It was nice driving home at that hour with the music.
A Vasco Rossi song was on the radio.
His concert was that evening and I should have gone.
If I'd known I was going to be killed in 5 minutes,
maybe I wouldn't have listened to that very song,
who knows.
SUMMER 1985
Come on, close your eyes and jump.
I can't do it.
You've been there an hour!
Count to three and jump.
You're heartless, you want to humiliate me!
If you don't jump, I'm leaving.
No!
Yes!
- If I do? - I'll give you a present.
What present?
You'll see.
Don't move, we have to stay all night like this.
Don't laugh, don't breathe, don't do a thing.
Why?
Or else the jack unplugs and the current goes off.
Giancarlo, it's Sunday,
it's my shift at the hospital,
so you too, as custom demands,
must join in my suffering.
Good.
Coffee in bed! Make him believe you love him.
Is he awake?
What time did you get in?
At 2:30.
At 3:40.
Why don't you make noise?
If I don't hear you get in, I can't sleep.
It's so hot.
Why do you like this record so much? It's ruined, you even can't hear it.
Drink while it's hot.
- What time is it? - 10 o'clock.
I'd been a stringer for II Mattino in Torre Annunziata for four years,
but I still wasn't a journalist, I was like a squatter.
To save money, the paper made me a photographer too.
Excuse me.
This is Valentino Gionta on his son's Holy Communion.
He was the boss in Torre Annunziata and liked it to show.
There are government officials too.
Standing on the Town Hall balcony was Mayor Cassano,
alias "5 %".
There used to be a hundred pastry shops in Torre!
The scent of wheat was everywhere.
Now all you smell is the stink of drugs.
Why tell me this, Don Carmine?
Tell the one who came with you.
What do you mean?
Your guys gotta sell drugs someplace else.
In that kitchen, availing themselves of the holy occasion,
were the high circles of the Camorra:
on the one hand, Carmine Alfieri, the big boss,
with his deputy Bardellino,
on the other, the brothers Angelo and Lorenzo Nuvoletta
with heir apparent Valentino Gionta,
meeting to carve up the territory.
Valentino, you're too intelligent to pretend not to understand.
You've earned Torre.
It's yours, but you have to leave us some room.
You know that, right?
This war has to end in the interest of all.
Too many eyes are on us,
that's why we have to stay clean.
And in the others' houses too.
I can't stay for lunch,
but tell Pasqualino I love him,
he's on my mind.
You shouldn't have, Don Carmine!
And you,
you're on my mind too.
- I got a shot of him. -Who? - Carmine Alfieri.
They saw us.
Run!
- The film. - We haven't done anything.
The film!
Why? I don't get it.
How the fuck does this open?
Easy...
You're lucky we're in a hurry.
Who told you it was him?
- I recognized him. - Don't talk bullshit.
- 90% it was him. - Sasà, it seemed like him.
We'll open with four columns: "It seemed like Carmine Alfieri".
- For me, it was him. - We're almost certain.
So, it's a scoop! Five columns: "We're almost certain."
Then why did they take the film?
We'll read: "From our correspondents at the Camorra front!"
Should I call the editor in Naples?
He'll glom onto two like you.
Please!
Sasà was short, but I don't know how,
he seemed to look down at me.
Just imagine the head of the new family,
a fugitive, going around to parties,
to Gionta's son's Communion, saying:
"Nice to meet you, Carmine Alfieri!"
Why not?
Because he's no jerk like you guys.
Maybe you even forgot to buy film,
so, not to look like shit,
you dream up this bullshit?
Go look for news,
go to the Holy Communion.
You look so nice!
Dad, why are you crying?
You're growing up.
What a wonderful moment!
Congratulations to Pasqualino!
What the fuck's going on?
The State had deserted Torre Annunziata.
Come here!
The only one still flying the flag was Captain Sensales.
Cifù!
- How many in there? - I don't know, 100, 200...
And the six of us walk in.
You, with Cifù, go that way, the others with me.
The cops!
The cops are here.
Throw the guns away!
The guns!
Look at these guys.
Sing, who told you to stop?
Captain!
What's the honor of this visit?
- Read this, Gionta. - What is it?
Enough of this infamy!
