Wifemistress (1977) - full transcript

WIFEMISTRESS

Utopian socialism, scientific socialism,
vitalism, mechanism, Darwin, Lamarck…

We’ve been discussing for hours.
For me it’s all bullshit!

- Maybe right bullshit, yet bullshit.
What matters is the law of the jungle.
- Right!

It’d be better to admit God’s existence
to then accuse him of all ills and…

- And of all the misfortunes of humanity.
- No, no, God doesn’t exist.

I’d like to be sure.

All right, then, in this square,
I’ll issue a challenge.

If there’s someone up there who has
infinite power, I give him 10 seconds...

to kill us all with a lightning bolt.

Attention.



One, two, three…

Four, five, six…

Seven, eight, nine…

Ten!

You’ve shit yourselves, assholes!

When he drinks, it’s the same old story.

Oh, also tonight she made
the tour of Europe.

- Excuse me, gentlemen, I’ll go see the
madwoman.
- You got scared, bigot, eh?

Good girl, you see that you react?

Now get up and try to walk.

- I can’t.
- Get up, come on.

- Don’t nag her. If she has progressive
paralysis, she can’t!
- Says who?

Giuseppa the fortune teller,
she’s never wrong.

Oh, come on, what nonsense! Her illness
is not in the legs, but in the brain.



Being cooped up just to spite her husband,
with whom she should cooperate.

Cooperate what, if he’s never home?

He goes even abroad, to Vienna, Budapest,

under the pretext of buying special wines.

- And I, always at home!
- Oh, yes, she didn’t go out for months,
poor thing.

Look what he brought from Paris:
a record with a train’s noise!

- Just to illude me of being on the road.
- And who prevents you from going out?

Go and see the farmers working
like beasts in your lands!

They can’t afford these whims.

Illnesses invented just to please
rich and spoiled ladies like you!

- Socialist!
- What d’you think? It’s not an insult, y’know?

Don’t heed him, he’s a boor of a farmer.

You hear?

No, it’s not the master.

- It’s almost 22:00. I’m going to sleep.
- Wait, don’t leave me alone, I’m afraid.

Afraid of what? Soon comes Miss Clara
to keep you company. Good night.

Cursed! Look at them!

Subversives!

Pigs! Without shame!

Anarchists!

You’re all possessed, so there!

Give me the incense.

Deliver me, O Lord, from eternal death

on the awful day when
heaven and earth will move.

That day is a day of wrath, calamity
and misery, a very sad day

when You will come to judge…

“Down with the bal”
What’re you writing, you fool!

“Ball” is with two “L”s,
like “imbecile.” Shit!

I brought “La Domenica del Corriere”
and your husband’s mail.

There is also a registered letter.

From where comes this music?

From the co-op, no?

The priest was unable to prevent the ball,
and he’s gone off his head.

- Actually, he never had one.
- It’s wrong to treat him so,
he’s a good man.

You know what he said the other day
in confession, Don Giuseppe?

That typhus was sent to me by the devil.

May I have some?

- It’s bitter, how can you?
- I like it.

Why didn’t you go dancing?

You’re aware of my fiancé’s ideas.
To him, the dance is a scandal.

Imagine now that he’s
president of the Catholic Club.

And then, at least
at your place I can smoke.

Hey, Mr. Luigi. Mr. Luigi! You’ve arrived.

You traveled through the night?

No…

- Feed it.
- Right away.

- Welcome back.
- Thanks.

Excuse me, someone came
to rummage in our office last night.

I found all the drawers open
and the documents were moved.

Come and see.

I also found a hair pin.
It’s not the first time that your wife…

My wife? But she hasn’t come
down those stairs for months!

Thieves steal, and here nothing is missing.

And then the window was closed.

- We’ll talk later, accountant.
- That’s fine.

- Oh, hello, Mr. Luigi. Do you want
breakfast now?
- No, thank you.

- Maybe you prefer to rest?
- No, I’m not tired at all.

- Say, the lady got up from bed these days?
- Course not! When you’re away, then…

And my peacocks?

Luckily I took care of them,
the lady can’t stand them.

She even proposed me to poison them.

You scared me.

- Where were you all these days?
- I made the rounds of the customers.

I cashed in money,
I toured half the province.

- You were also in the countryside?
- Yes, I saw your peasants.

You know, it’s all going to ruin,
there is no guidance, nothing.

And when will you leave again?

I don’t know, it depends.
Maybe in a few days.

I’d like to sit a little home now.

In the end, we were so little
together, the two of us.

It was my fault according to you?

I talked to a famous specialist. He gave me
a new tranquillizer for you, very effective.

It’ll definitely do you well.

You bring me tranquillizers to avoid
quarrels. You only think of your tranquility.

- No, I think of your healing.
- If you really want me to heal,
get me out of here.

I want to come with you in your next trip.

You’re sick, take care of yourself.
Don’t start over.

No, I’m not sick,
and you know it better than me!

You fill me with sleeping pills to take
away my strength to rebel. You’re a coward!

Alright!

When you’ve calmed down, we’ll talk.

- I’ll bring the mail to Mrs. Antonia.
Wait for me here.
- Be quick though.

Be right back.

- Holy Mary.
- Pray for us.

- Holy Mother of God.
- Pray for us.

- Holy Virgin of virgins.
- Pray for us.

- Mother of Christ.
- Pray for us.

- Mother of divine grace.
- Pray for us.

There’s only a newspaper.

