My Italy (2016) - full transcript

Are these the only catalogues?

How many do you want? There are 4 artists

Great!

Do you think people appreciate
this contemporary

art thing?

There was that pretty good subject...

the one about the dance school
with the two young guys...

That wasn't bad!

What time is our flight?

At a quarter to...

Come on.
No, put everything back and let's go...



The dance school. This, too.

I was 21...

22 years old when I did my first
poster for the theatre.

Theatre of Sources,
directed da Jerzy Grotowski.

Are you Bednarski?

- Yes, I am.
- The sculptor?

Yes, that's me.

Can I have a word with you?
It's about a job.

I'm Mark Kostabi,

an American artist,

and I'm following
in the footsteps of Joseph Beuys

who said we have to spread art.

I also love De Chirico
and I'm selling my paintings door-to-door.

What? I don't understand.



- Have you got the pen drive?
- Yes.

Hey, cheer up.

Really. I mean it!

I was taking some rest.

Well, you're resting with
a face that looks like...

If the project goes through
all our problems are over.

Let's hope so.

I don't mean everything,

but at least you'll give
me a few unpaid salaries, no?

How much do I owe you?
A month, two...

- Six months' salary!
- Six months?

Six months.

Then there are
all the things I noted down.

The expenses I paid for...

Ok, you always keep accounts,
write everything down.

I'm doing it.

We're going to the biggest
Polish producer

If you go in with
that look on your face...

It's important!

He'll see that you're awkward.

- Are you feeling awkward?
- No.

Your "no" sounds like a "yes".

It's mingling contemporary art
with comedy

with professional artists

that allows you to...
How can I put it...

Sorry, may I?

Come in.

- One moment, please.
- No, no...

Sign here, please.

And here.

And here.

I can't before 4 pm.

Sure, I'll tell him right away.

Sorry, please, do go on.

I was saying, now,
the felicitous short circuit,

between comedy

and a more specialized subject...

We've got nearly all the budget,

only 30 % still needs to be covered,

which could be your side of

your contribution.

You've got it all here.

- The estimated costs...
- Yes.

We have to think about it.

And submit everything
to our board to get it okayed,

obviously.

I see not only

Bednarski in your project,

also Polish names,
important people,

actors, our artists.

And the Italian ones, too,

are high-level.

But amongst the Italian cast

I would have liked
to see a great Italian actress.

I mean your unrivalled Serena Dream.

Let me show you something.

Wait just a second...

Serena!

And here I also have all her masterpieces.

"Joy's Photos", what a film!

He's got them all...

I'd very much like you
to join your project.

And in this I think I'm expressing

the wishes of our entire board.

I would add that we have
a privileged relationship...

Serena Dream!

- Yes...
- Dream.

"The Violoncello Teacher".

God knows how many times
I saw that one.

- Do you know who this Serena Dream is?
- No.

I have no idea who Serena Dream is.

"Big Joan the Mistress"...

She made risqué films.

How do you pronounce
the Polish actor's name?

- Kojak.
- Oyak.

- Oyak.
- Yes.

Oyak.

I wanted to ask you,

Do you think that on our side

the Grotowski Foundation,

The Grotowski Centre,

would they, I don't know,

give financial support

for our project?

No, I mean, on your part,

would you at all consider
supporting our project?

- Do you speak Italian 7
- Yes.

No, I mean, Hojak,

do you think you might support

our film project...

interesting...

You think it's possible?

I mean step in...

Ok, Oyak, it was a pleasure.

Something's moving here...

Since we got out
of this big black hole

there's been a big change.

When I first came to Rome
in the 1980s,

it was all different.

And I live like this,
between Warsaw and Rome.

One foot here, one there.

I found you at last.

You live in Warsaw, don't you?

Yes, between Rome and Warsaw.

My husband died four days ago.

I'm so sorry.

- He was a wonderful person.
- I'm sure.

They said he was a Camorra mobster.

My husband!

He even got elected mayor.

They all loved him,
and he never deserved to die like that,

in a stinking jail, like a pauper!

- I don't understand, in jail?
- In jail!

What does that have to do with me,
Madam!

Let me explain.

You see, there's our son.

He loves cinema.

Films are his passion!
Knows them all by heart.

He wanted to study in Rome,

then he went

to Warsaw University.

Oh, really?

He also served time, for murder.
But he was innocent.

He had a scrape with a guy,

and a good judge gave him
right of self-defence.

So, when
my husband and I went to visit him,

he didn't take us for a city tour
like everyone else.

No!

He took us to see all the graveyards.

- There's a whole bunch of them in Warsaw!
- Yes.

Full of graveyards.

In one of these graveyards

we saw that lovely thing you did...

I don't remember...
I've got a picture of it here.

Here it is.

Yes...

it's my sculpture on the
tomb of Krzysztof Kieslowski.

A great film director,

a very great man!

- Sloski
- Kieslowski, yes.

My husband,
when he saw your work,

the funeral monument you did,

he was moved.

He liked it so much
that he started crying.

Then he dried his tears,
and said to our boy:

"Hey Raf, when I die I want
one that's exactly like that!"

That's why I'm here.

I don't quite understand.

What can I do for you?

You have to make exactly the same.

Exactly the same?

Identical.

Lady, are you kidding?

It's impossible!
You can't make the same thing again.

I'm sorry for your husband,
but I don't make tombs,

I'm a sculptor...

Money is no object.

- I take the liberty, Maestro.
- Money is no object.

I brought you a small advance.

- Just a small sum for you.
- It's not a question of money.

But you just can't do a sculpture twice.

I can’t!

- Nothing doing, Lady.
- Ok, Maestro.

- I'm sorry.
- Ok!

My brother-in-law told me go ahead,
said he can't come just now.

He said: "Go ahead, and I'll join you
if any problem crops up".

He's in Rome, too.

He lives right in front here,
under house arrest.

Art

is a promise of happiness,

said Baudelaire.

And Italy has always had

a natural landscape and an aesthetic one.

The Grand Tour is historically

the systematic trip
which intellectuals and artists

from all over the world took
at least once in their lives,

like going to Lourdes.

Well, the Lourdes of beauty is Italy,
let's say.

Apart from the Vatican.

Contemporary art isn't only
a slap in the public face,

as Boccioni used to say,

scandal, performance,

a larger-than-life event.

Contemporary art is
a break and continuity,

a way to plan the past.

Those who presume to lead these days,
ain't leaders at all.

They have no idea what it means
to put twenty dwarfs together...

A midget, and then a freak.

They have no idea!
A cripple, a hunchback, a wretch...

Listen, Solari,
you've got to solve a big problem,

a really big one.

You've got to find Serena Dream.

She flipped out long ago.

Never showed up again!

I heard she became a nun,
then went into theatre,

King Lear, Hamlet,
something like that...

Like she's in the looney bin?
Or can I contact hen...

Have you got her number,
yes or no?

Trying to play around with me?
You don't know me!

I have all the numbers,
highly professional! This is my job!

What did he say?

That he'll track her down.
He can find even a dead man.

Solarino is great,

a sensitive intelligent man.

Do one thing, stop where you can,

let's just call her up.

Hi, Serena!

I am an Italian
film director and producer,

and I'm calling you from
Warsaw.

We're doing an independent film,

and I thought
of giving you a part...

You're Gigi, Faustino's pal,

the jockey.

- Gigi?
- Go and tell Faustino

I want a good horse,
not like the last time.

No, I assure you, Serena...

We've got a big problem here!

I got your number from Solarino,
the agent.

- She's saying Gigi who is the guy?
- Gigi?

Solarino?

Since we're getting ready to start,

I thought if you don't mind
we'll send you a air ticket

so you can come here
and we can talk it over.

Yes, sure.

God! Sorry for not catching...

Yes.

Sorry about the horse!

Anyhow, thanks.

Thanks.

Bankrupt.

How's that possible!
Did you look carefully?

How strange...

Let's see if I have some more.
What's this?

This is the Telepass,

- This is my Ikea.
- We have a hundred and twenty euros.

- I mean yours?
- Hundred and twenty euros!

Hundred and twenty?

She wants to give me money.

A bag full of money.

A hundred, five hundred...
I don't know what to do!

In human history,

the artist was always
the one who hesitated,

but always ended up accepting patronage.

Why?

Because while he creates, he forgets

who the patron is.

And he already feels like the
future memory of history.

If you go to an archeological
museum in Rome,

there's a bust of Nero,

the first who did the Roman Summer Fest,

burnt the city down.

In the 20th century

we have portraits of lots of gangsters,
in politics,

right-wing, left-wing:

portraits of Stalin, Mussolini,
Salazar, Franco...

Art is a stain remover:

crimes of all sorts
get pardoned in the name of Beauty.

I've seen the tombs you did in Warsaw

and I really think that, paradoxically,

you are an avantguarde
sculptor of funeral monuments.

- Thanks.
- Your best work is in the cemeteries.

What do you say,
should I do this tomb?

That widow,
how did she ask for the tomb?

She wants it exactly the same,
like Kieslowski's.

Yes, but how is it there?

The film director's gesture.

So do it like this for her.

Like this!

- Hi, guys!
- Hi !

- How's it going?
- Pretty good.

- And you?
- Good!

Do you know if a woman showed up

black, thin,
a bit of a Neapolitan accent?

No, I didn't see her.

- No? Nobody asked you.
- Not till now.

Why are they trying to contact you?

Nothing...

Money used to go from Rome to Warsaw,

these days, Italians, too,
unfortunately they follow me.

They go abroad. Correct.

Not only Warsaw,
Breslaw too, Wroclaw,

almost 3,000 young
people got a job,

as per their profession.

Take this.

Thanks.

- Hey, you Italian?
- Yep! I'm Italian.

Me, too!
I'm from Arezzo.

I used to have a business in Italy,
cleaning.

Then came the slump, taxes...
I lost everything.

All that's left is this bucket
and the squeegee.

That's all you got left?

And how are things, ok?

Earning little by little.

My uncle's over there, sells jackets,

things are slowly picking up...

- He's from Arezzo.
- From Arezzo?

And you?

Forget about that. All the best!

Thanks, to you too.

Are you Mr. Bednarski, the artist?

Yes, I am.

Congratulations.

What for?

Can I sit down for a moment?

Sure...

I saw the Fellini sculpture
you did in Rimini.

I liked it a lot.

Can we speak Italian

it's nice, please!

I came to Naples as a kid.

But was lucky enough to meet
a very important person:

Raffaele Scognamiglio.

He's the one who got me
into the environment,

taught me everything.

A collector?

I was serving time at Poggioreale,

having cracked a bottle
over a Polish friend's head.

Just for fun.

But I got arrested.

I risked getting deported back to Poland.

Didn't know what to do.

But that was just my good luck.

A good and generous man,

who unfortunately died a few weeks ago.

She said:
"Keep your eye on him".

"Make sure

"he doesn't come in harm's way".

If you need anything,

call me.

STOLEN BY UNKNOWN HANDS
ON THE KIESLOWSKI'S GRAVE

Everything go ok? How was the journey?

Great!

Excuse me quickly...

My feet were so sore I didn't
know what to do.

Now I'll put them in my bag...

Vever mind me!

Never mind!

I'm the assistant
of the producer and director.

Yes, that makes me happy.

I saw "Big Joan the Mistress".

Pretty good, tongue in cheek,
great fun.

Sorry if I ask you this question,

what did the film-maker think of me?

Because he is very much...

He's seen all your pictures,
and then

we talk about you a lot.

But now he'll tell you all about it!

I don't want to...

But now I only do theatre classics.

I'm sorry to hear that.

But what's this picture about?

Well...

Let him tell you,

I don't want to...

But I'm the lead actress, right?

Well, yes...

That's what I was expecting!

He booked the upper suite.

BYE bye, goodnight.

- Goodnight.
- Bye.

100 zloty,
that's all I've got left.

Hello, Mom!

In Warsaw.

In Poland, Mom.

Yes, I'm making a film.

Well, a really good film-maker!

Yeah, and he's the producer too.

I don't know him.
No, I don't even know his name.

Apparently he's really good.

Hello!

Yes, good day to you.

This is fantastic news!

When did she arrive?

Good. Hotel Marriott, yes.

Now I'll make sure
personally that Ms Dream

has suitable accommodation...

Yes, no,
the lady is my personal guest.

Someone said that something
is rotten in Denmark.

Kirchhoff comes from Denmark.

They didn't stop him at the border,

he settled down in Rome,

and even came to Padula,

the Charterhouse,

and created "The works and the Days"
for an exhibition of mine,

a sort of public urinor

with tiles that have immortal,

as it were, phrases on them.

What I mean to say is that
is an existential artist.

Hello?
Are you the artist Thorsten Kirchhoff?

Yes, I am.

Good morning, I'm the
plumber here at Certosa, Sala Consilina,

Padula... the whole area.

The plumber?

You made that latrine.

The one in the Charterhouse, at Padula
with the crossword puzzles on tiles.

Yes, it's a work of art.
Let's say a sculpture, yes.

We're going to have to move it,
there's water leaking in.

It's not water, it's a recording!

There's a loudspeaker...

What do you mean, a recording,
it's water alright,

there's 10 centimeters of water!

What do you mean,
10 centimeters of water!

You have to come and move it,

because there's water leaking in

and I can't do my repair work,
can't go on with my work.

In Padula?

Sure, I can come.

I have a car,
but it's not a car like...

It'll take me, let's say,
three or four

hours, days...

Ok, let's do something:

I'll move the thing,
don't worry about it.

Know what, Torten?

I'll use two good tiles

much better ones.

Fourteen years of garbage!
To hell with you...

I was disappointed

Very much

But next day

When I saw your empty bed

Domenico?

What?

Kirchhoff! What happened?

I have an ache from here to here.

I'm leaving for somewhere,
please check my Cinquecento.

Check? Why check! Runs like clockwork!

I have to go to Padula.

Do you really have to go?

Why, Padula no...
I won't get there?

Sure you'll get there!
Well, with that can.

How many kilometres is it?
Just to know.

Six hundred!

- Why don't you go to Naples?
- Naples?

Beautiful ! Naples is beautiful.

But if my problem is in Padula,
what's Naples got to do with it?

What a fixation, Padula!

Padula... why so obsessed!

I have a problem in Padula.
A bathroom is leaking.

This is ok...

See? Everything's just Perfect!

Just perfect, no need to check.

Yes, Hi,
this is Kirchhoff speaking.

See here,
the car has broken down.

So do this,
I'll solve your problem.

Take all your things out of the car,
all your things,

lock the car,

and take a nice little train
and come here, ok?

It can even be fun.

Sit by the window,
and enjoy the landscape.

Tell me,
are you by chance going south?

You're lucky, hop in.

We're like weeds,

our people have gone through
all the contradictions...

Here in the Spanish quarters
half of the inhabitants are multiracial.

Here you get all the smells,
all the spices,

all the races, cheek-by-jowl.

Like having the whole world
at your doorstep.

Here they always talk of crime,
these things...

Do you know why I live here?
Because it's still human here.

- Sorry...

- Madonna!

What's going on?

They've shot Vincenzo

You have to shut up...

Damn it.
Shut up.

They're all mad!
I have to leave this place.

Is it a shootout?

No, nothing,
people are watching cowboy films on TV...

Well, having said this...

But who is?

Nothing, it's the lady
on the third floor, in front here:

she jumped out of the window.

- What do you mean ? Is she dead?
- No.

She jumps down on the mattresses.

Here they throw
mattresses out of the window,

you know, bags...

So she knows exactly
at what time they do it...

And jumps out of the window.

She always checks, I guess,
that the mattresses are there.

She jumps,

then gets back on her feet
and goes shopping.

See?

That's how things are here.

But in this city,
that's kind of strange.

You can help me, but

I've got this thing here, a deflector.

Show me.

Do you know somebody, somehow...

I can't get these anymore.

A spare part for a vintage car.

Rosellina and Malu.

At Grotta della Stella.

Excuse me,
do you know Grotta della Stella?

Grotta della Stella?
I'll tell you right away.

Gimme the watch.

- What's going on?
- The bracelet.

- Hand over the money.
- Take it easy.

- Move your ass.
- Yes.

Out with the cash, quick!

Come on.

- We've been mugged!
- Yes, this is a robbery, sir.

But now these guys are looking
for another chance,

- They're coming back.
- They're coming back.

We're going to get mugged again.
We have nothing left.

Grotta della Stella, at the top
of the hill, second turning to the right.

Second turning?

Thanks.

- He said the second...
- Second turning to the right.

Hello.

Hello.

Malu,

see what this guy wants.

Can I help you?

I'm looking for a deflector.

A deflector?

- A deflector?
- This.

This kind.

Let me have a look.

I've got one already,
but I want the original.

- It belongs to a Cinquecento.
- Yes, bravo!

We have one.

- Let me...
- What's wrong?

- What are you doing?
- Let go...

Madonna, this bitch...

Maybe it's better...

- Come over here!
- Shall I come later?

- Stop.
- Let go.

Excuse me.

See her?

A great singer!

They don't appreciate her

because in the festivals
in public squares they want women.

I used to be an impresario,
for singers.

One day she came and said:
"I want to do an audition".

When I heard her sing

I went out of my mind.

I've had a lot of women.

They called me "Angel Face".

They called him "Angel Face".

I gave everything up for this bitch.

Gave everything up for me.

He promised me the earth,

and look where I landed.

In a cave, selling garbage.

Let me find the deflector, now...

The deflector!

Got it.

Thorsten Kirchhoff has come to wash

his ghosts
in the warm waters of the Mediterranean.

Kirchhoff, basically,

travels through museums,

through his own obsessions,
even at night.

He goes through them,

moving over a terrain
that is quite linked to cinema,

I would say, Nordic
with the idea of loneliness, melancholy.

And through various media

and different languages: painting,
sculpture, drawing,

even video

Kirchhoff tries to represent all this,
to put it on stage.

Can I come in?

Anyone there?

Hi!

Hello.

Sorry if I came in like this.

My scooter broke down,
right here.

There's no petrol and

nobody, no cars in sight.

- I need...
- Would you like some wine? Some cheese?

Thanks, but
I don't want to be a nuisance.

Don't worry,
nobody ever eats anything here.

- Are you from Piemonte?
- No, I'm Danish.

But I'm coming Rome.

I'll go and get you some wine and cheese.

Thanks.

Michelina de Cesare,
love made her into a bandit woman.

Women who get killed
for the sake of love.

How many things
do they do for love's sake, these women!

Highway robbery:

men and women all herded
into a concentration camp.

In northern Calabria,
at Guardia Piemontese,

from all over southern Italy.

A report mentions Angelina,

shot at 11 years of age
for being a bandit.

Poor Michelina de Cesare
and all the women of the South,

who suffered from oppression,
injustice, violence.

Good evening!

Good evening!

What happened? Lost your way?

I guess so, yes.

I was looking for a petrol pump,
and then...

- Would you like some wine?
- Thanks.

The girl who was just
here went to get some, thanks.

- What girl?
- The one with lots of hair.

I'm the guardian.

I look after the whole house.

Sometimes she shows up.

It was her, you mean!

The ghost of Michelina De Cesare,

a bandit woman...

Ghost?

Yes, It's strange
to talk about to a dead person,

someone who doesn't belong to this earth,

but, it's also strange
that an object can move,

or that a chair can start flying.

If a chair flies,
people get really scared.

They start making phone calls,
run away...

And while everybody is surprised,

time goes by

and dawn comes.

And in that precise moment
an incredible thing happens,

much more incredible
than the flying chair.

The sun rises,

and things change colour.

The objects, all of them,
change colour,

change how they appear.

But unfortunately nobody
gives a damn about that.

They go on doing and saying
what they were doing or saying,

because this event happens every day
and people think it's normal.

I think that...

I think that from this moment
on you will surely meet some ghosts,

and will communicate with them

because it will be normal.

The petrol pump is closed now.

I'll find you a room, you can rest,
and tomorrow we'll fix everything.

Tomorrow the sun will rise.

The Certosa of Padula
is an incredible place.

Achille did this exhibition there.

Each artist got his own cell.

I went to check out the situation

and was struck by the fact
that there were no toilets in the cells.

I don't know why.

So I thought that it was logical

to make the missing toilets.

PUZZLES

Oh, shit!

Come, this way it'll be quicken

You've got the wrong floor.

The artists' cell is on the upper floor!

They did the work and left
everything right here in front...

- Why don't you let me get dressed.
- Go, go.

SOUTH

These paintings are usually done in China.

They put the colour
on their fingers to pose as...

They're not painters.

They pose as painters.

They're salesmen.

But I know this painter!

This is Tony Esposito!

It's nice that he found his place in life.

Maybe he needs money,

Because the music field
doesn't pay much.

They postdate the checks,

the galleries also do it like that.

All postdated and they bounce, too!

Here at Piazza Navona
they pay with real money.

Today Mark and I exchange art.

Mark is a famous painter known all over.

Less well-known as a pianist.

I am a musician and
not well known as a painter.

Mark took me back to painting.

We're doing some stuff together.

But Mark has a lot of strange things.

Not strange, fantastic.

He often invites me out for dinner,
and we go to famous restaurants in Rome,

but quite surprisingly
I see that he never pays.

How's that possible?

Are they just being kind?
Do they know Mark?

I found out later what happens.

The restaurant owners
in Rome are nice guys:

they make me feel at home.

Like a family!

And they found out that
I'm a pretty famous painter

and so they always ask me,
sooner or later:

"Why don't you bring one
of your paintings to the restaurant?"

- A painting.
- And sol do that.

But since this is my calling,

and I have to
get some sort of remuneration for it,

we do a sort of...
They call it a "barter system".

- I don't understand.
- It's the "barter system".

A business deal:
I give them a painting,

and they feed me free
for the rest of my life.

- For your whole life?
- Yes! We have a written agreement.

I'm constantly
doing these business deals.

I made one the other day, want to see?
I have a signed contract here.

"Il Sole restaurant undertakes

"to serve an unlimited number
of free meals

"to Mr. Kostabi and any of his guests,

"for his entire lifetime".

For the rest of my life.

To tell the truth,
this thing kind of gets me.

Doesn't this thing get you?

It's nice! Because we're friends!
A big family.

I mean...

Since these are upper-end restaurants,
expensive ones,

say one day you have an accident...

God forbid! But it could happen.

It would be a good deal for them.

Well, I don't know...

For example, when I came in,
the guy asked me:

"How's the Maestro?"

I said: "He's fine!"

But now that you told me about this,
maybe it's just my impression,

but I got a feeling he was saying:
"He's fine, you say?"

As if to say,
"This guy, ten years down the line..."

I'm sure it's me imagining things.

Anyway,
what you tell me is kind of interesting,

Do you have
this arrangement abroad, too?

Yes.

Bruno, have some pizza?
This place does it just for me.

No thanks, I've had dinner...

Do they make these especially for you?

They make these "pizzette"
especially for me.

Little pizzas.

Yeah, those are enough for...
I mean, if you wanted to...

- It's not the quantity, it's the drop.
- The quality.

Because there's a whole tradition

going back to the Avant-guarde movements,
but already in the 19th century,

when painters used to
eat for free in the trattorias,

and have their clothes made by tailors

and paid them with drawings or paintings.

So Kostabi

uses art to make payments in kind.

It's obvious that Kostabi's
and Warhol's mother,

who maybe had him in a factory,

but he has developed, I would say,

certain ways that are typical

of the great artist Warhol.

In theory, Mangiafuoco

is the one who supervises everything.

But in practice, too.

The ancients called it

"Hell",
the Flegrean Fields.

Because there were thermal waters,

there was fire coming out of the earth.

Pasolini.

Homer.

Caravaggio.

Stravinsky.

Beethoven.

Shakespeare.

Picasso.

Warhol.

De Sica.

Rossellini.

Dante.

Verga.

Satie.

Debussy.

Schoenberg.

Cage.

Van Gogh.

Monet.

Gaugin.

De Kooning.

Sofia, you've come home!

Now, I have just to find a restaurant
where to place you.

Here it is, you see?

The signed contract!

Now, this contract has
to be sent immediately to the bank.

The signature, everything,

and before you know it
we'll have the money.

Thank God!

Listen, since the money is on the way,

let's get business class tickets,
what do you say?

Business class, no?

Hey, man, don't make that face...

That face...

This and London.

- How long does it take?
- Thirty bloody hours to get there.

But there are also coaches
that are very comfortable.

You know what's up, with these big banks you get
delays.

We have to make do with the smaller ones,

they make more sense.

Yeah, but these little banks,
all this understanding...

Let me tell you something.

This hostility, the banks not seeing
this project with a friendly eye,

I don't mind it at all.

Why?

Because it proves that we're
doing a special project,

that very few people understand,

almost nobody.

Especially the banks.

I invented these pockets

to carry my paintings inside
the art fairs without it showing

because there's this notice that says:

"No bags and purses allowed inside".

Cloakroom.

But they
didn't say anything about pockets.

Anyway, I have two rolls here.

I'm a follower
of Marcel Duchamp and Joseph Beuys.

I believe art
should enter into people's homes,

directly,

without going through
the galleries.

Sorry,
but this is all I can give right now.

Good morning,

I'm an art vendor,
brought you some paintings.

Do you have poems, too?

- Good morning.
- Good morning.

- Who are you?
- I'm an American artist.

I sell my paintings door-to-door.

Who is it? So early?

An artist.

Ask him to come in with his
hands in his pockets.

- Come in.
- May I?

They steal silverware, dessert spoons.

Hey man, what do you want?

I see that you already have
paintings in your home...

Come up,

The American!

I once met de Chirico.

He came to see a performance
where I played the role of a man.

He came to me at the end of the show,

I had this cap on my head
and really looked like a boy,

and he said: "Good boy! Well done!"

So I said: "Maestro, I'm a girl".

And he answered:
"Great performance, my boy".

This is one of my favourite paintings.

Because it has two worlds:
a black and white one,

and one in colour.

Good for you!
I'm happy you're buying this one.

"and the good wizard place
us with Monna Vanna,

"and then with Monna Lagia,

"and with the one that ranks thirtieth".

"So that we
might forever converse about love,

"and each of them be happy,

"and we as well".

When you sell paintings
in the homes of great artists,

you have to be kind of careful,

because they also do this
exchange of goods.

I would say that Kostabi represents

an American in Rome.

One who moved here,

suitcase in hand,

and brought from the US
a pragmatism,

a creative approach

so that he does his business
from the producer to the consumer.

Rino Barillari, it's you!

Still here?

And "The Great Beauty", finished?

Forget "The Great Beauty", it's closed!

I've looked in at all the bars!
Jackie O'...

I went to the Grand Hotel,

the Excelsior, no-one around.

Strange evening.

You know what I'm going to do?
I'll take a picture of you.

Do me this favour Kostabi,
come on!

Can you take a picture?
Sure, why not.

The only picture tonight. Like this.

Sorry, who's the girl?

Who is she?

"Sometimes I would like the garbage
collectors to throw me down on the bed,

That's better, yes, better

Did it speak to you?

I think you can express it better,

you can face up to this thing
of the night, being raped...

I'm trying to explain
the essence of existence.

I would like the garbage collectors
to throw me on the bed

and do whatever they
want with me.

Lately lots of people have been
saying how beautiful Italy is.

In fact, I'm very happy to live here.

And so I was leaving.

I was leaving that Rome that was asleep,

that big-whore Rome, bourgeouis,
Fascist Rome.

That let's feel good Rome,
let's keep going.

Rome of the pizzerias,

breakfast buns with cream,
without cream.

I was leaving that penthouse Rome,

with Dannunzio, the eternal city,
Rome by day, by night.

I was leaving that Rome
that everyone envies,

Rome caput mundi,
the Colosseum, the Forum,

Piazza Venezia and the Birthday Cake,

the Rome that's better than Milan.

That faithless Rome,
stuffed with employees

and rich shopkeepers,
the unemployed,

the penniless.

I was leaving that superficial Rome,
full of cheating,

payments that are never made,

that Rome with all the civil servants
and the ministries,

the bank employees.

I was leaving
that Rome that's full of shit!

Goodbye, Mamma Roma!

Pretty comfortable, isn't it!

Yes, pretty comfortable.

You can sleep if you like.

- Want to sleep?
- No, thanks.

Have a nap.
I'll lower your seat, it becomes a bed.

How much does this car cost you per day?

I pay very little for this picture car.

And this trip, we could just as well
have gone with my can

With your Panda!?

Going to Cannes...

It does very nicely,
it's not so puny, works quite well.

So, is everything ok?
We'll go there for the night...

The fact is that,
I can't lend you any more money.

I can't lend you any more,
I'm broke.

She's calling me...

I dont' even
have a thousand euros left.

Let's try to squeeze through.

Then there's Diamante, my assistant,
remember Diamante?

He needs accommodation.

So he can sleep at your place,

and then we'll meet
in the next few days...

Ok, Claude, thanks.

Thanks, Claude. Goodbye.

You're all set.

He was so happy.
He remembered you.

He said "Oh, Diamante is coming over!"

You settle down there.

He has a nice room.

- Sure?
- What?

This thing about the room.

Of course.

Hey, have something to eat
don't just stand there...

I always have great wish

to paint a woman, a naked woman.

But fate

has always made me paint animals, tigers,

airplanes, missiles, tanks...

With Lim East meets West,

Zen and Buddhism become a method

whereby Lim fulfills his art.

A falsely figurative painting

which in fact tends to highlight

the violence of a reality which
he controls through form.

But in general and in the performances
where Lim expresses,

an idea of time

which is fascinating.

In the East time flows
in a linear horizontal line

and I would say that with Lim
it becomes circular.

His hula-hoop, for example,

his balancing on a ballon,

are not only expressions of skill,

but a way to control time.

Therapeutic, that's Lim's art.

Mark?

- Mark?
- Hi, how are you?

- Where are you?
- In New York.

In New York!

I'm on my way back,
but would like to know:

did you find the money
to finish your film?

I was about to call you.

I'm keeping my voice down
because I'm at a meeting

with this financer
and we've closed the deal,

we are his guests for two or three days,
a beautiful villa in Cannes...

So, you found the money, very good!

I'm leaving Friday,

getting to Rome Saturday morning early
and then we can start.

This is a very important project,

important names,

Mark is a fantastic American artist,

so I am quite ready
to finance your project.

I will contribute to your budget...

Wonderful...

Now, Diamante, is my secretary,
my assistant,

he'll start rig ht away.

Diamante,
tomorrow all the documents...

You have a yellow tie?

Why do you have a yellow tie today?

Why today?

Diamante what's the...

Why a yellow tie?

Because it was dark,

I couldn't see...

This is a sign.

This is a sign.

Wonderful.

Good!

He's got lots of them all yellow.

Tomorrow bring all your
documents from the bank, ok?

Of the Messaggero, add Marchionni,
Francesco Marchionni.

Yes one more,

Giuseppe Cimosa, one more...

And add...

Ciao, Mark!

What are you doing here?

- Hi Thorsten! How are you?
- Pretty good!

- Nice seeing you again!
- It's been a while.

I can't remember if she's a journalist who is she?

Yes, she's a journalist

I think she works at the Banca Nazionale del Lavoro.

Thank you very much for coming
to this conference on my film.

You made a film?

They made a whole film on me.

It's called "My Italy".

It's about my life, my painting,
my Italian adventure...

A masterpiece.

You'll like it a lot!
I'll be waiting for you upstairs.

The manager Kowalski is very sorry
that he could not come in person.

Please tell the Manager that...

I don't know if I understand: the
character in your film, which one is he?

He is...

Let's say from memory,
I remember a triptych,

a character who's a peasant, a watchman,

and then the main character...

But let's say I did it.

I contributed to this even though
I must say that now I don't know if...

to be quite honest with you,
the film's storyline, all that...

It's a crime story, a life history,
a noir,

a kind of psychological film

with an almost French aura, intellectual.

A Mediterranean icon.

A woman in black for a great love story,
a great passion,

interested in contemporary art.

And I am, naturally,
the lead character in the film.

It was very interesting to do it...

- Bednarski.
- Hi Lim.

I thought you were in Warsaw.

I came today
for the promotion of this film

I'm acting in.

Incredible, Thorsten.

This never happens in America.

I'm a journalist, I write
both for Italy and internationally.

- I feel sorry.
- Yes, but...

- The storyline...
- What?

- The storyline.
- What's that?

- The film's storyline?
- The film's storyline!

- It seemed kind of unpleasant.
- No.

Want to know
what the storyline of the film is?

Basically, I'm the main character.

I'm a mechanic who's seeking
something within himself...

and then finds it!

- Will he?
- He finds it?

They have
to try to understand each other.

We're waiting.

They're talking now they
have to make friends.