To Rome with Love (film)
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| To Rome with Love | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Woody Allen |
| Produced by | Letty Aronson Stephen Tenenbaum Giampaolo Letta Faruk Alatan |
| Written by | Woody Allen |
| Starring | Woody Allen Alec Baldwin Roberto Benigni Penélope Cruz Judy Davis Jesse Eisenberg Greta Gerwig Ellen Page |
| Cinematography | Darius Khondji |
| Edited by | Alisa Lepselter |
| Production company | Medusa Film Gravier Productions Perdido Production |
| Distributed by | Medusa Distribuzione(Italy) Sony Pictures Classics(US)[1] |
| Release date(s) | |
| Running time | 112 minutes[2] |
| Country | United States Italy[3] |
| Language | English Italian |
| Box office | $73,244,881[4] |
To Rome with Love is a 2012 magical realist[5] romantic comedy film written and directed by and starring Woody Allen in his first acting appearance since 2006. The film is set in Rome, Italy; it was released in Italian theaters on April 13, 2012,[6] and opened in Los Angeles and New York City on June 22, 2012.[2]
The film features an ensemble cast, and Allen himself. The story is told in four separate vignettes: a clerk who wakes up to find himself a celebrity, an architect who takes a trip back to the street he lived on as a student, a young couple on their honeymoon, and an Italian funeral director whose uncanny singing ability enraptures his soon to be in-law, an American opera director.
Contents
[hide]Plot[edit]
To Rome with Love tells four unrelated stories taking place in Rome. The second story, Antonio's, is a direct lift with some amendments of an entire Fellini film, The White Sheik (1952).
1. Hayley's Story[edit]
American tourist Hayley falls in love with and becomes engaged to Italian pro bono lawyer Michelangelo while spending a summer in Rome. Her parents, Jerry and Phyllis, fly to Italy to meet her fiancé and his parents. During the visit, Michelangelo's mortician father Giancarlo sings in the shower and Jerry, a retired—and critically reviled—opera director, feels inspired to bring Giancarlo's gift to the public. Jerry convinces a reluctant Giancarlo to audition in front of a room of opera bigwigs, but Giancarlo performs poorly in this setting. Michelangelo accuses Jerry of embarrassing his father and trying to use him to revive his own failed career, which in turn breeds discontent between Michelangelo and Hayley.
Jerry then realizes that Giancarlo's talent is tied to the comfort and freedom he feels in the shower; Jerry stages a concert in which Giancarlo performs at the Teatro dell'Opera while actually washing himself onstage in a purpose-built shower. This is a great success, so Jerry and Giancarlo decide to stage the opera Pagliacci, with an incongruous shower present in all scenes. Giancarlo receives rave reviews, while Jerry is unaware that his direction has again been slammed as he doesn't understand Italian and so cannot read the reviews. Giancarlo decides to retire from opera singing, because he prefers working as a mortician and spending time with his family. But he appreciates being given the chance to live his dream of performing Pagliacci, and his success has mended the relationship between Michelangelo and Hayley.
2. Antonio's Story[edit]
Newlyweds Antonio and Milly plan to move from their rustic hometown to Rome because Antonio's posh uncles have offered him a job in their family's business. The couple checks into their hotel, and Milly decides to visit a salon before meeting Antonio's relatives for the first time. She becomes hopelessly lost and loses her cell phone, but ends up stumbling upon a film shoot where she meets Luca Salta, an actor whom she idolizes. He invites her to lunch. Back at the hotel, Antonio is worried that Milly has not returned in time for their lunch date with his aunts and uncles. Anna, a prostitute, then arrives, having mistakenly been sent to his room.
Despite his protests, she wrestles him into a compromising position just as his relatives arrive; the only way he can think to save face is to introduce Anna as Milly, and he convinces her to pose as Milly for the day. The group goes to lunch at the same restaurant where Luca takes Milly. Antonio becomes jealous as Luca flirts with Milly, but they don't see him. Antonio's uncles and aunts then take him to a fancy party. Antonio has nothing in common with the people to whom his uncles introduce him, but most of the male guests turn out to be Anna's clients. Anna and Antonio go for a walk in the garden, and Antonio talks about how pure and good Milly is. When Anna finds out he was a virgin before he met Milly, she seduces him in the bushes.
Meanwhile, Luca brings Milly to his hotel room and tries to seduce her. Milly decides to have sex with him, but then a gun-armed thief emerges from hiding and demands their valuables. Suddenly, Luca's wife and a private investigator arrive. Milly and the thief climb into bed and fool Mrs. Salta into believing the hotel room is theirs while Luca hides in the bathroom. Once his wife has left, Luca runs off. The burglar flirts with Milly and she has sex with him instead. When she returns to the hotel room, she and Antonio decide to return to their rustic hometown—but first they begin to make love.
3. Leopoldo's Story[edit]
Leopoldo lives a mundane life with his wife and two children. The best part of his day is watching his boss's beautiful secretary Serafina walk around the office. Inexplicably, he wakes up one morning to discover that he has become a national celebrity. Paparazzi document his every move. Reporters ask him what he had for breakfast, if he wears boxers or briefs, whether he thinks it will rain. Leopoldo even becomes a manager at his company, and Serafina sleeps with him. He begins dating models and attending fancy film premieres. The constant attention wears on him, though. One day, in the middle of interviewing Leopoldo, the paparazzi spot a man "who looks more interesting," and they abandon Leopoldo. At first, Leopoldo welcomes the return to his old life. But one afternoon he breaks down when no one asks for his autograph. Leopoldo has learned that life can be monotonous and wearying whether one is a celebrity or a normal man. Still, it is much better to be a weary celebrity than it is to be a weary regular man.
4. John's Story[edit]
John, a well-known architect, is visiting Rome with his wife and their friends. John lived there some thirty years ago, and he would rather revisit his old haunts than go sightseeing with the others. While looking for his old apartment building, John meets Jack, an American architecture student who recognizes him. Jack happens to live in John's old building, and invites him up to the apartment he shares with his girlfriend Sally. (Throughout the rest of the story, John appears suddenly and inexplicably around Jack and makes unusually frank observations of events; reviewers have suggested that either John is an older mentor Jack imagines for himself, or John is reliving events from his past.)[7] Sally tells Jack that she invited her best friend Monica, an actress, to stay with them while she recovers from a rough breakup.
According to Sally, Monica gives off a sexual vibe that drives men crazy. John predicts Monica will bring trouble, but Jack can not imagine why he would be attracted to his girlfriend's best friend. Monica arrives, and one of her first conversations with Jack is about her intense sexual relationship with a female lingerie model. Because Sally has classes, she naively asks Jack to show Monica around Rome. Monica impresses Jack with her knowledge of literature and art. Meanwhile, John keeps telling Jack that Monica will lead him to trouble and he criticizes her pseudo-intellectual facade. Even though John cautions Jack against cheating with Monica, he begins to succumb to her charms. Sally sets Monica up with Leonardo, one of their friends, and Jack is jealous of their relationship. One night he and Monica decide to cook dinner for Sally and Leonardo. They flirt more and more until Jack kisses Monica; they go down to his car to have sex.
Jack, now besotted with her, plans to leave Sally for Monica, but they decide Jack should wait until Sally finishes her midterms for Jack to break up with her. The trio go out for lunch after Sally's exams, and when they are alone, Jack tells Monica he plans to dump Sally that night. They make plans to travel to Greece and Sicily together. Then Monica gets a phone call from her agent who says she has been offered a role in a Hollywood blockbuster. She will film in Los Angeles and Tokyo for the next five months and she immediately becomes completely focused on preparing for the role. She forgets about traveling with Jack, who realizes how shallow she is. John and Jack walk back to the Roman street corner where they met and they part ways.
Cast[edit]
Grouped by storylines
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Non-actor cast[edit]
- Cristiana Palazzoni (it), the TG3 anchorwoman, is a real-life journalist of the Italian network Rai 3. The scene is shot in the real TG3 studio.[citation needed]
- Pierluigi Marchionne, who plays a traffic policeman in the initial sequence, is a real Rome policeman. Woody Allen saw him directing traffic in Piazza Venezia and added that scene for him to be in.[9]
Production[edit]
Financial backing for To Rome with Love came from distributors in Rome who offered to finance a film for Allen as long as it was filmed in Rome. Allen accepted, seeing the offer as a way to work in the city and "get the money to work quickly and from a single source".[10] The four vignettes featured in the film were based on ideas and notes he had written throughout the year before he wrote the script.[10] The vignettes featured in the film deal with the theme of "fame and accomplishment", although Allen stated that he didn't intend for them to have any thematic connection.[10] He initially named the film Bop Decameron, a reference to the 14th century book by Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio, but several people didn't understand the reference, so he retitled it Nero Fiddles.[11] The new title was still met with confusion, so he settled on the final title To Rome with Love, although he has stated that he hates this title.[11]
Release[edit]
Box office[edit]
To Rome with Love was a box office success. As of November 15, 2012, it has earned $16,685,867[4] in the United States making it the seventh highest-grossing film in the 21 year history of Sony Pictures Classics.[citation needed]
As of November 27, its worldwide total stands at $73,039,208.[4] This is Woody Allen's fourth best ever box office total (not counting for adjusted ticket prices).[4]
Critical reception[edit]
The film has generally received mixed reviews from critics. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 43% based on reviews from 165 critics with an average score of 5.4/10.[12] The critical consensus is that "To Rome With Love sees Woody Allen cobbling together an Italian postcard of farce, fantasy, and comedy with only middling success."[12] Metacritic gives the film an average score of 55 out of 100, and thus "mixed or average reviews", based on eighteen professional critics.[13] Roger Ebertgave the film 3 stars out of 4 writing "To Rome With Love generates no particular excitement or surprise, but it provides the sort of pleasure he seems able to generate almost on demand."[5]
A. O. Scott of The New York Times found some of the scenes "rushed and haphazardly constructed" and some of the dialogue "overwritten and under-rehearsed", but also recommended it, writing "One of the most delightful things about To Rome With Love is how casually it blends the plausible and the surreal, and how unabashedly it revels in pure silliness."[2] On the other hand, David Denby of The New Yorker thought the film was "light and fast, with some of the sharpest dialogue and acting that he’s put on the screen in years."[14]
3. Story
To Rome With Love - Press Kit & Script
Sony Pictures Classics Presents A Medusa Film & Gravier Production A Perdido Production To Rome With Love Written and Directed by Woody Allen www.toromewithlove.com 112 min | Release Date (NY/LA): 06/22/2012 East Coast Publicity Donna Daniels PR Donna Daniels 77 Park Ave, #12A New York, NY 10016 347-254-7054, ext 101 West Coast Publicity Block Korenbrot Max Buschman Jennifer Malone 110 S. Fairfax Ave, #310 Los Angeles, CA 90036 323-634-7001 tel 323-634-7030 fax Distributor Sony Pictures Classics Carmelo Pirrone Lindsay Macik 550 Madison Ave New York, NY 10022 212-833-8833 tel 212-833-8844 fax
TO ROME WITH LOVE Starring (in alphabetical order) Jerry WOODY ALLEN John ALEC BALDWIN Leopoldo ROBERTO BENIGNI Anna PENÉLOPE CRUZ Phyllis JUDY DAVIS Jack JESSE EISENBERG Sally GRETA GERWIG Monica ELLEN PAGE Co-starring (in alphabetical order) Luca Salta ANTONIO ALBANESE Giancarlo FABIO ARMILIATO Milly ALESSANDRA MASTRONARDI Pia Fusari ORNELLA MUTI Michelangelo FLAVIO PARENTI Hayley ALISON PILL Hotel Robber RICCARDO SCAMARCIO Antonio ALESSANDRO TIBERI Filmmakers Writer/Director WOODY ALLEN Producers LETTY ARONSON STEPHEN TENENBAUM GIAMPAOLO LETTA FARUK ALATAN Co-Producers HELEN ROBIN DAVID NICHOLS Co-Executive Producer JACK ROLLINS Director of Photography DARIUS KHONDJI ASC, AFC Production Designer ANNE SEIBEL ADC Editor ALISA LEPSELTER Costume Design SONIA GRANDE Casting JULIET TAYLOR PATRICIA DiCERTO BEATRICE KRUGER
TO ROME WITH LOVE Synopsis
TO ROME WITH LOVE is a kaleidoscopic comedy movie set in one of the world’s most enchanting cities. The film brings us into contact with a well-known American architect reliving his youth; an average middle-class Roman who suddenly finds himself Rome’s biggest celebrity; a young provincial couple drawn into separate romantic encounters; and an American opera director endeavoring to put a singing mortician on stage.
1. Story
Well-known architect John (Alec Baldwin) is vacationing in Rome, where he once lived in his youth. Walking in his former neighborhood he encounters Jack (Jesse Eisenberg), a young man not unlike himself. As he watches Jack fall head-over-heels for Monica (Ellen Page), his girlfriend Sally’s (Greta Gerwig) dazzling and flirtatious friend, John relives one of the most romantically painful episodes of his own life.
2 2. Story
At the same moment, retired opera director Jerry (Woody Allen) flies to Rome with his wife Phyllis (Judy Davis), to meet their daughter Hayley’s (Alison Pill) Italian fiancée, Michelangelo (Flavio Parenti). Jerry is amazed to hear Michelangelo’s undertaker father, Giancarlo (renowned tenor Fabio Armiliato) singing arias worthy of La Scala while lathering up in the shower. Convinced that talent that prodigious cannot be kept hidden, Jerry clutches at the opportunity to promote Giancarlo and rejuvenate his own career.
3.
Leopoldo Pisanello (Roberto Benigni) on the other hand is an exceptionally boring guy, who wakes up one morning and finds himself one of the most famous men in Italy with many unanswered questions. Soon the paparazzi trail his every move and question his every motivation. As Leopoldo grows accustomed to the varied seductions of the limelight, he gradually realizes the cost of fame.
4. Story
Meanwhile, Antonio (Alessandro Tiberi) has arrived from the provinces in Rome hoping to impress his straight-laced relatives with his lovely new wife Milly (Alessandra Mastronardi) so that he can get an upscale big city job. Through comic misunderstanding and chance, the coupleis separated for the day. Antonio ends up passing off a stranger (Penélope Cruz) as his wife, while Milly is romanced by legendary movie star Luca Salta (Antonio Albanese).
While Rome is a city abundant with romance and comedy, Woody Allen’s TO ROME WITH LOVE is about people having adventures that will change their lives forever. # # #
4. Story
Meanwhile, Antonio (Alessandro Tiberi) has arrived from the provinces in Rome hoping to impress his straight-laced relatives with his lovely new wife Milly (Alessandra Mastronardi) so that he can get an upscale big city job. Through comic misunderstanding and chance, the coupleis separated for the day. Antonio ends up passing off a stranger (Penélope Cruz) as his wife, while Milly is romanced by legendary movie star Luca Salta (Antonio Albanese).
While Rome is a city abundant with romance and comedy, Woody Allen’s TO ROME WITH LOVE is about people having adventures that will change their lives forever. # # #
TO ROME WITH LOVE
About the Production Rome is a city like no other in the world. To be in Rome is to be surrounded by the silent monoliths of an ancient civilization while at the same time experiencing the clamor of a modern metropolis teeming with life. Rome is the perfect fusion of history and the present—an exhilarating hub of extraordinary culture, art, and cuisine. “So much of the action and activity in Rome takes place outside, in its cafés and streets,” says Woody Allen. “It’s an amazing city just to walk in. The city itself is a work of art.” Rome is a city of very contemporary and sophisticated people as well as people who are very traditional. It attracts numerous visitors, from businessmen to tourists, all of whom are passing in and out of Rome and enjoying its delights. For Allen it was a place that was too vast to be contained in a single plot. “I felt the city of Rome lent itself to a number of diverse tales,” he says. “It was pregnant with possibilities. If you stop a hundred Romans, they’ll tell you: ‘I’m from the city, I know it well and I could give you a million stories.’”
Leopoldo Pisanello (Roberto Benigni) is an ordinary Roman who suddenly and inexplicably finds himself to be one of the most talked about men in Rome. “Leopoldo has no talent at all, he’s a common, ordinary person,” says Allen, “he has no idea why he is being celebrated. He is quite aware that he is a nobody. Leopoldo is at first totally bewildered and annoyed by all the attention he’s getting and then starts — without even realizing—to like it.” Says Benigni: “Leopoldo was happy and content before he was famous; he had a harmony in his life. But when his harmony is upset he becomes completely discombobulated, trying to understand what is happening to him.” Still, there are telling cracks in Leopoldo’s seeming equilibrium before fame taps him on the shoulder, notably a moment where he longingly looks at a beautiful woman in his office. “He has no chance with a woman like that and he knows it,” says Allen. “Nobody cares what he has to say about anything, whether it’s the movies he sees or whether he thinks the Chinese are taking over the world, and certainly that kind of extraordinary woman is out of his class, until suddenly it all becomes possible.” As paparazzi start trailing him, Leopoldo soon realizes that everything he desires is readily available to him. “You do get seduced by fame,” says Allen. “Not necessarily always corrupted. Fame offers you a lot of opportunities that the average person never gets a chance to experience. So fame is a very seductive drug and it does work on him.” While Leopoldo enjoys the attention and the beautiful women who now throw themselves at him, he is also exasperated by other aspects associated with his sudden fame. “You give up your privacy, you’re constantly hounded, and everything you do is looked at under a microscope,” says Allen.
Roberto Benigni, a true superstar in Italy, is all too aware of what the experience Leopoldo has is like: “My dream is to walk in the street normally, watching people and having coffee, having a pizza and talking with friends. I lose a part of my life and I can’t do that. But if this didn’t happen anymore, I’d be worried… it’s a contradiction.” Says Allen: “While there are many drawbacks to being well-known, I would have to say the perks outweigh the drawbacks. You can live with all that because what you get for it are a great many positive things.”
On the flip side of Leopoldo is Giancarlo (renowned tenor Fabio Armiliato), a man who possesses great talent and yet is completely anonymous. A brilliant opera singer, Giancarlo sings only privately for his own enjoyment. He has never tried it in public. “One can never know what stimulates an artist," says Allen. If the only place that Shakespeare can write is by sitting on a bridge chair in the middle of 42nd Street, for whatever intangible reason, that’s not something we may ever be able to understand. Giancarlo can only sing under very special circumstances.” On the face of it Giancarlo doesn’t seem to care about fame, but meeting his future daughter-in-law’s father, Jerry (Woody Allen), changes everything. A former opera director who is unsatisfied with his retirement, Jerry feels that he never really made his mark on the world. “He’s tried some avant-garde things, but they didn’t work out and he’s never achieved the notoriety or the acceptance he was looking for,” says Allen. “He’s frustrated, and when he finally gets the opportunity to possibly cash in on Giancarlo’s talent, he grabs it.” At first Jerry must overcome the serious obstacle of Giancarlo’s leftist son—and his future son-in-law—Michelangelo (Flavio Parenti), who is extremely hostile to the idea of his humble father being prodded by Jerry into the world of public entertaining. In his protectiveness, Michelangelo doesn’t stop to consider his father’s own wishes. Says Allen: “I think that when people have a real talent, it demands expression. Sooner or later you want some communication of it. I’m sure Giancarlo is the same as anyone. He wants someone to hear his voice and have that relational moment where he sings and people are moved by it.”