- Mother most chaste.
- Pray for us.

- Mother inviolate.
- Pray for us.

- Immaculate Mother.
- Pray for us.

- Mother worthy of love.
- Pray for us.

- Mother admirable for virtues.
- Pray for us.

No, Enrico is downstairs waiting for me.

Come on, strip off.

It’s not necessary.

Keep us without sin,
and pray for us.

- Holy Virgin of virgins.
- Keep us without sin.

- Mother of God.
- Keep us without sin.

- Mother of divine grace.
- Keep us without sin.

Deign today, Lord, to keep us without sin.

- Invincible tower.
- Pray for us.

- Refuge of sinners.
- Pray for us.

- Help of Christians.
- Pray for us.

What happened?
- I’m sorry, but Mr. Luigi is back.

- So what?
- I had to help him, I couldn’t
say no.
- The Mass must have begun.

And that’s how you get lost,
becoming ensnared by the evil one!

Passing off debauchery and
corruption as modernity!

So much scandal, poisoning the youth
with the seduction of unrestrained dancing!

And what’s even more serious,
inducing it to lies and deception!

But…

you can’t with impunity
provoke the anger of the Lord!

I told you not to come for any reason.

- They arrested the brothers Bonetti.
- I know.

- He’ll betray you too, I’m sure.
- Don’t lose your head.

With the evidence he has,
he can send you immediately to trial.

He’ll prove you found the money
for Fulvio’s jailbreak.

Wanna bet he still has those papers?

- He destroyed them.
- That’s what he said. And you’re so naive…

- It’s none of your business!
- It is, since in this story there’s me too.

I don’t like to spend
the rest of my life in jail.

Listen to me, Louis. Sandro is a pig.
There’s not a single minute to lose.

- Yes, yes, I’ll think.
- But if they catch us in the meantime?
- Get out, now.

Go!

- Here you go.
- He’s gone already?

He had a visit. It seems a partner is
going to fail and he fears to be involved.

I wish he’d fall into poverty!
So he’d lose all his self assurance.

And you, instead, all the properties
and lands that your father left you.

- He left without even saying goodbye.
- Maybe he was afraid of another row.

You…

It was you.

What?

I saw you, I was behind the glass door.
You killed him with the candlestick.

What are you saying?

It was not me.

- Sure it was you!
- No.
- With the candlestick there! I saw you.

- Look, you’ve got blood on your hands.
- Wait!
- Help! Help!

Help! Help! He killed him! He killed him!

Help!

Help! Help!

- He killed him!
- But whom?
- With the candlestick!

- Where is he?
- I saw him, run! Run!

- Quick, quick!
- Go.
- Come on!

- Oh, God!
- Run, go call someone.

“The police are investigating
a likely funder of theirs,

whose name is not disclosed yet.”

- But, you knew who denounced them?
- Yes, it’s a client of mine.

- He needed money, and I made him
get a loan through my bank.
- So then…

He was killed an hour ago.
They smashed his head with a candlestick.

And how do you know?

- I had gone there to get back some
documents, and I found him.
- I see.

Tomorrow they’ll make them sing,
and they’ll get to you, you can bet.

- Well, this wasn’t said yet.
- No, but it’s more than likely.

- It’s not that someone saw you?
- Yes.

A niece of his saw me.

- But she’s a girl; hasn’t the
slightest idea who I am.
- And then?

I took those papers and managed
to flee before people arrived.

But if the police were to subject you
to a confrontation, what would you do?

Tell the truth.

Do you know who is the murderer?

No. And anyway, I wouldn’t tell.

Well, for the moment I advise you
stay well hidden. Then we’ll see.

- I could stay here with you.
- No, it would be very unwise.

This is the house of your lawyer.

You need to find a safe hideout.

- Halt!
- Stop!
- Halt!

What’s on the wagon?
- Hay, sergeant.

Get the pitchfork and stick it in the pile.
- Blessed Virgin, what’s with you?

It’s the third time
you make me poke the hay.

Go home. Go.

- It came back alone. Watch.
- And the master? Where is he?

Virgin Mary!

- There’s no one inside.
- Right!
- What happened?
- I wish I knew.

- Where is Mr. Luigi?
- The horse came home alone.

It’s empty!

Vincenzo.

- Come on inside.
- Hi.

- The lawyer explained to you?
- Yes. I prepared the hideout in the barn.

I think it’s safer than
Aunt Vittoria’s apartment.

- How’s your wound, you need a doctor?
- No, it’s just a scratch.

Now I close the shop and I’ll join you.

I’ll take your bag. You know the way, right?
Ah, I left the lamp on.

Are you sure you didn’t make a mistake
coming here, a step away from your home?

Well, I didn’t have much choice.

And to think of it, maybe this is the
only place where they’ll never find me.

- Should I… Should I tell Antonia
that you’re here?
- No.

She would never understand
why I got myself into this mess.

And then, if they were to question her,
I’m afraid she’d give herself away.

Don’t you think how she’ll feel?

She’s too caught up by herself
to worry about me.

- Well… If you don’t need nothing else, I…
- Ah, Vincenzo…

Us two, we’ve always conversed very little.

Anyway, thanks.

Ah, careful not to let the light filter
through the blinds. Those, especially.

They’ve always been shut. Good night.

The bag was open and the money
was missing. They murdered him.

- Well, it’s not the first time that the horse
comes home alone.
- This time it’s different.

I feel that my husband is dead.

