Eyes Behind the Wall (L'occhio dietro la parete)

Help me!

- How are you? - Fine. And you, dear?

Do you want some?

Excellent wine.

- Unfortunately its almost finished. We should order more. - I'll take care of it.

Thank you.

- So, are you satisfied with the new tenant? - Yes, sure.

I think I had great intuition in relying on good Ottavio for the search.

- I think this is it. - What about your work?

- It isn't going anywere. - How come? He' s never there?

Quit the contrary. He almost never goes out.

Maybe that's the real problem. He's always there.

I really can't figure him out.

Great...

Thank you. You can go now, Ottavio.

His behavior is quite mysterious.

- What does he do? - What does he do?!? What doesn't he do!

Imagine that I still haven't figured out if he works or not.

- How does he spend his time? - He reads and once in a while he listens to music.

He' s got incredible sounding records.

And afterward, he just Iays there in his bed...

...for hours, just staring at the ceiling.

That's strange.

Yes.

Thank you dear.

Olga, what impression did you have of him when you met him?

I thought he was good looking.

More than good looking, I found him interesting.

Of the many that came to see the apartment he struck me because I found him peculiar.

With something special.

It's true, I agree.

But what is it that's so peculiar?

Strawberry mousse and whipped cream!

- No, no. I've drank enough. - Come on. It' s not bad for you.

Yes, I absolutely agree, he's a very interesting character.

But his behavior is quite puzzling. I don't know what to write.

He only brings out questions.

I think, however, that his isolation and loneliness have deeply rooted motivations.

Olga, why don't you help me figure out what they are?

I know that you are against it, but I' m asking you for the sake of my motivations.

- How could I help you? - For starters you could take a look at him.

No, please. You know I' m against that.

Please. There could be somethings that I missed, and that you could notice.

You think so?

Let' s go.

He' s here.

Olga, come over here.

Look,

Iook at him.

- Can you see well? - Yes, yes, perfectly.

What I can't see is anything out of the ordinary.

Wait.

He moved the paintings around.

What really makes me mad is that, while this apparatus puts him perfectly frames him,

I, on the other hand, can't seem to frame his psychological profile in anywa y.

His behavior seems very ordinary to me.

And yet you found him to be somewhat out of theordinary.

What do you expect an out of the ordinary person to do?

Put a record on while standing on his head?

I have to say that this machine works perfectly... - Ah- ah.

They're incredible sounds, they have a mystique all their own, don't you agree?

Look, look, Olga.

Forgive me, Olga.

What are you thinking?

I don't think it's right to violate to this point a person's intimacy.

Sure, you're right. Something like this would h ve disgusted me too in the past...

but how can I write anything if I rely on the perspective that this wheel-chair affords me?

That's why I need others, to see them, to live their life.

Yes, I know. I've heard it before.

Fine. I find this Arturo to be a very stimulating character.

I want to discover the reasons for his loneliness.

What does he do? Even this is a mystery.

Or...is there a wom an in his life?

These are all questions that I would like to see answered...

... and which would help me to understand why he lives the way he does and analyze him.

I want to exa mine one of my fellow men under the microscope...

... and focus in on his essence.

- Do you understand? - Ye s, sure.

Why not sneak into his apartment?

To see if we can find a trace, a clue in his possessions. Would you do it?

- When? - Even tomorrow, should he decide to leave the house.

And then, at a second moment, follow him, or try to meet him somewhere by chance...

... and find an excuse to talk to him.

- Ok, we'll decide tomorrow. Goodnight. - Goodnight.

Ottavio!

Oh, is my bath ready?

Ottavio!

Ottavio, I'm done.

Ottavio, please tell Lucilla...

You disgusting idiot!

- What a strange person. - Yes, he's hermetically shut.

- You couldn't find even a document? - Nothing. He must carry them with him.

I looked everywhere, even though the excitement of my first day as a private detective...

...could have made me miss something.

- The list of books is precise? - What do you mean? Every title is listed?

Of course it is. You can check for yourself. Look.

I catalogued them st rting from the ones on top.

You did a great job. How did you get to the highest ones?

That' s when I almost crashed to the floor from the chair.

Academic books on sociology, antropology, ethnology.