Another character in TO ROME WITH LOVE, Milly (Alessandra Mastronardi), while possessing no special talent herself does get to meet a gifted actor. Milly arrives in Rome from a provincial town with her new husband Antonio (Alessandro Tiberi) in search of a new life in the big city. Everything depends on the impression they make on Antonio’s wealthy relatives, who are in the position to give him a high-level job. To look her best, Milly sets out for a hairdresser, but gets hopelessly lost in the labyrinthine streets of Rome. At the same time, Antonio is surprised in his hotel room by the appearance of Anna (Penélope Cruz), a voluptuous call girl who mistakenly believes she has been hired to have sex with him. Anna has been told that Antonio is eccentric and will try to resist, so she refuses to leave. Protesting profusely, Antonio suddenly finds himself forced onto the bed and it is in this compromising position that his relatives find him when they arrive at the hotel room. The only explanation that Antonio can come up with at the spur of the moment is that Anna is actually his wife Milly. Taking pity on him—and having been paid for the day—Anna agrees to go along with this story, and the relatives, although astonished that Antonio has married this indecorous bombshell, seem to accept his ruse. While Anna is willing to say she is Antonio’s wife, this doesn’t mean she will alter her behavior, which sets the stage for many comic situations. Says Cruz: “Anna is a very free spirit and she doesn't have a social filter in her mind so she says everything she feels without ever worrying about the consequences.” Meanwhile, as Milly is trying to find her way back to the hotel, she encounters two movie stars, Pia Fusari (Ornella Muti) and her idol Luca Salta (Antonio Albanese). Milly is flabbergasted when Salta offers to take her out to lunch, and eventually, to his hotel room. “When a beautiful young girl comes up to any movie star and says, ‘I see all your movies and I’m crazy about you,’ he would have a very good chance of taking that girl to bed because three-quarters of the work is already done,” says Allen. When Antonio is out for lunch with Anna and his family, he is stunned to see Milly at another table being wooed by Salta, which challenges his conception of her as an innocent, virginal girl. Later, at a party for the elite of Rome, Antonio finds out that Anna has a degree of notoriety, albeit one lacking Luca Salta’s prestige. Many of Rome’s top businessmen seem to know her quite well, and line up to make appointments. Later, while taking a walk in the vast gardens during the party, Anna questions Antonio about his marriage. She scoffs at his description of Milly as a “Madonna,” intuiting that it is Antonio who is actually the innocent one. In her own unique way, Anna helps Antonio move forward with a heightened self-awareness. “Anna takes her job very seriously and with a lot of dignity,” says Cruz. “She is convinced that her services are therapeutic and that she does a great service to society.”
While in Rome on holiday, John (Alec Baldwin), a famous American architect, explores the neighborhood he lived in during his student days. There he runs into a young architectural student, Jack (Jesse Eisenberg), who recognizes John from a newspaper photo, and invites him over to his apartment for coffee with his girlfriend Sally (Greta Gerwig). John soon realizes he may have lived in the very same building as Jack. Sally tells Jack that her actress friend Monica (Ellen Page) has just broken up with her boyfriend and is coming to Rome for a change of scenery. Sally describes Monica as sensual, brainy, neurotic, funny—a real man magnet. Says Gerwig: “I think Sally is nervous about Monica, but she thinks that if she just lays out all her fears at the beginning—‘I want to say all the crazy things I’m worried about’—it will act almost like a talisman and then nothing will happen.” John warns Jack not to fall in love with Monica: “He probably knows that Jack will never listen,” says Baldwin, “but he can’t stop trying. Jack is on a course that may lead to disaster. It’s like Jack is playing in traffic and John wants him to get out of the road.” Says Eisenberg: “To have John giving him this practical, but also jaded advice only emboldens Jack. It makes him even more passionate about pursuing Monica.” Of course there is also the element of John seeing Jack as himself as a young man in Rome and Jack’s story is really John’s experience in the past seen now by John with the clarity of hindsight and the understanding of how foolish he was once and how shallow and unworthy of his love was Monica. Still, the attraction trumps logic. Monica loses no time living up to her reputation by dazzling Jack with the lurid details of her wild and unconventional sex life, as well as her seemingly encyclopedic knowledge of art. “Monica is free and has a kind of fluidity in the moment, and I think that’s a very appealing thing to people,” says Page. “Maybe it’s because we all want to feel free. But ultimately people like her don’t necessarily make great partners because there isn’t a lot of solidness.” Says Allen: “You can’t corral people like Monica. They’re too desirable and everybody wants them and they learn that early on. It’s very difficult to have a long-term stable relationship with that kind of person.” While John does everything he can to forewarn Jack, the inevitable happens and he succumbs to Monica’s charms. “He’s in a youthful, romantic bubble, so of course he’s drawn to her,” says Eisenberg. “She’s so self-involved, and her self-involvement makes her so interesting, that when she shines her light anywhere near him, he feels immediately and disproportionately excited.” Throughout, John hovers around Jack (but is John just watching himself as a youth?), slipping in and out of scenes, commenting on Monica and Sally as if they weren’t there, leaving the question of what exactly is going on quite open. This is something that Allen has done deliberately. “You can look at it two different ways,” he says, “but the safest way is that Alec takes a walk down memory lane and he’s meeting his youth in spirit, remembering what had gone on, what his feelings were, the mistakes he made, what the desperations were, and having that as a memory he never got over. Jack is John’s youth without being young John in flashback.” Says Page: “Different people will perceive it in different ways. Maybe people who are older will look at it through the perspective of John and maybe people who are younger will be more attached to the immediacy of the interactions between Monica, Jack and Sally, and John will seem like an outsider.” No matter how one interprets the story, the heart of it is about the wisdom of age looking back at the callowness of youth. Says Baldwin: “In my opinion, and from my experience, looking back at our younger selves, at youth in general is alternately moving and appalling. We see younger people and think, ‘I can’t believe I did that or said that.’ But it’s part of life to grow and change: sometimes slowly; sometimes more quickly.”
Many of the characters in TO ROME WITH LOVE share a desire to be appreciated, particularly if they are relatively ordinary themselves. This need is illustrated in Jerry and Leopoldo’s stories, but also in the strategy that Luca Salta employs to romance Milly: he tells her that he values her opinions on cultural matters, an acknowledgement that her husband has never given her. Jerry’s son-in-law to-be Michelangelo keeps the subject of every conversation on himself and his altruistic views, which makes him feel special and important. Likewise, Jack’s self-esteem swells when he believes that a woman with the sparkle of Monica would choose him as a lover. “Unavailable women are like catnip to some men, particularly when they are younger,” says Baldwin. “You don’t actually want them. You just want to win the game. It’s about ego.” Page thinks that Monica is also on a constant quest to be validated by the opinions of others: “When Monica is engaging with people, she always has this air of striving to be the intellectual. I perceive that that might have something to do with her insecurity and her need to feel important, as in ‘Please like me! I’m smart and I know this really good quote!’” This fundamental need in the human psyche to be acknowledged could be the basis of people’s craving for fame. “We live in a society where fame is this completely cherished and worshipped thing,” says Page, “even though it's constantly being revealed to us that's it's typically not a healthy lifestyle for people and it can even disintegrate them. People pursue the idea that: ‘this is going to make me happy; this is going to make me feel important; this is going to make me feel grounded and safe and powerful.’ The irony is that the thing that people are expecting to fill them is what ultimately makes them feel quite empty.” Says Allen: “People desire fame for the same reason they pursue anything. Everything we do, whether it’s fame, money, pretty clothes, possessions, artistic or athletic skill, whatever it is, what you're trying to do is attract a member of the opposite sex, as disguised as that may be in the actual action.”
The stories found in TO ROME WITH LOVE explore the eternal quest for love and sex in its many variations: from a betrothal and a honeymoon through assorted acts of infidelity; from tender lovemaking to more spontaneous liaisons; from the absurd and ridiculous to the poignant and profound; from the exhilaration of newfound love all the way to heartbreak and its aftermath. These romantic interludes play out simultaneously in this ancient and bustling city, in every part of town, in the past and in the present. They will carry on into the future. Countless people have found love on the streets of Rome—these are but a few. # # #
TO ROME WITH LOVE About the Cast
ALEC BALDWIN (John) is a graduate of New York University (BFA-Tisch, 1994) and was presented with an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from NYU in 2010. He last appeared on stage in the 2010 Guild Hall (East Hampton) production of Peter Shaffer’s Equus, directed by Tony Walton. Other stage credits include: the Roundabout Theatre Company’s 2006 production of Joe Orton’s Entertaining Mr. Sloane, directed by Scott Ellis; Loot (Broadway-1986; Theatre World Award); Caryl Churchill's Serious Money (Broadway-1988); Prelude to a Kiss (Circle Rep, 1990, Obie Award); A Streetcar Named Desire (Broadway, 1992, Tony® nomination), Macbeth (NYSF, 1998); and The Twentieth Century (Roundabout, 2004). Baldwin also appeared in The Hartman in Stamford, Williamstown, Bay Street. Baldwin has appeared in over forty films, including BEETLEJUICE, WORKING GIRL, MIAMI BLUES, THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS, MALICE, THE JUROR, THE EDGE, GHOSTS OF MISSISSIPPI, STATE AND MAIN, THE CAT IN THE HAT, THE COOLER (National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor, Oscar® nomination), THE AVIATOR, THE DEPARTED, and IT’S COMPLICATED, among many others. On television, Baldwin currently stars with Tina Fey on NBC’s 30 Rock, winner of the 2007, 2008 and 2009 Emmy® for Outstanding Comedy Series. Baldwin has received six SAG Awards, three Golden Globes®, the Television Critics Award and two Emmy® awards as Best Actor in a Comedy Series for his performance on the show. In 2011 Alec received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His company, El Dorado Pictures, has produced several projects including Nuremberg: Infamy on Trial for TNT television (Emmy® nomination), The Confession for Showtime (WGA award for best adapted screenplay) and David Mamet’s STATE AND MAIN.
Alec Baldwin is also a dedicated supporter of numerous causes related to public policy and the arts. He serves on the boards of People for the American Way, The Hamptons’ International Film Festival and Guild Hall of East Hampton. He is an active supporter of The Radiation and Public Health Project, East Hampton Day Care Center, The Actors Fund, The Public Theatre/New York Shakespeare Festival, The Roundabout Theatre, People for the Ethical treatment of Animals and The Water Keeper Alliance, among many others. Baldwin’s book, A Promise to Ourselves (St. Martin’s Press) was published in paperback in the fall of 2009.
ROBERTO BENIGNI (Leopoldo) is an actor, comedian, screenwriter and director of film, theatre and television. His 1997 film LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL, which he co-wrote, directed and starred in, was nominated for seven Academy Awards®, including Best Picture, and won Best Foreign Language Film, Best Music, and Best Actor. The film received dozens of prestigious prizes around the world, including the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes, a People’s Choice at Toronto, a BAFTA (Best Actor), a Cesar, a Goya, a European Film Award, SAG Award, nine David di Donatello Awards (including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Screenplay), among many others. LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL is one of the most successful foreign language films ever released in the U.S. Benigni first became known in this country appearing in Jim Jarmusch’s DOWN BY LAW in 1986. He would go on to collaborate with Jarmusch in NIGHT ON EARTH and COFFEE & CIGARETTES. Born in Manciano La Misericordia (Castiglion Fiorentino), Benigni moved to Rome in 1972, where he worked in experimental theatre before achieving fame on two outrageous TV series, Onda Libera, and L'altra domenica. He made his debut as a writer/director/star in 1983 with YOU UPSET ME, followed by NOTHING LEFT TO DO BUT CRY, THE LITTLE DEVIL (with Walter Matthau), JOHNNY STECCHINO, THE MONSTER, PINOCCHIO and THE TIGER AND THE SNOW. As an actor he appeared in SEEKING ASYLUM, Bernardo Bertolucci’s LUNA, TIGERS IN LIPSTICK, IL MINESTRONE, Federico Fellini’s LA VOCE DELLA LUNA, Blake Edwards’ SON OF THE PINK PANTHER, and Claude Zidi’s ASTERIX & OBELIX VS. CAESAR. During 2006 and 2007, Benigni toured Italy with his one-man show TuttoDante (Everything about Dante), which mixes recitations of Dante’s Divine Comedy with off-the-cuff humor. In 2009 he toured the United States with TuttoDante. In addition to all of his film awards, Benigni has received numerous honorary degrees from universities around the world.
TO ROME WITH LOVE is the second collaboration between Academy Award® winning actress PENÉLOPE CRUZ (Anna) and Woody Allen. For the first, VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA, Cruz won an Oscar® for Best Supporting Actress in 2008. In 2007, she was nominated for Best Actress for Pedro Almodóvar’s VOLVER, the first actress from Spain to be nominated for an Academy Award®. She received a third nomination as Best Supporting Actress in 2010 for NINE. She is well known for starring opposite Johnny Depp in the blockbuster PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES. Cruz is best known for her many collaborations with Pedro Almodóvar, which began with a small role in LIVE FLESH, followed by a role in the ensemble cast of ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER (awarded the Golden Globe® and Oscar® for Best Foreign Film), and the lead roles in VOLVER and BROKEN EMBRACES. In addition to her Academy Award® nomination for VOLVER, Cruz won a Goya, a European Film Award, shared Best Actress at Cannes, and received nominations for a Golden Globe®, and BAFTA and SAG Awards. Cruz was first introduced to American audiences in the Spanish films JAMON, JAMON and Fernando Trueba’s Academy Award® winning BELLE EPOQUE, and OPEN YOUR EYES. She followed with DON JUAN, TWICE UPON A YESTERDAY, and TALK OF ANGELS, before starring in her first English language film, THE HI-LO COUNTRY, in 1998. The following year she won the Best Actress award at the 13th Annual Goya Awards given by the Spanish Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences for her role in Trueba’s THE GIRL OF YOUR DREAMS. Cruz then appeared in opposite Matt Damon in ALL THE PRETTY HORSES, followed by BLOW, CAPTAIN CORELLI’S MANDOLIN, VANILLA SKY (opposite Tom Cruise), DON’T TEMPT ME, MASKED AND ANONYMOUS, FANFAN LA TULIPE, GOTHIKA, DON’T MOVE (David Di Donatello Award and European Film Award for Best Actress), HEAD IN THE CLOUDS, NOEL, SAHARA, CHROMOPHOBIA, BANDIDAS, THE GOOD NIGHT, ELEGY, A MATADOR’S MISTRESS, G-FORCE (voice), SEX AND THE CITY 2, and the upcoming VENUTO AL MONDO.
JUDY DAVIS (Phyllis) marks her fifth collaboration with Woody Allen on TO ROME WITH LOVE, having previously acted in his films CELEBRITY, DECONSTRUCTING HARRY and ALICE. Davis also starred in Allen’s HUSBANDS AND WIVES, for which she received an Academy Award® nomination for Best Supporting Actress, as well as nominations for a Golden Globe®, a BAFTA as well as awards from the New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, London film critics. Additionally, she was Oscar® nominated for PASSAGE TO INDIA, and was named Best Actress by the Boston Film Critics. Davis has been nominated four times for a Golden Globe®, for HUSBANDS AND WIVES, Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story, Dash and Lilly, and won for One Against the Wind and Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows, She has been nominated for an Emmy® for A Woman Called Golda, One Against the Wind, The Echo of Thunder, Dash and Lilly, A Cooler Climate, The Reagans, A Little Thing Called Murder, and has won for Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story, Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows, and The Starter Wife. She has been nominated for awards eleven times by the Australian Film Institute, and won for HOODWINK, WINTER OF OUR DREAMS, KANGAROO, HIGH TIDE, ON MY OWN, CHILDREN OF THE REVOLUTION, and THE EYE OF THE STORM. Davis first came to the attention of international audiences with MY BRILLIANT CAREER in 1979, for which she won two BAFTA awards. Her subsequent films include: THE FINAL OPTION, A PASSAGE TO INDIA (Best Actress, Boston Film Critics), GEORGIA, IMPROMPTU (Independent Spirit Award as Best Female Lead), BARTON FINK (Best Actress, New York Film Critics, also for NAKED LUNCH), WHERE ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD, DARK BLOOD, THE REF, THE NEW AGE, BLOOD AND WINE, ABSOLUTE POWER,
Leopoldo Pisanello (Roberto Benigni) is an ordinary Roman who suddenly and inexplicably finds himself to be one of the most talked about men in Rome. “Leopoldo has no talent at all, he’s a common, ordinary person,” says Allen, “he has no idea why he is being celebrated. He is quite aware that he is a nobody. Leopoldo is at first totally bewildered and annoyed by all the attention he’s getting and then starts — without even realizing—to like it.” Says Benigni: “Leopoldo was happy and content before he was famous; he had a harmony in his life. But when his harmony is upset he becomes completely discombobulated, trying to understand what is happening to him.” Still, there are telling cracks in Leopoldo’s seeming equilibrium before fame taps him on the shoulder, notably a moment where he longingly looks at a beautiful woman in his office. “He has no chance with a woman like that and he knows it,” says Allen. “Nobody cares what he has to say about anything, whether it’s the movies he sees or whether he thinks the Chinese are taking over the world, and certainly that kind of extraordinary woman is out of his class, until suddenly it all becomes possible.” As paparazzi start trailing him, Leopoldo soon realizes that everything he desires is readily available to him. “You do get seduced by fame,” says Allen. “Not necessarily always corrupted. Fame offers you a lot of opportunities that the average person never gets a chance to experience. So fame is a very seductive drug and it does work on him.” While Leopoldo enjoys the attention and the beautiful women who now throw themselves at him, he is also exasperated by other aspects associated with his sudden fame. “You give up your privacy, you’re constantly hounded, and everything you do is looked at under a microscope,” says Allen.
Roberto Benigni, a true superstar in Italy, is all too aware of what the experience Leopoldo has is like: “My dream is to walk in the street normally, watching people and having coffee, having a pizza and talking with friends. I lose a part of my life and I can’t do that. But if this didn’t happen anymore, I’d be worried… it’s a contradiction.” Says Allen: “While there are many drawbacks to being well-known, I would have to say the perks outweigh the drawbacks. You can live with all that because what you get for it are a great many positive things.”
On the flip side of Leopoldo is Giancarlo (renowned tenor Fabio Armiliato), a man who possesses great talent and yet is completely anonymous. A brilliant opera singer, Giancarlo sings only privately for his own enjoyment. He has never tried it in public. “One can never know what stimulates an artist," says Allen. If the only place that Shakespeare can write is by sitting on a bridge chair in the middle of 42nd Street, for whatever intangible reason, that’s not something we may ever be able to understand. Giancarlo can only sing under very special circumstances.” On the face of it Giancarlo doesn’t seem to care about fame, but meeting his future daughter-in-law’s father, Jerry (Woody Allen), changes everything. A former opera director who is unsatisfied with his retirement, Jerry feels that he never really made his mark on the world. “He’s tried some avant-garde things, but they didn’t work out and he’s never achieved the notoriety or the acceptance he was looking for,” says Allen. “He’s frustrated, and when he finally gets the opportunity to possibly cash in on Giancarlo’s talent, he grabs it.” At first Jerry must overcome the serious obstacle of Giancarlo’s leftist son—and his future son-in-law—Michelangelo (Flavio Parenti), who is extremely hostile to the idea of his humble father being prodded by Jerry into the world of public entertaining. In his protectiveness, Michelangelo doesn’t stop to consider his father’s own wishes. Says Allen: “I think that when people have a real talent, it demands expression. Sooner or later you want some communication of it. I’m sure Giancarlo is the same as anyone. He wants someone to hear his voice and have that relational moment where he sings and people are moved by it.”