Good for the Captain, you even called the press!
Who let you in?
Stay, you're my guests, but you have to write
there's no respect, not even for holy ceremonies and children.
- Take him away. - What are the charges?
You'll have to ask Magistrate Rosone.
The Magistrate didn't come?
He says I have a firearm, where!
I've got nothing!
Write that, I've got nothing!
Let's have this press conference.
My only firearm is right here!
You threw the others in the sea.
Sing! I'm paying you to sing.
Sing "O' Bene Mio".
Even a soundtrack.
Magistrate Rosone's putting a spoke in my wheel,
he won't let me work with honesty.
What do you do?
I sell fish.
Where's my jacket?
Don't worry, dad will be right back.
If I were?
What would you say?
What would I say?
And you?
I asked first.
Would you be happy?
What do you say?
Would I be happy? Very.
Even though...
Is it a joke?
Who said it's a joke?
Don't exaggerate, it's two weeks?
I'm like clockwork.
Sure, but...
you're stressed out, taking exams.
- So? - Stress is a killer.
Happens all the time.
- Did it already happen to you? - To me? Never.
Not worrying?
- You neither. - Not at all.
Good night.
Damn it.
And now?
Who is it?
Mrs. Cuccurullo, is that you?
- Pasquale, is that you? - Who's Pasquale?
- The keys, please. - Thanks.
- A draught? - A bottle's better tonight.
What's wrong?
Yu, do you have a boyfriend?
- Want one? - Who?
You have a girl.
We're having a bad spell.
All Italians say that.
You know what I'd do if you said
suddenly, now:
"Let's split, just you and me"?
I'd drop everything and go with you, not even stop by the house.
They all say that too.
Can't even chat anymore,
I'm leaving.
Why did you jump in the water?
- What do you want? - Nothing.
Now you understand.
Fuck off.
New York,
Paris, Marrakesh, Gaeta... choose.
Zanzibar.
Are you sure?
We'll be right there.
- What's up? - I'll tell you.
They're in Orthopedics?
Remember the ticket for the concert?
- Sure! - That smock looks good on you.
- I gained another two kilos. - They look good too.
Does the heat do this to him?
Just when he's under pressure.
Remember, I haven't seen you.
Didn't you promise me those tickets?
- What could I do? - You talk to Daniela then.
Is that Ciro?
Were you doing something you shouldn't?
Did they shoot his brother?
Were you pushing?
Never!
Maybe you'd better go.
- Why? - It's best only one goes.
Rosone's there too...
I'll go talk to the doc on duty.
Didn't you recognize him?
He wore a helmet.
He jumped in the water helmet and all?
Maybe he was a diver.
Who let you in? We're questioning.
Magistrate Rosone's only concern
was to show he was on the right side.
Why's this guy always around?
I'm working too.
Go work outside this door.
- Calm down, though! - Let's go.
Is he still pissed off for my being late the other time?
And for the Communion article.
- What did I write? - That he was standing on the table!
- It's true! - Here he is.
Who let these two in?
Sorry, I just went for coffee.
- It's not his fault. - Shut up, get out.
You're sending us off empty-handed?
- Tell us if the kids they shot were Gionta's. - Goodnight.
Don't move from here.
Is Ciro around?
No, he's gone to work.
Tell him I came by.
Easy, you're raising dust.
A warm cappuccino and a croissant.
- He's in there. - Good.
I'm off to the courthouse, the cappuccino's paid for.
- And the croissant? - You pay that.
How's your brother mixed up in this?
My brother? He was just passing by.
And they shot him for fun.
Are the other two Gionta's?
- They're Bardellino's? - What do you want?
Is your brother with Alfieri and Bardellino?
Stop, I don't know a thing.
Did Gionta's guys shoot him?
You helped me out, but if they see me with you, I risk.
Now, get out.
Good for the butcher's boy, discard's the pair and goes for a royal flush.
See how daring he is?
- He knows how to play. - Think so?
What are you doing?
- Discarding a straight draw for three-of-a-kind? - A mistake, eh?
Okay, but you write.
- What a job! - Journalist?
I still don't get where the news comes from.
From things that happen.
Who says it's the truth?
The journalists.
So we have to trust in them.
