of here?" "Where are you going?" "I don't know." "Everything's all broken." "It's the madmagik." " I'm lost." " That's not so terrible." "But if I don't know where to go?" "It's no use dropping crumbs." " Now what do I do?" " I don't know." "Look around you." "Only when you get lost, can you discover something new." " Want a piece of cake?" " Are you joking?" "Papa?" "The dentist is waiting." "Of course, sweetheart." "See where I brought you?" "Well?" "I need some advice for my daughter's prognathism." "I need a little attention too, a couple of prostheses..." "Sit down." "Fathers always come before children." "Little one, go sit on that cot, if you're good, you'll get a delicious candy." "Open your mouth." "Excuse me, don't you use gloves?" "Don't let it worry you and remember, the real patient is not you, it's the dentist." "Could we open this mouth?" "What a magnificent set of teeth this must have been!" "How did you ruin them like this?" "I hate my teeth, they've disappointed me," "I ignore them as punishment." "I've also had bad dentists." "Dentists!" "I'd shoot them all!" "Maria, do I have to do everything in this house myself?" "How disgusting!" "Where'd you disappear to?" "Ciuta?" "Why is the past coming back?" "The syringe is on the table." "It's like all my ghosts had arranged to meet there." "That syringe for example, Beluga used it, a deaf-mute dental technician who'd come to our house." "Sorry." "Sometimes he'd come with his young wife, Fiorenza." "When Fiorenza came it was a special day for me." "What is it?" "Can I do an immersion?" "Now?" "Here I go." " Can I do another one?" " Yes, but hurry." "I asked myself why that girl had married Beluga and was playing with me." "It didn't last long though." "One evening Beluga chopped her to pieces with an axe." "He slaughtered her in the tub, after discovering she'd had a lover for over a year." "As he worked in my mother's mouth, he already had the hands of death." "Wait!" " You going to pull it now?" " Should we wait for Christmas?" "Your Papa wants to wait for the birth of Baby Jesus." "Do you take painkillers?" "Yes, but it hurts just the same." "Remember, the sufferer here is the dentist!" "Juicy thick-lip!" "Spit." " Where?" " In the sink." "Papa?" "What are you doing here?" "Did he hurt you?" "Go sit down." "Come back here!" "Come on, sit down!" "Ciuta, the tongs!" "Hold his head." "Lean against me." " Open your mouth." " Don't mash my gums." "Putting in your two cents?" "Do you realize how you pronounce your words?" ""Don't mash my gums!"" "Let's see this huge root." "Hold his head, idiot!" "And cut the drama." "I wish this man could pull thoughts of Mara out of me." "Of Mara in his arms, of Mara smiling at him and doing the same things she did to me." "Odd, such a small root for such a large tooth." "There must still be something under there." " Then I'll come back tomorrow." " Sit right there!" "Don't move." "For the last time, remember the real patient here is me, not you." "Open your mouth." "Damned horseshit!" "Ciuta get a light bulb." "Darling, don't yell!" "At your age, are you still afraid of the dark?" "Shut up, or else no candy!" "No problem, after35 years of practice" "I can extract the root of an upper-left incisor even in the dark." "Cut the quibble!" "Rinse your mouth." "I'm off to get a light bulb." " Did he hurt you?" " No!" "No one can hurt your Papa." "I'm afraid." "Damned horseshit, I've always got to do everything myself!" "How can I work like this?" "Where are you going?" " Come here." " That's enough!" "Let me take a look." "To see how the operation came out." "Open your mouth." "Fantastic!" "In the dark!" "How strange, you've got the teeth of a boar with the roots of a mouse." " Something wrong?" " Don't tire your mouth." "An odontoma is important, but it's also a trifle." "An odontoma?" "Don't ask stupid questions!" "I'll see you tomorrow at 3:00." "You just told me I have an odontoma." "Tomorrow!" "Should I keep taking antibiotics?" "Don't tire your mouth!" "And now, the little girl." "Papa!" "Don't be afraid." "Come here." "I brought you some candy." "We said tomorrow." "Too bad though." "Can I tell you something?" "Below those rotting gums of yours there may even be a third set of teeth, a complete one." "We'll never know." "He pulled both his teeth, in the dark." "We were at the dentist, don't get mad." "I won't get mad, let me see." "He says it's an odontoma, I'm worried." "You know, we could have been happy?" "I just have to think up a new life." " Take care of yourself." " Sure." "Here, they're your teeth, put them under your pillow." "The first letting-go is when we're born, the last is when we die." "This is the lesson to learn:" "life is about letting-go time aftertime." "It's me!" "Are you already in the tub?" "How did it go at the dentist's?" "Let me see." "Good God!" "Who did this to you?" "I hope now you'll get your mouth taken care