Another character in TO ROME WITH LOVE, Milly (Alessandra Mastronardi), while possessing no special talent herself does get to meet a gifted actor. Milly arrives in Rome from a provincial town with her new husband Antonio (Alessandro Tiberi) in search of a new life in the big city. Everything depends on the impression they make on Antonio’s wealthy relatives, who are in the position to give him a high-level job. To look her best, Milly sets out for a hairdresser, but gets hopelessly lost in the labyrinthine streets of Rome. At the same time, Antonio is surprised in his hotel room by the appearance of Anna (Penélope Cruz), a voluptuous call girl who mistakenly believes she has been hired to have sex with him. Anna has been told that Antonio is eccentric and will try to resist, so she refuses to leave. Protesting profusely, Antonio suddenly finds himself forced onto the bed and it is in this compromising position that his relatives find him when they arrive at the hotel room. The only explanation that Antonio can come up with at the spur of the moment is that Anna is actually his wife Milly. Taking pity on him—and having been paid for the day—Anna agrees to go along with this story, and the relatives, although astonished that Antonio has married this indecorous bombshell, seem to accept his ruse. While Anna is willing to say she is Antonio’s wife, this doesn’t mean she will alter her behavior, which sets the stage for many comic situations. Says Cruz: “Anna is a very free spirit and she doesn't have a social filter in her mind so she says everything she feels without ever worrying about the consequences.” Meanwhile, as Milly is trying to find her way back to the hotel, she encounters two movie stars, Pia Fusari (Ornella Muti) and her idol Luca Salta (Antonio Albanese). Milly is flabbergasted when Salta offers to take her out to lunch, and eventually, to his hotel room. “When a beautiful young girl comes up to any movie star and says, ‘I see all your movies and I’m crazy about you,’ he would have a very good chance of taking that girl to bed because three-quarters of the work is already done,” says Allen. When Antonio is out for lunch with Anna and his family, he is stunned to see Milly at another table being wooed by Salta, which challenges his conception of her as an innocent, virginal girl. Later, at a party for the elite of Rome, Antonio finds out that Anna has a degree of notoriety, albeit one lacking Luca Salta’s prestige. Many of Rome’s top businessmen seem to know her quite well, and line up to make appointments. Later, while taking a walk in the vast gardens during the party, Anna questions Antonio about his marriage. She scoffs at his description of Milly as a “Madonna,” intuiting that it is Antonio who is actually the innocent one. In her own unique way, Anna helps Antonio move forward with a heightened self-awareness. “Anna takes her job very seriously and with a lot of dignity,” says Cruz. “She is convinced that her services are therapeutic and that she does a great service to society.”
While in Rome on holiday, John (Alec Baldwin), a famous American architect, explores the neighborhood he lived in during his student days. There he runs into a young architectural student, Jack (Jesse Eisenberg), who recognizes John from a newspaper photo, and invites him over to his apartment for coffee with his girlfriend Sally (Greta Gerwig). John soon realizes he may have lived in the very same building as Jack. Sally tells Jack that her actress friend Monica (Ellen Page) has just broken up with her boyfriend and is coming to Rome for a change of scenery. Sally describes Monica as sensual, brainy, neurotic, funny—a real man magnet. Says Gerwig: “I think Sally is nervous about Monica, but she thinks that if she just lays out all her fears at the beginning—‘I want to say all the crazy things I’m worried about’—it will act almost like a talisman and then nothing will happen.” John warns Jack not to fall in love with Monica: “He probably knows that Jack will never listen,” says Baldwin, “but he can’t stop trying. Jack is on a course that may lead to disaster. It’s like Jack is playing in traffic and John wants him to get out of the road.” Says Eisenberg: “To have John giving him this practical, but also jaded advice only emboldens Jack. It makes him even more passionate about pursuing Monica.” Of course there is also the element of John seeing Jack as himself as a young man in Rome and Jack’s story is really John’s experience in the past seen now by John with the clarity of hindsight and the understanding of how foolish he was once and how shallow and unworthy of his love was Monica. Still, the attraction trumps logic. Monica loses no time living up to her reputation by dazzling Jack with the lurid details of her wild and unconventional sex life, as well as her seemingly encyclopedic knowledge of art. “Monica is free and has a kind of fluidity in the moment, and I think that’s a very appealing thing to people,” says Page. “Maybe it’s because we all want to feel free. But ultimately people like her don’t necessarily make great partners because there isn’t a lot of solidness.” Says Allen: “You can’t corral people like Monica. They’re too desirable and everybody wants them and they learn that early on. It’s very difficult to have a long-term stable relationship with that kind of person.” While John does everything he can to forewarn Jack, the inevitable happens and he succumbs to Monica’s charms. “He’s in a youthful, romantic bubble, so of course he’s drawn to her,” says Eisenberg. “She’s so self-involved, and her self-involvement makes her so interesting, that when she shines her light anywhere near him, he feels immediately and disproportionately excited.” Throughout, John hovers around Jack (but is John just watching himself as a youth?), slipping in and out of scenes, commenting on Monica and Sally as if they weren’t there, leaving the question of what exactly is going on quite open. This is something that Allen has done deliberately. “You can look at it two different ways,” he says, “but the safest way is that Alec takes a walk down memory lane and he’s meeting his youth in spirit, remembering what had gone on, what his feelings were, the mistakes he made, what the desperations were, and having that as a memory he never got over. Jack is John’s youth without being young John in flashback.” Says Page: “Different people will perceive it in different ways. Maybe people who are older will look at it through the perspective of John and maybe people who are younger will be more attached to the immediacy of the interactions between Monica, Jack and Sally, and John will seem like an outsider.” No matter how one interprets the story, the heart of it is about the wisdom of age looking back at the callowness of youth. Says Baldwin: “In my opinion, and from my experience, looking back at our younger selves, at youth in general is alternately moving and appalling. We see younger people and think, ‘I can’t believe I did that or said that.’ But it’s part of life to grow and change: sometimes slowly; sometimes more quickly.”
Many of the characters in TO ROME WITH LOVE share a desire to be appreciated, particularly if they are relatively ordinary themselves. This need is illustrated in Jerry and Leopoldo’s stories, but also in the strategy that Luca Salta employs to romance Milly: he tells her that he values her opinions on cultural matters, an acknowledgement that her husband has never given her. Jerry’s son-in-law to-be Michelangelo keeps the subject of every conversation on himself and his altruistic views, which makes him feel special and important. Likewise, Jack’s self-esteem swells when he believes that a woman with the sparkle of Monica would choose him as a lover. “Unavailable women are like catnip to some men, particularly when they are younger,” says Baldwin. “You don’t actually want them. You just want to win the game. It’s about ego.” Page thinks that Monica is also on a constant quest to be validated by the opinions of others: “When Monica is engaging with people, she always has this air of striving to be the intellectual. I perceive that that might have something to do with her insecurity and her need to feel important, as in ‘Please like me! I’m smart and I know this really good quote!’” This fundamental need in the human psyche to be acknowledged could be the basis of people’s craving for fame. “We live in a society where fame is this completely cherished and worshipped thing,” says Page, “even though it's constantly being revealed to us that's it's typically not a healthy lifestyle for people and it can even disintegrate them. People pursue the idea that: ‘this is going to make me happy; this is going to make me feel important; this is going to make me feel grounded and safe and powerful.’ The irony is that the thing that people are expecting to fill them is what ultimately makes them feel quite empty.” Says Allen: “People desire fame for the same reason they pursue anything. Everything we do, whether it’s fame, money, pretty clothes, possessions, artistic or athletic skill, whatever it is, what you're trying to do is attract a member of the opposite sex, as disguised as that may be in the actual action.”
The stories found in TO ROME WITH LOVE explore the eternal quest for love and sex in its many variations: from a betrothal and a honeymoon through assorted acts of infidelity; from tender lovemaking to more spontaneous liaisons; from the absurd and ridiculous to the poignant and profound; from the exhilaration of newfound love all the way to heartbreak and its aftermath. These romantic interludes play out simultaneously in this ancient and bustling city, in every part of town, in the past and in the present. They will carry on into the future. Countless people have found love on the streets of Rome—these are but a few. # # #
TO ROME WITH LOVE About the Cast
ALEC BALDWIN (John) is a graduate of New York University (BFA-Tisch, 1994) and was presented with an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from NYU in 2010. He last appeared on stage in the 2010 Guild Hall (East Hampton) production of Peter Shaffer’s Equus, directed by Tony Walton. Other stage credits include: the Roundabout Theatre Company’s 2006 production of Joe Orton’s Entertaining Mr. Sloane, directed by Scott Ellis; Loot (Broadway-1986; Theatre World Award); Caryl Churchill's Serious Money (Broadway-1988); Prelude to a Kiss (Circle Rep, 1990, Obie Award); A Streetcar Named Desire (Broadway, 1992, Tony® nomination), Macbeth (NYSF, 1998); and The Twentieth Century (Roundabout, 2004). Baldwin also appeared in The Hartman in Stamford, Williamstown, Bay Street. Baldwin has appeared in over forty films, including BEETLEJUICE, WORKING GIRL, MIAMI BLUES, THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS, MALICE, THE JUROR, THE EDGE, GHOSTS OF MISSISSIPPI, STATE AND MAIN, THE CAT IN THE HAT, THE COOLER (National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor, Oscar® nomination), THE AVIATOR, THE DEPARTED, and IT’S COMPLICATED, among many others. On television, Baldwin currently stars with Tina Fey on NBC’s 30 Rock, winner of the 2007, 2008 and 2009 Emmy® for Outstanding Comedy Series. Baldwin has received six SAG Awards, three Golden Globes®, the Television Critics Award and two Emmy® awards as Best Actor in a Comedy Series for his performance on the show. In 2011 Alec received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His company, El Dorado Pictures, has produced several projects including Nuremberg: Infamy on Trial for TNT television (Emmy® nomination), The Confession for Showtime (WGA award for best adapted screenplay) and David Mamet’s STATE AND MAIN.
Alec Baldwin is also a dedicated supporter of numerous causes related to public policy and the arts. He serves on the boards of People for the American Way, The Hamptons’ International Film Festival and Guild Hall of East Hampton. He is an active supporter of The Radiation and Public Health Project, East Hampton Day Care Center, The Actors Fund, The Public Theatre/New York Shakespeare Festival, The Roundabout Theatre, People for the Ethical treatment of Animals and The Water Keeper Alliance, among many others. Baldwin’s book, A Promise to Ourselves (St. Martin’s Press) was published in paperback in the fall of 2009.
ROBERTO BENIGNI (Leopoldo) is an actor, comedian, screenwriter and director of film, theatre and television. His 1997 film LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL, which he co-wrote, directed and starred in, was nominated for seven Academy Awards®, including Best Picture, and won Best Foreign Language Film, Best Music, and Best Actor. The film received dozens of prestigious prizes around the world, including the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes, a People’s Choice at Toronto, a BAFTA (Best Actor), a Cesar, a Goya, a European Film Award, SAG Award, nine David di Donatello Awards (including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Screenplay), among many others. LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL is one of the most successful foreign language films ever released in the U.S. Benigni first became known in this country appearing in Jim Jarmusch’s DOWN BY LAW in 1986. He would go on to collaborate with Jarmusch in NIGHT ON EARTH and COFFEE & CIGARETTES. Born in Manciano La Misericordia (Castiglion Fiorentino), Benigni moved to Rome in 1972, where he worked in experimental theatre before achieving fame on two outrageous TV series, Onda Libera, and L'altra domenica. He made his debut as a writer/director/star in 1983 with YOU UPSET ME, followed by NOTHING LEFT TO DO BUT CRY, THE LITTLE DEVIL (with Walter Matthau), JOHNNY STECCHINO, THE MONSTER, PINOCCHIO and THE TIGER AND THE SNOW. As an actor he appeared in SEEKING ASYLUM, Bernardo Bertolucci’s LUNA, TIGERS IN LIPSTICK, IL MINESTRONE, Federico Fellini’s LA VOCE DELLA LUNA, Blake Edwards’ SON OF THE PINK PANTHER, and Claude Zidi’s ASTERIX & OBELIX VS. CAESAR. During 2006 and 2007, Benigni toured Italy with his one-man show TuttoDante (Everything about Dante), which mixes recitations of Dante’s Divine Comedy with off-the-cuff humor. In 2009 he toured the United States with TuttoDante. In addition to all of his film awards, Benigni has received numerous honorary degrees from universities around the world.
TO ROME WITH LOVE is the second collaboration between Academy Award® winning actress PENÉLOPE CRUZ (Anna) and Woody Allen. For the first, VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA, Cruz won an Oscar® for Best Supporting Actress in 2008. In 2007, she was nominated for Best Actress for Pedro Almodóvar’s VOLVER, the first actress from Spain to be nominated for an Academy Award®. She received a third nomination as Best Supporting Actress in 2010 for NINE. She is well known for starring opposite Johnny Depp in the blockbuster PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES. Cruz is best known for her many collaborations with Pedro Almodóvar, which began with a small role in LIVE FLESH, followed by a role in the ensemble cast of ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER (awarded the Golden Globe® and Oscar® for Best Foreign Film), and the lead roles in VOLVER and BROKEN EMBRACES. In addition to her Academy Award® nomination for VOLVER, Cruz won a Goya, a European Film Award, shared Best Actress at Cannes, and received nominations for a Golden Globe®, and BAFTA and SAG Awards. Cruz was first introduced to American audiences in the Spanish films JAMON, JAMON and Fernando Trueba’s Academy Award® winning BELLE EPOQUE, and OPEN YOUR EYES. She followed with DON JUAN, TWICE UPON A YESTERDAY, and TALK OF ANGELS, before starring in her first English language film, THE HI-LO COUNTRY, in 1998. The following year she won the Best Actress award at the 13th Annual Goya Awards given by the Spanish Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences for her role in Trueba’s THE GIRL OF YOUR DREAMS. Cruz then appeared in opposite Matt Damon in ALL THE PRETTY HORSES, followed by BLOW, CAPTAIN CORELLI’S MANDOLIN, VANILLA SKY (opposite Tom Cruise), DON’T TEMPT ME, MASKED AND ANONYMOUS, FANFAN LA TULIPE, GOTHIKA, DON’T MOVE (David Di Donatello Award and European Film Award for Best Actress), HEAD IN THE CLOUDS, NOEL, SAHARA, CHROMOPHOBIA, BANDIDAS, THE GOOD NIGHT, ELEGY, A MATADOR’S MISTRESS, G-FORCE (voice), SEX AND THE CITY 2, and the upcoming VENUTO AL MONDO.
JUDY DAVIS (Phyllis) marks her fifth collaboration with Woody Allen on TO ROME WITH LOVE, having previously acted in his films CELEBRITY, DECONSTRUCTING HARRY and ALICE. Davis also starred in Allen’s HUSBANDS AND WIVES, for which she received an Academy Award® nomination for Best Supporting Actress, as well as nominations for a Golden Globe®, a BAFTA as well as awards from the New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, London film critics. Additionally, she was Oscar® nominated for PASSAGE TO INDIA, and was named Best Actress by the Boston Film Critics. Davis has been nominated four times for a Golden Globe®, for HUSBANDS AND WIVES, Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story, Dash and Lilly, and won for One Against the Wind and Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows, She has been nominated for an Emmy® for A Woman Called Golda, One Against the Wind, The Echo of Thunder, Dash and Lilly, A Cooler Climate, The Reagans, A Little Thing Called Murder, and has won for Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story, Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows, and The Starter Wife. She has been nominated for awards eleven times by the Australian Film Institute, and won for HOODWINK, WINTER OF OUR DREAMS, KANGAROO, HIGH TIDE, ON MY OWN, CHILDREN OF THE REVOLUTION, and THE EYE OF THE STORM. Davis first came to the attention of international audiences with MY BRILLIANT CAREER in 1979, for which she won two BAFTA awards. Her subsequent films include: THE FINAL OPTION, A PASSAGE TO INDIA (Best Actress, Boston Film Critics), GEORGIA, IMPROMPTU (Independent Spirit Award as Best Female Lead), BARTON FINK (Best Actress, New York Film Critics, also for NAKED LUNCH), WHERE ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD, DARK BLOOD, THE REF, THE NEW AGE, BLOOD AND WINE, ABSOLUTE POWER,
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GAUDI AFTERNOON, THE MAN WHO SUED GOD, SWIMMING UPSTREAM, MARIE ANTOINETTE, and THE BREAK-UP. Judy Davis’ long career also includes both acting and directing for theatre where she recently starred as Irina in The Seagull and directed Victory, The School for Scandal and Barrymore for the Sydney Theatre Company. JESSE EISENBERG (Jack) has appeared in the films 30 MINUTES OR LESS, THE SOCIAL NETWORK, HOLY ROLLERS, ZOMBIELAND, ADVENTURELAND, THE SQUID AND THE WHALE and ROGER DODGER. For THE SOCIAL NETWORK, Eisenberg was nominated for both an Academy Award® and a BAFTA award for Best Leading Actor for his role as Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg. He was also nominated for a BAFTA Rising Star Award for his work on ADVENTURELAND. On stage, he has appeared in Orphans opposite Al Pacino, Scarcity at The Atlantic Theater and Asuncion at The Cherry Lane, which he wrote. He is also a contributing writer for McSweeney’s and his humorous essays have appeared in Harpers and The New York Times. GRETA GERWIG (Sally) was recently nominated for the Breakthrough Actor category in the 2010 Gotham Awards, in addition to Best Female Lead in the 2011 Independent Spirit Awards for her role as Florence Marr in Noah Baumbach’s GREENBERG, opposite Ben Stiller. Famed New York Times film critic A.O. Scott said “Ms. Gerwig, most likely without intending to be anything of the kind, may well be the definitive screen actress of her generation…” She made her mark in the indie and festival film markets starring in films such as HANNA TAKES THE STAIRS, and NIGHTS AND WEEKENDS, which she also co-wrote and co-directed with Joe Swanberg. The film premiered at South by Southwest Film Festival and was the first major sale in the festival’s history. Greta Gerwig most recently starred as ‘Naomi’ in the Warner Brothers remake of ARTHUR with Helen Mirren, Jennifer Garner, Russell Brand and Nick Nolte. Before that she starred alongside Natalie Portman, Ashton Kutcher and Kevin Kline in Ivan Reitman’s NO STRINGS
