Caracas (2024) Movie Script
(Giordano) Sometimes it's better not to know things.
This is the beauty of life,
ignore what will happen tomorrow.
On the contrary,
what will happen in a moment.
After all,
How could we have any hope for our future?
what if we already knew it?
(roar of an airplane)
Caracas!
(squealing of tires and horn)
- (a man gasps) - (horn honking)
(indistinct voices in the distance)
(horn)
(indistinct voices)
(effort lines)
(voices muffled) Duke! Duke! Duke!
- (high-pitched whistle) - (together) Duce! Duce! Duce!
We are like an army.
These people want to bring holy war to our home.
(boss) They didn't understand a thing.
This democracy is pissing me off.
We are at war,
at war to defend our civilization,
our roots.
We are Christians.
The cross is our Leader.
And we will remain standing,
in the face of the enemy, with honor.
And others will fall.
If anyone doesn't agree...
he can even talk.
Duke.
- (soft voices) Duke! Duke! - Duke!
(together) Duke! Duke! Duke! Duke! Duke!
Duke!
(together) Duke! Duke! Duke! Duke! Duke!
(indistinct voices)
(muffled voices and sounds)
(inaudible voices and sounds)
(voices inaudible)
(indistinct screams)
- (screams) - (indistinct screams)
(groans)
(groans)
- (zipping his pants) - (sounds of disgust)
(local alarm)
(indistinct screams)
(woman screams)
(screams)
(the woman sobs and gasps)
(groan)
- Drop this knife or I'll kill you. - (metallic sound of blade)
Is this the honor? To kill a poor wretch?
So it's true that you're with the shitty Arabs.
Son of a bitch!
Take this shit with you, go! Go!
(panting)
Are you a brother?
May Allah bless you.
Salaam alaikum.
I am dying?
Don't worry, it's nothing.
Help!
Help!
(boy) The light of God is all here, it's inside me.
I've never heard it so loud.
(indistinct voices speaking in Arabic)
(they speak in Arabic)
(whistling and muffled voices)
(the whistle intensifies)
(whistle stops)
The light of God.
(sniffles)
The light of God.
The light of God.
(music from the venue)
(indistinct voices)
(they speak in Arabic)
Salaam alaikum.
Alaikum salaam.
- (in Arabic) Who is that? - (in Arabic) Let him in.
- Is he a Muslim? - He wants to become one.
Come here dressed like this, with someone we don't even know who he is,
not even greetings
and tell us what we should do.
I have never seen you bring alms with your mother.
I am ashamed for your father, may Allah protect his soul.
- My father never judged me. - (in Italian) Let's go, come on.
(in Arabic) Who are you to judge?
You are not God.
You're just a man.
Allah is great and merciful
and I see none of this in your eyes.
Those who believe and do good deeds will be forgiven and rewarded.
You, on the other hand, will suffer a punishment of painful torment.
- You are the devil! - (footsteps)
(in Italian) I know you tried to save him.
I just want to pray for him.
But I don't know how to do it.
Come with me, come in.
(Djamel) Don't be afraid.
You are right.
I am the devil.
(Djamel speaks in Arabic)
"In the name of God, the believer,
the merciful."
(Djamel) For us, ablutions are part of prayer.
(speaks in Arabic)
(Arabic chants in the distance)
It's time for prayer.
Come with me.
We pray shoulder to shoulder,
to keep the devil out.
(a man speaks in Arabic)
(they speak in Arabic in a low voice)
(they speak in Arabic)
(whistle and muffled voice of Djamel)
(muffled voices)
(muffled voice of Djamel)
(boy, in a low voice) Giordano.
Giordano!
(whistle)
(man) Excuse me. Go on, let me pass...
(train whistle)
- (indistinct voice from the speaker) - (indistinct voices)
(horn)
(man) Go, move!
(man) Go, you stupid piece of shit! Go, move!
But what do you want? What are you looking at? Wake up!
(man) Go, I told you walk!
(man) So? What's up? Move!
Maestro, we are sincerely honored to host you.
Among us he has many passionate admirers.
We have taken the liberty, master, to prepare a welcome for you.
that we reserve only for special people.
- (Giordano) The room? - 313, third floor.
Lechiavi.
- I'll accompany you. - It's not necessary, thank you.
(Giordano) A lifetime has passed.
Why did I leave?
I know and I don't know.
There are questions that defy any answer.
(beep and lock click)
Was it right to leave?
And now is it right to go back?
The time has come to stop turning your head away.
(applause)
Ladies and gentlemen,
tonight we have the pleasure of having you among us
the founder of the publishing house
that I am fortunate enough to direct.
Essayist, novelist, translated into many languages,
but it's much more than all this.
(Saverio) He is a fighter of our land.
It's been a long time coming,
but from afar he continued to talk to us.
(Saverio) And today he is here with us.
- (Saverio) Giordano Fonte! - (applause)
"This is a sponge city,
a city that swallows you.
It horrifies me,
at the same time that it fascinates me.
This city, obsession,
has occupied invasively
most of my thoughts since I was a boy.
I say to myself:
'Is it possible that he could not have done anything else?
what to talk about Naples?'"
These are stories from a long time ago, forgotten things.
- (man) Naples has never forgotten you! - (woman) And you have not forgotten Naples!
Maestro.
(Saverio) Your audience.
(Saverio) Now that you're back, expect a great story about Naples.
Okay, sure, Naples, yes.
I wonder if there is any point in writing anymore.
Your writing makes sense to all of us.
Enough! Enough with this musings, with all this nonsense.
Sorry, they are useless.
Excuse me.
Sorry, I'm not angry with you, I'm angry with myself. Sorry, Saverio.
I'm taking advantage of...
of this invitation, of this beautiful occasion,
to say that I will not write anymore.
(murmur from the audience)
(Giordano clears his throat)
- (boy) Oh, grab this! - (little boy) No, leave me alone!
- (blows and moans) - Oh!
- (Giordano) Oh! - Mind your own business, cuckold!
- Hey, are you okay? - Leave me alone!
- What's your name? - Mind your own business.
(Giordano) Hey!
Look at this stinker! Come here!
Stop! Stop!
(Giordano) Come here! Stop!
Cow! Cow!
(sound of footsteps)
(indistinct voices in the distance)
- (jingle of keys) - (click of a lock)
(creaking of a door)
(indistinct voice from a TV)
(Mussolini from TV) Because history teaches us
that empires are conquered with weapons
but they are held with prestige.
And for prestige you need...
a clear, severe, racial conscience...
- That establishes not only... - (groans of pain)
- (thud) - (TV)...of the differences,
- (groans of pain) - (TV)...but very clear superiorities.
(applause from TV)
- (indistinct voice from TV) - (groans of pain)
(groans of pain)
(panting)
(short breaths and groans of pain)
(Giordano screams)
(panting)
(in Arabic) Set me free...
(Yasmina) Save me...
(Caracas) Who are you?
Who are you? What are you doing in my house?
Don't ever come back or I'll kill you, go away!
(quietly) Go away.
(Caracas, in a low voice) Yasmina...
Yasmina...
(indistinct words)
(Caracas gasps)
I love you. I love you.
(sighs) I love you.