We can’t yet say, ma’am. Let’s wait
for the outcome of the investigations.

He’d have given us news, don’t you think?

It’s useless to try to deceive me.
My husband is dead!

One foot after the other, this way.

- Bravo, bravo, bravo!
You saw how she walks?
- I never doubted.

- I entrust her to you. Careful!
- You see, ma’am,

every day arrive letters from customers,
reminders… complaints, too.

Your husband has disappeared, sadly,
and we can’t go on like this.

- Besides we must collect the amounts due.
- And what should we do?

Take on at the earliest a sales rep,

a qualified person,
who may replace your husband.

Here, this is a list of names.
They are all people of extreme confidence.

Another man in the place of my husband?

I brought you some more paper.
The chisel and the newspaper.

- Thanks. What does it say?
- Nothing, nothing new.

- Need a hand?
- No, thank you.

That’s fine.
I’m going down to open the shop.

Don’t come and seek treatment from me,
when you act on your own.

- Didn’t you say I was healthy?
- What does that mean?

You’re in no condition to travel alone.
And with an animal that you don’t know.

As a girl, I drove the horse
better than a man. Just watch!

- Go! Go!
- Oh, Virgin Mary!

Madam, watch out!

But what are you doing?
Get out of the way!

What are you doing?

Come on!

Come on! Go on!

Come on, let’s hurry up. Go on!

Come on!

Phew!

Will you tell me what’s wrong with you?
Why did you stop?

Are you tired? Eh?
Come on!

Come on! Come on, move!

It’s useless to insist.

If you don’t come in here first,
the horse won’t move.

Cheer up!

Come over!

For years now the horse
is accustomed to stop here.

Your husband was my supplier.

As you can see from the invoices
I also owe him a debt,

which he never urged me for.

This is the personal bottle of your husband.

- He never set off without first having
a drink.
- I’m a teetotaler, thank you.

If you don’t drink, the horse won’t start.

I could pretend, then.

It doesn’t trust appearances,
it’s hard to deceive.

It has like a sixth sense.

My husband was arrested four years ago.
They came to get him a night.

- For what reason?
- He’s an anarchist.

What you see is a portrait of Bakunin.
For him it was very important.

Y’know, Fulvio didn’t remain in prison.
Someone helped him to escape.

- And is now abroad.
- You have children?

I’ll show you.

Eh, were it not for Mr. Luigi,
those poor creatures…

Here you go.
All females.

Your husband would often stop with us.

His place was there,
at the head of the table.

He helped the girls with their homework,
and when they had finished

he played with them until they fell asleep.

Sometimes he also slept here.

- You want to see his room?
- Yes.

- Ines.
- Yes, Mom?
- Escort her yourself.
- Right away.

This is your husband’s stuff.
You can take it if you want.

This alarm clock means
that he often slept here.

Even twice a month.
He always wanted this room.

And why just this?

I know he used to say:
“I like that little window.”

Hello.
- Hello.
- You slept well?
- Well, so…

- I brought you some vests, if you’re cold.
- Thanks.

I’ll sterilize you.

- No, Vincenzo, there’s no need.
- No, no, no.

If it gets infected everything
becomes harder. Here.

Let me see.

- Do you have news of Antonia?
- No. She’s not back yet.

- It’s swollen. Does it hurt?
- Yes, a little.

I’d call a doctor.

No, I said I don’t trust.
Change the bandage.

- I’m worried.
- About what?

She’s been gone for a week now.

She’ll be doing the rounds of the customers.
Exactly as you used to do.

I don’t see why you should worry.
Did anything happen to you?

What’s that got to do with it?
It’s my job.

And then I’m a man.

Antonia is childish, like a little girl.

It’s your fault.

Why?

You didn’t help her grow up.

You think I didn’t?
Our marriage has never worked, even in bed.

It’s been a disaster from
the very first night.

Educations too different, wrong.

I didn’t succeed.
For this I’ve tried other interests.

Yeah.

I prepared you a nice herring,
so it helps you to drink. Look how you do.

- Is it necessary?
- If you want to do this job
you’d better get used to it.

Only with spicy stuff
you can judge the wine.

Come, come, ma’am.
The sooner you start, the sooner you finish.

And if I may, pay no attention to the
smell, it’s just the taste that counts.

Want to eat a piece of cheese with worms?
It takes away the taste of salt.

No, thanks, this is enough.

Nice rip-off from your husband
with the bottles.

3 out of 10 are to be protested.

- So, out of 10,000, you reject 3,000?
- Sure, they’re bad, and I won’t pay for.

- You take advantage that I’m a woman.
- Man or woman, I don’t care.

These are bottles randomly selected
by you. Am I right or wrong?

It’s fair that you taste them one by one.
Then you’ll see if you agree with me.

You don’t want me to drink all this wine?
I’m a teetotaler.

If you don’t drink, you can’t do this job.

Your husband did even 100 tastings in
one day and no one ever saw him drunk.

Alright!

This is good.

This is sound.

This too.

This too.

This too.

- Madam, stay and sleep here,
you can’t go in this state.
- My bag.

- It’s here, ma’am!
- And my money?
- It’s here, in the bag. We’re not thieves.

I feel sick!

Come on, Nane, be quick!
Bring down the net, come on!

You’re like a snail!

Snail my ass! It’s all tangled!

Why has this horse stopped?

It’s a clever beast, there’s a reason
why it stops. He wants the lamp lit.

- Look at the lady how she sleeps well.
She’s tired, huh?
- She’s tired from wine!