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ATTACHED for Paramount Pictures. She can currently be seen playing the lead role of ‘Violet’ in Whit Stillman’s new comedy DAMSELS IN DISTRESS, released by Sony Pictures Classics. She recently shot Fox Searchlight’s LOLA VERSUS in which she plays the role of Lola. This summer Gerwig will be a part of the ensemble cast of HBO’s new series The Corrections based on the Jonathan Franzen novel of the same title. Her other credits include lead roles in Mary Bronstein’s YEAST, the Duplass Brothers’ BAGHEAD, and THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL. A Magna Cum Laude graduate of Barnard College, Columbia University, Gerwig makes her home in New York. Academy Award® nominee ELLEN PAGE (Monica) has established herself as one of the most talented actresses in Hollywood today. She continues to build on her impressive body of work with a diverse line-up of roles with some of the most acclaimed directors of all time. In addition to starring in TO ROME WITH LOVE, Page will be starring in the Fox Searchlight thriller THE EAST, a story centered on a contract worker who is tasked with infiltrating an anarchist group, only to find herself falling for its leader. Page will appear opposite Brit Marling, Alexander Skarsgård and Patricia Clarkson. In 2010, Page starred in a host of roles: Christopher Nolan's award-winning psychological thriller INCEPTION, opposite Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marion Cotillard; the independent film PEACOCK, written and directed by David Lander and also starring Susan Sarandon and Cillian Murphy; and the dark comedy SUPER, opposite Rainn Wilson and Liv Tyler. Other recent credits include Fox Searchlight’s WHIP IT (2009), which was Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut. Page led an all-star cast including Kristin Wiig, Marcia Gay Harden, Alia Shawkat, Juliette Lewis and Jimmy Fallon. With her breakout role in Jason Reitman's hit comedy JUNO, Ellen received Academy Award®, BAFTA, Golden Globe® and SAG Best Actress nominations, and won the Independent Spirit
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Award for her performance. Written by Diablo Cody, the film is about an offbeat teenager (Page) who finds herself unexpectedly pregnant and makes a surprising and mature decision regarding her unborn child. Cody won the Oscar® for Best Screenplay for the film. Ellen’s other credits include the title role of Bruce McDonald's, THE TRACEY FRAGMENTS (2007) where she portrayed a bullied 15-year-old high school girl; AN AMERICAN CRIME, starring alongside Catherine Keener; and the third installation of the X-Men franchise, X-MEN: THE LAST STAND (2006), which grossed more than $230 million dollars worldwide. She has also starred in the Canadian ensemble piece THE STONE ANGEL, featuring Ellen Burstyn and directed by Kari Skogland; Alison Murray's MOUTH TO MOUTH; Daniel MacIvor's ensemble piece WILBY WONDERFUL; and SMART PEOPLE, opposite Dennis Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker and Thomas Haden Church. As the lead in Lionsgate's 2005 independent feature HARD CANDY, directed by David Slade, Page garnered much praise for her tour de force performance as a 14-year-old girl who meets a 30-year-old photographer on the Internet and then looks to expose him as pedophile. Also starring Patrick Wilson and Sandra Oh, the indie film premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. A native of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Page has long been a fixture in Canadian television and cinema. She began her career at the age of ten on the award-winning television movie, Pit Pony, for which she received a Gemini nomination for Best Performance in a Children's Program and a Young Artist Awards nomination for Best Performance in a TV Drama Series. Later, Page appeared as Joanie' in Marion Bridge, where she won an ACTRA Maritimes Award for Outstanding Female Performance. The film also won the award for Best Canadian First Feature at the Toronto International Film Festival. She won a Gemini Award for her role of Lilith' in the first season of ReGenesis, a one-hour drama for TMN/Movie Central, and for the cable feature, Mrs. Ashboro's Cat, for Best Performance in a Children's or Youth Program or Series. In addition, Page appeared in the cult hit TV series Trailer Park Boys. # # #
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TO ROME WITH LOVE About the Supporting Cast ANTONIO ALBANESE (Luca Salta) is an Italian actor, director and writer. Beginning his career in the theatre in Milan, Albanese became a popular TV comedian in the early 1990’s, creating a number of comic personas which he showcased on the Maurizio Costanza talk show and on Mai dire gol. His films include UN’ANIMA DIVISA IN DUE, ALLELUIA, ALLELUIA…CORREVA L’ANNO 999, VESNA VA VELOCE, YOU LAUGH, LUCKY AND ZORBA (voice), STORK DAY, LA SECONDA NOTTE DI NOZZE, MANUALE D’AMORE 2, DAYS AND CLOUDS, QUESTIONE DI CUORE, and QUALUNQUEMENTE, which he also wrote. Albanese directed and starred in UOMO D’ACQUA DOLCE (also wrote), LA FAME E LA SETE (also wrote) and IL NOSTRO MATRIMONIO È IN CRISI. Albanese has been nominated repeatedly for several prestigious Italian awards (including the Italian Golden Globes) and won Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival in 2000 for his performance in HOLY TONGUE. FABIO ARMILIATO (Giancarlo) is one of the most renowned tenors of his generation. TO ROME WITH LOVE marks his debut as a film actor. Armiliato was born in Genoa and studied at the Niccolò Paganini conservatory in his home town. He made his official debut in 1984 as Gabriele Adorno in Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra. After winning the Tito Schipa competition in Lecce, his international career developed rapidly and led him to some of the greatest Opera Houses in the world. He made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera House with Il Trovatore, returning later in Aida and Madame Butterfly. He has also performed in the Teatro all Scala in Milan, in the Opera de Paris, and in the San Francisco Opera. He performed Madame Butterfly in La Scala, in the Puccini Festival (Torre del Lago) and in the New National Theatre (Tokyo). Recent performances include the Great Singers of Our Time Concert (Athens), Turandot (Seville), Luisa Miller (Zurich), Force of Destiny (Vienna), Othello and Il Trovatore (Liege), Carmen (Barcelona), and Mefistofele (Monte Carlo). ALESSANDRA MASTRONARDI (Milly) was born in 1986 in Naples, but has since lived primarily in Rome. Her acting career began in 1999 when she got a role in the TV series Un
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prete tra noi, followed by her feature film debut in IL MANOSCRITTO DI VAN HECKEN that same year. Most of her subsequent work has been on television, including the series, Un medico in famiglia, Don Mateo, I Cesaroni , and Romanzo criminale-la serie, and the TV movies Il veterinario, Il grande Torino, Non smettere di sognare, Pope Pius XII, Atelier Fontana – Le sorelle della moda, and La chartreuse de Parma. Her other films include DON’T TELL, PROVA A VOLARE and AMERIQUA, starring opposite Alec Baldwin. This year she has the lead role in the 12-part $30 million dollar TV series, Titanic: Blood and Steel, opposite Derek Jacobi, Neve Campbell and Chris Noth. The series is set before the Titanic sets sail and focuses on the ship’s construction and the social, political and economic issues of the period. ORNELLA MUTI (Pia Fusari) modeled as a teenager and made her film debut in 1970 in the Italian film THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WIFE and has since primarily worked in Italian cinema. She made her British film debut as ‘Princess Aura’ in FLASH GORDON in 1980, also starring Timothy Dalton and Max von Sydow. American movies she has since appeared in include OSCAR by Joe Landis and starring Sylvester Stallone, and Eugene Levy’s ONCE UPON A CRIME starring James Belushi and Cybill Shepherd. She has been nominated for several European film awards, and gone on to win Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival for her role in PRIVATE CODE in 1988. Her films include THE HOUSE OF THE DOVES, LEONOR, Marco Ferreri’s THE LAST WOMAN and TALES OF ORDINARY MADNESS, AND AGNES CHOSE TO DIE, VIVA ITALIA!, THE TAMING OF THE SCOUNDREL, LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL, James Toback’s LOVE & MONEY, SWANN IN LOVE, THE FUTURE IS WOMAN, Franco Rosi’s CHRONICLE OF A DEATH FORETOLD, WAIT UNTIL SPRING, BANDINI, John Landis’ OSCAR, STELLA’S FAVOR, LES BRONZES 3 and POSTCARDS FROM ROME, among many others. FLAVIO PARENTI (Michelangelo) was born in Paris, and grew up in both France and Italy learning to speak both languages. He has worked as both an actor and director in theatre and television. His theater debut was Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage and Her Children, which he also co-directed. He made his film debut in 2008 with TALK ABOUT LOVE, followed by COLPO D’OCCHIO and BLOOD OF THE LOSERS. On TV, he played Albert Einstein’s son in Liliana Cavani’s Einstein. Following that, he starred alongside Tilda Swinton in the highly
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acclaimed and Academy Award® nominated film I AM LOVE, directed by Luca Guadagnino. He made his feature film directing debut with QUANTUM BUTTERFLY DREAM, which won Best Film at the Los Angeles DIY Festival. ALISON PILL (Hayley) most recently starred in Woody Allen’s film MIDNIGHT IN PARIS. She has also acted on Broadway in The Miracle Worker and Mauritius, and in the Off-Broadway hits This Wide Night, Neil LaBute’s Reasons to be Pretty, and Blackbird, for which she received Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics Circle and Drama League nominations. Pill was nominated for a Tony® Award for her Broadway debut in The Lieutenant of Inishmore and for a Lucille Lortel Award for On the Mountain. She won a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Ensemble in the U.S. premiere of The Distance from Here and starred in an Off-Broadway run of None of the Above. Her films include SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD, MILK, DAN IN REAL LIFE, DEAR WENDY, CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE DRAMA QUEEN, PIECES OF APRIL, and GOON, with Seann William Scott. She was recently seen on television in The Pillars of the Earth and In Treatment, and has a lead role in Aaron Sorkin’s upcoming HBO series The Newsroom, opposite Jeff Daniels, Emily Mortimer, and Sam Waterston. RICCARDO SCAMARCIO (Hotel Robber) made his acting debut in 2001 in the TV series Compagni di scuola and made his film debut in the critically acclaimed THE BEST OF YOUTH, followed by his breakout role in THREE STEPS OVER HEAVEN, which made him into a very popular actor, particularly among young people. Among his credits are THE SCENT OF BLOOD, TEXAS, MIO FRATELLO E UN FIGLIO UNICO (for which he won a David di Donatello nomination for Best Supporting Actor), MANUALE D’AMORE – CAPITOLI SUCCESSIVI, HO VOGLIA DI TE and Abel Ferrara’s GO GO TALES, COLPO D’OCCHIO, ITALIANS, IL GRANDE SOGNO, Costa-Gavras’ EDEN IS WEST, L’UOMO NERO, THE FRONT LINE, LOOSE CANNONS, THE AGES OF LOVE (with Robert De Niro and Monica Belucci), and POLISSE, among others. On TV, he starred in the mini-series Black Arrow (2006) and Il segreto dell’acqua (2011). ALESSANDRO TIBERI (Antonio) has had a long career in dubbing television series and films for an Italian audience. He first started acting for television and in films in the early 1990s, and
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made his feature film debut in ULTRÀ, which won a Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. Other films include ASCOLTA LA CANZONE DEL VENTO, COSE CHE SI DICONO AL BUIO (with Alessandra Mastronardi), SCRIVILO SUI MURI, ASPETTANDO IL SOLE and Stefano Chiantini’s UNA PICCOLA STORIA and L’AMORE NON BASTA. In 2009, he got the lead role in Massimo Venier’s GENERAZIONE MILLE EURO which was nominated for Best Comedy by the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists. Tiberi’s television credits include the series Ho sposato un calciatore (2005) based on British ITV’s Footballers’ Wives, the crime series R.I.S. - Delitti imperfetti (2008) and Quo Vadis, Baby? (2008). He was one of the main characters in the television series Boris, which has won a Golden Pegasus, and later played the same character in the film version of the series, BORIS: THE MOVIE. More recently he appeared in the film IMMATURI starring Isabelle Adriani, Raoul Bova and Simona Caparrini. He will next be appearing in the comedy WORKERS released later this year. # # #
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Writer-Director Woody Allen What’s New Pussycat? 1965/screenwriter, actor What’s Up, Tiger Lily? 1966/co-screenwriter, actor Casino Royale 1967/actor Take the Money and Run 1969/director, co-screenwriter, actor Bananas 1971/director, co-screenwriter, actor Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex But Were Afraid to Ask 1972/director, screenwriter, actor Play It Again, Sam 1972/screenwriter, actor Sleeper 1973/director, co-screenwriter, actor Love and Death 1975/director, screenwriter, actor The Front 1976/actor Annie Hall 1977/director, co-screenwriter, actor Academy Award nominee (& winner), Best Director Academy Award nominee (& winner), Best Original Screenplay Academy Award nominee, Best Actor Interiors 1978/director, screenwriter Academy Award nominee, Best Director Academy Award nominee, Best Original Screenplay Manhattan 1979/director, co-screenwriter, actor Academy Award nominee, Best Original Screenplay Stardust Memories 1980/director, screenwriter, actor A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy 1982/director, screenwriter, actor Zelig 1983/director, screenwriter, actor Broadway Danny Rose 1984/director, screenwriter, actor Academy Award nominee, Best Director Academy Award nominee, Best Original Screenplay The Purple Rose of Cairo 1985/director, screenwriter Academy Award nominee, Best Original Screenplay
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Hannah and Her Sisters 1986/director, screenwriter, actor Academy Award nominee, Best Director Academy Award nominee (& winner), Best Original Screenplay Radio Days 1987/director, screenwriter, narrator Academy Award nominee, Best Original Screenplay September 1987/director, screenwriter Another Woman 1988/director, screenwriter New York Stories (“Oedipus Wrecks”) 1989/director, screenwriter, actor Crimes and Misdemeanors 1989/director, screenwriter, actor Academy Award nominee, Best Director Academy Award nominee, Best Original Screenplay Alice 1990/director, screenwriter Academy Award nominee, Best Original Screenplay Scenes from a Mall 1991/actor Shadows and Fog 1992/director, screenwriter, actor Husbands and Wives 1992/director, screenwriter, actor Academy Award nominee, Best Original Screenplay Manhattan Murder Mystery 1993/director, co-screenwriter, actor Bullets Over Broadway 1994/director, co-screenwriter Academy Award nominee, Best Director Academy Award nominee, Best Original Screenplay Don’t Drink the Water 1994/director, screenwriter, actor (made-for-television movie) Mighty Aphrodite 1995/director, screenwriter, actor Academy Award nominee, Best Original Screenplay Everyone Says I Love You 1996/director, screenwriter, actor Deconstructing Harry 1997/director, screenwriter, actor Academy Award nominee, Best Original Screenplay The Sunshine Boys 1997/actor (made-for-television movie) Antz 1998/actor (voice)
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The Impostors 1998/actor (cameo) Celebrity 1998/director, screenwriter Sweet and Lowdown 1999/director, screenwriter, on-camera interviewee Small Time Crooks 2000/director, screenwriter, actor Picking Up the Pieces 2000/actor Company Man 2001/actor (cameo) The Curse of the Jade Scorpion 2001/director, screenwriter, actor Sounds from a Town I Love 2001/director/screenwriter (short) Hollywood Ending 2002/director, screenwriter, actor Anything Else 2003/director, screenwriter, actor Melinda and Melinda 2004/director, screenwriter Match Point 2005/director, screenwriter Academy Award nominee, Best Original Screenplay Scoop 2006/director, screenwriter, actor Cassandra’s Dream 2007/director, screenwriter Vicky Cristina Barcelona 2008/ director, screenwriter Whatever Works 2009/ director, screenwriter You Will Meet a 2010/ director, screenwriter Tall Dark Stranger Midnight in Paris 2011/ director, screenwriter Academy Award nominee (& winner), Best Original Screenplay Academy Award nominee, Best Picture Academy Award nominee, Best Director Academy Award nominee, Best Achievement in Art Direction Academy Awards summary Nominated seven times for Best Director; won for Annie Hall Nominated fifteen times for Best Original Screenplay; won for Annie Hall, Hannah and Her Sisters and Midnight in Paris Nominated one time for Best Actor Three films nominated for Best Picture; won for Annie Hall
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TO ROME WITH LOVE About the Filmmakers LETTY ARONSON (Producer) previously produced Woody Allen’s MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, which was nominated for an Academy Award® for Best Picture in 2012, YOU WILL MEET A TALL DARK STRANGER, WHATEVER WORKS, VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA, CASSANDRA’S DREAM, SCOOP, MATCH POINT, MELINDA AND MELINDA, HOLLYWOOD ENDING, and THE CURSE OF THE JADE SCORPION. Her extensive film, television, and stage experience includes numerous other collaborations with Mr. Allen. She co-executive-produced such films as DON’T DRINK THE WATER, which marked Mr. Allen’s first foray into television moviemaking; BULLETS OVER BROADWAY, which garnered seven Academy Award® nominations, winning for Best Supporting Actress (Dianne Wiest); MIGHTY APHRODITE, for which Mira Sorvino won the Academy Award® for Best Supporting Actress; and SWEET AND LOWDOWN, for which Sean Penn and Samantha Morton both earned Academy Award® nominations. Her other credits as a co-executive producer include Mr. Allen’s highly acclaimed musical comedy EVERYONE SAYS I LOVE YOU; as well as his films CELEBRITY, DECONSTRUCTING HARRY and SMALL TIME CROOKS. In addition, Aronson co-executive-produced THE SPANISH PRISONER, written for the screen and directed by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and critically acclaimed filmmaker David Mamet. Critics universally praised the film when it was released in 1998. She also co-executive-produced INTO MY HEART, which was written and directed by two newcomers, Sean Smith and Anthony Stark; and Coky Giedroyc’s WOMEN TALKING DIRTY, starring Helena Bonham Carter, which marked Ms. Aronson’s first European co-production with Elton John’s Rocket Pictures. Her credits also include Dinah Was, the off-Broadway musical about blues legend Dinah Washington; THE STORY OF A BAD BOY, written and directed by acclaimed playwright Tom Donaghy; JUST LOOKING, a heartwarming coming-of-age film directed by Jason Alexander;
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and the comedy SUNBURN, directed by Nelson Hume, which screened at the Galway Film Festival and the 1999 Toronto International Film Festival. Aronson’s television work includes Saturday Night Live and The Robert Klein Comedy Hour, both for NBC. In the world of theatre, she served as associate producer of Death Defying Acts, an off-Broadway comedy consisting of three one-act plays written by Elaine May, Woody Allen, and David Mamet. She had earlier served as Vice President of the Museum of Television and Radio for ten years. STEPHEN TENENBAUM (Producer), previously produced MIDNIGHT IN PARIS which was nominated for an Academy Award® for Best Picture in 2012. He also produced Woody Allen’s VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA, winner of the 2008 Golden Globe® for Best Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical), YOU WILL MEET A TALL DARK STRANGER, WHATEVER WORKS, and CASSANDRA’S DREAM. He served as executive producer on SCOOP, MATCH POINT, MELINDA AND MELINDA, ANYTHING ELSE, HOLLYWOOD ENDING, and THE CURSE OF THE JADE SCORPION, the last of which marked his first onscreen producing credit. Tenenbaum graduated with a B.S. from New York University, where he majored in Accounting. He began his show business career in the financial arena, handling such noteworthy clients as The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Barbra Streisand, Bruce Springsteen, Percy Faith, the Platters, Nat King Cole, Mario Lanza, Gilda Radner, Robin Williams, and many others. Tenenbaum later decided to venture into the field of motion picture and television production, as well as personal management. He is currently a partner in Morra, Brezner, Steinberg & Tenenbaum Entertainment, Inc. (MBST), where his client roster includes Woody Allen, Billy Crystal, Robin Williams, and Alain Boubil (the creator of Les Misérables and Miss Saigon). MBST has also been involved in the production of feature films, including Barry Levinson’s GOOD MORNING VIETNAM; Steve Gordon’s ARTHUR; Danny DeVito’s THROW MOMMA FROM THE TRAIN; and Bill Paxton’s THE GREATEST GAME EVER PLAYED, among others.