(they scream)
(panting)
(Giordano) As the days go by,
a plot is being carried out beyond my will.
That I have undertaken a journey into the past is beyond doubt,
just as there is no doubt that this journey leads...
to a question about the future.
What will happen?
- (loud music) - (indistinct voices)
(voice inaudible)
Tell me now that you love me.
(sound of footsteps moving away)
(Giordano) You said if I came back you would kill me.
- Have you already killed a man? - What did you come back to do?
Cut my throat, like you wanted to do the other night.
You are a madman, a poor man.
What do you need to kill?
A reason? Money?
I read what you wrote. You have nothing more to say.
(indistinct voices)
(roar of a scooter)
- (horn) - (boy) You fucking monkeys!
But are you always in the middle of the street?
(imitate the sound of monkeys)
- Get up there! - (boy) That's disgusting!
- Go to your country! - (little boy) Get on!
You fucking monkeys, go to your own country!
Let's go. Go to your own country!
Fuck you, you fucking monkeys!
- Ma'am, I want this. - Easy, boys.
(indistinct voices)
Madam, I am small, a croquette.
(lady) Yes, slowly.
- That's big! - Here, little one.
- When he doesn't have money, you know how it is... - You can't spend it.
- Here, you eat too. - No, no, eat, eat.
Do you want some water?
- To do what with it? - To water the plants?
- Ma'am, take two beers. - (ma'am) Eh, slowly slowly.
(boy) No, move, not "slowly".
(boy) Here, let me open the beers.
- (lady) Here. - Keep.
Here. Slowly, slowly.
These are like the plague. A virus.
(boy) Look over there.
(indistinct voices of the boys)
Where do you live?
- Good evening. - (director) Good evening, maestro.
- Can I disturb you? - (director) Of course.
It's more than a duty, it's a pleasure.
So, um...
I realize it's a little late...
I had delivered some laundry, can you check if it's ready?
Look, master, I won't fail to have it in your room.
Ah.
I have a certain urgency.
- I'll check right away. - (Giordano) Thank you.
- (whistles) - (Giordano stammers)
I'm sorry, master, but there is nothing for you.
Ah, uhm...
Is there nothing? Do we want to check better?
I assure you that the linen closet is empty.
Allow me to insist.
Absolutely.
(version)
Maestro, it was probably moved to the afternoon.
At this moment I don't know how to solve it.
- I'll make a note... - Obviously I was wrong.
Evidently...
My compliments to all the staff.
- I won't miss it. - It makes me feel at home.
Thank you.
- Good night. - I'll make a note. Good night.
(beep and lock click)
(Giordano, in a low voice) Go slowly, slowly. Slowly, slowly, slowly!
(boy) Turn on the lights!
- Come in and be quiet. - Look where he's got us.
(boy) Come on, turn on the light. Turn on the light.
(together) Eh! Well done, uncle!
- Hey, hey... - (boy) It's nice in here!
- Stop! Slowly, slowly. - Wow!
- Don't break anything. - (indistinct voices of the boys)
- How beautiful it is! - (indistinct voices)
(Giordano) And thank goodness I told you not to break anything! Easy!
- Don't break anything. - (boy) The toilet is scary!
Uncle, take it!
I said take it easy!
- (indistinct voices) - (Giordano) Slowly, slowly, slowly!
- (voices of the boys) Come here! - You eat it!
This is the outfit my late grandfather wore.
- How am I, uncle? - (indistinct voices of the boys)
- (boy) How am I? - Giordano.
- You look elegant. - You look elegant, yes.
- (little boy) Giordano! - You look elegant. What's up?
- What is it? - This is a camera.
- It's a little old, but it still works. - And how does it work?
Look, like this. Mh?
- (camera click) - Can you see how it came out?
No, not right away. It needs to be developed.
- What? - (knocking on the door)
- (Giordano, in a low voice) Hush. - Who is it?
- The pizzeria? - (boy) Did you call the pizzeria?
- What pizza? Shut up. - (they laugh quietly)
- (knocking on door) - Shh, shut up.
- (indistinct voice of the boy) - (boy) Shut up.
- (knocking on door) - Hide.
(knocking on the door)
- Hide! - (knocking on the door)
Oh!
(knocking on the door)
Forgive me, master, I didn't mean to disturb you,
but we haven't seen her go out for days and we were worried.
Are you feeling well?
Maestro?
Can I help you?
(indistinct voices)
(a woman's excited voice)
(excited voices)
(sound of footsteps)
I can't believe it, I've been dreaming about this moment so much.
(woman) Love, run! My dream has come true!
(woman) You're welcome, master.
Come on, master. Come on.
Maestro!
(man) Is something wrong?
(slurring) Sorry... Sorry.
But didn't you come here for your own business?
What things?
- Come. - (man) Please, master.
The previous owner told us that they had belonged to you
and we have kept them,
hoping that one day you would return.
My books...
My desk.
(Giordano) Do you know where this place is?
And this is the cloister of San Domenico, where the friars were.
The old orphanage.
Don't you remember?
Don't you remember?
Who are you? What do you want?
Can you visit the orphanage?
It's closed.
(guardian) There's no one left, only me left.
I am a writer.
I would like to tell a story about this place.
Please take a seat.
(guardian) There are so many stories to tell in here.
The creatures were many...
and each with a different story.
Do you remember all the children who have been here?
(guardian) Everyone.
Everyone.
And they're still here.
Yes, they never left.
(caretaker) This is where they had class.
First, however, we all prayed together.
Some people woke up before others
and he would come into the kitchen to me for some coffee.
It was our little secret.
(caretaker) This was the dormitory.
Each of them remained alone at night.
They screamed in their sleep.
"Mom, help!"
"Mamma."
"Help, Mom, come get me."
"Come get me, Mom."
(Giordano gasps)
What is it? Are you feeling unwell?
(panting)
Who is it? Who is this child?
How handsome he was and how good he was!
Always alone, he never played with other creatures,
always quiet, he was kind.
Then, to survive...
he became bad, violent.
And he ran away,
growing up as nobody's child in this town
who was like a mother to him.
But it has changed.
Eh, what story do you want to tell?
(phone ringing)
(phone ringing)
(sighs)
(phone ringing)
(phone ringing)
That's because you didn't want to write anymore.
But this is the most beautiful thing I've ever read!
These first chapters you sent me promise a masterpiece.
It's your greatest novel, Giordano.
The setting, the characters, the tension...
You never take your eyes off the page.
What you are describing is not Naples.
It's the world.
(Saverio) The railway area could be a slum in India,
a South American barrio, a Brazilian favela.
And the characters!
That child... we are all of us, alone, lost.
When I read about the orphanage, I was shaking with emotion.
And that old man, lost,
in this city that swallows you.
No one has ever described it like this, it's the present.
What you wrote is wonderful.
Please, just tell me one thing.
The man who guides you,
the fascist who wants to convert to Islam...
That's awesome.
Have you met him?
Do you know him?
Does it really exist?
(Giordano) A mystery.
(indistinct excited voices)
(Giordano) He had become a fascist as a boy.
Oppressed by the violence of the city,
had found order and security in the myth of the homeland,
a family in his squadristi brothers,
in the leader a father.