Look, not even three days.
Valentino's back!
Hear him? He's laughing in our faces.
- He gobbles the town and we arrest him for unlawful possession. -We shouldn't have?
That's what I had and that's what I could do.
Meaning?
I don't understand what he wants to tell me.
After the shake down at the restaurant, we expected more.
- What do you want to know? - I wondered, the other one's here too.
If it's for the piece on Gionta...
Don't tell me anything.
Can I ask what the Magistrate thinks of these motorcycles?
Ask him yourselves.
Actually, ask him how the investigation's coming
on the seizure of Camorra property.
- How's it coming? - Do you know? I don't.
Understand?
He gave us news.
What news?
Why are you looking at me like that?
You've been watching me for a few days now.
I'm watching you?
Gemmai.
I brought him to you!
You're so awesome!
Want to know something?
Bardellino's furious that we shot those three.
Didn't Don Carmine say
we each have to keep a clean house?
He's cleaned his house,
but he wanted to dirty ours.
You look great, jail does you good!
Listen what's written here.
"By now Valentino Gionta
is the undisputed boss of the Camorra in Torre Annunziata."
- Who wrote that? - Giancarlo Siani.
He's good!
What? It says you're the boss.
Isn't it true?
He didn't write no bullshit.
I don't like it in the papers.
No, it's good. Everyone's got to read it,
everyone's gotta know who Valentino Gionta is.
- Bardellino for first. - He has to get a heart attack.
Where's Pasqualino?
See how nice he is.
Like the Rolex? Want an ice cream?
Pasqualino said yes.
Then we need an ice cream, I'll go change.
Come with your uncle, I'll take that Rolex.
They're gone, I gave them to a nurse.
Who?
Someone who helped us out, but I swear we had them.
- You're fucking her? - What?
Okay, just leave it, it's better.
What's the latest?
About what?
- About that thing. - "That thing"?
How do I call it?
Anyway you like.
Forget it.
There's not a fucking thing here.
Did you take the G?
- They wanted a name. - You said Gionta?
No, Giambrone, my physics professor.
He's down as a fish vendor,
most they can do is impound his fish.
Ask for the D.
Donnarumma, his wife.
- They want a name. - D'Antonio.
- Who's that? - A girl.
- You're fucking her? - Everyone's on my back today?
- With an apostrophe? - What's Ciro doing here?
It was better when the pastry boy brought it.
I think they do it on purpose.
- Here he is. - Go.
Hey, Ciroi.
I saw you going in Palazzo Fienga, did you go see Gionta?
- I took him his meat. - Brought some here too?
- Is it the same meat? - They're watching us.
Steak tonight.
Great.
A little enthusiasm!
Are you okay?
- Did you get hurt? - Don't worry.
It came.
- Happy? - You?
I am.
Then so am I.
- Officer! - Come on in.
Let him through.
Right on time. Your colleague?
Couldn't come. Who is he?
Alfieri's brother.
Don Carmine Alfieri's brother? What's he doing here?
Maybe he wanted to take a swim
and didn't see there was no water.
- I think he was killed someplace else. - What does Magistrate Rosone say?
Go ask.
Aren't you talking?
Sure,
we talk all the time.
Captain?
See?
I'll take a few shots.
I can't cook, don't go to Mass
and if I say I'm up at nine, it's bullshit.
Give him three hundred.
Write it down.
Four hundred.
- It's your lucky day. - Thanks.
We're done.
That's it for today.
Quiet!
- Seen him? - No.
Where'd that son-of-a-bitch go?
I always wondered where they get the sheets for the corpses.
Who brings them, the cops, the ambulances? Or some kind of soul from the houses?
And where do they end up?
Do they wash them and put them back?
Reuse them?
Pretty, eh?
Rosone gave me this five minutes ago.
Look at the date. It's today's date, right?
Why didn't he sign it 20 days ago,
a month ago, or a year? Now they're all wanted men.
Would they have done this slaughter anyway?
They even wounded a little girl.
Where are the authorities? Why the tears?
Didn't they already know it?
Careful.
What town is this? We always arrive late.
We've counted 243 cartridges.
They're warring
and we mop up the dead.
Are eight a lot or a little?