With this binge she’ll wake up in Padua!

- Who is it?
- The concierge.

Come in.

Good evening, ma’am. I just wanted to
warn you that it’s almost dinner time.

- Sorry but, I woke up in this room and
I don’t know where I am.
- Don’t you recall?

Last night your horse stopped
right in front of our club.

- Oh, because this is…
- Yes, the hunting club.

You were asleep. We tried to wake
you up, but we didn’t succeed.

- We thought it was best to put you to bed.
- And who undressed me?

The maid and… and myself,
with all due respect.

- This is my husband’s handwriting.
- Yes, he was among the most assiduous members.

- So true that he had this room
booked for the whole year.
- Booked?

He used to come here to go hunting with
friends. You see? Those are his rifles.

I didn’t know he liked hunting.

Probably for him it was more like a pretext.

Sometimes he’d shut himself in here
for days. He read, wrote…

- May I keep these manuscripts?
- Of course. All that is here, is yours.

The guns, the books… There must be
even some clothes. Here, you see?

- But there are also women’s clothes.
- Oh, you can use them if you want.

- Come on, the truth is that you’ve had luck.
- Yeah, luck! It’s having an eye, fuck!

Good evening, Mrs. De Angelis.

Let me to introduce myself.
I am Count Brandini, president of the club.

Nice to meet you.

Your husband and I were good friends,
and we’re very pleased you’re our guest.

It’s an offhand meeting without formalities.

Allow me, ma’am?
Notary Carminati. Mr. Granzotto.

- Professor Cenigo.
- Delighted.
- Mr. and Mrs. Benedetti.

The Marquises Donà. Sen. Galvani.

- The painter Galassi.
- It’s a pleasure.

Professor Alberti,
head of the hospital of Treviso.

Count Zagni. Dr. Sonigo.

Architect Vichi and Mr. Marengo.
Maestro Del Bene-Sossi.

And, last but not least, Dr. Pagano.
Ms. De Angelis.

Antonia De Angelis?

- Your husband said that you were sick.
- With what?

Something like a progressive paralysis.

As you can see I’m healed.

Paola Pagano is the first woman in
our province who graduated in medicine.

- I leave you in good company.
- Sure.

Don’t you feel a little uneasy
among all these men?

Not a bit.

- But, you’re really a doctor by profession?
- Yes.

Excuse the curiosity,
how are you considered by people?

More or less like a whore.

So, waiting for the ducks,
I was in the cask a whole day!

That’s why you stink of herring like a cunt!

At long last!

- You’re gorgeous when you laugh.
- Thanks!

But now you overdo, Professor.
Keep your hands to yourself.

Think if I were to tell your wife
what a pig you are.

She knows!

Have you noticed how men become bold
with women when they are in a group?

With you they have familiarity.

No, truth is that the group gives them
the strength that alone they don’t have.

- Like certain beasts that attack when they’re
in the pack.
- You’re too bad with men. I…

I say it’s a damned…

bad habit!

What energy! If you did so with your husband,
I see why he’s gone so point blank.

Well?

Nothing.
Nobody knows anything about it.

She disappeared.

- There was something between you
and my husband, right?
- Yes.

I had just graduated.

One winter evening, with a snowstorm,

I was called to a small hotel
because a client felt bad.

It was your husband.

- You already knew each other?
- Yes, we had met here at the club.

- What had my husband?
- Nothing.

He was in bed, and smoked quietly.

And what did he say
when you came in his room?

“Lock the door.”

Like that, simply, without preamble?

He sat me down on the bed.

Then, with the air of an old father,
wise and worried, said:

“You, girl, you’re not well.”

I began to cry.

- Why?
- It was true, and no one had noticed.

Didn’t you realize it was a trick?

Assuming that it was,
he needed me, and I him.

In the end, my ailments were just hysteria,
nothing else. He made them pass.

- You had had relationships with other men,
I guess.
- Yes, but young and stupid.

- You’ve been lovers for long?
- More than lovers.
- You mean?

We were mostly friends.

To me it’s inconceivable. How can exist
friendship between man and woman?

Yet we were fine whether
in bed or sitting at a table.

We’d meet on Saturday night
in his typography, with fellow editors.

- I never knew that my husband
had a typography.
- Ladies, please!

- Why not? It was his passion!
- It’s pouring!

Luigi was a vintner just to have an excuse
to roam as he pleased, to go abroad.

But his real activity was another.

He published political and social writings
of authors he sought in France

- or England.
- I found out that
he also had a passion to write.

He wrote on burning issues,
often anti-religious.

- And published them under a pseudonym.
- Which one?
- Ulysses.

Why he always hid these things from me?

Have you ever asked him about it?

My clothes fit you well.

- Keep them, it pleases me.
- Thanks.

May I tell you something?

I imagined you completely different.

Me too.

I like you that way.

- This is your account, ma’am.
- Thanks.
- And these are your husband’s accounts.

He paid every six months.

Dinner for 12 people.

Dinner for 15 people.

Banquet for 22 people.

- I see it was always him who paid.
- He was a man of great generosity.

These are two or three other small bills,
and this is the total, if you don’t mind.

- I would check.
- Of course, it’s your right.

Miss Clara Visentin.
Dinner and bedroom?

Dinner and bedroom.

Dinner and bedroom.

- Why should I pay these bills?
- As you see, they’re signed by your husband.

And now that he’s no more…

- Oh, you’re here at last!
- Quiet, quiet.

