La Grazia (La grazia)

[Insects chirp; Light bulb buzzes]

Italian constitution Art. 87

"The President of the Republic is the head of State

"and represents the national unity."

"He may send messages to the Houses."

"He calls the elections of the new Houses and sets their first meeting."

"He authorizes the submission to the Houses of the Government bills."

- "He promulgates the laws -

"and issues law decrees and regulations."

"He calls for popular referendums

"in cases provided for by the Constitution."

[Aircraft roar; Music intensifies]

"He appoints State officials in cases provided for by the law."

"He accredits and receives diplomats,

"ratifies international treaties,

"following authorization by the Houses when required."

"He commands the Armed Forces,

"presides over the Supreme Council of Defense set forth by law,

"declares a state of war decided by the Houses."

"He presides over the High Council of the Judiciary."

"He confers the honorifics of the Republic."

"He may grant pardons and commute punishments."

- - Aurora.

Aurora,

I miss you.

President De Santis you've been smoking.

No.

You deny the evidence.

In law, evidence isn't evident.

I know, it's written in "De Santis".

Dad, must I remind you you have only one lung?

No, since I only had two.

What are you up to?

Reviewing some sub-sections of the bill you have to sign.

- What bill? - You know perfectly well.

Have you heard from your brother Riccardo?

He's happy he moved to Montreal, he says it's beautiful.

You know him, he finds everything beautiful.

Tomorrow we go into the White Semester.

Six months more and you go back home.

Now, even if I wanted to, I couldn't dissolve the Houses.

Would you dissolve them?

No, there's no need any more.

Problem solved. Everything is the same as before.

Right?

No.

Still in the office, General?

When I don't work, President,

I get bored.

So do I.

In six months you'll be back home.

But we can still declare a war, right?

Don't tempt me.

My grandfather was in the Alpini troops of Valpolicella.

A great section, now led by a man of merit.

We call him the Barrel,

because of his size.

Do you have a nickname too, General?

I'm the Night-Mare.

Why?

Because of my name:

Lanfranco Mare.

And me?

Do I have a nickname?

No one would dare.

What happened to the proverbial courage of the Alpini?

Some call you

Reinforced Concrete.

- It's a flattering nickname. - You think so?

I'm not sure.

At 5pm,

weekly meeting with the Prime Minister.

At 7pm, dinner with your friend, Coco Valori.

The President of Portugal is expected on the 21st.

Protocol wants to know if you like this suggested menu.

"Eggplant medallions. Sole meunière..."

Are we joking?

- Quinoa and steamed fish. - Excellent.

The editor of Vogue would like a statement on fashion.

Fashion is a prominent industrial sector in Italy...

No, Dad.

- In recent years... - Forgive me, President.

Vogue doesn't want a formal statement on the fashion industry.

They want your opinion

on what you like to wear when you're not in your suit.

The suggested title is The Elegance of the President .

My wife was elegant.

Excellent.

I'll politely decline the request.

Anything else?

The connection with Engineer Giordano is still pending.

He's in orbit in the space station.

- How long has he been in orbit? - A year.

- How long until he comes back? - Six months.

We have plenty of time until my term ends.

Hence,

at this point, I'd say: excellent.

And the opposition?

As always, pretending to be angry.

So, after years of tribulations, everything's going well,

the country is secure thanks to you.

And I've become irrelevant,

which is, what it is.

I wouldn't say irrelevant,

you still have to sign the bill on the right to euthanasia.

Talking of which, the Pope wants to see me.

It would be odd if he didn't.

Will you sign it?

My legal advisers are honing some crucial points.

Will six months be enough?

President, it's a good law.

Stay to dinner with my daughter and I.

An old school friend of mine will be there too,

Coco Valori, she's fun.

- With great pleasure. - A light dinner.

My daughter is trying to keep me alive by turning me into an ascetic.

I struggled so much on your manual, President.

2,046 pages, we students used to call it "Himalaya, K3."

- But K3 doesn't exist. - Exactly, it was impossible to scale it.

Well, that renders the idea.

That's what criminal law is,

- scaling the impossible. - MANUAL OF CRIMINAL LAW

If I may ask, what do you mean by impossible?

To establish the truth.

Are you done fiddling around with your boring small-minded Italy?

See? Coco is super fun.

True, only assholes are fun. And I'm both.

You look rejuvenated!

Dori was right to cut out your smoking and pasta.

- Giulio Malerba. - Coco Valori, parody of an art critic.

Not at all, you're an institution.

Then tell me why my oldest friend, who's now Head of State,

hasn't given me a museum to direct?

It doesn't fall within my purview,

sanctioned by Article 87 of the Constitution.

I was joking. I'd burn down all museums.

Prime Minister, I've known this monolith for 56 years.

Coco, let's not talk about me,

I'm the most boring subject I know.

I adore him, he always tells the truth.

Desk mates from day one in high school.

He owes me everything.

I introduced him to Aurora, my best friend.

Without me he'd never have had the courage to court her.

Aurora was a beauty,

he was an acquired taste, to be kind.

Thanks to me, the marvelous Dori arrived.

- Have you met Riccardo? - No, I haven't had the pleasure.

- He lives in Canada. - What does he do?

- He composes classical music. - Nonsense!

He writes songs for American pop stars and earns more than all of us.

When is the contemporary dance festival starting?

I'll let you know.

Are you happy that in six months you'll leave this museum

and go home amid your law books?

- I confess I am happy. - He doesn't speak, he confesses.

He's a great Catholic and I'm a great atheist.

That's why we get on, right?

Ugo Romani, your Minister of Justice,

was in our class too, did you know?

Yes, because Romani has a passion for old class photos.

- He collects them. - So much for passion.

Ugo's another long-time friend.

But he was repeating the year. He's one year older.

Handsome but dumb.

Him becoming a minister

is an enigma like the Shroud of Turin.

- But is he competent? - Very.

I don't trust you.

You politicians have a hysterical relationship with the truth.

- I'm a politician too. - No, you're a jurist.

- As kids... - Enough with prehistory.

Rather, what's the latest in your scintillating art world?

It's a morgue, in comparison this is like Ibiza.

Everyone claiming they're artists

but they're not worth De Chirico's pinkie.

I was a protégée of the maestro's.

He liked me a lot physically too, I was 21...

For years, she's been stoking the legend she was De Chirico's lover.

Coco, stop it, this is not the place.

This is precisely the place. It's covered by state secret.

Sooner or later state secrets become public domain.

Please, let me be public domain! I can't wait!

What are you doing for your birthday?

Nothing.

Full of surprises as usual!

The diet's one thing, but you're starving him to death.

I'm off, I have a dinner with some Hungarian dealers.

- Another dinner? - This wasn't dinner, but a suggestion.

- Prime Minister, it was a pleasure. - Pleasure was mine.

- Darling, I'll call you tomorrow. - I'll see you out.

- How did you find him? - Your father's indestructible.

- I need a gift for his birthday. - For Reinforced Concrete: a pickaxe.

- What's worrying you? - He keeps everything inside.

- You're the same. - In what way?

You're stiff, you don't know how to relax.

Follow my example,

I'm light despite an outrageous 22 kilos of excess weight.