There's even one down there.
They chased him all the way here.
I guess they had to kill him.
Look.
Just a kid.
What is it? You knew him?
It's Ciro, the butcher's errand boy.
What are you doing?
Nothing.
- Mom and Dad? - They're sleeping.
What happened today in Torre? Seven dead?
Eight.
There's a wounded girl too?
They're nuts.
Aren't you afraid?
Don't let this jerk move.
- He's got an iron neck? - Get a knife.
- He's gotta die suffocated. - It'll take half an hour!
- Who is he? - Bardellino's cousin.
A piece of shit. He won't die!
He's too big, you gotta do it another way.
What can I do?
Put this on his head and tie a knot.
- It's not the same. - He'll suffocate anyway.
You kill him, I'm fed up.
What the fuck did you do?
I killed him.
Did you hear what they wanted to do to me?
All Italy knew they wanted to kill me.
Read this:
"Commando shoots into the crowd at Torre Annunziata,
Gionta clan decimated, little girl wounded."
How's it make me look?
- They failed. - They killed eight of my men.
You gotta tell Don Carmine Alfieri,
I had nothing to do with his brother's death. - What about him?
He counts zero,
he's just for making peace.
Take this guy,
drop him outside Bardellino's house.
Our proletarian traditions,
the sacrifices of the working man,
all this has been muddied on this bloody Sunday.
This violent minority
doesn't represent our community.
The healthy part of Torre Annunziata are you, it's us.
And we're the majority.
But some people are irresponsible,
and I say this strongly,
with bitterness,
they've depicted us as a frontier town...
Amato Lamberti was an example for many of us.
He edited the paper 'The Camorra Observer'.
His look intimidated me,
like he was saying I wasn't working hard enough
and maybe he was right.
We're not afraid to say the word "Camorra",
we hold our heads high.
This town council has always operated within the law,
for legality and for the advancement of Torre.
Ours is a battle for justice and work.
Our honesty will never be muddied,
not by journalistic speculation, nor by criminal action.
We're not at Fort Apache.
That rain could have been nice, cleaning things a little,
but in Torre even water turned right to mud.
Look at him!
Rico!
You bag of shit!
Last night two of them.
One's dead.
They didn't even cut it, it was too good.
Go.
What a disappointment, eh?
I swore to you I'd quit but...
What do you want to know?
Why I started again?
Guess I just can't hang it.
It's stronger than me.
You knew, didn't you?
You've been watching me.
Remember, at the courthouse,
when the Captain wanted to tell you something?
You had it figured,
I had nothing figured.
Know why?
Five minutes before I was in the toilet.
I was shooting up in the courthouse toilet!
Want to die?
I don't want to see you die,
so I don't want to see you anymore.
Don't call me.
Don't look for me or talk to me.
Don't even look at me.
I don't exist for you anymore.
Go fuck off.
Come on in, there's something to eat too.
- Valentino's fucked. - What do you say?
He shouldn't have killed Alfieri's brother without talking to us.
Allies decide certain things together.
He says someone else did it, to screw him.
Who?
Bardellino.
- Valentino's getting too hyper, he's trouble. - Why don't you take over?
Me?
- Wouldn't you like to? - How?
You have to kill him.
You say it has to be done?
Can I think it over?
Sure.
When you think, do you think fast?
- It's not I don't want to. - Don't worry.
- Did you tell Valentino you were coming here? - Why? -Just to know.
Good guy.
Think it over. Got cold hands?
A family trait, circulation problems.
- You should eat more garlic. - Garlic?
Stop the car!
Damn it.
In Torre Annunziata,
the Camorra made sure the elections were won
by the politicians they wanted.
But we can't prove it.
In exchange, the politicians made sure the contracts were won
by the friends of the Camorra.
But,
fixed bids are hard to prove too.
Politicians don't give out contracts just for power,
they want money too.
For example, the earthquake assistance money.
The only proof of the exchange
are the kickbacks.
How are they paid?
Where? By whom?
Certainly, 5-million-lire steaks aren't enough,
we're talking a big flow of money.
This flow of money naturally leaves a much wider track.
You have to follow this track.
It's late, I have a class.
- I liked your article on the massacre. - Thank you. - Fort Apache was a good one.