- We were so worried.
- Welcome back.
- Hello, Teresa.
- All fine?

- Oh, you went hunting!
- Really?

- You knew that my husband was a member
of a club?
- Which club?
- Never mind.

- I never knew anything.
- These birds go in the kitchen?

They’re good with polenta.

I paid your bills and want
to know everything.

We dined at separate tables,
as if we didn’t know each other.

Then he went in the room and I joined him.

- And what did you do?
- Well, of course not recite the rosary.

- I don’t allow you to make fun of me!
- But I didn’t mean to offend you!

- Don’t scream!
- Okay, but if you act so
I won’t tell anything more.

- It can’t be, I don’t believe it!
- That’s so, I tell you.

- Who told you?
- No one, I saw it myself.

It was a freezing afternoon,
we were to meet at the Peacock.

- What is it, a hotel?
- Yes, Hotel Pavone. Well,

since it was snowing
I got there with a bit of delay,

and found him in bed with another.

I was stunned.

Instead he calmly told me:
“It happens to who arrives late.”

- And then?
- Nothing.

As I was shivering he told me to undress
and get under the covers with them.

All three in the same bed?!

Yes, but the bed was large.
We all fit into it, straight or askew.

- And then? Go on.
- We made love.

What was that woman like?

She had a rather strange body,

that however gave some emotions.

With very deep hollows near the hip bones,

so that the belly was flat and sunken,
like that of a boy.

The thing that struck me most
was the navel, so round. Perfect.

The breasts instead were barely outlined,
and this made her look younger.

- You knew her?
- No, I know her name was Paola
and she had graduated in Padua.

She told me of when she dissected corpses.
She said it didn’t affect her.

But imagine, men repulsed her.

- Even Luigi?
- No, not him, I think.

However, she said she was abnormal.

She had also tried to commit suicide.

- What did you do that night?
- Well,

with you I can’t be completely sincere.

It’s about my husband,
and I want to know every detail.

He kissed her very gently, close to the
mouth, on the nostrils, on the neck…

But she was numb to everything,
keeping her legs closed, and trembling.

She had her eyelids lowered,
but I noticed she had her eyes,

splendid eyes, blue,

full of tears that fell down,
along the temples, on the hair.

- And him?
- He too was pitiful.

This man no longer young,
kneeling next to her, patient…

At one point, he bent down
and whispered a few words in her ear.

What did he say?

I couldn’t hear.

I only know that as he spoke to her,
the girl’s knees began to spread slowly.

And her body slowly relaxed.

- You remained there to watch?
- Yes.

Indeed, I participated the way down,
as if I had always done it.

- Haven’t you felt a sense of revulsion?
- No.

It was endearing.
And then, I liked it, too.

Luigi was able to get anything from me,

without this seemed to me
neither dirty nor vulgar.

This doesn’t surprise me.
But I can’t understand one thing:

How did you overcome modesty?
You, especially.

- We sniffed a little ether.
- Ether? Let me see!

- No!
- Give me that!
- What do you want to do?

There isn’t a word of truth
in what you said. You’re a liar.

Don’t believe it? There’s a bottle
like this in your husband’s office.

- You’ve been in his office,
where I never entered?
- Yes.

And we’ve also made love.
Just on his couch.

Why do you strive to be cruel?

Because I want you to betray
your husband, as I’ve already done.

Watch out! Watch out!
Don’t get too close, you’ll burn yourself!

- Come on, come on! Look at how much stuff!
- Wait a minute!

- Give me the other books too.
- Here you go. Grab them.

- Poor dolls!
- Also this.

- One, and two, and three.
- You hit the jackpot!

- For this one, though, I feel a bit sorry.
- Come on, hurry up!

- What a stink!
- It’s the gramophone.

No, before any intimacy,
a tea at separate tables.

- And may I know the reason
for this ceremony?
- Sure.

- My husband loved to betray me this way.
- Ah, I’m an instrument of revenge.

Don’t be upset.

It’ll be a nice revenge!

Eh, yes!

Yes, but we can’t ignore that a Catholic
left wing movement, feeling the danger…

He may be a great poet,
but I find him terribly outrageous.

- Did you see who’s over there?
- Where?
- Down the hall.

Without restraint!

Imagine that her honest
husband idolized her.

Nobody ever told you that you’re frigid?

Sinners! Depraved women!
Female slaves of the devil!

When night falls, they come out of
their holes as animals from the forest.

Or descend from the windows,
shoes in hand, as if they were thieves,

and vanish in the darkness!

They’re going to spend the night
under other roofs!

Clinging to men they’ve
seen for the first time!

Bodies clutching bodies.

Sweat blended with sweat,
in the embrace of sin!

And what should I say, then, about some
men who corrupt innocent creatures?

And about some ladies…

who take the buggy and go looking
for pleasure in hidden streets!

And in the towns,
where they think no one will see them!

And give themselves up to lust
in grand hotels!

But woe to them! Woe!

Since they can’t escape the eyes of God,
much less they’ll escape his punishment!

You know she removed all
religious images from the house?

Saints, Madonnas, Popes… All.
She had them put down in the cellar.

- This is very serious.
- Turn around.

Knowing your ideas about religion,
I thought the news would have pleased you.

To renounce the faith and the saints,
it takes other interests.

It takes culture, ideals… In short,
a force that Antonia has not.

When you married her she was a healthy girl,
and not even so religious.