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TO ROME WITH LOVE is the 20th film that HELEN ROBIN (Co-Producer) has co-produced for Woody Allen. She began her film career as a production assistant on Allen’s STARDUST MEMORIES. Over the course of his next 19 films, she worked her way up from an office production assistant, production coordinator, and production manager to, eventually, line producer. Robin co-produced ALICE, SHADOWS AND FOG, HUSBANDS AND WIVES, MANHATTAN MURDER MYSTERY, BULLETS OVER BROADWAY, MIGHTY APHRODITE and EVERYONE SAYS I LOVE YOU. Following the last, she left Allen’s production company to take some time off and do freelance film work. During that period, she worked as an associate producer on Allan Arkush’s highly-rated television miniseries The Temptations, for Hallmark Entertainment and NBC. After a three-year hiatus, Robin returned to work with Woody Allen on his comedy SMALL TIME CROOKS, which she co-produced. She has since served as a co-producer on all of his films, including SCOOP, MELINDA AND MELINDA, ANYTHING ELSE, HOLLYWOOD ENDING, THE CURSE OF THE JADE SCORPION, MATCH POINT, CASSANDRA’S DREAM, VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA, WHATEVER WORKS, YOU WILL MEET A TALL DARK STRANGER and MIDNIGHT IN PARIS. DAVID NICHOLS (Co-Producer) is an American film producer. Raised in England, his feature film career began in 1981 as second assistant director on Merchant/Ivory’s HEAT AND DUST in India. He became a location and unit manager specializing in large-scale location films, including David Lean’s A PASSAGE TO INDIA, Roland Joffe’s THE MISSION and Peter Weir’s THE MOSQUITO COAST, becoming a production manager in 1987 and in 1989 a line producer. His credits as an Executive Producer/Co-Producer include: Hector Babenco’s AT PLAY IN THE FIELDS OF THE LORD, WAR OF THE BUTTONS, Renny Harlin’s CUTTHROAT ISLAND, RACE THE SUN, and Jean-Jacques Annaud’s SEVEN YEARS IN TIBET. In 1998, he produced the HBO film Excellent Cadavers, filmed in Rome and Sicily. In 2004 he was the Supervising Producer on Mike Barker’s A GOOD WOMAN, filmed on Italy’s Amalfi coast. In 2007, he line produced the Milan and Istanbul segments of Tom Tykwer’s THE
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INTERNATIONAL and in 2010 he was line producer on Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s THE TOURIST, filmed on location in Venice, Italy. After being based in Los Angeles for several years, he returned to Europe in 1998, and launched Cineroma Productions S.r.l., a film production and production service company in Rome. Cineroma Productions has supervised the Italian production for several films from the UK, Australia, and USA, including Guy Ritchie’s SWEPT AWAY, Jan Sardi’s LOVE’S BROTHER, THE INTERNATIONAL, and THE TOURIST. Cineroma also produces commercials for the Italian and international markets. Academy Award®-nominated DARIUS KHONDJI, A.S.C., A.F.C. (Director of Photography) recently worked with Woody Allen on MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, and before that ANYTHING ELSE. Khondji was educated at New York University Film School and ICP (International Center of Photography). He shot his first film as director of photography while continuing to work in commercials, collaborating with such directors David Fincher, Jean-Baptiste Mondino, Chris Cunningham, Lars von Trier and William Klein, among others. For his work on Alan Parker’s EVITA, Khondji was nominated for Best Cinematography at the 69th Annual Academy Awards®, Best Cinematography at the 1997 BAFTA Film Awards, and Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography at the ASC Awards. Khondji’s other feature credits include: David Fincher’s THE PANIC ROOM and SE7EN (Chicago Film Critics Award winner, ASC-nominated); Danny Boyle’s THE BEACH; Roman Polanski’s THE NINTH GATE; Neil Jordan’s IN DREAMS; Philippe Parreno's ZIDANE: A 21ST CENTURY PORTRAIT; Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s ALIEN: RESURRECTION; Bernardo Bertolucci’s STEALING BEAUTY (nominated for best cinematography at the Donatello Awards); Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s THE CITY OF LOST CHILDREN and DELICATESSEN (both César-nominated for Best Cinematography); Michael Haneke’s FUNNY GAMES; Sydney Pollack’s THE INTERPRETER; Wong Kar-wai’s MY BLUEBERRY NIGHTS, and Stephen Frears’ CHÉRI. Upcoming for Khondji is UNTITLED JAMES GRAY
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PROJECT, with Jeremy Renner and Marion Cotillard, and Michael Haneke’s AMOUR, with Isabelle Huppert. A graduate of the École Spéciale of Architecture in Paris, ANNE SEIBEL ADC (Production Designer) was nominated for an Academy Award® for Best Art Direction in for Woody Allen’s MIDNIGHT IN PARIS. Seibel has an extensive background as an art director for films shot in France, notably James Lapine’s IMPROMPTU and Sofia Coppola’s MARIE ANTOINETTE, as well as for international films during their European shooting. Her art director credits include Steven Spielberg’s MUNICH (Paris and Munich), David Frankel’s THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, Brett Ratner’s RUSH HOUR 3, M. Night Shyamalan’s THE HAPPENING, Stephen Sommers’ G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA (Prague), and Clint Eastwood’s HEREAFTER. Seibel also served as art director for French episodes of Sex and the City and The Sopranos. Seibel made her debut as a Production Designer in 2003 on Eric Styles’ TEMPO, followed by Dev Benegal’s ROAD, MOVIE, filmed in India. Her credits as Art Director include Michel Lang’s CLUB DE RENCONTRES, Michel Drach’s IL EST GÉNIAL PAPY!, Serge Gainsbourg’s STAN THE FLASHER, and Serge Leroy’s TAXI DE NUIT. Seibel’s art department credits include Jon Glen’s A VIEW TO A KILL and THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS, Fred Schepisi’s PLENTY, Conny Templeman’s NANOU, Richard Heffron’s LA RÉVOLUTION FRANÇAISE, John MacKenzie’s VOYAGE, Renny Harlin’s CUTTHROAT ISLAND, Randall Wallace’s THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK, Tony Scott’s SPY GAME, Dominic Sena’s SWORDFISH, and Frank Coracci’s AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS. Also a photographer, Seibel has had numerous exhibitions of her work. ALISA LEPSELTER (Editor) marks her thirteenth collaboration with Woody Allen with TO ROME WITH LOVE. She first teamed with him on the critically acclaimed feature SWEET AND LOWDOWN, and has since edited SMALL TIME CROOKS, THE CURSE OF THE JADE SCORPION, HOLLYWOOD ENDING, ANYTHING ELSE, MELINDA AND MELINDA, MATCH POINT, SCOOP, CASSANDRA’S DREAM, VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA (for which she was nominated for an ACE award), WHATEVER WORKS, YOU WILL MEET A TALL DARK STRANGER and MIDNIGHT IN PARIS. Lepselter began her
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editing career as an intern on Jonathan Demme’s SOMETHING WILD. She has also worked with other acclaimed filmmakers such as Nicole Holofcener, Nora Ephron, Francis Ford Coppola, and Martin Scorsese. JULIET TAYLOR (Casting Director) has worked with some of the leading directors of our time, including Mike Nichols, Steven Spielberg, Woody Allen, Louis Malle, Martin Scorsese, Alan Parker, James L. Brooks, John Schlesinger, Stephen Frears, Nora Ephron, Neil Jordan and Sydney Pollack. She has cast more than eighty films, with more than thirty of them for Woody Allen. Among her credits are: SCHINDLER'S LIST, TERMS OF ENDEARMENT, SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE, DANGEROUS LIAISONS, BIG, THE GRIFTERS, MISSISSIPPI BURNING, THE KILLING FIELDS, WORKING GIRL, JULIA, TAXI DRIVER, NETWORK, PRETTY BABY and THE EXORCIST. She won an Emmy Award for casting on the HBO Miniseries Angels in America. Her work with Woody Allen dates back to LOVE AND DEATH in 1975 and includes most recently MATCH POINT, CASSANDRA'S DREAM, SCOOP, VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA, WHATEVER WORKS, YOU WILL MEET A TALL DARK STRANGER and MIDNIGHT IN PARIS. Taylor graduated from Smith College in 1967, and joined the staff of David Merrick, remaining there until the spring of 1968. At that time, she went to work as a secretary to Marion Dougherty who was opening a motion picture casting office in New York. In 1973, when Marion Dougherty left casting to produce films, Taylor ran Marion Dougherty Associates until 1977, when she became Director of East Coast Casting for Paramount Pictures. She left that position in 1978 to cast motion pictures independently. Prior to TO ROME WITH LOVE, PATRICIA DiCERTO (Casting Director) served as casting director on Woody Allen's MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, YOU WILL MEET A TALL DARK STRANGER, VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA, CASSANDRA'S DREAM, MATCH POINT, and SCOOP. She's also cast such independent features as JOSHUA, starring Sam Rockwell and Vera Farmiga; FLANNEL PAJAMAS, starring Julianne Nicholson and Justin Kirk; EULOGY, starring Ray Romano and Debra Winger; MARIE AND BRUCE, starring Julianne Moore and
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Matthew Broderick; ONCE MORE WITH FEELING, starring Chazz Palminteri, Drea DeMatteo and Linda Fiorentino; and most recently THE DISCOVERERS, starring Griffin Dunne. In addition, DiCerto has worked alongside a number of the industry's top casting directors, including her longtime association with Juliet Taylor. As a casting associate, DiCerto has been involved in the casting of fourteen Woody Allen films, and has had the opportunity to work with directors such as James L. Brooks, Sydney Pollack, Mike Nichols, Alan Parker, Nora Ephron, and more recently with David Frankel and Martin Scorsese, among others. BEATRICE KRUGER (Casting Director) is a European casting director who works out of Rome where her company, FBI Casting, is based since 1992. She most recently cast the television series Titanic, written by Julian Fellowes, and Oliver Hirschbiegel’s Borgia. Amongst her many other films she recently cast Terry Gilliam’s THE WHOLLY FAMILY, Anton Corbijn’s THE AMERICAN, Valerio Mieli’s TEN WINTERS, Menelaos Karamaghoulis’ J.A.C.E. and not so recently: Krzysztof Zanussi’s BLACK SUN, Paolo and Vittorio Taviani’s THE LARK FARM, Marco Bellocchio’s MY MOTHER’S SMILE and BUONGIORNO NOTTE, Paolo Virzì’s FERIE D’AGOSTO, Michele Placido’s UN VIAGGIO CHIAMATO AMORE, Enzo Monteleone’s EL ALAMEIN and Armando Manni’s ELVIS AND MARILYN. She is further responsible for the casting of films such as Gary Winick’s LETTERS TO JULIET, Spike Lee’s MIRACLE AT ST. ANNA, Steven Soderbergh’s OCEAN’S TWELVE, Wes Anderson’s THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU, Audrey Wells’ UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN, Rob Marshall’s NINE, Ron Howard’s ANGELS & DEMONS, Tom Tykwer’s THE INTERNATIONAL, Martin Campbell’s CASINO ROYALE, Frédéric Forestier and Tomas Langmann’s ASTERIX AUX JEUX OLYMPIQUE, François Girard’s SILK, The HBO series Rome and many more. Kruger has also developed the idea and concept for e-TALENTA, an international casting website—accessible in English, Italian, French, German, Spanish and Russian—which helps anyone involved with the casting process find the right actor for the right par, regardless of where in Europe that actor lives or works. # # #
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Movie Scripts > To Rome With Love (2012)
To Rome With Love (2012) Movie Script
I had a dream to never return.
("FLY" by Domenico Modugno)
I painted my hands and face blue.
Then suddenly I was abducted by the wind,
and I started to fly in the infinite sky.
Flying, oh, oh
Singing, oh, oh, oh, oh
Into the blue painted blue
I was happy to be there.
And I flew flew happily,
higher than the sun, and still higher.
As the world slowly disappeared far away,
soft music played only for me.
Flying, oh, oh
Singing, oh, oh, oh, oh
Come, come, come.
Oh-oh, a damned barrier. Bang!
Sorry. I don't speak English very well.
I'm from Roma. My job, as you can see,
is to see that the traffic move.
I stand up here, and I see everything.
All people. I see life.
In this city, all is a story.
See that young man over there?
He's a Roman, Michelangelo.
Oh, uh... Excuse me.
Um... Trevi Fountain?
- Uh... so it's two blocks...
- Uh-huh, two blocks...
- and then across the piazza.
- OK, and that's Piazza Mignanelli?
- No.
- OK, no. Piazza di Spagna is this... No?
- No. This is Piazza Venezia, right?
- OK.
Look, I'll show you.
Um... this is Piazza...
I don't... I don't know.
Uh, look, you know what?
I'm going that way, I can show you.
Thank you. Thank you so much.
You speak very good English.
That's because of my work.
I visit New York often.
Oh, that's where I'm from.
- What do you do?
- I'm a lawyer.
- And you're, let me guess, a tourist.
- For the summer.
- I'm Hayley. Hi.
- Hi. Michelangelo.
It's been an unbelievable summer.
We read about in all those romantic
novels, American goes to Rome,
meets handsome Roman at Trevi Fountain.
No, he's utterly adorable.
Now, Antonio and Milly
were also a young couple in Rome.
They married in the little town of Pordenone,
and came to Rome for their honeymoon
with plans to settle there.
And then there was that well-known
American architect,
concluding his vacation
with a few days in Rome.
And finally, we meet Leopoldo Pisanello,
an average Roman citizen of the middle class,
dependable, agreeable, predictable.
I think it happened so fast.
I can't wait to bring you home
and introduce you to my parents.
I can't wait to meet them.
- It is delicious.
- Buono, mama.
And what do you do, Hayley?
Uh... I'm self-employed.
I help clients find art.
My background is in fine art.
He's lawyer. I'm very proud.
All my children, I work night and day
so they get to education.
We want to meet your parents.
They come to Rome?
Oh... well, yes, as a matter of fact,
they're on their way.
Ladies and gentlemen, we're beginning our
descent into Fiumicino airport in Rome.
We may experience some turbulence.
Please keep your seat belts fastened,
and make sure all trays
are in appropriate position.
Great, turbulence!
My favorite!
No. You just relax and
stop clenching your fists.
I can't unclench when this turbulence...
You know I'm an atheist.
I don't like this. It's bumping.
The plane is bumping.
- I don't like it moves like that.
- I can't wait to meet her fiance.
You know he's a communist.
There's not even a communist party here anymore.
No, he's just very very left.
Hey, listen, I was very left
when I was his age too.
But... but I was never a communist.
I couldn't share a bathroom.
Ok... He's not a communist,
he's just a do-gooder.
What... what does it mean, "a do-gooder"?
Who believes not into
material possessions, you know.
What? Well, look,
if she's gonna marry an Italian,
I want her to marry somebody with,
you know, with material possessions,
with a yacht, with a couple of Ferraris,
with... with a villa in Sardinia, you know.
Don't you want our little Hayley
to marry into a "Eurotrash"?
Wow, I don't like it.
- I don't the plane does that!
- Just stop it!
- It's not...
- Stop it! Just relax.
- I don't like it. I get a bad feeling.
- OK? Breathe.
Please.
Thank you.
- You like this? - A lot.
- It's beautiful. - Yes, Yes.
Look, love, it's late.
My uncles are coming. Come on.
Yes, but what if they don't like me,
what will we do?
- Love, but what do you care?
- Be... - You are so beautiful!
You just have to be yourself.
Don't worry.
They are important people. Maybe a little
harsh, but not put off.
They are nice.
Next week I will be working in their company.
I do not want to say or do things that could compromise...
.. this wonderful opportunity that they offer.
- You will do nicely. Trust me.
Will I? - Of course.
Listen, what I was saying
on the train...
Yes, I will probably miss
Pordenone,...
.. But it is a job that I cannot refuse.
Do you realize!
If all goes well, we will live in Rome.
We will meet wonderful people.
We will have children.
And maybe one day we will have a
villa with servants, like my uncles.
Yes, but I have to go to the hairdresser.
I look like a schoolhouse teacher
with this hair.
- I should be a little 'more chic.
- It 's late. You have to go now?
- It'll only take a moment. I'll be quick.
- I would not make them wait...
- Okay. Hurry though, eh?
- Okay.
- Goodbye.
- Hurry up, eh.
I'm sorry,
the hairdresser is full.
- There is no one else around here?
- Sure.
You leave the building, go right,
second left,...
.. Pass under an arch,
immediately to the right, there is a bridge.
After the bridge, the first
left, straight ahead.
- It is on the right.
- Thank you.
The food is better than Malibu,
I would say that.
I can't wait to do some sight seeing.
Oh, John can show us around.
He used to live here.
Oh, God, Carol.
It was thirty years ago.
So?
- It must've been great then.
- That was fabulous.
I was young and in love,
and a complete fool.
But it's the eternal city,
it never changes.
And I too want to go to see the ruins.
It is Rome after all.
All those old ruins just depress me.
I'll get Ozymandias melancholia.
Besides, I saw it all when I lived here.
So we'll leave you and then
we'll hook up later. OK?
I'm just not a good sightseer.
I prefer just to walk through the streets.
"Ozymandias melancholia",
where did you get that phrase?
"ARRIVEDERCI ROMA" by Renato Rascel
(Instrumental Version)
Excuse me, are you...
are you John Foye?
Yes. How do you know that?
Right. I recognized your picture
from the Herald Tribune.
You designed all those shopping malls.
- That's how you're picking me?
- No, I'm an architect.
- Well, studying to be, anyhow.
- Really?
Yeah. You... you working
on a project in Rome?
Uh... no, on vacation. I lived in Rome
for a year when I was your age.
- Really? Whe... Where?
- Here, Trastevere.
Yeah? I... I live here,
I'm on Via dei Uffiti.
That's my old stomping ground.
I've been wandering around all day,
I can't seem to find it.
Really? No, it's literally
two blocks up to the left.
- Well, I...
- What?
- Do you... do you want me to show you?
- I don't know if I should revisit it.
But... OK, why not?
This honey is from the square in Rome,
right in the middle.
Two euros! But it is good! Oh!
Come on, finish your breakfast. Thank you.
You have to eat. Camilla where is it?
Did you see?
Do you know why there's all this unemployment?
Because people are spoiled
by the latest technologies.
- What movie? - It is too late!
- Mangia! Always late!
I think the world will end now that all
the planet speaks Chinese.
- Who wants your opinion!
- I'm telling you.
They don't give a damn about anyone
or what we think.
- We just have to pay taxes.
- We pay taxes, right.
Look who it is.
Where were you when I was in the elevator
stuck for two hours?
Being young and unmarried...
Or, at least, one of the two.
- Did you see when she did that?
- Beautiful!
- Don't believe it. - Why?
- The weekend is on his mind.
But when?
Always.
- If you want my opinion...
- Again?! - Can I say something?!
I think...
- It was a romantic movie, very interesting.
- I did not understand anything.
It's a most beautiful story of "The King's Speech."
- It was most beautiful.
- What do you mean? - I do not understand.
- What was intended by the author.
- Why?! - Not at all wanted!
- The incomprehensibility of life...
- Let's eat?
- Do you see that...
- Yes.
- If I had to vote for an Oscar,
I'd have doubts. - But you do not vote...
- Who is it? Maria! - I want to see.
- If I had to vote...
I can't see who it is,
but I think it's Brad Pitt.
"This week we are
interviewing Tony Blair,...
... the winner of Miss Universe,
and Johnny Depp."
Oh, my God, look at this city!
You're tipping him in euros.
When you realize what you just gave him,
you're gonna have a heart attack.
Well, you know, they gave us
such a great room, Phyllis.
- Yeah.
- And I'm delighted to be here.
- This is great.
- See, you always used to travel for work.
Isn't it nice to be some place for pleasure?
No. I... I miss work.
I don't like being retired.
You know, I... I keep having
fantasies that I'm gonna...
gonna wind up an old person...
in a... in a hotel lobby
watching a communal television set,
drooling with a colostomy bag or something.
- You equate retirement with death.
- Yes, exactly. Exactly.
Yeah, but it's a fantasy,
because you're not dying.
No, I'm not dying now!
But, you know, it's conceivable
I might one day.
You know, I'm... I'm talking
fifty, sixty years from now.
- Can I get a little water, or...?
- Sure.
You know, I haven't made my mark, I haven't
really achieved what I wanted to do.
Oh, you did just fine. Your problem was
you just a little ahead of your time.
Hey, I'm way ahead of my time.
You know, you married a very bright guy.
I got... I got a 150, 160 IQ.
You're figuring it in euros,
in dollars it's much less.
Hello!
- Oh, darling!
- Hi, Mom!
- Hi, Dad! How are you?
- Good, good.
- This Michelangelo.
- Hi.
- This is my father, my mother.
- Nice to meet you.
- Did you have a good trip?
- Good trip? Yeah, we have a good trip.
I thought it was all bumpy
when we're landed, but... you know...
Probably you'll read
about it on the paper,
if the airline ever
recovers the black box.
So our plan is to get married
around Christmas.
Oh, really? Uh... you...
you're a lawyer, Michaelangelo?
"Michel".
- Michel... Michel? They call you Michel?
- Yes.
Yes, for the oppressed,
those who cannot pay.
Ah, pro bono.
So... should be taking in washing soon.
- Um... would you like to drink or something?
- Sure.
- Yeah. Water?
- Um... I'm...
- Would you like water or...?
- Yeah, water. - Water is fine.
Hayley told me that you're working
in the music business?
I did. I'm retired. I...
I used to work for a classical music
division of a record company.
I was an opera director for many years.
You know, Michelangelo's
great grandfather knew Verdi.
Really? Well, I... I staged
some Verdi, I did.
Basically, I did avant-garde staff,
atonal things.
But I... I jazzed up a couple of classics.
You know, I did... I did a production of Rigoletto,
where all the characters were dressed as white mice.
I did... I did Tosca once,
and all in a phone booth.
Jerry was ahead of his time.
