Roma

Why are you hammering like that?

Because of the music... I'm Manuel Cueto.

So what? I'm Joaquín Góñez,

but I don't go banging on doors at this hour!

The publisher told me to be here at 9:00.

- I could come back later. - Even later? It's after 10:00.

I was expecting you tomorrow.

Come in, come in.

Are you always so punctual?

Sit down, I'll finish getting dressed.

I won't offer you coffee, it isn't made yet.

Water, tonic? That's all there is.

Nothing, thank you.

Brahms?

Read this out loud.

If you don't understand it, leave.

Tell them to send someone who is more punctual.

I handwrite and I don't like dictating.

Go and smoke outside.

I quit two years ago and smoke drives me crazy.

"Nothing is important.

The worst thing a writer can do is believe that his work is important

and that he must continue writing at that same level.

We must always bear in mind that we are moved by pleasure.

What we do is, or will be, banal, trivial.

One mustn't..."

Take oneself seriously.

"...take oneself seriously.

If all one's work were to disappear it wouldn't matter.

Humanity

would carry on and never miss

what we thought were profound, relevant treatises.

We are..."

Totally...

- Totally dispensable. - "Totally dispensable for History.

If we have a trade and also the tools,

the gift or the talent for doing it well,

if we enjoy working at it and if, above all,

we can earn our living,

let's forget transcendence and enjoy banality."

That's good.

Stevenson, my translation.

How could you read my scrawl?

No matter, you've passed.

I presume you can use a computer.

Kids your age don't know much about anything except computers.

- I'm a proof reader at Omega. - But not here.

I give you the pages and you type them up.

I'll correct them. Don't change a single comma. Understood?

Give the publisher a list of all you need.

Speak to Eduardo so you can have it as soon as possible.

- How much are they paying you? - I'm on staff.

- It's included in my salary. - No, I'll speak to them.

They won't refuse. Afterwards, they'll discount it from me.

Well, then?

Are you interested?

Have you nothing to say?

Yes, I'm interested.

And I apologize for being late.

It won't happen again.

Very well, I'll have it all sent by tomorrow morning.

He wants your salary doubled.

Did you ask him for that?

No, absolutely not, sir. It was his idea.

- Lf it isn't possible... - It is, it's his money.

I'm just surprised.

What did you say that pleased him?

Nothing, he hardly let me speak.

It must be age.

He doesn't like anyone, not even himself.

He was a friend of my father

and got a ridiculous contract I can't break.

I hate having to throw money away on that advance.

He used to have a lot of readers. Today, who knows?

I want you to control him, to make sure he works.

What he likes most is drinking, rambling on,

talking garbage and sleeping.

As well as typing up his work,

you have to keep him disciplined.

I need the originals in two months,

sooner if possible.

I'll do what I can,

but he seems to be difficult.

No, not difficult.

He's got a lousy temperament and he's a real bastard.

Be very tactful, Manuel, and mind your step.

If he notices, he'll kick you out.

And if you don't get him to work, I'll kick you out.

It's a tough call, kid.

Sugar, saccharin?

Nothing, thank you.

- Is it ready? - Almost.

I just need to install a few programs.

It'll take a while.

Tell me what margins to set, sir, what typeface to use.

Garamond.

It's the most elegant.

And large, very legible.

As for the margins...

Leave a large right-hand margin, for any corrections.

Tell me when you've finished.

We'll have lunch in the village.

After that, you can go. We'll start tomorrow.

And don't call me sir.

I look old,

but I'm still a teenager.

The one I have is shit. Powerful sound, but that's all.

I did have a great sound system but I gave it to my wife, my ex,

and my daughter, although they don't appreciate it.

They listen to any rubbish.

It was worth every penny.

The speakers are as tall as you. You get the idea?

The walls shook and my wife would get hysterical.

- Why give it up, sir? - Don't call me sir.

I didn't give up, I just left one day.

No, I was talking about the sound system.

- Couldn't you bring it here? - No, I'm not interested.

I listen to music, at times,

but it's not the same.

I like it, but that's all.

I used to be a real fan,

jazz, Piazzola, classical music.

It moved me.

I was touched

by one of those counterpoints adjusted to the millimeter.

But, bit by bit, I lost it. It went away.

The pleasure went away.

I've got no ear.

It's your loss.

And Brahms?

I read it on the CD cover. I wanted to impress you.

I wanted the job.

- An apprentice bastard, right? - I'm sorry.

No, when it's a question of survival, anything goes.

Do you like your work or is it just work?

It pays my college fees.

- What are you studying? - Journalism.

Doesn't your family help?

At first they did.

They live in Santander, on the coast, in Laredo.

My parents, my grandfather and the four younger kids.

They've got a fishing boat.

Three generations of my family have put to sea every day.

- I broke the chain. - The chains.

Do you like books, films, sports?

If you want to become a critic, don't tell me.

You would immediately earn my deepest contempt.

People.

People interest me.

What they talk about, what's happening to them,

the everyday things that aren't news.

But I find it hard to ask questions.

- I'm too shy. - You'd better fix that.

You can't go round snooping.

To know what people are capable of doing or bearing,

you have to talk to them. It's the only way.

Have you written anything?

Nothing that's worthwhile.

Things I've overheard, in the subway, in bars.

That's good. Why not look for work on a newspaper or a magazine?

I will, in a few months, when I graduate.

Don't wait, you have to show what you can do.

If they pay you to ask questions,

ask them, to hell with embarrassment.

Rubio!

Coffee, a drink?

Black coffee.

You don't have an Argentinian accent.

Well, I arrived in 1967.

So I've been here for 37 years.

Some people never lose it.

A matter of survival.

You had to lose your accent in order to get in and find a job.

They still didn't insult us then

but we had a bad reputation.

Opportunists, arrogant, liars.

We're not all like that, but it seems the worst came.

I was working as a translator,

I had to learn the Spanish that's spoken here.

A coffee and an anise, please.

- Is this the only restaurant? - No, but it's the best.

- Will they bring meals to your home? - Why?

- In case we want to save time. - I'm not in a hurry, are you?

No, I'm not.

But I do need to know my hours, so I can organize myself.

How long does it take to get here, an hour?

We can start around 10:00 and work for six or seven hours.

Until 5:00 p.m. What do you think of that?

That's fine.

If it's ever necessary, I can stay longer.

Velasco told you to hurry me up,

to make me write even if I don't want to.

If we're to get on well, I have to make this clear.

You're working for me now, not for Omega,

agreed?

More or less.

If we don't finish in two months I'll be fired.

I doubt it.

And if they do, all the better.

When a proof reader dies a journalist is born.