- You mean it’s me who drove her towards the
Church?
- If you didn’t, you’ve let her go.

Because it suited you having a wife
all hearth and prayerbook,

who awaited you quietly while you…
were going to whores.

Everybody knows you cheated on her since
the early months of marriage, even cruelly,

ridiculing her every day.

Only for her your life is a mystery.
Indeed…

it was a mystery.

Because now she begins to open her eyes,
and take revenge.

- Good Morning.
- Morning.
- Good morning, ma’am.

- Pina, how many copies did you run?
- Hello.
- Good Morning.

- How are you, ma’am?
- Fine.
- Good Morning.

Hi.

I found other manuscripts of my husband
that are worth publishing.

Some deal with the condition of the woman,

others with sexual freedom.
They’re very interesting.

We publish under the name of Ulysses?

No, with his real name.

- You go back home or stay with us to work?
- No, I can’t tonight.

Ma’am!
Excuse me…

Can you give a lift to the doctor?
It’s on your way.

- Provided I don’t have to wait too long.
- No, he’s coming.

Doctor, hurry.

I stopped a cab.
The lady is in a hurry.

- Farewell.
- Good Morning. And thanks.

- I’m sorry I kept you waiting.
- Never mind.

- You allow? My name is Dario Tavella.
- How do you do?

So young, they’ve already
assigned you a district?

My colleagues refuse to live here.

This area is too poor.

How can people afford to pay a doctor?

So they called me… and here I am.

What were you burying at the cemetery?
- Last night I had to amputate a leg.

- That thing was the leg of a man?
- Yes. An infection that became gangrenous.

- Will he pull through?
- No.

- Does he leave someone?
- Four children, a wife, and the old father.

And how will they survive,
those poor wretches?

It will depend upon the master.

Who’s the master?

He died, his name was Martinelli.
He was a lawyer, I think.

Now all the lands passed to his daughter,
who never showed up.

The houses are collapsing,
there is no aqueduct…

There, you can say
the peasants live like animals.

And the kids…

all stunted.
From first to last.

It’s me the daughter of lawyer Martinelli.

A while ago, didn’t you say
your name is De Angelis?

It was my husband’s name.

Why didn’t you ever come
to see how your farmers live?

I’ve been sick in bed,
for a long time.

And you had no one to send?
Or you didn’t care anything about them?

- What are you getting at?
- The man of the leg is dying.

If they had taken him to the hospital,
maybe…

maybe it wouldn’t end up so.
But there are no roads.

The roads there would be,
if my father hadn’t died young.

All of these projects were designed by him.
He meant to build houses, roads, aqueducts.

But I only found out these days.

I was always kept in the dark about
everything, even by my husband.

- But you knew this place.
- I used to come as a child.

That’s why I wanted to
start here my research.

- You found also the detailed study
of the project?
- Yes, it’s complete.

How do you know?

It was revised two years ago.
My husband had resumed it.

- And then?
- He dropped it, like so many other things.

New homes, barns,
rational silos, irrigation canals…

Even the electricity grid.

- It’s no joke doing all these things.
- Perhaps.

But I don’t settle for dreaming.

And then?
Come on, speak.

She gave the go to the works.

She’s hired fifty workers, and they’re
making roads, aqueducts and canals.

It’s madness!

She’s only realizing your projects.

But, the money?

She took money from the bank,
sold the shares inherited from her father…

- and…
- This physician, what is he?
A sly guy? A cheater?

No. No, no, he’s a very reserved guy,
with rather advanced ideas.

Oh, forgot: they’ve also set up a clinic,

for checkups to poor children.

Houses, aqueducts, roads, clinic…
But what is this frenzy?

Come on, tell me the truth.
What’s between those two?

But, I don’t know.
Maybe a friendship bond.

Friendship…

- Is he married?
- No.

Indeed, it seems that he’s
a young man a bit strange.

- What does it mean, a bit strange?
- Very shy, closed.

Someone even says he has some tendencies.

Homosexual?

They’re suspicions.
It seems he’s even undergone a trial.

A trial does not mean anything.

I’m sorry for Antonia.
No, honestly.

Maybe it’s right that she too
finds a glimmer, a…

You play the father role now?

I treated a 16 year old boy,
of very poor family,

suffering from severe mental disorders.

I suspected that his illness was related

to guilt complexes for some sexual
practices, normal in boys his age.

- So I questioned him on the subject.
- Was that why you were put on trial?

No.

The charge was to have abused my profession

just to achieve quite different purposes.

I don’t understand.

- Of what did they accuse you?
- Homosexuality.

And on what evidence was based this belief?

First, on having treated, him for a
few months without asking for a penny.

- And on what else?
- Slander.

- They said it was me who had driven
the boy to masturbate.
- And instead?

His idiot aunt had terrorized him
by saying he’d end up in a madhouse.

I told him it was not true,

and not to feel guilty about
something so normal.

But you’re really sure that the sense of guilt
is more harmful than the guilt itself?

You’ve spent your adolescence
in a school of nuns.

I think you should know.

By guilt, I mean not feeling pleasure
in the touch of your husband,

and instead seeking it in a dream,
in a memory… by yourself.

Don’t think you’re a unique case.
Even many peasant women,

married and with children,

seeing themselves used as things
that don’t deserve trust or respect,

suffer the man.
Without however reaching orgasm.

This is the first time I feel regarded
as a person capable of reasoning.

Even as a girl I dealt with this issue,

but nobody ever allowed me to talk about it.