Yeah, I was... I was a little, you know,
a little fast for mass appeal, but, uh...
you know, then... then the productions
got between the critics, and cost the unions...
I'm sorry. You don't like the unions?
Well... you know, the unions...
You know, without the unions,
the worker would be ground into dust.
Yes, I understand where...
what you're saying, Michaelangelo, but I...
"Michel", Michelangelo.
- What?
- "Michel"!
"Michel"? Yeah.
That Michaelangelo, the painter!
Only with... with him, for some reason,
he's "Michel". Um...
Michelangelo feels very deeply
about the workers.
Excuse me... Excuse me, can you tell me where
this address is?
Er... Er... Ah, yes... ah, yes...
Take the first right.
Go a hundred meters.
You will find an ice cream parlor.
Then go straight for 50 meters
when there go left.
- Thank you.
- Your welcome.
At the next traffic light crossing...
There is a seafood restaurant,
you cannot go wrong.
It is straight on, turn right, then again
- Do you follow me?
- Yes, yes, thank you. Thank you. - Your welcome.
Here, this is where I live.
Christ, this might have been my exact street!
- Can I ask you in for a coffee?
- Coffee?
Yeah. Yeah, come on in.
Sally makes great espresso.
- Sally?
- Yeah, my girlfriend.
She's a... she's studying here.
- Hey, Sally!
- Hi!
Hey, I brought someone home
who used to live here.
- Oh, my gosh!
- Yeah. This is John Foye.
- This is Sally.
- Wow, hey.
- Hello. - I know.
- Sally. That's so... Wow!
- You're right. She's lovely.
- She's the best.
Oh, can I give you something to drink?
I can make some coffee.
That'll be great, honey, yeah.
Thank you very much.
Oh, my gosh! Uh... my friend, Monica,
she called, she's going to be in Rome,
and I told her she could stay with us.
Ah, well, so I'll finally get to meet her.
She just broke up with her boyfriend,
so she's a bit at loose ends.
Trouble . . "Trouble in River City".
What trouble? Why... why trouble?
You just gonna love her.
She's smart and funny, and interesting.
Men just adore her.
I think it's because of the sexual vibe
that she gives off.
- Um-hm, and how long is she coming for?
- Oh, I don't know.
Between the breakup and...then
her acting career isn't going that well.
Jesus Christ, can't you see
the situation is fraught with peril?
Come on, give me a break.
Her friend is coming. Why do I care?
I'm not looking for anything?
I'm perfectly happy with Sally, and uh...
Actually judging from Sally's
description of Monica
as kind of like a neurotic
unpredictable type.
Beautiful, funny, smart,
sexual, and also neurotic.
It's like filling
an inside straight.
"Monica"... even her name is hot.
- Congratulations. - Yes?
- I have a super gift for you.
- What gift?
-A special gift for a special man.
- What is this special gift?
- It's Me!
I'm already all paid for.
I'm all yours, all yours.
- Look, there must be a mistake.
- You can do whatever you like.
- Ah, yes? Please, go away.
- I cannot. You're upset.
- Who...?!
- They told me that you're stressed and
you'd be surprised.
- But you are the lucky winner.
- Winner of what?!
- The winner of the contest.
- But what contest?
Domi and Fabio have paid me and told me
to congratulate you.
That they were wrong and that you need
to accept their apologies.
- These two gentlemen I do not know them.
Will you leave?
- I will not tell.
I am here to fulfill your dreams.
Please, Miss. Leave!
But you're Mr. Debroca,
room 504.
I'm not Mr. Debroca
but the room is right.
- Please, leave now...
- Is anyone there?
- Sorry, sorry.
- I told you to wait.
No, it's not like you think.
Have a seat, please.
We were to meet at noon, the door was open...
- So you do not enter without knocking!
- Nice way to meet your wife!
- This is not my wife.
- No!
I hope you're joking.
Of course I'm kidding.
She's my wife.
I am Uncle Paul.
Giovanna.
Uncle Sal.
Aunt Rita.
Anna.
- Anna! But isn't your name Milly?
- Milly?...
Milly, of course, Milly.
Anna is the second name.
- Milly!
- Milly.
We will be waiting downstairs,
don't worry. Come on.
- Paul... - Yes
- Yes, yes. - See you later.
I want to die! My life is over!
I am ruined!
Tell them the truth,
that there was a mistake.
But how?! They've seen us
on the bed! I am in my underwear...
They won't understand...
What they'll think...
I'll never convince
them, it's useless.
They will think I called an escort.
Why did you jump on me?
I was paid to make love with Mr.
Debroca.
- And leave the door open! - Yes
- Are you an idiot? - I thought it was closed.
They're the kind of people who think
they are in charge of everything.
Milly's coming.
We have to get out of here.
You have to pretend to be my wife.
I pretend to be your wife?
I'm no actress. Plus...
-You just called me an "idiot".
- I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
I need your help because if
Milly comes, I'll jump out the window.
- Do you not understand that sooner or later
they'll discover everything?
I need time,
then I'll think of something.
It is important that we leave immediately
and get away.
- Can you walk faster?
- I'm walking fine. Relax.
Her flight should've landed.
Right, by the time she goes through customs
and luggage it'll be about an hour.
I hope you don't fall in love with her.
In love with her? What...
what the hell does that mean?
- Well, men always just go crazy for her.
- Well, I'm... I'm crazy for you.
OK, That... that's her.
Monica!
- Hi!
- Hi! It's so good to see you!
- You look so great!
- Stop it!
Nothing special, right?
No, nothing special at all.
Like... I got no buzz.
I mean, look at her,
this... this is the hot "femme fatale"?
Of course, she has been flying for 14 hours.
But you would admit
there is something about her.
All I can say is that if something
is clicking, it's so subconscious,
I'm... I'm totally unaware.
She's no big deal, certainly not
some formidable heartbreaker.
She's...
she's a disheveled, out of work actress.
...for so long, now you're here. I just...
- Hi! Hi, I'm Jack.
- This is Monica.
Hi, it's so nice to meet you.
I'm sorry. I mean, I must look awful.
- Please don't make any snap judgments.
- No, you look fine.
I just... I can never sleep on the plane.
I had a Scotch and three Ambien,
but still...
Pretty cozy this ride into town.
I keep telling you
I have no interest in Monica.
I just hope having her around is
not gonna interfere with my work.
But there is an element of excitement,
a germ, a spark, one molecule...
God...
I see it so clearly now.
But I'm older.
- Thank you, the dinner was great.
- Thanks.
Ah, yeah, you're becoming
a really great Italian chef.
Well, I figured it was just her first
night here, so...uh, why not stay in?
Yeah, it's perfect,
just the three of us.
- Wha... what are you reading?
- Oh, the poetry of Yeats.
"The gong-tormented sea."
Yeah... yeah, you know it?
Do you wanna talk about
the breakup with Donald?
Well, Donald was gay. Um, it was my ego
that thought I could change him,
and I couldn't. Believe me, I tried.
Yeah? How does one try?
Well, I mean... I don't wanna
get graphic, but...
I mean, let's just say that
I gave it my all.
And it's such a shame,
because he's so brilliant,
and he's so wonderful out of that.
I mean, so much fun to be with.
I... I tried to show him
how sex with a woman...
...could be as exciting or even more so
than with someone from his own sex.
Then he tried, he... he did try.
But in the end, I... uh,
I struck out. So...
I remember you saying how much fun
you have when he took you to Paris.
Have you ever had sex with a man?
Me? Se... sex with a man?
God! No...no, no!
I mean, no. It's not something
I'm interested in ever doing...
Why are you blushing?
Probably because you wanna try it.
Look, I always had a little yen
for sleeping with a woman,
and when I finally did,
and it was... was very intense,
it was very exciting but unnerving.
I really have no repressed...
I... I shot this TV movie once, and...
one of the scenes it was with this
incredible lingerie model.
I mean, she was to die.
And... and for whatever reason,
I... I get this message one day...
...from the assistant director that Miss Lee
would like me to go to her dressing room.
And why she was so suddenly
obsessed with me, I don't know.
And... and I go.
And she's in her robe.
And she takes it off,
and gives me a big hug and kiss.
And I just become crazed.
I mean, I become so excited.
I mean, she was just
too beautiful to turn down.
We had the thing for like. .
three months. Yeah, it was like
being in an erotic dream.
And... and on the one hand,
yes, it was very exciting,
but on the other hand,
just very confusing.
And... and that's when I started seeing
the shrink five days a week.
Well, fortunately, Jamal came along,
and we had a great relationship.
And as great as the orgasms were
with Victoria.
They were stronger with Jamal,
and just a lot less bewildering.
Excuse me.
She is something, isn't she?
Yeah, give me...
I need a few minutes to recover from
her story, it's still vibrating.
I think she's so fun.
Yeah, but look, finally what she got,
I mean, no... no real acting career,
no relationship that's remotely stable,
sleeping pills, shrinks...
You sound like you try to convince yourself.
Hey, I've got a great idea.
Let's go for a little walk tonight.
Oh, no, I'm exhausted.
But, um... why don't you take her, Jack?
Oh, no... no... no!
God, no! That will be a catastrophe!
Why are you so worried?
You think of me as the seductress,
this is your problem.
Bullshit! You deliberately made up this
provocative story with some lingerie model.
It was true, most of it. OK?
I... I exaggerated a little.
I like to embellish.
It's part of my creative charm.
Come on! Come on,
why don't you come?
Sally, you've go to go along with them.
What's the matter?! Are you crazy!
Go! You have the wrong person!
Sofia! Sofia!
- Sofia! Whats happening?!
- What do you want?!
Call the police!
Go away! I am serious!
I'm going to work!
I have to go to work! These people are crazy!
- What is this car?!
-You'll be late for the studio.
- But I'm late for work!
- Get in, Get in.
Sofia... come with me.
Hello and welcome to TG3.
Today we have a special guest:
Leopoldo Pisanello.
- Welcome, Mr. Pisanello.
Welcome to TG3. - Thank you, yes...
Excuse me, but why am I here?
To answer our questions,
for our interview.
- What did you have for breakfast?
- Me?
Er... coffee latte and two slices of bread with butter and jam.
Two slices of bread... And how was it?
Good... toasted.
- Ah, so you prefer toast.
- Yes, that's right, yes.
Why? Can I ask you?
I don't know. I just like it.
I usually prefer toast.
- White or whole wheat?
- White.
So we can say without a shadow of a doubt...
.. Leopold Pisanello prefers two slices of bread toasted.
Yes, and a latte... without sugar.
Do you shave before or after breakfast?
- Extraordinary!
- Me?
Me?
Still here? Enough! Go! Sofia!
Sofia! Go away!
Leopoldo! You were great!
- The phone hasn't stopped ringing.
- Yes, but...
They want you on tomorrow's news at 8 pm.
- What are you saying! Me? But why?
- You're famous!
-95 -95
Oh, I don't know.
I can't find the address.
This is 91. So it's...
This goes down.
- That's 93.
- Uh-huh.
Can't be 95.
- Oh, then we're right!
- What do you mean, we're right?
Mr. Santoli is a mortician.
You're kidding?
He owns a funeral parlour,
and don't make an issue of it.
Jeez, the kid's a communist,
the father's a mortician.
Does the mother run a leper colony?
I guess they live upstairs.
- Excuse me, 9... 95's... 95?
- Yes. 95. Santoli.
Yes, yes.
- Someone dead.
- No, but it's early.
No, no.
We're Hayley's parents.
- Hayley's parents?
- Yes.
Welcome, welcome!
Such a big pleasure to meet you!
Oh... I'm sorry. I've not cleaned up.
I work all day, but...
Please, come to our place.
We live over there.
- Please, follow me.
- Thank you, thank you very much!
- Did you have a nice trip?
- Oh, it was wonderful, wonderful.
Please, come in.
Mariangela, come here!
- Hayley's parents have arrived.
- Oh, hello!
- Phyllis, Jerry.
- So nice to meet you.
Good morning.
- Oh, Mariangela don't speak good English.
- No... - No.
- What do you drink?
- Well... wine would be great.
Michelangelo and Hayley
should be here any minute.
But if you excuse me now,
I need to go to clean up.
- Mariangela, open the bottle and pour him a drink.
- I'm going to open it.
- Meanwhile you sit down.
- Ok. - Be right back. - Yes
- Hello!
- mama!
- Hi. Hi!
You just find the place OK, right?
We just followed a passing hearse,
and here we are, you know.
- You have arrived! Well! - Hello.
- Taste my specialties.
Oh, Mom, the green ones are
like Tapenade. They're so good.
- You should try them, they're amazing.
- Oh, OK.
Oh...
Well... I'm sorry.
Excuse me. It's great.
I mean, I try and make this,
but I never get this taste.
She could teach you.
Teach her to make croutons.
- Yes, OK.
- No. Oh, no, really.
- Come on, free cooking lesson.
- I... I don't wanna be...
Have one. I have to kinda...
Please.
Formaldehyde!
(Giancarlo) The time has fled...
(Giancarlo) And I die in despair!
And I die in despair!
And I've never loved life so much!
Victory!
She showed me how to make these, Jerry,
but, of course, she gets mozzarella
fresh everyday from Naples.
- What do you do, Phyllis?
- I'm a psychiatrist.
Oh! A psychiatrist.
I've never been to Naples,
but I hear it's beautiful.
There's no cooking like in Naples.
You see much of Italy, Jerry?
Jerry, he's asking you a question.
Yes... Naples.
Have you... have you ever
taken singing lessons, Giancarlo?
Singing lessons? No.
What for?
You, well, you have just a natural voice.
I'm no singer.
I sing for me.
Since I was a boy.
- You have a very very beautiful gift.
- Yeah.
But, no. She says that I make only
too much noise around the house.
And no one's ever heard you?
No, he's our own private Caruso.
You have a fantastic voice, have you
ever thought of doing anything with it?
He sings for pleasure, not for money.
Well, there's a great deal
of pleasure in money.
You know, it's green and crinkly,
you can fondle the bills.
Listen, uh... I'm no singer.
I... I don't know, I...
Is it possible that... that, um...
after dinner, you could sing something for me?
Me? No... I don't know.
I... I become too embarrassed.
No... no, right here,
just among us... right...
No... no. Please, Michelangelo,
please tell him too.
I... you know, I... I have a friend
in town here, who's in the recording business.
And... and if... if you would just...
if you would just sing.
He's a very knowledgable man.
And... and... you know, if you just...
When you... when you're not busy,
when you're not cremating anybody,
- and we just...
- Look, he's already said no.
Dad's not a singer. I'm sure you don't
want him to make fool of himself.
Jerry, back off.
OK, forget it.
I... I'm not gonna say another word. I...
Forget it.
But the guy has a fantastic voice!
This is... You have...
OK, I'm... I'm finished.
The subject is closed.
But... his voice is great,
somebody's got to do something
with this, because he's... he's...
- Jerry!
- Not me! I'm not saying I would.
But... but he's got a fantastic...
- The man is a genius,
- That's enough.
he's got a natural... great natural...
I'm not saying anything, you know,
I'm... I'm off the subject.
Great voice. Fantastic.
Big star...
- What's the name of the hotel?
- I can't remember.
- It's in the center? - Yes, more or less.
It was... was red...
We're here. Sorry for the delay.
We have been waiting for you.
Er... yes... uh...
You couldn't find
something more simple?
We need to meet people rather important.
- We like you dressed like that.
- Like how?
But some of our friends
may not understand.
- I lost my suitcase on the train,
- Then that's it. Oh, well.
Well, we have organized a trip,
a private Vatican tour.
- Beautiful. True love? - Yes,
I know him well. - Come on, then.
- I hope they let us in.
- I don't want to go in!
- Miss... are you okay?
- Yes, yes, thank you.
Thanks, but...
Oh, but... but... but you are...
But you are Pia Fusari?
You recognized me?
Yes, but you... Oh, my God, but you
are one of my favorite actresses!
I'm flattered.
But you walk down the street here
like a normal person?
We're making a movie here.
- You want to come and see?
- Me?!
Yes!
But that is Juliet Falcone!
No! There is Luca Jump! I love
Luke Salta, he is so charismatic!
No, I do not believe it!
It 's amazing. He painted the ceiling
lying on scaffolding.
Working all the time lying on one's back!
I can't imagine it!
I can, perfectly.
Shoot, I'm gonna be late to class.
- Could you take Monica around today?
- No, I can't. I'm working on my drawings.
Oh, please.
She doesn't know Rome at all.
No, I can't.
I do not have time to go...
- ...to the Colosseum for the millionth time.
- Please... just...
Just, please, for me.
Could you do it for me?
- Er... OK.
- Thank you.
- That is so impressive.
- Oh, I know.
- The lines, the empty space...
- Yeah, exactly. There's a lot of negative space.
Are you sure I'm not taking you away
from anything important today?
No, I think... I'm just worried
I was taking you away from something,
- if you had work to do.
- No, no, I'm fine.
This is actually my favorite thing to do.
Yeah. If you weren't here,
I'd probably be doing this alone.
I mean, it's incredible
that the Colosseum
is still standing after
thousands of years.
You know, Sally and I have to retile
the bathroom every six months.
These guys were truly...
truly brilliant architects.
I just find it so ironic
that there was once this
magnificent civilization
and now just these ruins.
I... I call that futile feeling
"Ozymandias melancholia".
OK.
This is just kind of
thing you wanna build?
Oh, I would be very
proud if I'd done this.
Did you always wanna be an architect?
Ah, you'll laugh if I tell you
what my ambition is.
What? No... no, I won't.
To build radical structures, I mean, to be
scandalous, to change the architectural landscape.
Are.. are you interested in architecture?
I'm interested in Gaudi,
Antonio Gaudi.
I mean, for me La Sagrada Familia
is poetry in stone.
Oh, bullshit!
You went six months of college.
You know nothing about architecture
but a few names.
You saw the movie, The Fountainhead.
I just find something so sexy
about an uncompromising artist.
I mean, I would do anything
to spend a night with Howard Roark.
Oh, God save me, save me!
Another young woman who wants to
give her body to Howard Roark.
Come on, I mean, she is fun to talk to.
Yes, and you buy into her bullshit because
she seems to know all the right things to say.
She knows names,
she knows buzzwords,
she knows certain cultural phrases
that imply she knows more than she does.
The Anxiety of Influence,
the Bartok's string quartets,
the perversion of the dialectic,
La Sagrada Familia,
"The gong-tormented sea".
So what? I should press her and not let
her get away with the namedropping?
But you didn't.
Yeah, I mean, it's sort of charming
that she's a con artist.
Yes, she does have a certain
something which trumps logic.
So, go ahead, walk into the propeller.
So was it OK with Monica today?
Or did she just drive you crazy?
Yeah. I don't have enough time to spend
squiring her around, you know, I'm trying to work.
I started having those insecure
thoughts again today.
- Please stop.
- No...
Because I thought maybe it was a bad idea that
I put you guys together for the whole day,
because what if you ended up attracted to her.
Please stop worrying. She's a
self-obsessed pseudo-intellectual.
I mean, she's pretty, but so what?
- She is, she's very pretty.
- Yes, she's very pretty.
- I mean... I mean, not conventionally.
- I'd like to see her with someone.
Who do we know?
We must know someone...
- Grazie.
- ...to fix her up with?
- Yeah, I'm sure we can scare somebody up.
- Who?
What about Leonardo Basso?
Yeah, we exercise together. He's...
he's nice-looking, and he's smart,
and he makes good dough.
Actually, I think he broke up with
some girl who was also an actress.
I think he'd be the perfect
choice for Monica.
That's great. Could you...
can you call him.
- Yeah. I'll be the matchmaker.
- Great.
Please sit down, Mr. Pisanello.
- This will be your new office.
- My new office!
.. but I'm not an employee.
Very funny.
Serafina, come. Look. We have
a famous person in our company.
- Good morning.