Maybe he's looking for " m an", just like Diogene?

Can you move the frame?

Sure, go ahead, look.

Oh, he' back at it.

In the lower shelf, easily reachable are...

... the psychological and psychoanalytic texts.

It might even be that the " man" he's looking for is himself.

- But is it mad? - What did he do? - He ripped a nail.

Among other books that are easily reachable we have the sciences; physics, chemistry.

-So he's either a firm believer in science or... -Or what?

Or maybe, he believes in the arbitrariness of it all.

Or maybe, there is this hypothesis:

He might be studying the philosophy of science.

But then he wouln't be wearing blue jeans?

Don't tell me that you believe in some sort of dress code, I'd be disappointed in you.

You're right.

See how this wheel-chair limits my horizon?

What kind of a hypothesis can you come up from a broken fingernail? Masochism?

He certainly is a strange animal.

I thought searching his apartment would have turned up more clues. You know?

-Where do you think he gets his money from? -Who knows.

Well, if he goes out toda y, I'd like to follow him. What do you think?

Sure, that's fine.

- But be careful. He knows you. - Don't worry.

Get lost, Lucilla, get lost!

Why? what did I do?

- Go awa y! - You're hurting me. Wh y?

Get lost!

Why?

- You are all dirty whores. - No! - All of you!

- You keep your honor between your legs. - No!

- Let me see your honor - No!

What about your pride? Where's your pride? That too's between your legs!

Hi.

- Ehi Blad, this is a friend. His name is Arturo - Ah...cute!

- What can I prepare for him? - Give him a Tip-T ap.

Make that two.

- You're good. A good d ancer I mean. - Oh, I'm OK. Do you dance?

OK, Blad.

If you can't dance, it's just because you choose not to.

To dance you've got to feel as if you've got wings on,

as if you were flying off the ground.

You shouldn't think too much. Th at's your problem, you think too much.

Here, this will help you to take off.

You're destroying yourself with thinking, listen to me.

- How would you know if I think too much? - Shit! You've gotten it written on your f ace.

You worry about too much shit. Forget about it!

Maybe, some romantic setback?

- Forget about it. - Tell me: what do you do?

What the hell do you imagine I do?

What the fuck does it matter? I don't give a shit about what you do.

Why are you always asking questions, always questions. Always fucking questions.

I agree.

You know...I guess you're right.

- This is good shit. - Joe! - Hey! - Darling!

- I want to dance with you! Nice piece of ass, huh? - Dance with me!

With me, huh? With me!

- Come on Arturo, let's go! - Coming.

So, how's it going?

- She's a beautiful woman. - Do you want to meet her? - No, thanks.

- I think you're out of your mind. - Yeah, you just might be right on that.

You're just plain weird. Too weird.

And I'm also tired. Very tired.

Hey man, you got a house?

No, come on, stop.

That's enough.

- That can't be! - Why not? Come on look, - No, I don't want to.

- There's nothing inhuman about it. - No, no I can't. I don't want to.

What do you mean you can't. Don't act like a baby.

Look.

That's disgusting, disgusting.

- You knew it all along, huh? - I h ad no idea! - You knew!

- You did this on purpose! - Olga! - You knew it, You knew it!

- Olga! - You knew it! - Olga, please!

Olga!

I had absolutely no idea!

I swear, Olg a.

Leave it there. Thank you.

Put it here.

You can go now, Ottavio. I'll serve my self, thank you.

So, do you still hold me responsible?

Let's not talk about it any more, please.

I hope your shock isn't caused by moral considerations.

It would be quite simplistic on your part.

For exa mple, did you notice that his actions seemed awkward and tentative?

- Not like those of someone who engages in that sort of activity habitually - No.

This doesn't take awa y the fact that what I saw was disgusting.

Hum, the secrostini are delicious.

Our judgment of certain actions cannot be always based on some notion of good ta te, Olga.

Those action can have deeper roots for completely different rea ons - Sure, perversions.

Reasons, roots, those are things that might interest a writer, not me.

Why don't you try one, dear?

Olga, suppose that man is going through...

...breakdown in values,

so much that this breakdown leads him to actions like the ones that disgusted you so much,

as if he wanted to self-destruct.