- He was convinced... - Duce!
...that that world was shrouded in a high mysticism...
- Duke! Duke! - ...the warrior...
- ...regenerating. - (together) Duce!
- (Caracas screams) - (indistinct excited voices)
(sirens)
- (Caracas gasps) - (Giordano) But his beliefs...
were soon denied by certainty
that in cruelty there is no order,
there is no homeland
and no kind of father.
(Caracas twinks)
(groan)
(sound of footsteps)
(indistinct voices speaking in Arabic)
(Giordano) Down there, thanks to those treatments, for the first time,
he had felt pity and compassion.
That's why he stopped to live in that hell.
The planet railway,
a boundless sidereal spiderweb,
entirely colonized by the underprivileged and the last of the earth.
Here he was welcomed.
Here he found refuge.
Here it became "Caracas".
(voices inaudible)
(Giordano) He had told everyone that he was born there, in Caracas,
but it wasn't true.
(indistinct voices)
(ride)
(Giordano) He had done it to build an aura of mystery around himself.
cloaked in the fantasies of a globetrotter
who had never left Naples.
He said he would return sooner or later,
perhaps when he is old, to die in peace.
More simply, his father had gone to Caracas,
many years before.
And from the day of his departure she had heard nothing more from him.
(voices inaudible)
(Giordano) Under that veil that could not hide her,
next to his father and his slow pace,
Yasmina had always been a restless soul.
(indistinct voices)
(Giordano) He could no longer bear to live apart,
to respect rules far from his feelings.
The two pretended not to know each other,
because their worlds were too far apart.
And
as often happens,
between earth and sky,
between angels and demons,
destiny...
marks a path of joy and despair.
"Only Naples could give birth to such a tormented son,
between fascist ideology and the desire for peace.
He became spiritually Arab
the day the Americans invaded Iraq,
under the pretext of wanting to bring back democracy.
He thought he could no longer call himself a Christian or a Westerner,
as if that event had suddenly torn his identity apart,
replacing it with another out of hatred.
Why I became his friend
and why at a certain point our paths crossed
I don't know yet."
(thunder)
(thunder)
(rain pouring)
(thunder)
(indistinct screams of the man)
(indistinct words)
(indistinct voices)
What are you doing here?
(muffled sounds)
(Giordano gasps)
- (quietly) Giordano. - (Giordano) Mh?
- Giordano? - (thunder)
(thunder)
(blow of the wind)
(thunder)
(panting and speaking in Arabic)
(speaks in Arabic)
(speaks in Arabic)
(speaks in Arabic)
(speaks in Arabic)
(Caracas speaks Arabic)
(speaks in Arabic)
- (thunder) - (Mussolini on TV) What about...
of internal politics,
the problem...
of burning topicality
it's the racial one.
Even in this field
we will adopt...
If you believe it, it doesn't burn you.
(Giordano) Who is it?
(annaspa)
(panting)
(indistinct noise)
(jingle of keys)
(the door closes)
(sound of footsteps)
(Caracas) Giordano, are you awake?
(Caracas) Mh...
(Caracas) Are you still like this? Move, they are waiting for us.
(Caracas) Oh my god, I'm pissing myself.
You've been writing all night, I want to see when you let me read something.
As the great Gustave Trophe used to say,
"When I have to write something, I don't rest until it's finished."
- (pee sound) - Like I do when I have to pee.
(Caracas ride)
- (Caracas makes a noise of relief) - (toilet flushes)
Hurry up. I'll wait for you downstairs, hurry up.
- Who is Gustave Trophy? - (Caracas) Gustave Trophy?
(laughs) And what do I know, I made it up!
I actually made it up. Hurry up!
(Caracas) I'll wait for you downstairs!
(the door closes)
Giordano, please remember.
It took me a long time to convince them to meet you.
I was welcomed like a brother, but I am wary of strangers.
Don't make me look like a fool. Don't be so ironic as you usually are.
Understood?
(indistinct voices)
Wait for me here and don't move.
(indistinct voices)
(indistinct voices)
I know you like coffee,
but we prefer tea.
It makes us feel at home.
(Djamel) You taste it.
- Do you like it? - It makes me feel like a guest.
(Djamel) He wrote a lot about this in his books.
Of living as a guest,
an exile, everywhere,
always looking for somewhere else.
(Djamel) He was never bored.
I don't remember everything I wrote.
I'm glad you want to write about us.
(whispering) I've never told anyone, but...
I grew up in this neighborhood.
When I was a child, you weren't there.
This is not my city anymore, but...
In these poor people, I recognize something that I have already seen many years ago.
(Giordano) They don't come here just to eat and drink, do they?
They don't know where to go and here they can be together.
But what do you give him?
that we have not been able to give?
Men are obsessed with what they desperately lack...
what they no longer have,
or maybe they never had.
For example, the truth.
(Djamel) Or faith in God.
I never believed there was a need for a God
to know what is right and what is wrong.
Maybe, sometimes, it can help you feel less alone,
but this too with poor results.
(Djamel) So...
What did he come looking for among us?
I came to look for my friend.
We hope we can inspire you, maestro.
(Arabic chants in the distance)
It's time for prayer.
(Djamel) If he wants, he can join us.
(songs in Arabic)
(Djamel speaks in Arabic)
(indistinct voices repeat in Arabic)
(Djamel speaks in Arabic)
(speaks in Arabic)
(Djamel speaks in Arabic)
(they speak in Arabic)
- (Djamel speaks in Arabic) - (excited voices in the distance)
(indistinct excited voices)
(Arabic voice from TV)
AFGHANISTAN: THE RETREAT THE TALIBAN CELEBRATE INDEPENDENCE
(indistinct excited voices)
(they shout in Arabic)
- (tires screeching) - Asshole! You piece of shit!
You left me alone, you abandoned me!
Get the fuck out of my way!
- I could have been dead! - Get up!
(Yasmina) Don't you disgust yourself?
Who is this old man you're carrying around with you? Huh?
- You give him your ass for money? - Damn the bitch...
I told you you must never come here again.
- Don't you feel disgusted? - You mustn't come anymore.
- (Yasmina speaks in Arabic) - Go away, don't touch me.
- Don't touch me, go away! Go away! - (Yasmina sobs)
- I'm clean, I swear. - Don't touch me. I don't believe you.
- I quit forever. - I don't believe you.
- (Giordano) Are you crazy? - I'm not lying!
- Haven't I taught you anything? - What do you have to teach me?
- Please, believe me. - (Giordano) This is who you are.
- A fascist, a violent person. - Don't be a pain in the ass too.
- At least you... - You gave me such a hard time.
At least you...
Islam, redemption, purity, and you raise your hands on a girl?
I always tried to help her, to save her,
but it keeps me away from the light, it's my sin!
Sin, Jesus Christ, Allah, God, the revolution...
It's all about what you feel, don't be a fanatic!
Don't get fucked.
But what light?
The light of God.
- The light of God? - The light of God.
(the door closes)
(indistinct voices)
Yasmina!
Get down!
I'm here for you.
I know you hear me.
I'm here for you. I'm here for you!
Forgive me, love. Forgive me!
Forgive me, my love! Forgive me, my love!