Listen,
I'm organizing a meeting with the students.
- Want to help out? - At the university?
Also in the high schools.
- There's no money. - I'd be offended.
What should I say?
What you write.
Even what you don't write, especially that.
At the Chamber of Commerce after the mayor's election, I saw
the first contracts had gone to a relative of Gionta's wife.
He had no offices or machinery,
and later went bankrupt.
Now he has a tractor dealership
and a 20-meter yacht.
I'll show you.
This is my offer for that contract, two billion 300 million lire.
50,000 lire more than his.
50,000 lire.
Know what?
Later they offered me the same job on sub-contract.
She was right, I shouldn't have accepted.
I advanced the sum thinking the State would cover me.
Not at all! They drove me into bankruptcy.
Let's do like this,
I won't attribute anything by name and surname.
I want to give you the name of the firm.
CEMI, it was them.
They did the same with two others, who then went bankrupt like me.
- Look into that. - Why didn't you see the magistrate?
Who said I didn't?
Every time someone makes a report,
I should phone the paper?
So, there was a report?
I didn't say that, don't write it.
If a builder says the bid was fixed, what do I do?
Issue a press release or read the documentation?
So, you seized the documents for the bid?
I was being hypothetical to help you understand.
Every move has to be pondered,
you realize where we are.
The mayor says it's not, but this is Fort Apache.
I have a hearing now.
Something off the record, I won't write it.
Have all the bids been legal?
Off the record?
Have all the town officials done their jobs?
You must deal only with crime news.
You're a reporter.
Things happen and you write about them.
You don't make them happen.
- An investigation of votes in exchange for favors... - You don't get me!
Investigations are done by the guys in Naples, the good ones.
We have to stay calm and relaxed,
and you have to stop breaking balls.
Done?
Thank you.
Forget about it.
How come this sudden visit?
- What's the honor? -I have some questions. - About what?
About a construction firm, CEMI.
Don't you do crime news?
Did you move to the gossip column? You came for the party?
There isn't even one VIP!
Not even from CEMI?
You're looking for them here, on my wife's birthday?
Are you trying to tell me something I don't understand?
I just need to ask a few questions.
Want to ask the Mayor or someone from CEMI?
If you want to talk to me, the Mayor, call Monday and make an appointment.
Don't be offended, it's a question of correctness.
- I can't favor you over your colleagues, understand? -Yes.
Stay a while, have a dip in the pool? I'll lend you the trunks.
I can't, I'll go.
Siani, I read you.
- You're good, you write well. - Thank you.
But I don't know,
it's as if...
as if there's some acrimony,
like you have it in for someone.
I understand you,
when I was young, I too wanted to change the world.
Then the years pass and in time
things get clearer.
That's why you became a Socialist.
Reason.
What are we, after all?
Wheels in the gear works.
They move by themselves.
Just grease them well.
Don't have me insist, how about a dip?
Get cooled off, there's even some cold melon.
It's almost the same car, but this one's electric, it doesn't pollute.
Hey, don't write I have a golf course!
I know you journalists!
- Keep up the good work. - Happy birthday to your wife.
What do you say?
It's all out of shape.
No way!
See where the sleeves come?
Maybe it was a writer's, the elbows are worn out.
What a smell of smoke, this guy played poker.
Take it off!
- I like it, I'm keeping it. - Who is it?
What are you doing?
Nice jacket.
I came with my Uncle Rino, he's looking at hats.
I'd better go, if he gets lost I'll never find him.
Why did you treat him like that, did you fight?
Well?
Nothing.
What's wrong? Got it in for someone?
I haven't got it in for anyone.
Uncle Toto' says, if we want to walk together we have to keep same pace.
If someone wants to run, he's making a mistake,
he risks falling and cracking his horns.
This makes noise and draws attention.
Who'd be the one running?
Me?
Don Carmine is absent, not out of disrespect
but because I advised him it wasn't the moment.
You didn't want him to find out I didn't kill his brother.
- Then who did? - You!
Valentino, we're meeting here
to put this behind us and make an agreement.
I'd like it on record
that the presence of Carabinieri in the Council hall
is highly unusual and a grave fact.
We're not afraid of the Carabinieri.
