Eat Pray Love Page #4

even talking to me like this right now?

I think you're gonna teach me

more than I teach you.

You have good Italian. Very good.

All right.

I am alone.

I feel so guilty.

I've been in Rome for three weeks...

...all l've done is learn

a few ltalian words and eat.

You feel guilty

because you're American.

You don't know

how to enjoy yourself.

-l beg your pardon?

-lt's true.

Americans know entertainment,

but don't know pleasure.

This is Luca Spaghetti, by the way,

you know.

Your name is Luca Spaghetti?

Yes, that's what our family is called.

We invented it.

I'm serious. Listen to me.

You want to know your problem?

Americans.

You work too hard.

You get burned out.

Then you come home

and spend the whole weekend...

...in your pajamas in front of the TV.

That's not far off, actually.

But you don't know pleasure.

You have to be told you've earned it.

You see a commercial that says,

"It's Miller time"...

...and you say, "That's right.

Now I will go to buy a six-pack."

And drink the whole thing and wake up

the next morning and you feel terrible.

But an ltalian doesn't need

to be told.

He walks by a sign that says,

"you deserve a break today"...

...and he says, "Yeah, l know.

That's why I'm planning on

taking a break at noon...

...to go over to your house

and sleep with your wife."

We call it "dolce far niente."

It means...

...the sweetness of doing nothing.

We are masters of it.

He's right. He says...

...you can't learn ltalian like this.

You don't speak the language just with

your mouth, speak it with your hands.

Like this?

Okay. ls yelling.

'THAT MEAL WAS EXCELLENT'

'SUCK IT'

All this gives me a stomachache.

'SCREW YOU'

-l think that's my neighbor Lorenzo.

-Charming.

ANOTHER WAY:

TO SAY 'SCREW YOU'

So anyway, to start off l'd say....

Excuse me.

Come here.

For the table...

...a big platter

of artichoke alla giudia...

...prosciutto with melon...

...and eggplant

with ricotta affumicata.

Then spaghetti alla carbonara...

...pappardelle with ragu of rabbit...

...and linguini with clams.

Then tripe alla romana...

...and saltimbocca.

And two more liters

of the vino sfuso from Genzano.

Thank you.

You did it. Yes.

Liz Gilbert,

you are a Roman woman now.

No, only honorary.

That is a real Roman woman.

Yeah, with a lot

of international friends.

That one, I'd bite.

Maybe you and Rome

just have different words.

-Different words?

-Yeah.

Yeah. lt's like each city has a word,

if you really think about it.

Like, what is the word for London?

-l would say "stuffy."

-l would agree with that.

-What's the word for Stockholm?

-Are you kidding? "Conform."

And New York?

"Ambition" or "soot."

What's the word for Rome?

It's kind of difficult to think about.

It's classic.

"Sex."

Of course.

So, what's your word, Liz?

I'm curious. l can't figure it out.

Well....

It might be....

It started as "daughter."

I was good at that. And then...

..."wife." Not so good.

"Girlfriend."

Not so good.

My word's "writer."

Yeah, but that's what you do.

That isn't who you are, no?

Maybe you're a woman

in search of her word.

Hey, Sofi, it's Liz. Let's go to Naples.

Maybe my word is "pizza."

Listen, lady, I am only 7, but l

can tell you're a complete moron...

...because I am from Naples.

I love this place,

but Giovanni said to watch out.

His cousin got mugged here

in a museum.

-Are you serious?

-Watch out for the scooter. Yeah.

I'm in love. l'm having

a relationship with my pizza.

You look like you're breaking up

with the pizza. What's the matter?

I can't.

What do you mean, you can't?

This is pizza in Napoli.

It is your moral imperative

to eat that pizza.

I want to,

but I've gained, like, 1 0 pounds.

I mean, l've got this....

Right here. What's it called?

What's the word?

A muffin top.

I have one too.

I unbuttoned my jeans

five minutes ago just looking at this.

Let me ask you a question.

In all the years you've ever

undressed in front of a gentleman....

-Hasn't been that many.

-All right, well...

...has he ever asked you to leave?

-Has he ever walked out? Left?

-No.

Because he doesn't care.

He's in a room with a naked girl.

He's won the lottery.

I'm so tired of saying no

and then waking up in the morning...

...and recalling every single thing

I ate the day before.

Counting every calorie

so l know exactly...

...how much self-loathing

to take into the shower.

I'm going for it.

I have no interest in being obese.

I'm just through with the guilt.

This is what l'm gonna do.

I'm gonna finish this pizza...

...and then we're gonna go

watch the soccer game.

And tomorrow we're gonna go

on a little date...

...and buy ourselves

some bigger jeans.

Giovanni likes a muffin.

Attagirl.

He's saying,

"For whom are you playing?"

Per chi, for whom.

Pull, pull. l'm sucking it in.

Put some Swedish muscle into this.

You think this happened

to Sophia Loren?

There it goes. Almost got it.

Go, go, go. You're not trying.

I've almost got it. l've almost got it.

I did it.

Oh, that's beautiful.

You should get it.

For whom?

For you, Liz. Just for you.

No, I'm happy just

with my big lady pants.

Thanks for the day.

And the leg room.

It was fun.

We're gonna go for food.

Wanna come?

No. No, l'm good.

The sweetness of doing nothing.

Please. Please get off the floor.

Will you please just...?

Will you come up here?

What if we just acknowledge that

we have a screwed-up relationship...

...and we stick it out anyway?

We accept that we fight a lot...

...and we hardly have sex anymore...

...but that we don't wanna

live without each other.

And that way we can spend

our lives together...

...miserable...

...but happy not to be apart.

Dear David:

We haven't had any communication

in a while...

...and it's given me time

I needed to think.

Remember when you said we should

live with each other and be unhappy...

...so we could be happy?

Consider it a testimony

to how much I love you...

...that I spent so long

pouring myself into that offer...

...trying to make it work.

But a friend took me to the most

amazing place the other day.

It's called the Augusteum.

Octavian Augustus built it

to house his remains.

When the barbarians came, they

trashed it along with everything else.

The great Augustus,

Rome's first true great emperor...

...how could he have imagined

that Rome...

...the whole world, as far as he was

concerned, would be in ruins?

During the Dark Ages, someone came

in here and stole the emperor's ashes.

In the 12th century,

it became a fortress...

...then a bullring.

They stored fireworks in here

after that.

Nowadays, it's a bathroom

for the homeless...

...so you better watch your step

going down.

It's one of the quietest

and loneliest places in Rome.

The city has grown up

around it over centuries.

It feels like a precious wound...

...like a heartbreak you won't let go of

because it hurts too good.

I like it messy.

Rate this script:4.0 / 1 vote