- Take care of him, Give him everything he needs.
- All day.
- With pleasure. - Thank you.
- You will take care of me all day?
- Yes
- Whatever you need, I'm here.
- Yes
Calm down.
- How was your day?
- My day?
- Yes
It's been good.
Oh, I did spill coffee on some documents,
but I avoided spilling all of it.
The rest of the day went good.
Did you hear that? Mr. Pisanello
happened to spill his coffee.
But his reflexes avoided a tragedy...
.. with no probable loss of human lives.
Why did he spill the coffee?
It will be on the news at 9 pm,
with our distinguished guests...
.. the leaders of Italy,
the ambassador of Brazil, and the UN.
Mr. Pisanello...a statement.
- A statement!
- Yes, a statement.
- A statement... so?
- Tell us anything. - So?
I think... I think...
Ah, maybe it's going to rain.
You heard it. Pisanello Leopold
says it might rain.
Can you tell us how you will sleep tonight?
Normally I sleep on my back.
Leopoldo Pisanello says
he sleeps on his back.
You never sleep on your stomach?
No, I suffer a bit 'of gastritis.
Not a serious thing...
- On my belly I don't like like it that much...
- How much?
- Enough! Please! Stop it!
- It 's important! - Enough!
Enough! Go!
What do you want from me?! How to sleep...
What do you think? I only have these printed dresses.
I have to buy something now that you're so famous.
Sofia, I'm tired, I have a headache.
Forget it.
I had a terrible day.
Let's not go to the premiere of the film.
But we must go!
We have to keep up our image.
Sofia, but who cares!
Do you really think anyone cares if Leopoldo Pisanello
doesn't attend the premier of a film?
- Sure!
- But Sofia, I am Mr."Any Fool".
And you're my wife, the wife of
Mr. "Any Fool".
But you said you'd go.
It's Gina Francone.
Ah! It's Tony Branca.
There he is. Good evening.
Good evening.
But who do I see? Here he is!
Leopoldo Pisanello.
He is accompanied by the lovely Sofia.
Very elegant, with that dress.
Yes, Sofia is wearing a printed cotton dress.
.. And a coat that seems to match.
- Yes, definitely.
- And I I've never... a ripped stocking.
We're checking. Yes,
it is a run in the left stocking.
Lady Pisanello, the run in the stocking,
tell us, is it intentional?
- I have a run?
- Yes, very impressive, very fashionable.
You see, Martina?
- Then we will see you soon in Cannes?
- Absolutely.
- Well, sorry, but there's Gina Franconi.
- Please.
- Mr. Pisanello.
- Yes?
I am Marisa Raguso,your fan.
- Thank you.
I think you are very, very sexy,
more than all these "frocetti" actors...
.. Making superhero movies.
Sure.
It would be nice to have a
little more time to talk.
Let me know what you think of the
cultural situation in Italy.
Me?
Tell you what, I'll give you my phone number.
Call me.
- Your Number?
- Anytime.
All right.
- Mr. Pisanello, tell us the truth.
Do you wear briefs or boxers?
- Boxers, large, white.
- I knew it! I always knew!
It 's clear, a type of boxer.
It 's cool! I knew it!
Do not forget my words, girl
You don't know that love
is a beautiful thing like the sun.
More than the sun, it gives warmth
down slowly through the veins
and gradually reaches the heart...
So, er... what're you thinking now that
you've fixed her with your pal?
I don't know.
Sally and I thought it would be a fun idea
to come out and visit these ruins.
Yes, so then what occurred?
What is it?
I don't know. I just... I know
I regreted introducing her to Leonardo.
Yes? You're jealous?
Yeah, all of a sudden,
I want to get her alone in a room...
...and tell her I've loved her.
Isn't that stupid?
I had never felt anything until
this afternoon, and suddenly...
Her face got to me, and I...
I loved how she... she wore her hair.
She looks great.
- How do you like Monica?
- Oh, she's lovely.
- I can't wait to see her again.
- Oh, yeah? You're gonna... gonna see her again?
- Tomorrow night.
- I think Sally and I are free Tomorrow night.
I think it's better
if there's just the two of us...
- Please. Right away. . .
- could you bring the menu, please?
Giancarlo, I took the liberty
of calling my friend,
and I set up an audition for you
with the recording comp...
I told you, "No".
But why? What do you
have against live people?
You... your whole life, you can't just
deal with people that have rigor mortis.
You've got a great voice.
You should be...
you should be singing
Pagliacci for multitudes.
- You... you know.
- Pagliacci?
Pagliacci, yes!
You... you were born to play that.
- I've always dreamed of singing Pagliacci.
- Yes, I know!
Of course, 'cause you're a natural.
That's... uh, you know, stick with me,
we can go very far, really.
- We?
- We, yes!
I would... I would manage you,
and I... I will direct you or put on
the greatest production of Pagliacci.
I'm telling you I know exactly what to do,
I... You have to believe me.
I... I don't know why I'm shouting,
you know, you're two inches in front of me.
Trust me.
Nessun sleeps! Nessun sleeps!
Even you, oh Princess,
in your cold room,
watch the stars which tremble with love,
and hope!
But my secret is hidden within me;
No one will know my name!
No, No! On your mouth ...
set, you stars!
Victory!
Victory!
How did it go?
You know what? Ask your father.
Uh-oh...
- I'm so sorry, Jerry. I let you down.
- No...
You should've seen his face.
He knew it was terrible.
It wasn't terrible, you know.
Yes, if you... if it was at La Scala where
they would've been throwing fruits and vegetables,
yes, they would have.
But, uh... this was a cold audition room.
It's all fantasy. You imagine
his voice is better than it really is,
because you're searching for an excuse
to come out of retirement.
Hey, don't psychoanalyze me, Phyllis, OK?
You know, many have tried, all have failed.
I didn't... My brain doesn't fit the usual
id, ego, superego model.
No, you have the only brain with three ids.
If we eat something,
surely we will feel better.
I'm not hungry.
It was a foolish idea to begin with.
Well, you father is a grown man,
I mean, he can make his own decisions.
I don't know why you showed up at all.
You know, you were sitting there
with a disapproving face,
very sour through the whole thing.
Maybe you made your father nervous.
I came because he's a simple man.
And I didn't want to send him alone
into a tank of music business sharks.
- Tank of sharks?
- Wow, you think my father is a shark?
In the aquatic world, I've been likened to
a spineless jellyfish, but that's about it.
Look, you defend your father,
bacause he's family, and I understand.
- But he is wrong.
- No, I defend him because you're wrong.
There's no sin in trying something and failing.
I don't want to say anything,
but I told you:
You choose projects that are doomed to fail.
You get some kind of a payoff out of failing.
What projects do I choose
that are doomed to fail?
Rigoletto, with everyone
dressed like white mice.
Can you hear him?
Is that not a gorgeous voice?
Sure, what good it is
if he can only do it in the shower?
Well, but you admit he can...
He is right, Jerry.
Everyone sings great in the shower.
That's right...
He does it in the shower.
Dad, even you sing in the shower.
I know, I...
In life I have a terrible voice, but
when I'm soaping myself under hot water,
I sound just like Eartha Kitt.
You look strange.
Phyllis, I'm having...
There's a psychological term for this.
I'm having a breakthrough or an epiphany...
Wha... what is that term for what I'm having?
A death wish.
Bravo, you were fantastic. Come,
let me introduce a fan of yours.
She has seen all your movies.
Milly, right?
- Yes, Milly.
- Hi. - I'm sorry.
- So you're one of my fans. - Yes
I have seen all of your films.
- I'm so flattered.
- No, it's true. - Yes? -
I believe that you are an amazing actor.
When you play an Arab or
terrorist or a divorced father...
- I always dreamed of being able to meet you.
- Can we have lunch together?
- What? You and I! - Eh.
- Together? - I only have an hour.
Oh, my God! Oh, my God!
You are the sexiest man in Rome,
second in World Film. Did you know?
Yes, that's what they tell me.
- Shall we?
- Yes
Thank you.
- Do you want to have many children?
- No, children? No.
You become their slave.
Diapers, schools, diseases...
Then they grow up, they leave,
and you never see them anymore.
Not so.
For me it was so.
You see, I ran away from home.
My father was a drug dealer and
stole for my mother in stores.
What could I do?
Was I not right?
- Look!
- He's a great actor.
- There is the actor, Luchino Salta.
- Where?
- Yes, that's him.
But he's married.
Who's that with him?
What's up? What is it?
I'm fine, I'm fine.
I cannot believe you are having lunch with me.
But I am the lucky one, you know?
I usually eat alone now.
No! You alone? You are married,
it is written all over the papers.
Marriage is like wine:
it is a wonder if it is good, if not...
We split up. The press does not know.
It's still a secret.
Of course.
No, I won't say anything.
- What are they doing?
- He looks into her eyes. He wants her.
I'd like for you to stop by and watch me
on the set this afternoon.
So you can give me some advice,
and you can tell me what you think...
Then, perhaps,
we can go to my hotel to talk about it.
Because, you are interested in my ideas?
- Should I be interested in something else?
- No, no.
- Ah.
- No, absolutely
It's just that Anthony, my husband, always says
my head is in the clouds.
This, perhaps, is a bit true, but...
He doesn't take your ideas seriously?
No, not seriously, respects them, but
they are scientific.
Yes, because I am a high school teacher.
I teach astronomy.
- Who would have guessed?
- Yes
So I doubt you are interested in
my ideas for acting.
Astronomy, then the sky,
the planets, the stars...
- You're... you are... Wait, I don't mean. .
- I'm saying nothing.
- Are you a Libra?
- No, I'm a Sagittarius.
- Oh...
He took her hand.
- She should give him a slap.
- No, actually, I'm sure she likes it.
- Are you hurt?
- No. .. no.
Good morning. We are at the home of
Mr. Leopoldo Pisanello.
It's half past seven, and Mr.
Pisanello is shaving...
.. an event that we document
from first to last gesture.
Mr. Pisanello is having his hair cut.
- Look, just a trim.
- He opted for only a trim.
Sorry. We are all full.
There are no tables.
- You must be wrong. My husband booked yesterday.
- There must be a mistake.
- How is this possible?
- There's no table? Okay, we'll come back again.
- No, Mr. Pisanello.
- Please, this way.
- What a shame!
- What manners!
- How dare you!
But we are loyal customers!
- They are right.
They were in line before us.
- Nonsense.
Please, this way. Come in.
When I saw you in the office I couldn't resist.
They say that power is an aphrodisiac.
- And who is she?
- My best friend.
I promised her
you'd have sex with her after me.
This will be one of the happiest days of her life.
You know, he's worried
because he is married.
Mr. Pisanello, for you rules do not count.
You're special.
Yes, yes, I... I...
I agree with you completely.
I mean, this first time I read The Myth
of Sisyphus, my whole life changed.
- Yes, yes.
- And, of course, the Russians.
Dostoevsky, thank you.
Stavrogin's Confession?
And Kierkegaard.
I mean, you can feel his pain.
Didn't you say that Rilke
was your favorite author?
Ah, Rilke!
"You must change your life."
Or was it Ezra Pound?
"Petals on a wet black bough."
Look at this. She knows one line from
every poet just enough to fake it.
I have such a great idea:
Tonight, after they're closed,
we should sneak into the old Roman baths.
Sneak in?
- Leo, you know a way, right?
- Yeah.
He knows a way in.
Well, it'll be dark, it'll be spooky,
it'll be fun.
You know what? Jack doesn't
do spooky. Believe me.
I love entering places illegally. So...
No, I mean... Sure, I mean, I don't wanna...
I don't wanna a spoilsport.
First it's Camus and Kierkegaard,
and now I've run out of name dropping,
so let's break into some baths. Pretty soon,
she'll have you holding up filling stations.
I understand from where you sit
it sounds crazy, but from where I sit...
Oh... Oh, isn't this great?
My God, I can't believe we snuck in here.
- I've never seen it at night before.
- Yeah.
It's amazing. How're you doing?
I'm fine... I'm fine. I'm just...
It looks like it's gonna rain, doesn't it?
- He can't break any rules.
- Wow... wow! OK! That was lightening!
- Hey, guys, come on! Let's go!
- Are you afraid? Come on!
Well, I'm not afraid.
We're just sitting ducks here. Come on!
- Unbelievable!
- OK, let's go back to the car.
- OK, now it's definitely raining.
- Just a little though.
- We have to go. We have to come out.
Sally! Sally, come on!
Here! Here, Monica! Here, Monica!
- Sally!
- Come on! Ah!
- Monica!
- Oh, this is amazing!
- Wow! Yeah.
- It's a little loud. Huh! OK.
- That means it's close. It's very close.
Actually I went to school where was
a boy who... who got killed by lightening.
Do you hate it?
No, no, I mean, I didn't
mean to imply that I hate it.
I just think the storms are so romantic!
You know... you're actually...
You're really beautiful... although wet.
- Ah, you're so sweet to say that.
- No...no, really. You do.
You know, I just, I... I love it here.
I mean, I... I... think Rome
is so charismatic!
Oh, God! Here comes the bullshit!
Will you keep out of the goddamn scene,
and lemme have a moment alone with her?
OK, I will allow you your moment,
but remember, I know how it turns out.
I feel like I have completely
fallen in love with Rome,
just this little while that I've been here.
I feel like I... I could spend my whole
life here and just never go back.
I'm sure... I'm sure meeting Leonardo
has a lot to do with that.
- Oh! Oh, my God!
- Oh, that one scared me.
- Yeah...
If we die, we die together.
Love forbids you not love.
That you would slight me I reject.
When I hold your hand,
your eyes say, "I love you"
if your lips say, "I will love you!"
You were absolutely fabulous.
This guy created a sensation today.
I... I see a big future here.
What does this "future" mean?
Well... I see New York,
I see the Vienna Opera House,
- I see Paris...
- All in the shower?
Yes, they love it that he sings in the shower.
They... they identify.
You know, he's gonna be the most
popular opera singer in the world.
Certainly the cleanest.
You don't want to really take
this further, do you, Dad?
Why not?
Yes, I've got big plans for him. I...
I wanna do now a production of Pagliacci.
You father was born to sing that role.
This is decadent stupidity!
My whole life has seen that role
while I'm in the bathroom.
He wanted to do this his entire life.
You're gonna deny your father his shot?
It's your shot, not his!
I resent your tone with my father.
I happen to think out of the box.
Oh, well, the box! That's a
very interesting choice of words.
Listen to me: You're retired.
You equate retirement with death.
Giancarlo's an undertaker.
He puts people in boxes,
but you want to think "out of the box".
It's true. If you're channeling Freud,
ask for my money back.
What "Pagliacci"?! What plans?
What airplane?!
Where do you want to take my husband?!
I... I failed high school Spanish.
I really don't...
This is crazy! What does he say?!
They already took away your son.
Now he wants to take away you too!
He's gonna be a big star, big opera star.
Star? But you cannot sing!
It's not true!
He sings only in the shower!
No, he cannot sing! No!
- Enough, enough...
- I'll kill him! It will make me feel better.
- Oh! No!
- Hold it!
Hold it! Hold it! Interpose yourself!
Right... right. Great, go ahead!
She... she probably won't stab a woman.
- No!
- Go ahead! Go a...
- Calm, Calm! Relax, relax!
- What?! What?!
You have an attitude problem.
Put the knife down.
We're... This is gonna be our...
our mother-in-law here?
We want to introduce you to some people.
Mr. Massucci, the administrator of your company
has organized this festival to welcome you.
It 's an opportunity to learn about the
top business people in Rome.
He spoke very highly of you
and we are eager to meet you.
It would be a nice chance for your wife
to make a good impression too.
- Oh, sure.
- Don't drink too much, honey.
-I'd better have a coffee.
- Does anybody want a drink?
- No. - Coffee? - No.
Look who's here! Come on.
I want to introduce my nephew.
- Good morning! Thank you. Beautiful party.
- Meet Antonio.
Pleasure. So, here's the famous nephew.
I've heard such great things about you.
You have the perfect image for our community,
and image is very important to us.
- Do you follow football?
- No.
- Is that you?
- Yes.
- What are you doing here, Anna?
- Milly!
My wife...
- Hello, how are you? - Well, thank you.
- Pleasure. - All mine. - Milly.
- We have to go. - Yes - Sorry.
- Hello. Coffee? Thank you.
Coffee with milk, please.
- Anna!
- Hello!
- Milly. - Since when?
- I'm Milly. - Ok.
- There's my wife.
- Do not worry, do not worry.
- I was just going to call you.
How about Tuesday? - Usual hours?
- Anna!
- Oh God!
- Oh, Lady! Hello.
I did not expect to meet you here. - I am Milly.
Ah, Milly? Anyways, Milly,
can you come by my office
tomorrow at about three?
- I don't know, I have plans.
- Okay, I get it.
Well, if you feel like it, come by at about 3:00.
- I recommend wearing the black bra...
- Yes - The thong... - Yes
- But do you go sailing?
- No.
- Hunting?
- No.
- Anna, how are you? - How are you all right!
- Milly. Milly, Milly.
I'm so nervous!
I can't afford to make a fool of myself.
The most important men in Rome are here.
- Yes, the "cream of the cream".
- It 's the whole list of my clients.
- I'm so nervous...
You're too tense, my friend.
Relax or you'll have a heart attack.
How can I relax when my
life is falling apart!
How does your wife put up with you if
you're always so nervous?
Because she loves me for who I am.
- And who is she ... smooching with that
Luchino actor ... what's his name?
- Salta.
- What smooching?!
- You know.
You said that they only held hands.
No, there must be an explanation, because
for me Milly is like the Madonna.
The explanation is simple:
He's a movie star, a sex symbol.
And Milly is beautiful and has never looked
at another man.
But women don't always know themselves.
Especially those who have a hysterical husband
who fears his own shadow.
Why the hell does he have to smooch
if he seduces with his eyes?
You probably couldn't seduce a woman with your eyes.
I want this job, but
I look like a small minded idiot.
Was your wife a virgin when you married?
- None of your business.
- I bet she was, yes.
- We did wild things together.
- What do you mean by "wild things"?
Having sex with the lights on?
Believe me, I was not a virgin.
Okay, I was a virgin.
- You need a lesson!
- By whom? Certainly not from you.
And why not?
Everything is already paid for. It 's free.
- But there are people around.
- I don't see anyone.
- Don't let me forget the carrots.
- OK.
- You really need all this pasta?
- Yeah, I think we need more pasta.
More pasta? We're not
cooking for a small village.
- Tomatoes.
- OK.
- Whose idea was this enterprise?
- Uh... it was hers. It was Monica's.
We all agreed to have dinner together.
Since Leonardo's at work all day,
and Sally's at school,
Monica suggested we do the cooking.
- Can I make a prediction?
- What?
- She can't cook.
- Apparently, there are some things she can cook.
- Like what?
- Like chocolate brownies.
Brownies? You're going to have
brownies as the main course?
Yeah... yeah, I think it should be fun.
- Do you think it needs more wine?
- Hmm, no...
I mean, I know the Italians
cook with a lot of...
There's a lot wine in here.
I can really feel it.
I don't know, it's... you know,
I think it might be the French.
No, let me see...
- I just... I don't want it to be too subtle.
- No, it's definitely not subtle.
- Can I taste it?
- Yeah, of course, please.
Hmm... You know, I think it needs...
You know, I'll get some...
that other wine, that's there.
The other wine? Are you sure?
We've already finished this one.
- Uh...
- OK.
Oh, oh, we have to put the brownies in.
- Can you bake?
- Can I bake? You said you bake.
Well, no. I can't... I have... I just...
I left the, um... recipe in Los Angeles.
But, you know, I'll do it. I can do it by
memory. I'm sure I can do it by memory.
Hey, you wanna just
order from a restaurant,
and maybe dirty up the kitchen
a little bit, and say we cooked it?
Well... Yeah, let me check this sauce.