Get down! Get down!
I believe you!
I believe you.
I believe in you as I believe in God!
(Caracas) Don't leave me alone too!
Don't leave me alone too.
(quietly) Don't leave me alone too.
- I love you. I adore you. - Forgive me...
Excuse me...
(quietly) Forgive me...
Excuse me.
Excuse me.
I want to go away.
With tea.
(in Arabic) Will you marry me?
(Yasmina takes a deep breath)
- Do we want to kill ourselves? Slow down! - (horn honking)
Where are we going? What happened?
- (sound of engine accelerating) - Go slow!
(indistinct voices)
- What are we supposed to do here, what's going on? - Now you see what's happening, come on.
(in Arabic) Will you give me some money?
Dai, dai...
(in Arabic) I'll give them back to you, I swear.
How many times have I told Mom that she shouldn't give her money?
(Caracas) Come, come.
- Do you always have all this stuff with you? - These are my notes.
(a dog barks)
But this one is dead.
Better for him. Come.
(drug dealer) What do you want?
(drug dealer) What do you want?
Are you staying here again? You have to go, you're in debt.
Now you take this fucking money
and you and I have nothing more to share, do you understand?
- Good girl. Here, a gift for you. - Don't ever let me see you again.
And try not to be such a jerk, I'll tell my man
and I'll have you stick a knife in your balls!
- (drug dealer) You're always here. - Fuck you!
- You're always here. - Piece of shit!
Damn! (speaks in Arabic)
(drug dealer) What do you want?
What do you want?
"I'll tell my man and I'll have him stick a knife in your balls!"
That was the drug dealer, the one who sold her the drugs.
So it's really over. Inshallah !
- (sings) My Yasmina, my love! - (Giordano) Hey...
Little pink mouth, little hole!
- Give me a kiss. - (Giordano) You're crazy.
- You followed me, asshole! - (Caracas) No, we stumbled upon it by accident.
- It's not true that you trust me. - I did it to protect you.
- Yes, yes. - I brought the bodyguard, look.
- Then it's true. - What?
- That you throw it in your ass. - (they laugh)
Sometimes... Let's make peace, come on.
Do you know what the Prophet Muhammad says, old man?
"He who makes his companions laugh earns paradise." Inshallah !
Let's go. Come, Giordano. Come, come, come.
(Caracas) It's not true that we throw it up our ass.
Come, Jordan!
(indistinct voices)
- (indistinct voices) - (Yasmina) Cheese !
- Okay. - (Caracas) Smile, smile.
- (Caracas) Hug him tight. - (camera click)
- (Caracas) Laugh, Giordano! - (camera click)
- (Caracas) Smile, smile. - (loud kiss)
(Caracas) Wait, wait, wait.
Go! Go! Go.
(camera shots)
I was a fanatic too.
I wanted to change the world, like all the kids at that time.
You know what we did? We went into the darkest alleys to bring hope.
We said to the illiterate, to the mother of seven children, to the unemployed:
"Look, you are human beings too,
no one can take advantage of you, no one can humiliate you,
you have to be able to stay united."
And they were listening to us!
Because they believed in it, they followed us.
What we would not have done for democracy...
(Giordano) For the love of this city where we were born.
(voice inaudible)
Do you know what I miss most about those days? The smell of the sea.
(Giordano) But how did I know him as a boy?
I would give anything for that smell.
Pure... freedom.
- Even democracy? - Even democracy.
- Would you accept the return of fascism? - But also of communism!
- I would accept you too. - Comrade Giordano!
- Don't be an asshole. - (laughing)
(Yasmina) Come on, honey! Let's take a bath.
-Shall we take a bath? -Yes, a bath...
(Giordano) I'm freezing! Mamma mia, how cold!
(Giordano) Did I ask you to come here?
(Caracas sniffles, cries)
(Giordano) What is it?
(Giordano) Caracas, what's happening?
How can you stay here forever?
How do you stop this moment?
(Caracas) Love, come, it's cold.
- (indistinct voices) - (laughter)
You should have seen, I was driving like a madman and this guy shit himself!
He really shit himself!
And then in that place it smells like shit...
- He came out, he was walking all like this... - (they laugh)
Giordano, what did you say when you saw the one above the stairs?
- I don't remember shit! - How can you not remember?
He said, "This dead man, he's dead!" And I said, "Good for him!"
But what the hell, that guy was stoned.
And when did you see us together like you said?
"So it's true that you're throwing it up your ass."
- Ah, you remember that! Oh! - Oh!
- Are you okay? - He found 100 euros on the ground.
- Did you hurt yourself? - (Giordano) No...
- Why not? - (Giordano) Nothing happened.
- (Caracas) Is everything okay? - Shut up...
(they play "Simme 'e Napule, pais")
(Giordano) Where is the wine?
(sings in Neapolitan) me, a little drunk on wine
I think of the bad and I think of the good
But your coral mouth
Look for mine to kiss me
- Oh! - (Yasmina) What is it?
(sings) Tarantella, if the world is a wheel
Let's seize the minute that is about to pass
(they all sing in chorus) As long as there's sun
What is left of the sea?
A pretty girl heart to heart, a song to sing
Who had, had, had, who gave, gave, gave
Let's forget the past, we are from Naples, fellow countrymen!
- (Caracas) Easy, easy. - I'm fine.
(sing in chorus) What's left of the sea?
A pretty girl heart to heart, a song to sing...
Thanks for the company, dear friends.
- You can't stand up, Giordano! - Do you want us to accompany you?
No, no, good night. Good night, good night.
"Parting is such a sweet pain,
that I will say goodnight until it is morning."
Tell him.
Tell him.
We're leaving, Giordano. We're getting married.
All great stories have a great ending.
God bless you.
(Giordano) Ah...
I've almost finished the novel.
And I found the title.
I'll call it "Caracas".
"Caracas."
- (the door closes) - (kisses)
Come on, let's go.
Hello, Giordano!
(Giordano) Sometimes, it's better not to know things.
This is the beauty of life:
ignore what will happen tomorrow.
On the contrary,
what will happen in a moment.
Besides...
How could we have any hope for our future?
what if we already knew it?
- (Djamel speaks in Arabic) - (Caracas repeats in Arabic)
(they continue speaking in Arabic)
(boy, in a low voice) Giordano...
(boy, in a low voice) Giordano...
(boy, in a low voice) Giordano.
(panting)
(Yasmina's voice echoes) Caracas...
(Yasmina's voice echoes) Caracas...
(Yasmina) Caracas...
(Yasmina) Caracas...
(rainfall in the distance)
(rainfall)
(inaudible voices and sounds)
- (smoke bombs whistle) - (indistinct excited voices)
- (explosion) - (room alarm)
(indistinct screams)
(groans of pain)
(capo) Caracas!
(groan)
(panting)
(boss) So!
Giordano...
The light of God...
it's here.
I have never felt it as strong as I do right now.
There's something I've wanted to ask you for a long time.
Why do they call you Caracas?
Because that's where I come from.
When I grow up, I have to make money and I have to get out of here.
I have to go back to Caracas to my father, he's waiting for me.
I need to buy a villa with a huge swimming pool.
We must be together forever.
Do you want to come too?