The citizens must know
that the opposition isn't allowed to do its job
because we're threatened and insulted by the town council.
It's the opposition which continues to hinder our work.
You threaten us with your abstentions, with your amendments.
It's our right to prevent the disgusting things
you're doing with the reconstruction plan.
- What do you imply? - You know.
That we're corrupt? Say it.
You're corrupt.
Bring out the proof.
- You don't have any, and know why? - You've hidden it.
- There isn't any. - The Magistrate has proof. - That's a good one!
Want proof? I'll smash your face.
So that everyone will see you with your face smashed in and that's proof.
Put that on the record!
- You can't kill who you want. - So, what wanted to kill me?
We have to meet halfway, can you see that?
You have to say where Ferrara is, I want his body.
- He's talking to you. - Me?
I didn't touch him, but who killed my cousin?
You killed eight of mine, nine with Ferrara.
We were duly elected.
If they didn't want us, they wouldn't vote for us.
They didn't vote for you.
- You bought those votes. - With the earthquake money.
Can I ask a question?
How come the firms awarded contracts didn't even have equipment?
The Town got 22 billion lire for reconstruction,
but for five years the work has been stop and go.
The contract winners are in villas, the earthquake victims in trailers.
The contracts were won
with a few thousand lire margin, isn't it strange?
Is this a Council meeting or a press conference?
The journalist is right,
we have to explain why the homes aren't ready yet.
We hope the papers will write the truth:
it's because of obstructionism from the opposition...
which creates difficulty for this council.
Why don't you furnish the list of firms that took part in the bid?
The list is public domain, want a photocopy?
Yes, but next to each one
put the names and amounts of those who won and of those who lost.
What are you trying to say?
Did you know, a CEMI stockholder is related to a Camorra fugitive?
How did he manage to win a bid?
Surely it was a legal bid.
On a contract of two billion lire, an offer 50,000 lire is legal?
How dare you? That's slander.
Resignation!
Who pays you?
The paper does but very little. You?
You're overdoing it, kid.
I want to return home.
It's early, wait awhile.
Don't you like the lodgings we have for you?
You're under our protection.
You should have gone and didn't, he shouldn't have gone, and did?
Everyone does the fuck he wants?
Councilman Scorsolino was to keep me informed.
- Wadawe give your pay to Scorsolino? - It was just one time!
That's your way, you're always on the phone,
you have to go in person to places, then see what happens?
A great journalist shows up, makes a stand and your story's winded.
- I went for my own business. - Your own business?
And you argue with the Mayor?
He kept me on the phone for two hours breaking my balls.
What's your own business?
There was a debate on homes for earthquake victims.
And that's your business?
You have to deal with robberies,
hold-ups, bag-snatching
and murders, maybe connected to the Camorra.
- The Camorra's in this. - Maybe it is, maybe not.
- Want to open an investigation? - Yes.
No, the public prosecutor does that, you're a journalist,
actually, you're a squatter. Temporary and at risk.
Festive Verona is invaded by soccer fans for the first Championship
in the history of this city...
Even Verona won the Championship!
We bought Maradona!
We've been waiting a hundred years.
Maradona, wake up!
Want fresh tomatoes? I'll get them from the garden.
Is there any mozzarella?
We'll whip up a Sorrento dish.
- Take your gun. - Always.
Thank you.
What is it?
Nothing.
What stuff!
What mystery!
Get some basil.
Basil is important.
So so, right?
Let's hope the second act is better.
- Do you know her? -Who? - The Chinese girl.
No.
Yes, you do.
You're a liar.
You lie because you're hiding something.
It's clear you know her,
but you tell a lie to hide something.
Where are you going?
- Did you fuck her? - What?
Good for you.
Why is this gate always locked?
- The door! - Go that way.
- Did you alert the paper? - Yes. What's that on his head?
A bomb squad helmet, in case someone gets funny ideas.
- Where did you catch him? - In Marano.
What was he doing in Nuvoletta's territory?
- You'll have to ask them. - How did you get him?
- I can't tell you. - Can I write it was a tip-off?
- Better to say an indication. - Where from?
I'm busy and you too, or the news will leak before you report it.