- Not even your husband?
- Never.

I thought he was a modern man,
unprejudiced.

Sure! But with the other women, or in
his secret writings. But with me, no way!

Maybe he avoided these issues intuiting
that certain words would excite me,

provoke in me desires, and
this was a threat to marital fidelity.

Words really do have this power over you?

In order to be sincere,
I should tell you a lie.

You mean?

If I admitted that your closeness,
and the speeches that we had,

have aroused me only a bit,
it would be like minimizing,

giving a petty sense
to what’s going on inside me.

The horse has stopped.

Go on!

Come on!

- Maybe they have two free rooms.
- Do we stop to sleep here?
- No, I can’t.

- I’ll take you myself to the clinic tomorrow.
- No, really, not the case.

Come on!
Come on, go!

What’s the matter?

If the horse doesn’t start,
that means it used to stop here.

I know this hotel, it’s something
very similar to a brothel.

- If you say it for me, I don’t care.
- I’m here, I’m here!

See what weather?
Please, ma’am.

- Toni, Toni, the luggage! Move!
- Right away.

- You’re Mrs. De Angelis, right?
- Yes, why?
- I recognized your horse.

You know, your husband was one of our
guests. A person such as there are few.

I’ll give you a nice room with a balcony.

Here you go.

The same that I always
gave to your husband.

For you there’s a smaller one
but on the same floor.

- No, enough for me. But another glass
to my granddaughter.
- Yes, sir.

- You’re quite sly, Grandpa!
- You’ve noticed, eh?

That lady is a prostitute, right?

Look, she rubs up like a cat.
You find her interesting?

You know, in this hotel stayed George Sand,
who was in love with Chopin,

- and De Musset chased them all over Europe…
- I want to sleep with you.

… like a… madman.

Let’s try to get at least to the room,
please.

Lawyer.

- My cousin is waiting upstairs.
- Good.

You don’t run any more risk,
they found the killer.

Here. Luckily he confessed.
Come on, get out of this room.

You need care now.

- You’re in a state…
- Well.

- Thank you.
- I don’t understand, aren’t you glad?

You don’t mean to do
the voluntary recluse, I hope?

Look, among other things your wife is
signing bills, selling shares, asking loans…

She’s buying another typographic machine.
She even published a lot of your writings.

And then… And then there’s her
relationship with that young doctor.

Change the subject.

Look, returning from Padova days ago,
I stopped at the hotel Pavone.

A sort of brothel, remember?

As I descended the stairs I heard some sighs,
on the landing, in the dim light.

There were a man and a woman, embracing.
He had her against the wall.

Kissing her, touching her…

At some point she, bent on her knees,
as if she couldn’t resist the desire.

“Let’s try to get to the room”,
she told him.

In her voice there was so much sensuality
that it left me upset.

And who was it?

- Well, the landing was very dark, but…
- But?

Next morning, while I was paying the bill,
I saw there, in a living room…

your wife,
who was playing cards with a prostitute.

And who of the two was on the landing?
Certainly not Antonia.

She’s incapable of this kind of abandon.
Her frigidity has been our drama.

Look, Luigi, I’m not just your lawyer,
I am also your friend.

Antonia and that young doctor
are in that hotel from a week.

They are night and day in bed,
just in that room that you know well.

They come down only for meals.

She’s madly in love. She discovered
something that swept her like a hurricane.

Get out, now!

Log out of this hole before it’s too late.

Good morning, ma’am.

- You had a good journey?
- Excellent, thanks.

- I take it to the stable?
- Yes, go.

- Feed it.
- Yes, right away.

Thirty… forty…

Good morning, ma’am.

Hello, Antonia.
I didn’t know you were back.

Since when you learned to smoke?

Well… a few months.

You know, as we age we
take up so many vices…

Bye.

Also for you Xanthia as usual?

What’s wrong, ma’am, don’t you feel well?

Why didn’t you go somewhere else
to buy cigarettes?

What are you worried about?
Didn’t you hear what the lawyer said?

Antonia has it all figured out.

What do I represent now here for her?
A dead weight…

an obstacle.

You won’t tell me you’re afraid that
she’ll report you, to get rid of you?

I wish she’d do it!

This way I could stop
staying behind that window

to witness her total… corruption.

- You don’t deem yourself a corrupt man, eh?
- What’s that got to do with it?

I have betrayed Antonia, it is true,
with many whores. But you know why!

- And anyway, inside, I’ve always
remained wholesome.
- She, instead, no?

For women it’s different.

But why do you defend her so much? Eh?

What is it, after so long,
you’re still in love?

- I’ve always had affection and
admiration for you.
- In love!

That’s why in all these years
you always avoided me.

Yes, admiration for what you said,
for what you wrote…

But now I realized they were just
pretty words that filled your mouth.

And your conscience.

You’re still in love with Antonia.

I loved her so much…
that you can’t even imagine.

Get in line.
Sooner or later it will also be your turn.

Vincenzo.

They’re horrible, you know,
these sleepless nights…

with in the eyes the haunting image

of your wife in the arms of another man

in a dingy hallway of a hotel

with rooms by the hour.

Enough now, stop it, don’t think about it.
Give me the thermometer.

That’s it. It’s known to my wife,
my lawyer…

and now also the doctor knows
that I am hidden here.

I had to call him.
You’ve raved all night.

I believe it. With that infection!

Well. You’ll see that after the incision
you’ll be soon better.

It’s nothing serious.