Yeah, you know what?
I'm gonna check it too, actually.
Oh, do you want, um...
penne or rigatoni?
Don't put the pasta in now.
They're not gonna be home for hours.
- Hmm... What?
- I think I'm a little drunk.
- Really?
- Yeah.
We can just... We can fake it.
- Yeah, I'm... I'm done with this.
- Good.
- I'm done with the cooking.
- OK.
I just... I promised Leonardo that
I'd make a really great dinner.
Yeah... You know, I'm so... I'm so glad
that worked out between you and Leonardo.
Really. Because, you know,
I'm the one that got you together.
Yeah, I mean, he, uh... he's nice.
Sexy. I think you told Sally.
Hmm... hmm...
You know, I... Look, this is...
this is the wine talking.
He's not the most soulful character,
and he's not, um... he's not a sufferer.
What's... what's so great about suffering?
Well, I just...
There's something
attractive about a man
who's sensitive to the
agonies of existence.
God, you would... you would be perfect
to play Miss Julie? The Strindberg play?
The Miss Julie tactic, I learned
it from a friend of mine,
who's a theater director.
Tell any actress who would be
perfect for the role of Miss Julie,
- and you could have your way with her.
- Just so amazed that you would say that.
I mean, Miss Julie is... is the role
that I was born to play.
She is me!
How could you know that?
I have... a kind of non sequitur
question to ask you now?
What?
How would you feel if I kissed you?
Oh, um... That is a non sequitur.
Our little miss shocked.
Didn't you see that
two minutes ago she popped tic-tac.
What do you think that's about?
I'm serious. I'm serious.
What... what would you think?
I would think that you're living
with my best friend.
Yeah, this is true.
And yet, I can't stop myself.
- Oh, that's not good!
- Why? You didn't like it?
No, I... I liked it,
and that's what's not... good.
And you? Will you ever recover from it?
No, no, she's... she's perfect. I mean,
this is... this is too good to be true.
If something is too good to be true,
you can bet it's not.
I have to have her.
What are we gonna do about this?
Are you acting?
Was it a performance?
I can't do this to Sally in her home.
No... no, it's OK. It's OK, trust me.
She... she won't be home for hours.
- No, I just mean I...
- What?
I don't wanna do it here.
For Christ's sakes, what is all this posturing about?
If you're gonna screw your best friend's boyfriend,
does it really matter what the venue is?
- You will never understand woman.
- That's been proven.
This is not gonna be some ongoing
affair behind Sally's back, right?
This is one rainy afternoon,
I'm a little bit drunk...
And yeah, I'm... I'm turned on by you,
but... just not here, not in her home.
OK. Look, the time for debating
is... is long passed.
Let's go down to the car.
Well, the car is different.
You can fuck me in the car.
I'm fine with that.
Smile! Smile!
My God, you cannot!
my cousin!
We met by chance.
I don't have anything to say, nothing. Come on.
Nothing, nothing! Please...
We met by chance!
I was waiting for my wife.
Be respectful
at least for the procession.
Roberto, I can't take it anymore.
Why me, Roberto?
- What's going on?
- Sir, you must face it.
- You are very, very famous.
- But why?!
Look at this, the pills...
This morning it was full.
Ah. - mama Mia!
- Why am I famous?
- Why? You are famous for being famous.
But I haven't done anything, Roberto.
Excuse me, but, as I see it,
don't all those who are famous deserve it?
I don't know! You can see that!
You ask for my opinion?
Everyone's asking for my opinion.
I do not know!
All I do is answer questions.
My life is a living hell!
A journalist asked me two days ago if there is a God.
I said, "What do I know? I don't know,"
and she was upset.
"Mr. Pisanello doesn't know if there is a God"
And I do not know!
Everyone asks me things...
"Pisanello"
"How do you scratch your head?
With the right or the left?"
"With both hands."
"Oh, he scratches with both!"
There! I scratch my head with
whatever hand I think is best. Okay?
Some secret! - The way I see it, sir,
I kind of agree with them.
Being a celebrity,
excitement, special privileges...
.. The adoring crowds who want an autograph,
every woman's dream.
Women! But you do not know...
"I love him!" They kneel!
"Ah, Pisanello! How beautiful!
He's so beautiful!"
They all want to be in bed with me...
in threes, fours...
I have enough problems with two...
The wife of a man of your caliber
knows he has to be shared with the public.
It's not normal...
Don't interrupt me...
Can't I speak to someone without being interrupted...
Enough!
Take me home! Enough!
I'll report you for violation of privacy!
You are heartless!
Bravo!
You're better than I had imagined.
- Why are you so quiet?
- Because I have committed adultery.
Consider it part of your training.
We did some things I've never done before.
Never.
- Why not?
- Because of Milly. They would upset her.
But with me you had no problem.
Is it because I'm a prostitute?
With you I felt uninhibited.
But now I feel guilty.
Milly would never commit adultery.
She would never betray me.
Maybe she wouldn't mind
that you learned something.
Some things I can't do with Milly.
She's like a saint.
Yes, like Madonna.
Only where is Saint Milly?
You were the virgin at the wedding, not her.
- Like this?
- It 's beautiful here!
- Want a drink?
- No, thanks, I cannot.
But why not?
- Here.
- Thank you.
I love the old songs,
those of my childhood.
- they are very beautiful.
- when I once danced.
Eh, yes?
- Eh? - You are very good.
- Yes, so are you...
Ma .. didn't you want to talk?
- Nostalgia is my weakness.
- Memories are so beautiful.
Did anyone ever tell you
that you're beautiful?
It is not true, no. My husband maybe
once but never a movie actor.
Please don't think of me as an actor,
I am a human being like everyone else...
.. with the same feelings, the same
vulnerabilities, the same desires.
I'm sorry,...
when you kiss those beautiful women in the cinema...
.. You seem to me, how should I say...
A crazy man.
A kiss is just fiction on film.
Yes, I know, but I've always wondered
.. I wondered what it would be like
kissing Luke Salta.
Now you know.
- That was beautiful! - Wonderful?
- No, no more.
- Wait. Now we take a nap.
- What? A nap?
Well, at this point
I can't go back.
- You're so charming.
- No, no, no, no. What a mess!
- I don't see the problem.
- Yes there is a problem.
I would love to make love with you...
.. So I could tell my grandchildren something,
but I can't commit adultery.
Forget the semantics...
I love all of you.
My Lady, I don't know what to do.
I do not know what to do.
I love my husband, but I am so curious.
Life is so short, there are certain moments
already written in destiny.
- This is one of those moments.
- No, wait a moment, please.
I must go to the bathroom.
Don't move. Don'tt move from there.
Do not go.
I swore we wouldn't do this.
I know... I know, I know. Me, neither.
I, uh... I have to tell Sally.
But you said your relationship was winding
down, I mean, this cannot be because of me.
No... no, don't say that!
No... no, it is, it is. It's winding down.
I... I had fantasies yesterday
of us being together.
Really?
Exploring Italy, and...
looking at all the great architecture
of Milan and Venice and Naples.
- You could teach me.
- I'm a good teacher.
We could stay in little towns
in bed-and-breakfasts.
Listen, Sally's taking her exams
next week at the university, I just...
I just don't wanna bring this
to her before then.
No, of course.
Yeah, but right after, right after.
I... I love you.
Okay.
Who is that?
He seems interesting!
We're on the road with Aldo Romano.
It is true that you are a bus driver?
What do you want? I don't understand?
- It 's true that you bring your clothes to the laundry?
- Yes, but what do you want?
- Do you like hamburger?
- No, I don't like it.
- Is that a stain on the jacket?
- Yes, it's marinara sauce.
- How did this happen?
- Do I have to tell everyone?
I was eating a plate of rigatoni.
Why does it matter to you?
- Gabriel, Camilla, Sofia.
- Hello, Dad! - Hello! - Hello!
You know it's all over?
It's back to business as usual.
I'm so happy!
Now Aldo Romano is all over the news.
To celebrate we'll go get a pizza in Velletri.
I'm buying.
- Who is it?
- Aldo Romano.
- I think I did really well on the exams.
- Of course, you did.
Yeah, you sailed through it,
because you studied hard enough.
I worked hard.
Yeah, you did. She doubts herself
for no reason, I don't know why.
- Do you guys want something else?
- Uh...
- Sure. No!
- No.
Oh, OK. Alright, well...
OK.
You see how confident she is?
So I'm gonna... I'm gonna take her to dinner,
and I'm gonna tell her tonight.
- OK. Are you sure?
- Yeah, yeah, of course.
In fact, I planned out an
amazing trip for us.
Believe it or not, I've never been
to the Acropolis or the Parthenon.
- Can we go to Sicily?
- Yeah, of course. You know what?
Actually, we could... we could hire a
sailboat and go around the boot,
- if you want to.
- I've always seen pictures of Palermo,
- I just think it is so romantic.
- Well... you can see pictures compared...
...to nothing to being there,
in the real place. We...
- If you wanna... Yeah, sure.
- Excuse me.
Hello?
No, I can't... Hello?
- OK, I'm gonna see if I can...
- Sure.
Hello?
- It's sad.
- What is?
That you're in love with Monica.
I just... something about her.
- You know that Sally's in love with you, right?
- I know.
And your common sense tells you that
Sally is the much more sensible choice.
Yeah, I know.
I know all of that, and yet...
- I can't explain it.
- I understand.
- Guess what?
- What?
- I got a part.
- A part?
I get a part...
...in a movie. It's a high budget,
it shoots in Los Angeles and Tokyo.
- But where?
- I have to leave tonight.
What was that about sailboat and Sicily?
- They need me for like five months.
- Five months in Japan?
Uh... one month in Los Angeles,
four in Japan.
I mean, assuming it all goes on time.
Oh, I cannot wait to go!
I mean, it is like my dream and life
to spend time in the far east.
- That's your dream?
- Who's in it?
Justin Brill, Ricardo Ramirez...
Ricardo Ramirez?
He's a very attractive man.
And I worked with Justin Brill before,
like when he was married to Rebecca Wright,
- and he had this big mad crush on me.
- Well, he's available now.
This is so exciting!
I can't wait to get back to Los Angeles,
see my acting coach.
I mean, no matter what it is like to
visit a place, there's nothing like home.
- Who's the directing?
- Max Trommel.
I... adore him.
I adore his work.
And you know what?
He's like the only director...
...that I would trust to direct
the nude scenes that I have to do?
And although, I mean he does a lot of drugs,
and somehow, that burnt-out look is
just so... it's just so sexy on him.
I have to lose some weight.
I mean, the writer saw me on that TV thing,
and he just... he flipped out over my quality.
I'm like five pounds or so. . .
"I'll just start running again.
I'll start running again."
This part is such a great show case for me.
I... I just hope I can bring my dog.
I hope it's not like London
where it's so hard to bring a pet.
Milly Stay calm, stay calm.
Is it better to go to bed and have a regret...
or just leave and have a regret for life?
What shall I do? Better remorse, no?
Better remorse, absolutely.
- Yes, better remorse.
- Shut up.
What?
- Shut up or I'll kill you.
Now open the door and let's go.
Not a word.
- Are you ready love?
- Don't even open your mouth.
If you do what I say
it will be okay.
- Got it?
- Yes
Then give me your
money and jewelry.
- You know who I am?
- No, I don't and I don't give a damn.
- Shut up and stop crying.
- Here.
- Give me your wallet.
- But don't get up.
- Give me your watch. - Yes
- The watch. - Yes
Open up.
Open up, I am in charge of hotel security.
Open up, Luke! I know you're there.
- My wife! That's my wife.
- Your wife?
- Yes
- But you said you were separated!
- Oh, what a fool!
- I do not want to end up like the other woman
in the paper.
- I'm finished.
Oh...
Listen to me.
Let's do this... you're not finished yet.
Let's do this. Go to the
bathroom and hide in the shower.
- I'll put her in bed.
- Yes
- Go and shut the door.
- Together.
- Yes, good.
- Close the door. . . .Go to bed.
Open up!
- Now sir, explain why you didn't open the door.
- Come on.
- Come near the bed.
- Didn't you hear me knocking?
- What's going on? Are you crazy?
- Didn't you hear?
Didn't I hear what?
I'm here with my girlfriend and I was...
He is not the woman's husband?
- We didn't know!
- She said it was her husband.
You're all crazy! I will sue!
Please forgive us and please excuse us.
What have you done?
I do not understand what is happening.
- It was not my fault.
- Leave.
- Look, this was not my fault.
- Madam, be patient!
- I'm sorry. - I'll call lawyers.
- Sorry.
- Anyway, I...
- Come, madam. Thank you.
- It shouldn't have to end like this.
I don't know what happened...
- Take it easy, ma'am.
- But...
- Enough!
- Thank you. A million thanks.
- Imagine.
I take my leave now.
In fact, here is the watch.
I'll also give you my ring. Take it all.
- Thank you. Really, thanks.
- Thank you.
- Thank you very much.
- Goodbye. Thank you. Goodbye.
I can't believe it.
Of course... right,
you're really cute.
- What?
- He's right, you're pretty.
Thank you. Ma .. you are a thief, right?
Yes, I'm a thief specializing in hotels.
- But I also do some mugging.
- Oh yeah?
- Ah. Exciting.
- You're exciting.
You know I've never made love with a criminal.
- My husband is a businessman, very respectable.
- Yes?
- Yes
You know what they say:
Opportunity makes one a thief.
Shall we take this opportunity?
- Sure. - Of course.
- We are in a hotel room.
- We're in bed, you're in your underwear.
- I'm already undressed.
- So. - So what?
- So, anyway...
I guess I'll never hear from Monica again.
Yes, but you can read her about
in the gossip columns...
...dating Justin Brill,
vacationing in his Aspen lodge.
Consider yourself lucky.
You saved your own life there.
A year with her, she would let you freefall
parachuting and adopting Burmese orphans.
- With age comes wisdom.
- With age comes exhaustion.
- Look, here is where we first met.
- Yeah.
I should be getting back
to the Excelsior.
Oh, it's a nice hotel.
Obviously you're doing well.
- There's a lot of dough in shopping malls.
- You sold out.
As a foolish man once said,
"Stuff happens."
- I'll leave you here.
Goodbye.
How nice!
Tonight there's a film preview.
We can go without casino
and enjoy the film.
We can't be out there posing for journalists.
- Look, we were not invited.
- Ah...
Then we can stay at home and enjoy the film.
And I no longer have to share you with
models, actresses and sexy secretaries.
Ma .. Hey! Hey! Hey!
I am Leopoldo Pisanello.
Good morning, ma'am.
This morning I had breakfast...
.. I put butter on two slices of bread,
and jam.
Then I made lather with the shaving gel
Because that's how I shave
with gel. I really like the lather.
I am Leopoldo Pisanello.
Good morning. Want an autograph?
I'm Leopoldo Pisanello. You want it?
I'm Leopoldo Pisanello. Lady!
I'll give you a scoop: I wear boxers.
Do you want to see them?
Do you want to see the boxers? Here they are.
I wear white boxers, large.
Here they are. It 's a scoop!
Lady! I'm Leopoldo Pisanello.
Do you think a trim would be better?
And she's my wife.
Miss, look. A tear in her stockings.
The run is fashionable.
It's a "trend".
Do you want to see Pisanello on one leg only?
Here it is, on one leg.
E 'scoop exceptional.
This morning I had breakfast...
Enough paparazzi!
Enough paparazzi! Enough!
- Excuse me, but I know you. - Yes ..
- Yes, I remember the face.
You are... What was your name?
- I'm Leopoldo Pisanello.
- That's it.
You want an autograph?
- Yes, if you want to... my notebook.
- I'll give you an autograph.
Thank you.
- I'm Leopoldo Pisanello, if you remember.
- Thank you.
It's me.
- You see?
- Yes, let's go home, our children are there.
Come on.
Here, here.
Surely he remembers me.
This gentleman was once my driver.
Right?
- Yes - There.
- I told you life is sometimes very cruel.
It doesn't give satisfaction,
neither to the rich and famous . .
.. nor to the poor and unknown.
But, between the two,
being rich and famous is definitely better.
- Goodbye. - Goodbye.
- Thank you. - Lord. - Goodbye.
Come on.
- You know what he said?
- Yes, I understand... I get it.
- Milly? Milly?
- Where were you? I was worried.
- What happened to you?
- I went to find you.
Then I lost the phone.
I was lost in Rome.
But where were you?
With my uncles, but I was thinking of you
every single minute.
- Did it go well?
- We're going home.
- Home?
- Yes, let's go back to Pordenone.
- But we just got here.
- It doesn't matter.
You don't want to meet my uncles
and their jerk friends.
I don't want that job.
I want my old job back.
Maybe we won't be rich,
but we will have a better life
.
- Don't you still want to teach?
- Yes. Yes, but... - No "but".
We'll go back home and have a life...
.. A life much better, with children.
And I can... I can paint a little.
Okay. I'm surprised.
I don't know what to tell you.
Don't say anything. Let's make love.
- How?
- Before leaving, we'll celebrate.
Now I'll teach you something about the stars.
- I will ravage you. So, don't be surprised.
- Ravage me.
I'll say my lines.
A great show for twenty-three hours.
Put on your costume...
.. and your face.
The people pay and they want to laugh.
And if a Harlequin shall steal your Columbine,...
.. laugh, clown...
.. and everyone applauds.
Laugh, clown...
.. your love is broken.
Laugh.
- No! - The name!
- Devil! But really...
(chorus) - What are you doing?
- To you! To you!
In the throes of death you will tell!
- Help!
- Edda!
Ah, are you? So be it!
The comedy is over.
Dad, the critics says you were wonderful,
"a voice from the golden era".
It is so great, I... I can't believe it!
But no more for me?
- I've proved myself enough.
- You are beautiful here.
Mama don't fly, I don't tour,
my life is fulfilled.
I've had a great family. I stay home.
I relax. I bury people. I'm happy.
- You're not going away then?
- No. I've had enough.
Tonight I owe everybody an apology.
We should get to the Spanish Steps
for Max's cocktail party.
We're late?
No, I mean, he's an old
friend of my father,
he's not gonna mind
if we're a bit late.
- But we should go soon.
- Alright.
- Do you forgive me?
- Oh, I'm so happy for your husband.
And as for you, how can I
not forgive you? I love you.
"Another Caruso, and in difficult conditions."
Oh, goodness, they weren't very kind
to my father, were they?
Uh... Wait, I think it's better
you don't hear that.
No, no, I can take it.
Just don't tell my Dad.
Thankfully, he doesn't understand
the word of Italian.
Alright, um...
"Except from Mr. Santoli's magnificent voice...
Magnificent! His voice is the most beautiful of all!
- Whatever, "whoever imbecile..." imbecile?
- Yeah, imbecile.
"whoever imbecile conceived
this moronic experience...
"...should be taken out and beheaded."
Oh, well, he's gotten worse.
This has to be the most beautiful
terrace in all of Rome.
Yeah, for my wife and I is a
privilege to live up here.
Yeah, I mean, the Spanish Steps
right there, the people watching...
Phyllis, the review was so great.
I mean, the press... what...
The press called me, um...
not... not, what's the word they used?
not a maestro,
but uh...uh... an "imbecille"!
- I... What... what does it mean?
- Means you're ahead of your time.
Ahead... you know, your mother,
I'm happy to say, lucky woman,
married an "imbecille".
- So I toast to my future father-in-law.
- Ah, well, good luck to you guys.
- Honey, let's go to see the piazza.
- Yeah. - Get a click.
I'm so glad to see them.
They make a lovely couple.
Oh, this city is unbelievable.
I think we should get married
right in front of the fountain there.
Anything you want.
Oh, I could stand here all night.
It's so beautiful.
It's me, that knows Rome best,
not the traffic policeman or anyone.
I see all from here.
The Romans, the students,
the lovers on the Spanish Steps.
There're many stories.
Next time you come.
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