Friend, smile!
(camera shot)
This is the beauty of life,
ignore what will happen tomorrow.
On the contrary,
what will happen in a moment.
After all,
How could we have any hope for our future?
what if we already knew it?
(roar of an airplane)
Caracas!
(squealing of tires and horn)
- (a man gasps) - (horn honking)
(indistinct voices in the distance)
(horn)
(indistinct voices)
(effort lines)
(voices muffled) Duke! Duke! Duke!
- (high-pitched whistle) - (together) Duce! Duce! Duce!
We are like an army.
These people want to bring holy war to our home.
(boss) They didn't understand a thing.
This democracy is pissing me off.
We are at war,
at war to defend our civilization,
our roots.
We are Christians.
The cross is our Leader.
And we will remain standing,
in the face of the enemy, with honor.
And others will fall.
If anyone doesn't agree...
he can even talk.
Duke.
- (soft voices) Duke! Duke! - Duke!
(together) Duke! Duke! Duke! Duke! Duke!
Duke!
(together) Duke! Duke! Duke! Duke! Duke!
(indistinct voices)
(muffled voices and sounds)
(inaudible voices and sounds)
(voices inaudible)
(indistinct screams)
- (screams) - (indistinct screams)
(groans)
(groans)
- (zipping his pants) - (sounds of disgust)
(local alarm)
(indistinct screams)
(woman screams)
(screams)
(the woman sobs and gasps)
(groan)
- Drop this knife or I'll kill you. - (metallic sound of blade)
Is this the honor? To kill a poor wretch?
So it's true that you're with the shitty Arabs.
Son of a bitch!
Take this shit with you, go! Go!
(panting)
Are you a brother?
May Allah bless you.
Salaam alaikum.
I am dying?
Don't worry, it's nothing.
Help!
Help!
(boy) The light of God is all here, it's inside me.
I've never heard it so loud.
(indistinct voices speaking in Arabic)
(they speak in Arabic)
(whistling and muffled voices)
(the whistle intensifies)
(whistle stops)
The light of God.
(sniffles)
The light of God.
The light of God.
(music from the venue)
(indistinct voices)
(they speak in Arabic)
Salaam alaikum.
Alaikum salaam.
- (in Arabic) Who is that? - (in Arabic) Let him in.
- Is he a Muslim? - He wants to become one.
Come here dressed like this, with someone we don't even know who he is,
not even greetings
and tell us what we should do.
I have never seen you bring alms with your mother.
I am ashamed for your father, may Allah protect his soul.
- My father never judged me. - (in Italian) Let's go, come on.
(in Arabic) Who are you to judge?
You are not God.
You're just a man.
Allah is great and merciful
and I see none of this in your eyes.
Those who believe and do good deeds will be forgiven and rewarded.
You, on the other hand, will suffer a punishment of painful torment.
- You are the devil! - (footsteps)
(in Italian) I know you tried to save him.
I just want to pray for him.
But I don't know how to do it.
Come with me, come in.
(Djamel) Don't be afraid.
You are right.
I am the devil.
(Djamel speaks in Arabic)
"In the name of God, the believer,
the merciful."
(Djamel) For us, ablutions are part of prayer.
(speaks in Arabic)
(Arabic chants in the distance)
It's time for prayer.
Come with me.
We pray shoulder to shoulder,
to keep the devil out.
(a man speaks in Arabic)
(they speak in Arabic in a low voice)
(they speak in Arabic)
(whistle and muffled voice of Djamel)
(muffled voices)
(muffled voice of Djamel)
(boy, in a low voice) Giordano.
Giordano!
(whistle)
(man) Excuse me. Go on, let me pass...
(train whistle)
- (indistinct voice from the speaker) - (indistinct voices)
(horn)
(man) Go, move!
(man) Go, you stupid piece of shit! Go, move!
But what do you want? What are you looking at? Wake up!
(man) Go, I told you walk!
(man) So? What's up? Move!
Maestro, we are sincerely honored to host you.
Among us he has many passionate admirers.
We have taken the liberty, master, to prepare a welcome for you.
that we reserve only for special people.
- (Giordano) The room? - 313, third floor.
Lechiavi.
- I'll accompany you. - It's not necessary, thank you.
(Giordano) A lifetime has passed.
Why did I leave?
I know and I don't know.
There are questions that defy any answer.
(beep and lock click)
Was it right to leave?
And now is it right to go back?
The time has come to stop turning your head away.
(applause)
Ladies and gentlemen,
tonight we have the pleasure of having you among us
the founder of the publishing house
that I am fortunate enough to direct.
Essayist, novelist, translated into many languages,
but it's much more than all this.
(Saverio) He is a fighter of our land.
It's been a long time coming,
but from afar he continued to talk to us.
(Saverio) And today he is here with us.
- (Saverio) Giordano Fonte! - (applause)
"This is a sponge city,
a city that swallows you.
It horrifies me,
at the same time that it fascinates me.
This city, obsession,
has occupied invasively
most of my thoughts since I was a boy.
I say to myself:
'Is it possible that he could not have done anything else?
what to talk about Naples?'"
These are stories from a long time ago, forgotten things.
- (man) Naples has never forgotten you! - (woman) And you have not forgotten Naples!
Maestro.
(Saverio) Your audience.
(Saverio) Now that you're back, expect a great story about Naples.
Okay, sure, Naples, yes.
I wonder if there is any point in writing anymore.
Your writing makes sense to all of us.
Enough! Enough with this musings, with all this nonsense.
Sorry, they are useless.
Excuse me.
Sorry, I'm not angry with you, I'm angry with myself. Sorry, Saverio.
I'm taking advantage of...
of this invitation, of this beautiful occasion,
to say that I will not write anymore.
(murmur from the audience)
(Giordano clears his throat)
- (boy) Oh, grab this! - (little boy) No, leave me alone!
- (blows and moans) - Oh!
- (Giordano) Oh! - Mind your own business, cuckold!
- Hey, are you okay? - Leave me alone!
- What's your name? - Mind your own business.
(Giordano) Hey!
Look at this stinker! Come here!
Stop! Stop!
(Giordano) Come here! Stop!
Cow! Cow!
(sound of footsteps)
(indistinct voices in the distance)
- (jingle of keys) - (click of a lock)
(creaking of a door)
(indistinct voice from a TV)
(Mussolini from TV) Because history teaches us
that empires are conquered with weapons
but they are held with prestige.
And for prestige you need...
a clear, severe, racial conscience...
- That establishes not only... - (groans of pain)
- (thud) - (TV)...of the differences,
- (groans of pain) - (TV)...but very clear superiorities.
(applause from TV)
- (indistinct voice from TV) - (groans of pain)
(groans of pain)
(panting)
(short breaths and groans of pain)
(Giordano screams)
(panting)
(in Arabic) Set me free...
(Yasmina) Save me...
(Caracas) Who are you?
Who are you? What are you doing in my house?
Don't ever come back or I'll kill you, go away!
(quietly) Go away.
(Caracas, in a low voice) Yasmina...
Yasmina...
(indistinct words)
(Caracas gasps)
I love you. I love you.
(sighs) I love you.
