Splendor Page #3

What I mean is... these

things are difficult to do.

Ursula, the Viking.

Kim.

B.B.

Veronica Lake.

Just one eye, but...

Katharine Hepburn.

If you hear the bells toll,

ask not for whom the bells toll.

They toll for you.

A small group is coming.

No, they turned at the corner.

They were going that way.

- How long till the movie starts?

- Seven minutes.

Seven minutes?

I'm going to the bar.

Do you want anything?

No, nothing.

- Senator Jordan, can I get

you anything? - No, thanks.

Doesn't want anything.

"When the legend faces the fact,

the legend always wins."

I think it's from "The Man

Who Shot Liberty Valance".

I don't remember. Well, I'm

going to the bar.

Waldo, make me a

good short coffee.

Friends, can I say something?

Would you have a nice

nap right now?

No.

Sure, it's better to

be here at the bar.

- A game of cards?

- No.

- Some snooker, something...

- No.

- Play a Martian space game?

- Don't bother us.

- Have you had good conversations?

- Not that either.

- Can I ask a question?

- You've asked 10 already.

Yeah, but... why don't you

go to the movies?

To do what?

What do you do at the movies?

Besides... precisely today...

at the Splendor, do you know

what's showing?

Premiering along with

Rome, "Raging Bull."

- Yes! I saw the trailer on TV.

- Exactly.

It's the kind of movie where you see

2 or 3 scenes, you've seen it all.

Really? It's like if you see

a girl go by right now...

three or four times, and

you already know her...

because she passed by four times.

The movie is about

the life of a boxer.

- You were a boxer, weren't you?

- Yes.

This guy trains a boxer,

Jake La Motta.

- Hear of Jake La Motta?

- Yes.

He's very famous. And little by

little, this Jake La Motta...

it's all explained from

the time he was poor...

he was hungry, he had nothing...

until he becomes

the World Champion.

In the second part...

in order to show Robert De Niro's

ageing and physical decadence, they

interrupted the film for five months.

Five months standing, eating.

Who knows what he ate...

and this shows what a movie

pro this man is...

he actually gained 40 kilos.

We can all say what

we like, but...

to say you don't want to go to

the movies... What's got into you?

Look at this:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.

There are 9 movies on TV today.

Let me tell you:
A Toto film, an

Orson Welles film, a Chabrol...

Fred Astaire "Follow the Fleet",

"Pane e amore", Jerry Lewis,

the "Fort Apache" series, Hitchcock's

"Rear Window" and another Toto flick.

- Just curious, which one will you see?

- None of them.

- None of them, we're fine here.

- Stay here, then.

Good, you're really...

we're fine here, that's normal.

I understand you.

Deep down, you guys have had

everything life has to offer, right?

All the stuff in movies that can

make you dream and yearn...

you already possess: women,

riches, adventures, love.

If you've got it all, why go see

a fake version in a movie?

Normal, right.

Even I can agree with that logic.

If I had everything you guys have,

I wouldn't like films either.

Don't you have to

go back to work?

Don't worry, let me talk.

Hey, the coffee.

We got everything in life: women,

riches, coffee, we don't need anything.

Hey, buddy! You can't

park at the entrance.

There's nobody here...

I'm obstructing the masses!

Get lost!

We should put up...

a nice NO PARKING sign.

Yes, exactly!

- Good night, Miss Chantal.

- Good night, Mr. Paolo.

Have people stayed at

home due to the rain?

It was like this at 8 PM.

61 spectators and 4 shows.

95,000 liras in the register.

We've never hit this low before.

If we consider the

famous retrospective...

Among other things, "Il Gatopardo"

was on TV tonight.

When we showed "Il Gatopardo"...

we had 3,000 spectators on a weekend.

600,000 liras at the box office.

Which would be 10 million

liras today.

- The Splendor was a big thing then.

- The Splendor will always be big,

it's just that movies

have become small.

Gloria Swanson in

"Sunset Boulevard".

And how do we compete with

"Il Gatopardo" on TV?

A crappy horror movie, shot in

two rooms and the kitchen.

"Psycho" was also shot in two rooms

and a kitchen, plus the shower.

Which movie should we show?

These are it!

These horror movies are

bigger thieves than you...

You go to Rome tomorrow,

pick the film and pay 10 million.

You're too much. Who'll

buy me a cup of tea?

Box office, box office, all you

think about is the cash register.

Me? I only think about

the box office?

I've got more debts than hairs on

my head thanks to this f***ing theatre.

And I'll be really evil. Part of

the debts are due to you.

Yes.

Due to me? Has this

guy lost his head?

Don't you get tired

of arguing all night?

- What do I care?

- So the debts are my fault?

No. I have to thank you.

You've made me rich.

We can't forget the retrospective

for the great Soviet director.

I knew it... same old story.

All-expense paid trip for the

Russian consul and his wife,

and the interpreter for a week.

All paid for.

Do I have to thank you?

Yes, I have to thank you.

This film is for both personal...

and political education.

Revolution, collectivization,

the two world wars...

are the framework for a young

master in remote Siberia...

who plays the part both

warmly and heroically.

Comparable to Mark

Donskoi's Gorkian trilogy...

A Guinness record; 9 spectators,

out of which 3 were paying customers.

What a disgrace.

And why did it happen?

They cost only three million, which

is not much. It's not much, right?

Is it my fault that Russian

is a foreign language?

And a hard one. What could I do?

Sorry, I have another idea.

I like this idea,

I don't know if...

- I could put on a nice retrospective.

- A what?

A what?

A Yugoslavian retrospective.

Great masters, an emerging,

erudite cinema...

and then... an idea...

You speak Yugoslavian.

Of course, I was

there in the war.

Fantastic, you speak Yugoslavian.

We take seven Yugoslavian films,

simultaneous translation.

You do it... simultaneous translation,

we don't have to pay anything...

can have the retrospective for free.

"Nista"! Without spending a cent!

"Nista"... "nista"...

if you say so.

- What does that mean?

- Let's go to the bar.

"Banana Film" for free...

Sure, just work the microphone. The guy

says "banana", you translate "banana".

Don't worry, we'll be

back on top again.

Yes, "again". Know how I call

this accountant? The leech.

- He's really a blood-sucking leech.

- Thanks, Luigi!

- Masil, is the accountant in?

- He's inside playing.

Jordan! Come in.

- Good day.

- Good day.

- 300,000.

- 350,000.

500,000.

Pass.

I'll see you.

Kings' full house.

- Aces' full house.

- Well played.

Well played my butt,

a full house of aces!

- Tell me, Jordan.

- But here...

Don't worry about them,

they're friends.

I can send them to

jail at any time.

Tell me.

I haven't phoned you,

I'm expecting a discount...

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