In Naples they'd stopped the press,
waiting for my piece to wrap up the first edition.
What I'd always dreamed of was happening.
"The capture of Valentino Gionta might be the price..."
"The price paid by the Nuvolettas
to end the war with the Bardellino clan."
"Now we have to dig to the bottom of this
and expose the ones above suspicion,
because, as a senator on the Anti-Mafia Committee said,
if a town advisor, councilman,
a mayor is on friendly terms with the Camorra,
he must be removed."
Okay.
Bad news.
There's an uproar at the paper.
The Union says there are too many squatters.
The editor has decided to trim.
Fewer squatters.
And more journalists!
You've been promoted, you're going to Naples!
Really?
You were shitting in your pants,
you and your friend go take a vacation.
From October, a new contract as an apprentice-almost-journalist.
I'm happy, you earned it.
Put in a good word for me in Naples.
I heard!
- Congratulations. - To you too.
No, just to you.
Why?
I'm quitting, changing jobs.
What?
I'm going back to law school, I have just two exams.
Wasn't this what we wanted?
We've waited five years.
Look at me.
I feel great now
and I'm happy with my decision.
- You're abandoning me. - Never.
You're my friend.
Who's this fucking journalist?
Giancarlo Siani.
He wrote we sold out Valentino, our ally?
Alfieri's paying him to sling mud at us.
Is he the guy who plays billiards?
Yeah, at the bar.
I know him, do we tweak his ear?
What ear-tweaking?
If they do it, I'll get the blame.
You have to say I don't think I was betrayed.
As you say.
Do you know something about Unions?
I need a guy to report on the unemployment demonstrations.
Sit here, Profeta won't be back till the end of the month.
This is Fabrizio and Sandro.
You're the guy from Torre Annunziata?
You come from Fort Apache.
Get to work, I'm here if you need anything.
Okay, but write shorter sentences.
Not so many commas, use more periods.
Rhythm.
Why didn't you sign it?
I didn't know if...
- Luisa, it's me. - She's not in.
- Tell her to come down. - She's not here.
Where is she? I have to talk to her.
- Forget it. -Where did she go? - None of your business.
If she's out with someone, it's my business.
Was she supposed to wait for you?
She's really out with someone?
Cut it out, or my father will come down.
Just tell me where she is.
I'll show you,
gone out, sure...
Want to know who I go out with? It's my own damned business.
Daniela?
- Siani. - Who is it?
Who's this?
Tomorrow I'll buy a year's pass.
Who is it?
Don't you know me anymore?
Mr. Rosone.
You've abandoned us.
You never come to visit.
I miss your articles from Torre.
- Were you transferred here for making too much noise? -Meaning?
For some days, all the faces down there are so relaxed,
even the Mayor, how do read that?
- Is it a coincidence, am I being too sly? - Was that you on the phone?
Many people,
or some, me for certain,
we had hope in your articles.
I thought the opposite.
You're wrong,
you were helping us change things,
maybe you didn't realize it.
You think a magistrate has so much power.
You know how many of us have our hands tied?
What do you want to say?
If you got news from Torre... could you get it into print?
What news?
That's the Siani I know.
All news has to be verified.
Hurry and get it printed.
You'll see.
Congratulations on your new job.
- Is this Edilmare? - Who?
It's a firm, isn't this number 14?
I do the cleaning.
Is the landlord in?
Aren't these your signatures?
Edilpopolare is listed as yours.
They had me sign a paper,
but they're very nice.
They pay my rent every month,
75,000 lire.
Was that wrong?
Good, Jordan.
Isn't my dog good?
He's the dog and I'm the master.
I'm the master of the dog.
It's the same with men,
there are dogs and masters.
You want to be dog or master?
Neither, I want to be a journalist.
I knew you'd say that.
Maybe you want to be a journalist-journalist.
There are two categories:
the journalist-journalists
and the clerk-journalists.
I chose the second category.
I'm not so bad off,
I have a car, a house,
health assistance and even a dog.
The journalist-journalists
are a whole different thing.
They bring the news, the scoops
and don't expect an applause,
scoops are a fucking nuisance.
They hurt real bad.
If I can give you some advice,
listen to Sasà,
I don't want to know a thing about the investigation you're doing.