(they scream)
(panting)
(Giordano) As the days go by,
a plot is being carried out beyond my will.
That I have undertaken a journey into the past is beyond doubt,
just as there is no doubt that this journey leads...
to a question about the future.
What will happen?
- (loud music) - (indistinct voices)
(voice inaudible)
Tell me now that you love me.
(sound of footsteps moving away)
(Giordano) You said if I came back you would kill me.
- Have you already killed a man? - What did you come back to do?
Cut my throat, like you wanted to do the other night.
You are a madman, a poor man.
What do you need to kill?
A reason? Money?
I read what you wrote. You have nothing more to say.
(indistinct voices)
(roar of a scooter)
- (horn) - (boy) You fucking monkeys!
But are you always in the middle of the street?
(imitate the sound of monkeys)
- Get up there! - (boy) That's disgusting!
- Go to your country! - (little boy) Get on!
You fucking monkeys, go to your own country!
Let's go. Go to your own country!
Fuck you, you fucking monkeys!
- Ma'am, I want this. - Easy, boys.
(indistinct voices)
Madam, I am small, a croquette.
(lady) Yes, slowly.
- That's big! - Here, little one.
- When he doesn't have money, you know how it is... - You can't spend it.
- Here, you eat too. - No, no, eat, eat.
Do you want some water?
- To do what with it? - To water the plants?
- Ma'am, take two beers. - (ma'am) Eh, slowly slowly.
(boy) No, move, not "slowly".
(boy) Here, let me open the beers.
- (lady) Here. - Keep.
Here. Slowly, slowly.
These are like the plague. A virus.
(boy) Look over there.
(indistinct voices of the boys)
Where do you live?
- Good evening. - (director) Good evening, maestro.
- Can I disturb you? - (director) Of course.
It's more than a duty, it's a pleasure.
So, um...
I realize it's a little late...
I had delivered some laundry, can you check if it's ready?
Look, master, I won't fail to have it in your room.
Ah.
I have a certain urgency.
- I'll check right away. - (Giordano) Thank you.
- (whistles) - (Giordano stammers)
I'm sorry, master, but there is nothing for you.
Ah, uhm...
Is there nothing? Do we want to check better?
I assure you that the linen closet is empty.
Allow me to insist.
Absolutely.
(version)
Maestro, it was probably moved to the afternoon.
At this moment I don't know how to solve it.
- I'll make a note... - Obviously I was wrong.
Evidently...
My compliments to all the staff.
- I won't miss it. - It makes me feel at home.
Thank you.
- Good night. - I'll make a note. Good night.
(beep and lock click)
(Giordano, in a low voice) Go slowly, slowly. Slowly, slowly, slowly!
(boy) Turn on the lights!
- Come in and be quiet. - Look where he's got us.
(boy) Come on, turn on the light. Turn on the light.
(together) Eh! Well done, uncle!
- Hey, hey... - (boy) It's nice in here!
- Stop! Slowly, slowly. - Wow!
- Don't break anything. - (indistinct voices of the boys)
- How beautiful it is! - (indistinct voices)
(Giordano) And thank goodness I told you not to break anything! Easy!
- Don't break anything. - (boy) The toilet is scary!
Uncle, take it!
I said take it easy!
- (indistinct voices) - (Giordano) Slowly, slowly, slowly!
- (voices of the boys) Come here! - You eat it!
This is the outfit my late grandfather wore.
- How am I, uncle? - (indistinct voices of the boys)
- (boy) How am I? - Giordano.
- You look elegant. - You look elegant, yes.
- (little boy) Giordano! - You look elegant. What's up?
- What is it? - This is a camera.
- It's a little old, but it still works. - And how does it work?
Look, like this. Mh?
- (camera click) - Can you see how it came out?
No, not right away. It needs to be developed.
- What? - (knocking on the door)
- (Giordano, in a low voice) Hush. - Who is it?
- The pizzeria? - (boy) Did you call the pizzeria?
- What pizza? Shut up. - (they laugh quietly)
- (knocking on door) - Shh, shut up.
- (indistinct voice of the boy) - (boy) Shut up.
- (knocking on door) - Hide.
(knocking on the door)
- Hide! - (knocking on the door)
Oh!
(knocking on the door)
Forgive me, master, I didn't mean to disturb you,
but we haven't seen her go out for days and we were worried.
Are you feeling well?
Maestro?
Can I help you?
(indistinct voices)
(a woman's excited voice)
(excited voices)
(sound of footsteps)
I can't believe it, I've been dreaming about this moment so much.
(woman) Love, run! My dream has come true!
(woman) You're welcome, master.
Come on, master. Come on.
Maestro!
(man) Is something wrong?
(slurring) Sorry... Sorry.
But didn't you come here for your own business?
What things?
- Come. - (man) Please, master.
The previous owner told us that they had belonged to you
and we have kept them,
hoping that one day you would return.
My books...
My desk.
(Giordano) Do you know where this place is?
And this is the cloister of San Domenico, where the friars were.
The old orphanage.
Don't you remember?
Don't you remember?
Who are you? What do you want?
Can you visit the orphanage?
It's closed.
(guardian) There's no one left, only me left.
I am a writer.
I would like to tell a story about this place.
Please take a seat.
(guardian) There are so many stories to tell in here.
The creatures were many...
and each with a different story.
Do you remember all the children who have been here?
(guardian) Everyone.
Everyone.
And they're still here.
Yes, they never left.
(caretaker) This is where they had class.
First, however, we all prayed together.
Some people woke up before others
and he would come into the kitchen to me for some coffee.
It was our little secret.
(caretaker) This was the dormitory.
Each of them remained alone at night.
They screamed in their sleep.
"Mom, help!"
"Mamma."
"Help, Mom, come get me."
"Come get me, Mom."
(Giordano gasps)
What is it? Are you feeling unwell?
(panting)
Who is it? Who is this child?
How handsome he was and how good he was!
Always alone, he never played with other creatures,
always quiet, he was kind.
Then, to survive...
he became bad, violent.
And he ran away,
growing up as nobody's child in this town
who was like a mother to him.
But it has changed.
Eh, what story do you want to tell?
(phone ringing)
(phone ringing)
(sighs)
(phone ringing)
(phone ringing)
That's because you didn't want to write anymore.
But this is the most beautiful thing I've ever read!
These first chapters you sent me promise a masterpiece.
It's your greatest novel, Giordano.
The setting, the characters, the tension...
You never take your eyes off the page.
What you are describing is not Naples.
It's the world.
(Saverio) The railway area could be a slum in India,
a South American barrio, a Brazilian favela.
And the characters!
That child... we are all of us, alone, lost.
When I read about the orphanage, I was shaking with emotion.
And that old man, lost,
in this city that swallows you.
No one has ever described it like this, it's the present.
What you wrote is wonderful.
Please, just tell me one thing.
The man who guides you,
the fascist who wants to convert to Islam...
That's awesome.
Have you met him?
Do you know him?
Does it really exist?
(Giordano) A mystery.
(indistinct excited voices)
(Giordano) He had become a fascist as a boy.
Oppressed by the violence of the city,
had found order and security in the myth of the homeland,
a family in his squadristi brothers,
in the leader a father.
- He was convinced... - Duce!
