Love Meetings (Comizi d'amore)

Let's hear what these rascals have to say.

Can you tell me how babies are born? Do you know?

I forgot.

If you say it right, I'll give you a present.

- I'll say it! - You tell me.

From the belly.

How, from the belly?

- From the belly. - The flower.

The flower.

The madwife brings the flower in her bag.

- What? - The madwife.

- He doesn't know. - The midwife!

You tell me, Salvatore!

- What do I have to say? - How babies are born.

Tell him. He'll give you 1,000 lira.

Stay still!

The midwife comes.

In her bag, she carries a flower.

LOVE MEETINGS

Listen, kid, how are babies born? Do you know?

How were you born? Do you know?

Don't you know?

- My uncle... - What?

My uncle.

Your uncle. You were born... Your uncle brought you!

- The stork brought me. - The stork brought you!

And how were you born?

Michele, tell him!

I was born under the blankets!

Who of the three of you can tell me how you were born,

how babies are born? Who knows?

Do you know?

You don't know.

And you, Matteo, do you know how babies are born?

And you? You don't either. And you?

- Do you know how babies are born? - I know.

Tell him, tell him.

Come here.

You don't know.

Aren't they born under flowers, under cabbages? And the stork?

No. So how are they born?

- What? - How are babies born?

Let's see what the kids of Palermo know.

How are babies born?

- I don't know. - You don't know?

- