D'ici là (1997) - full transcript

A child facing the world, its luck, its cinema, its music, shot in seven days in Rome, Fiumicino, Ciampino and Cinecittà.

Seven days, eight boxes of film,
a 16mm camera, two partners,

a few friends and places, one
or two ideas, no scenario.

That's all I had, as well as the
pressing desire to shoot in Roma

just before I had to leave, to
direct what was already appearing as

"notes for a film to come" and
that the title implies : By then.

There would be a thousand reasons
to keep this work of youth

shot under barely
digested influences

in a state of almost full
somnambulism and unconsciousness.

Putting aside a few
sequences, almost nothing,

in cinematic writing,
is worth saving.

If I decide to show this movie
today (in a digital reduction),



it's on one hand to the new interest that
it can show regarding the following movies

and that it was preparing unknowingly:
Nocturnes pour Le roi de Rome

and Le chant des séparés, shot on
the same location ten years later.

On the other hand, and mostly, because
it seems to me that its writing's faults

don't completely obscure the intents
that guided its realization:

testify of a tragic vision
of life indivisible from

a love of reality perceived as deeply
mysterious, unfathomable, miraculous.

Will have been

Chance's castle
Room 2

this movie,
that tell some facts

that happened in Roma
from July 6th to 13th 1995

during which
lot of being disappeared,

will start soon

undated facts



By

then

By then

this movie,
that tell some facts

that happened in Roma
from July 6th to 13th 1995

By then

the earth was hurly and burly
a darkness on the faces of the abyss

its breath on the faces of the waters

sound

he said: "a light shall be"

and it's a light

he sees light: what a pleasure!

he separates light from darkness

and it's an evening, and it's a morning:

day one

he says: "a ceiling will be at the
middle of the waters to separate

between the waters and
between the waters"

he makes the ceiling

he separates the water under the
ceiling from the waters on the ceiling

and it's an evening, and it's a morning:

day second

he screams to the dry: "earth"
to the alignment of waters : "seas"

he sees: what a pleasure!

and it's an evening, and it's a morning:

day third

he says: "chandeliers will
be at the ceiling of the skies,

to separate the day
from the night"

"they are for signs,
appointments,

days and years"

light

these are chandeliers at the ceiling
of the skies to illuminate on earth

and that's how

he sees: what a pleasure!

and it's an evening, and it's a morning:

day fourth

day fifth

he creates Adam the
clayish in his replica

he shapes the clayish Adam,
clay's dust

he builds the rib,
that he took from the clayish man,

into woman

he sees everything
that he had done

and here: an intense pleasure

and it's an evening, and it's a morning:

day sixth

so 1,249,689,000 seconds

So, well, being born the
first of December 1955

at 11:55 AM

which is

which is exactly 39 years,
7 months and 6 days

So with 12 months a year

it's 475 months and 6 days

if you don't count the extra month's bonus

so, when you multiply it by
365, we got exactly 14,464 days

which give us 347,186 hours

so 20,828,160 minutes

so 1,249,689,600 seconds, approximately

Yeah, that's it approximately.
Well, it won't be today.

I got to go.

Hello what's-his-name.Yes.

I'm clearing off. Yes, right now.
I've got to go.

Why? I don't know yet.

No, I said not yet. We will see.

No, no regrets.

Sure, I know the drill!

And there was the language issue.
Not fond of Italian.

So, all good for the 6th? No?

I thought it was possible.

The 7th? No, can't do. Neither for the 8th.

The 9th yes. At what time?

Not before noon? No it isn't good then.

After noon? No, can't do.

From the 14th? It's too far away.

I'll call you back and we'll see.

Where mom?

Eat at least half of it. I don't
want to hear "I'm hungry" later.

OK? You haven't eaten anything.

Here, around the table it's "too much".

Well? That's it? Stop.

Hello grandma

Are you feeling better?

Have you seem some orange?

Have you seen enough? Sure?

And some little gas
flame, pale blue?

Have you seen any?

Enough?

Have you touched some earth recently?

And the wind?

And the smell of hot tar?

I'm fine.

Yes I saw some too.

Come finish your spinach!

And some green?

And men who existed?

And women who existed?

I will try to bring some from
our place, to your place.

Stuff from our place.

Yes, I will call you back.

Bye.

Suddenly, a nasty hunter,
hidden behind a bush

shoots at them!

The hunter killed the mom.

Monkeys are hiding,
birds are flying!

The hunter runs to catch the poor Babar!

Babar runs away because
he's scared of the hunter.

Yes.

Yes.

That's beautiful, isn't it?

Yes, I ate.

And also in Parma last month.

Romagna is your kind of place

Like Bologna where Morandi existed,
do you remember, don't you?

We ate some good food there

raviolis with squash and almonds in it.

That's wonderful.

Cooked in butter with some
sage that I like so much.

Yes grandma.

That's enough for me.

Yes. Yes, I'm sending him
trains, don't worry.

Love.

We are the 13th of July 1995, it's 9PM.

You're 77 years old. A little bit more.

...starting on Fiano's square in Roma.

That's all. Back to our program.