...that that world was shrouded in a high mysticism...
- Duke! Duke! - ...the warrior...
- ...regenerating. - (together) Duce!
- (Caracas screams) - (indistinct excited voices)
(sirens)
- (Caracas gasps) - (Giordano) But his beliefs...
were soon denied by certainty
that in cruelty there is no order,
there is no homeland
and no kind of father.
(Caracas twinks)
(groan)
(sound of footsteps)
(indistinct voices speaking in Arabic)
(Giordano) Down there, thanks to those treatments, for the first time,
he had felt pity and compassion.
That's why he stopped to live in that hell.
The planet railway,
a boundless sidereal spiderweb,
entirely colonized by the underprivileged and the last of the earth.
Here he was welcomed.
Here he found refuge.
Here it became "Caracas".
(voices inaudible)
(Giordano) He had told everyone that he was born there, in Caracas,
but it wasn't true.
(indistinct voices)
(ride)
(Giordano) He had done it to build an aura of mystery around himself.
cloaked in the fantasies of a globetrotter
who had never left Naples.
He said he would return sooner or later,
perhaps when he is old, to die in peace.
More simply, his father had gone to Caracas,
many years before.
And from the day of his departure she had heard nothing more from him.
(voices inaudible)
(Giordano) Under that veil that could not hide her,
next to his father and his slow pace,
Yasmina had always been a restless soul.
(indistinct voices)
(Giordano) He could no longer bear to live apart,
to respect rules far from his feelings.
The two pretended not to know each other,
because their worlds were too far apart.
And
as often happens,
between earth and sky,
between angels and demons,
destiny...
marks a path of joy and despair.
"Only Naples could give birth to such a tormented son,
between fascist ideology and the desire for peace.
He became spiritually Arab
the day the Americans invaded Iraq,
under the pretext of wanting to bring back democracy.
He thought he could no longer call himself a Christian or a Westerner,
as if that event had suddenly torn his identity apart,
replacing it with another out of hatred.
Why I became his friend
and why at a certain point our paths crossed
I don't know yet."
(thunder)
(thunder)
(rain pouring)
(thunder)
(indistinct screams of the man)
(indistinct words)
(indistinct voices)
What are you doing here?
(muffled sounds)
(Giordano gasps)
- (quietly) Giordano. - (Giordano) Mh?
- Giordano? - (thunder)
(thunder)
(blow of the wind)
(thunder)
(panting and speaking in Arabic)
(speaks in Arabic)
(speaks in Arabic)
(speaks in Arabic)
(speaks in Arabic)
(Caracas speaks Arabic)
(speaks in Arabic)
- (thunder) - (Mussolini on TV) What about...
of internal politics,
the problem...
of burning topicality
it's the racial one.
Even in this field
we will adopt...
If you believe it, it doesn't burn you.
(Giordano) Who is it?
(annaspa)
(panting)
(indistinct noise)
(jingle of keys)
(the door closes)
(sound of footsteps)
(Caracas) Giordano, are you awake?
(Caracas) Mh...
(Caracas) Are you still like this? Move, they are waiting for us.
(Caracas) Oh my god, I'm pissing myself.
You've been writing all night, I want to see when you let me read something.
As the great Gustave Trophe used to say,
"When I have to write something, I don't rest until it's finished."
- (pee sound) - Like I do when I have to pee.
(Caracas ride)
- (Caracas makes a noise of relief) - (toilet flushes)
Hurry up. I'll wait for you downstairs, hurry up.
- Who is Gustave Trophy? - (Caracas) Gustave Trophy?
(laughs) And what do I know, I made it up!
I actually made it up. Hurry up!
(Caracas) I'll wait for you downstairs!
(the door closes)
Giordano, please remember.
It took me a long time to convince them to meet you.
I was welcomed like a brother, but I am wary of strangers.
Don't make me look like a fool. Don't be so ironic as you usually are.
Understood?
(indistinct voices)
Wait for me here and don't move.
(indistinct voices)
(indistinct voices)
I know you like coffee,
but we prefer tea.
It makes us feel at home.
(Djamel) You taste it.
- Do you like it? - It makes me feel like a guest.
(Djamel) He wrote a lot about this in his books.
Of living as a guest,
an exile, everywhere,
always looking for somewhere else.
(Djamel) He was never bored.
I don't remember everything I wrote.
I'm glad you want to write about us.
(whispering) I've never told anyone, but...
I grew up in this neighborhood.
When I was a child, you weren't there.
This is not my city anymore, but...
In these poor people, I recognize something that I have already seen many years ago.
(Giordano) They don't come here just to eat and drink, do they?
They don't know where to go and here they can be together.
But what do you give him?
that we have not been able to give?
Men are obsessed with what they desperately lack...
what they no longer have,
or maybe they never had.
For example, the truth.
(Djamel) Or faith in God.
I never believed there was a need for a God
to know what is right and what is wrong.
Maybe, sometimes, it can help you feel less alone,
but this too with poor results.
(Djamel) So...
What did he come looking for among us?
I came to look for my friend.
We hope we can inspire you, maestro.
(Arabic chants in the distance)
It's time for prayer.
(Djamel) If he wants, he can join us.
(songs in Arabic)
(Djamel speaks in Arabic)
(indistinct voices repeat in Arabic)
(Djamel speaks in Arabic)
(speaks in Arabic)
(Djamel speaks in Arabic)
(they speak in Arabic)
- (Djamel speaks in Arabic) - (excited voices in the distance)
(indistinct excited voices)
(Arabic voice from TV)
AFGHANISTAN: THE RETREAT THE TALIBAN CELEBRATE INDEPENDENCE
(indistinct excited voices)
(they shout in Arabic)
- (tires screeching) - Asshole! You piece of shit!
You left me alone, you abandoned me!
Get the fuck out of my way!
- I could have been dead! - Get up!
(Yasmina) Don't you disgust yourself?
Who is this old man you're carrying around with you? Huh?
- You give him your ass for money? - Damn the bitch...
I told you you must never come here again.
- Don't you feel disgusted? - You mustn't come anymore.
- (Yasmina speaks in Arabic) - Go away, don't touch me.
- Don't touch me, go away! Go away! - (Yasmina sobs)
- I'm clean, I swear. - Don't touch me. I don't believe you.
- I quit forever. - I don't believe you.
- (Giordano) Are you crazy? - I'm not lying!
- Haven't I taught you anything? - What do you have to teach me?
- Please, believe me. - (Giordano) This is who you are.
- A fascist, a violent person. - Don't be a pain in the ass too.
- At least you... - You gave me such a hard time.
At least you...
Islam, redemption, purity, and you raise your hands on a girl?
I always tried to help her, to save her,
but it keeps me away from the light, it's my sin!
Sin, Jesus Christ, Allah, God, the revolution...
It's all about what you feel, don't be a fanatic!
Don't get fucked.
But what light?
The light of God.
- The light of God? - The light of God.
(the door closes)
(indistinct voices)
Yasmina!
Get down!
I'm here for you.
I know you hear me.
I'm here for you. I'm here for you!
Forgive me, love. Forgive me!
Forgive me, my love! Forgive me, my love!
Get down! Get down!
I believe you!