of." "You've got the money, right?" "Thanks for the check." " Want me to wash your back?" " No, I think I've got a fever." "I'll get your bathrobe." "Let me feel." "Maybe you do." "You'd better not come to the party." "What party?" "Luca's birthday party." "Don't you remember?" "He invited us the other evening." "I don't remember that." " You don't?" " No, honest." "Here's the invitation, it was in your pants' pocket," "Luca gave it to you the other evening." "Really?" "How strange!" "If you don't feel well, say so." "We're perfectly autonomous!" "Do as you like, I still have to bathe." "I'm not going to this party." "Excuse me." "Excuse me, what the hell are you looking at?" "I get the rhythm, don't I?" " This song is nice, isn't it?" " Very." "Sorry." "I'm not an expert." "I'm sorry, but this stuff isn't my thing." "I can dance the tango though." "My dress got ripped." "When you can dance, it's nice." "My uncle taught me to tango, when I was a child." "You're all sweaty." " You're a good singer." " Could be better." " How are things?" " Very good on piano." " I got you a little something." " What is it?" "What has my Mara brought me?" "An electric razor!" "How wonderful." "Can I take it for you?" "Please be careful with it, it means a lot to me." "It's really nothing." "A tango, let's dance." " I know how to tango." " Yes, but this is our dance." "Will you keep an eye on my purse?" "Uncle Nino!" "Aren't you dancing?" "Mara is dancing with someone else." "Come here, you and I can dance." "In the tango, they say the man leads and proposes, the woman seduces and disposes and together they improvise." "This is the magic." "There's no more magic in my life, only madmagik." "There's only one magic!" "Even pain is magic." "If you can't see certain pains, they'll make you lose your way, but if you know them, they can re- establish contact." "See?" "Your father's here too." "Where?" "Hi." "Excuse me." "I have to ask you a question." "I'd like to ask you something about Mama." "You were very close." "I used to watch you." "Often it seemed I wasn't there, but I was watching." "It was nice seeing you together." "You, who knew her well, can perhaps answer me." "I want to know if she really loved me." "I asked her before she died, she smiled, closed her eyes" "and left." "It's this continuous need to be loved that makes us fragile" "and violent." "I've wanted to talk for ages." "You can't imagine what it's like not to have words to express all the love inside." "She was beautiful, remember?" "All men noticed her." "I liked that, it made me feel normal." "I killed her so she'd be totally mine." "Did it make you feel good?" "At first it did very much, she was completely mine." "But then, she was gone." "maybe when you possess people entirely, they vanish." "What's the good of it then?" "Thank you for dancing with me." "Happy birthday!" " I have to talk to you." " It's you?" "Just a second." "It's very important." "Will you do the honours?" "Forget Mara." "Don't talk to her, don't even get close." "Forget about her." "Think I don't know what the tango is like?" "Whispering in her ear, playing the piano, being the grand chef, your cat Suk, little kisses, caresses..." "Don't do it anymore." "You don't do any of these things anymore!" "There's something wrong with you." "Let's go somewhere else, this isn't the right place." "Coming?" "I'll be right back." "Stay still!" "Don't move." "Are you familiar with Pfaff's work on multiple dentition?" "Stay still." "Two little incisors just waiting to pop out!" "Here's one." "How are you doing?" "Feel it?" "It's been waiting there for years." "Now I'll pull it out." "Happy?" "A little further..." "Wonderful!" "A brand new tooth." "Remain still." "Look how swollen the gums are!" "I know." "Now I'll get the other one." "Almost done, come on." "A little further..." "Fantastic!" "A perfect third set of teeth!" "New teeth, new life." "You're a very lucky man." "Look at yourself." "Don't be afraid." "Thank you, Luca." "Really." "Surprise!" "Now everybody's happy." "What did you say to Luca?" "You made me look like shit!" "Luca wants no bullshit, he doesn't want to see me anymore." "And I don't want to see you." "Come around when you like yourself more." "Need a light?" "I've got new teeth." "They were in my mouth and I didn't know it." "They're mine, no prosthesis." "They're beautiful." "And you?" "How are you?" "Is death hard?" "No, it's not hard, it's slow." " Dance with me." " I don't know how." "Come on, please." "See?" "It's easy." "Lead me." "I've come to say goodbye." " You have to let me go." " What will I do?" "Do like the trees, they don't ask how they'll do, they're there, in the wind, the sun, the rain." "It was so wonderful having you for a son!" "I envy a little bit the people that will love you." "Now..." "I WANT TO BE HAPPY!" "Happy." "Who knows where Mara is?" "For the moment, I'll just soak up this sun."