Now, though, relax, eh?
Keep Calm.

You’ll see, soon you’ll fall asleep
and you won’t feel anything more.

Doctor, the one they’ve killed…

I was there.

Go ahead and denounce me, if you want.

By now, I don’t care about anything more.

Don’t worry. I haven’t heard
a single word of what you said.

And then you have a high fever,
you’re delirious.

How about that!

- It would have been better
to take him to hospital.
- Yes I know.

But what I don’t understand

is why he wants to stay hidden
now that there is no more danger.

Now he’s just afraid to live.

- Hello, Mr. Vincenzo.
- Good Morning.

- My respects.
- Again.

- Where?
- Below.
- I signed, but I didn’t understand what.
- Rest assured.

- It’s my turn?
- Yes.
- I didn’t understand what it is.
- Sign anyway.

- At your orders.
- We must admit that
women, when they want something,

are far more tenacious than us men.

This is still nothing.
You’ll see how many initiatives!

What happens?
What is this party?

She’s collecting signatures to create a
service center or something like that.

I didn’t quite get it.

It’s incredible! She intruded among
my friends, among my women.

She’s wiping me out from her life
with an ease that I never imagined.

As if I’d never existed!

- Finally! You’re the last ones.
- Evening.

We need your signatures.
You said you’d be punctual.

- Who’s that?
- A snag with my mother.

- And you, doctor, what’s your excuse?
- He has no excuse.

- Well, one is Clara’s boyfriend.
- No, the other.

That’s him.

- Him who?
- The doctor. The friend of Antonia.

- That’s it.
- To be honest, I found
the meeting a little boring.
- No way!

- The eternal opposer.
- I oppose male abuse!

I’m only interested in the why, not the how.
- And I the when.
- Okay, when what?

There, see that you’re a baby?
- Ugh!

So I have your word.

- I’ll keep my promise.
- Tomorrow I’ll come to help you.
- Great, Clara! Don’t forget!

Dario…

Stay.

What’s written?
- Nothing, it’s just a business card.

I want to see.

- Leave.
- I want to see.
- You’re hurting me.

Please!
I told you to leave me!

Dario!

It’s no longer my wife that I’m spying on.
It’s a new woman.

I should go away, but…
but there is something that prevents me.

She’s there, alive, free, passionate.

And it’s this Antonia
that I want to get to know.

I also wondered if it’s my morbid imagination
that pushes me into this game. No.

It’s my bewilderment facing
the fact that she is fulfilled

outside of me.

Now I live, through her lovers,

what before, instead with her,

I’ve not been capable to live.

For this, you know,
I can’t go away from here.

I want to go through with it,

understand everything,
see everything…

and then…

Why did you bring me here?

I want you to know.

I’m following my path.

Up to the end.

Why did you agree to come?

- Where has passed Ulysses can also
pass Penelope.
- Then you knew.

Paola told me about your meetings,
but knowing doesn’t mean understanding.

Women tend to complicate everything,

first with the sentiment
and then with reasoning.

Even eroticism you want it to have a reason,
even its own logic.

What is it, instead?

I have never asked myself,
I just want to enjoy life.

- And what did Luigi want?
- To forget.

To hide himself, which he didn’t love,
behind an image always different.

Why don’t you just say that he always
deceived all those he’s had close?

Yet everyone remember him, defend him.
They love him even.

Only I am unable to forgive him.
I’m not capable.

The most strange thing is that

you’re talking as if
your husband were alive.

I wish he was, to give him back
all the evil he’s done to me,

that he keeps doing.

You hate him so much that
you’re still in love with him.

With whom you’re in love?

- But… But why?
- This way you’re more handsome.

- I have little time.
- What does it take?

- It’s us, ma’am.
- Come. Come on in.

- We brought the mail, and dragées.
- Thanks. Sit down, please.

- I should…
- Sit down.
- So you’re getting married at last.

- Yes, tomorrow morning.
- I’m glad, really.

I didn’t come just for the dragées.

- I also wanted to ask you for a gift.
- Of course.

Please, be good,

come to church tomorrow. I know you
don’t want to set foot there again.

Even if I didn’t come, I’d be equally close
to you. With all my heart, believe me.

I’m convinced like you that are
spiritual values that count, but…

- Which ones, for example?
- Honesty, sincerity…

and also purity.

We need to establish
what you mean by this word.

The world and nature are so material,

that perhaps purity and innocence
only make us unfit to life.

I, however, think they are a great strength.

And right before you,
who have the courage of your opinions,

I want to tell Clara something I never told.

Clara must know that I’ve never had
intercourse with a woman,

and, in order not to
contaminate her purity, I

have come virgin
to the marriage with her.

Excuse me dear, then you’ll join me.

- Good evening, ma’am.
- Best wishes, Enrico.

What will you tell him when he
finds out that you’re not a virgin?

I’ll tell him what your husband said:
“It happens to who arrives too late.”

Like that!

Hold it!
Go!

- Why did you betray me?
- It happens.

I want you to come live with me.
Forever.

I can no longer do without you.
I need to know that you’re just mine.

I’ll no longer be anyone’s, ever.

Now we are even.

- It was a shot!
- A shot?
- But where?

Why?

- Good Morning.
- Good morning, Clara.

Take it. I would have brought it shortly.
It’s from Mrs. Antonia.

Thanks.

“Luigi De Angelis yet to be found.”
“Why?”

- Set for two, tonight.
- For two?
- Yes.

I’ll probably have a guest.