Take my advice,
this isn't a country for journalist-journalists,
it's a country for clerk-journalists.
The usual, a warm cappuccino and croissant.
Christ!
Want to make a report?
No.
But...
Want to know if you should worry?
Why did you come back to Torre?
It's me, sleep.
The problem is to decide which side you're on.
It becomes an even bigger problem
when you discover that the institutions themselves
are compromised by organized crime.
That's when it gets even harder to decide which side you're one.
A little here and a little there.
It's easy for you to be on the right side, you don't live in Torre Annunziata.
You're right, it's a little easier for me.
You wrote that the Camorra is now in legal activities
and politicians help them. Is it all rotten?
Pretty much.
So, there's no hope.
You're the hope.
Aren't you afraid to write certain things?
Sometimes I am.
Then why do you do it?
It's my job, I chose it
and I don't feel especially courageous in doing it well...
but crime and corruption
can't be fought only with the Carabinieri.
To choose, people have to know the facts.
What a journalist-journalist should do is this: inform.
My friend wants to know if you're engaged.
There was, actually, there is a girl who thrills my heart.
Thank you, that's enough for today.
We thank Mr. Siani.
Congratulations.
Siani, the envelope!
Why are you racing off?
- Why did you stop calling? - Me, call you?
- I called you. - But you didn't say a word.
- But I did call. - You have to leave me in peace.
How can you not love me anymore?
How can you not love a guy like me?
I'm not falling for it.
If I suddenly said to you:
"Drop everything, and we'll fly to the top of the world together"
you'd come, wouldn't you?
Forget it.
And if I said I had two tickets for tomorrow's Vasco concert
and I'll come by for you at eight?
- What would you say? - I can't tomorrow evening.
Yes, you can.
Asshole.
Mr. Mayor, sir, want the usual octopus?
A kilo.
A kilo for the mayor.
I have to talk to you.
They want your nod.
Wait, where are you going?
And Pasqualino?
Does he ask for me?
- Always. - What do you tell him?
Nice things.
That you think of him.
Good.
To good health!
We've decided.
It's for tomorrow.
I'm covering this evening,
going out for a pizza, you coming?
- No, thanks, I've got work. - Why not use the computer?
I'd rather use this.
- Is this the famous journalist? - Don't I wish! Who's this?
- It's me, kid. - Professor, how was the vacation?
- And yours? - I heard about the promotion.
- I still haven't signed a contract. - It's in the bag.
- What are you assigned to? - Union officials, unemployment...
Your career's taking off!
I have to talk to you,
I've kept tabs on that business
and I've gathered some pretty good stuff.
Meaning?
Stuff I wouldn't waste with an article,
it best for an investigation, or a book.
- What are you doing? - Why?
You were supposed to print only what I gave you,
but you're stirring things up,
now they're all forewarned and not a word in the paper.
You should have trusted me, now they're pissed off.
Who?
They're worse than the Camorra, now they know you can ruin them...
Why don't you do your job?
Why are you using me?
Listen, you'd better disappear for a while.
- How's it going? - Rico! How are you?
No Vasco, I didn't find the tickets.
- Was it you before? - No, why?
It's me.
- What's wrong? Can't you leave? - There aren't any tickets.
I get it, the nurse.
Can we go for a pizza, just the two of us?
It's not the same, but don't say no.
If you have to work, I'll take a rain-check.
I'll have a shower and pick you up.
I'll be waiting.
- Giancarlo, it's me. - Mom!
I wondered, are you home for dinner or do I leave you something?
I'll come by to change and then go out with Daniela.
Know who I met today?
Tell me later.
Professor Palumbo.
She really liked your article on dumping sites.
Is something wrong?
No, everything's fine.
Cifù?
It's Siani, pass me the Captain?
- He's not here. - What?
What can I do?
He said he'd be working late.
- Is he home? - He's working out of town.
Want to leave him a message?
I'll call him tomorrow.
I want to talk to you about something.
- What? - I can't talk now.
- Should I come there? - Better not.
- See you at the bar? - No, I don't trust them.
I'll get back in touch.
to Dino, my father
translation Charlotte Lantery
subtitles OMBRE ELETTRICHE- Roma