I believe you.
I believe in you as I believe in God!
(Caracas) Don't leave me alone too!
Don't leave me alone too.
(quietly) Don't leave me alone too.
- I love you. I adore you. - Forgive me...
Excuse me...
(quietly) Forgive me...
Excuse me.
Excuse me.
I want to go away.
With tea.
(in Arabic) Will you marry me?
(Yasmina takes a deep breath)
- Do we want to kill ourselves? Slow down! - (horn honking)
Where are we going? What happened?
- (sound of engine accelerating) - Go slow!
(indistinct voices)
- What are we supposed to do here, what's going on? - Now you see what's happening, come on.
(in Arabic) Will you give me some money?
Dai, dai...
(in Arabic) I'll give them back to you, I swear.
How many times have I told Mom that she shouldn't give her money?
(Caracas) Come, come.
- Do you always have all this stuff with you? - These are my notes.
(a dog barks)
But this one is dead.
Better for him. Come.
(drug dealer) What do you want?
(drug dealer) What do you want?
Are you staying here again? You have to go, you're in debt.
Now you take this fucking money
and you and I have nothing more to share, do you understand?
- Good girl. Here, a gift for you. - Don't ever let me see you again.
And try not to be such a jerk, I'll tell my man
and I'll have you stick a knife in your balls!
- (drug dealer) You're always here. - Fuck you!
- You're always here. - Piece of shit!
Damn! (speaks in Arabic)
(drug dealer) What do you want?
What do you want?
"I'll tell my man and I'll have him stick a knife in your balls!"
That was the drug dealer, the one who sold her the drugs.
So it's really over. Inshallah !
- (sings) My Yasmina, my love! - (Giordano) Hey...
Little pink mouth, little hole!
- Give me a kiss. - (Giordano) You're crazy.
- You followed me, asshole! - (Caracas) No, we stumbled upon it by accident.
- It's not true that you trust me. - I did it to protect you.
- Yes, yes. - I brought the bodyguard, look.
- Then it's true. - What?
- That you throw it in your ass. - (they laugh)
Sometimes... Let's make peace, come on.
Do you know what the Prophet Muhammad says, old man?
"He who makes his companions laugh earns paradise." Inshallah !
Let's go. Come, Giordano. Come, come, come.
(Caracas) It's not true that we throw it up our ass.
Come, Jordan!
(indistinct voices)
- (indistinct voices) - (Yasmina) Cheese !
- Okay. - (Caracas) Smile, smile.
- (Caracas) Hug him tight. - (camera click)
- (Caracas) Laugh, Giordano! - (camera click)
- (Caracas) Smile, smile. - (loud kiss)
(Caracas) Wait, wait, wait.
Go! Go! Go.
(camera shots)
I was a fanatic too.
I wanted to change the world, like all the kids at that time.
You know what we did? We went into the darkest alleys to bring hope.
We said to the illiterate, to the mother of seven children, to the unemployed:
"Look, you are human beings too,
no one can take advantage of you, no one can humiliate you,
you have to be able to stay united."
And they were listening to us!
Because they believed in it, they followed us.
What we would not have done for democracy...
(Giordano) For the love of this city where we were born.
(voice inaudible)
Do you know what I miss most about those days? The smell of the sea.
(Giordano) But how did I know him as a boy?
I would give anything for that smell.
Pure... freedom.
- Even democracy? - Even democracy.
- Would you accept the return of fascism? - But also of communism!
- I would accept you too. - Comrade Giordano!
- Don't be an asshole. - (laughing)
(Yasmina) Come on, honey! Let's take a bath.
-Shall we take a bath? -Yes, a bath...
(Giordano) I'm freezing! Mamma mia, how cold!
(Giordano) Did I ask you to come here?
(Caracas sniffles, cries)
(Giordano) What is it?
(Giordano) Caracas, what's happening?
How can you stay here forever?
How do you stop this moment?
(Caracas) Love, come, it's cold.
- (indistinct voices) - (laughter)
You should have seen, I was driving like a madman and this guy shit himself!
He really shit himself!
And then in that place it smells like shit...
- He came out, he was walking all like this... - (they laugh)
Giordano, what did you say when you saw the one above the stairs?
- I don't remember shit! - How can you not remember?
He said, "This dead man, he's dead!" And I said, "Good for him!"
But what the hell, that guy was stoned.
And when did you see us together like you said?
"So it's true that you're throwing it up your ass."
- Ah, you remember that! Oh! - Oh!
- Are you okay? - He found 100 euros on the ground.
- Did you hurt yourself? - (Giordano) No...
- Why not? - (Giordano) Nothing happened.
- (Caracas) Is everything okay? - Shut up...
(they play "Simme 'e Napule, pais")
(Giordano) Where is the wine?
(sings in Neapolitan) me, a little drunk on wine
I think of the bad and I think of the good
But your coral mouth
Look for mine to kiss me
- Oh! - (Yasmina) What is it?
(sings) Tarantella, if the world is a wheel
Let's seize the minute that is about to pass
(they all sing in chorus) As long as there's sun
What is left of the sea?
A pretty girl heart to heart, a song to sing
Who had, had, had, who gave, gave, gave
Let's forget the past, we are from Naples, fellow countrymen!
- (Caracas) Easy, easy. - I'm fine.
(sing in chorus) What's left of the sea?
A pretty girl heart to heart, a song to sing...
Thanks for the company, dear friends.
- You can't stand up, Giordano! - Do you want us to accompany you?
No, no, good night. Good night, good night.
"Parting is such a sweet pain,
that I will say goodnight until it is morning."
Tell him.
Tell him.
We're leaving, Giordano. We're getting married.
All great stories have a great ending.
God bless you.
(Giordano) Ah...
I've almost finished the novel.
And I found the title.
I'll call it "Caracas".
"Caracas."
- (the door closes) - (kisses)
Come on, let's go.
Hello, Giordano!
(Giordano) Sometimes, it's better not to know things.
This is the beauty of life:
ignore what will happen tomorrow.
On the contrary,
what will happen in a moment.
Besides...
How could we have any hope for our future?
what if we already knew it?
- (Djamel speaks in Arabic) - (Caracas repeats in Arabic)
(they continue speaking in Arabic)
(boy, in a low voice) Giordano...
(boy, in a low voice) Giordano...
(boy, in a low voice) Giordano.
(panting)
(Yasmina's voice echoes) Caracas...
(Yasmina's voice echoes) Caracas...
(Yasmina) Caracas...
(Yasmina) Caracas...
(rainfall in the distance)
(rainfall)
(inaudible voices and sounds)
- (smoke bombs whistle) - (indistinct excited voices)
- (explosion) - (room alarm)
(indistinct screams)
(groans of pain)
(capo) Caracas!
(groan)
(panting)
(boss) So!
Giordano...
The light of God...
it's here.
I have never felt it as strong as I do right now.
There's something I've wanted to ask you for a long time.
Why do they call you Caracas?
Because that's where I come from.
When I grow up, I have to make money and I have to get out of here.
I have to go back to Caracas to my father, he's waiting for me.
I need to buy a villa with a huge swimming pool.
We must be together forever.
Do you want to come too?
Friend, smile!
(camera shot)