And now, for economy:

Tax authorities are still
having a good time.

After the numbers on local taxes that
went to a new record in early 95,

other good news have come, regarding
tax evasion and may's self-tax.

That was Francesco di Mario.

The 740 doesn't disappoint, according
to almost definitive numbers,

the minister of finance Fantozzi
stated during a convention in Turin

that self-liquidation went very well,
exceeding by 1500 billions the forecast

He then talked about yesterday's numbers,
about tax' income from january to april

Fantozi said that the
fight against tax evasion

Hello grandma

Yes, I'm fine.

I'm going to read my... to you

a passage, from chapters 1 & 2

The most primitive
representation that we have

is that the earth never had a start.

No child has any reason to wonder
since when does the earth exist.

Since it's on it that every change happens.

If what we call Earth was
really born some day

which is hard enough to grasp

we naturally admit

that this beginning happened
in inconceivable remote times

Yes, I'm fine.

I'll call you back.

February 11th 1920

February 11th 1920

Paul Claudel wrote

Arrival of my wife.

We watch them be born, live

accomplish their humble duties

then disappear, hundreds of billions,
without leaving any traces

without anyone being worried

without them achieving
anything else than death

We watch them be born, live

accomplish their humble duties

then disappear, hundreds of billions,
without leaving any traces

Hello grandma

It's me again.

It's 9:20

I'll read to you another
passage before you leave

I've lived full weeks in this room

My memory, in this,
doesn't deceive me

I know that during the last
month, I took a bath every day.

What do I remember?

Each day, the bath and each morning?

No. I know that I
took a bath every day.

But I don't hold this knowledge
from my immediate memory.

I say

The same day, sadly

During a stroll, the
king of the elephants

ate a bad mushroom

OK, love.

Poisoned, he was very ill.

So ill, that he died.

That's a great misfortune.

After the funeral

the oldest elephants have
gathered to choose a new king.

At this same moment, they hear
some noise and turn around

What do they see?

Babar coming in his car

and all the elephants
are running and screaming

'here they
are, they're back!'

Hello Babar, hello Arthur, hello Celeste

What a beautiful suit!
What a beautiful car!

So, Cornelius the oldest
of the elephants,

says, with his flickering voice

My good friends, we're
looking for a king

why shouldn't we choose Babar?

He's back from the city,
he learned a lot from men.

Let us give the crown to him!

All the elephants think that
Cornelius spoke very well.

they're waiting for Babar's answer.

Thanks to all of you

he said

but before I accept

I have to tell you that,
during our car trip

Celeste and I got engaged

if I am your king, she'll be your queen.

Long live queen Celeste!
Long live king Babar!

said all the elephants
without a blink.

And that's how Babar became

King!

Let's get out.

We return now... No? No.
You go ahead.

We return now... No? No.
You go ahead.

Come forward

French?

France is going through a hard time

-Why?
-Firstly, because of the nuclear.

Secondly, because of road accidents, 20
persons died the day before yesterday

18...20 people. A bus went... No,
20...30 people died,

students, including spanish, french
and belgian.

A bus went off the road.

Then a big truck went in the wrong
side of the road, another 4 deaths.

Then what happened?
Something else happened.

Another road accidents,
other 3 deaths.

So, it's a tough time.

Anyway, Chirac is not good.

No, not for nothing, but he's not good.
The nuclear, that's enough.

It was sufficient Chernobyl, Russia.

You know, here... And they were over there.

So the nuclear now... no more

- Should we remove the supports?

It's a very very big painting.

This

That goes up, very high.

And there you see stuff, movies, cartoons.

And there's music sometimes

And if you put the music like this

It's good

It's very good like that!

It means that it's further
north than there.

Here it's for kids, here it's for
adult who already knows the music

Music

Well, music is...

music is art.

Music is

Music is

it's when you play the violin.

Music is singing,

sound,

mostly voice, like this

We watch them be born, live

accomplish their humble duties

then disappear, hundreds of billions,
without leaving any traces

without anyone being worried

without them achieving
anything else than death

I see some leafs and a tissue.

I see trees.

I see some ants, they're moving.

I see the tiles of the patio.

I see

11th July 1929, Paul Claudel writes:

Mom died on the 19th of July at 8PM.

14th April 1931, Paul Claudel writes:

Revolution in Spain.

End of Alfonso 13 and of the Bourbon.

Spring, magnolias.

The 11th of July, is that
what you told me we were today?

Where are the french nuclear explosions?

Was that today? Or yesterday?
Or tomorrow?

How many of them will they be?

11th of July doesn't matter,
could have been beyond the 14th

And that's it.

What do you want me to say?

By the way, Chirac agrees with Clinton

because Clinton announced
three days after Chirac

that they needed
nuclear tests too.

because all the previous
nuclear tests were useless

because all that
stuff was too old.

The world, it's big.

We're not alone!

There's not only Italy.

It's not that the earth is a boot.

The earth is like a boot,

it exist,

but it's round.

With lots of countries.

But

the earth is in space.

in space.

almost the whole universe.

The earth is in space.

Day sixth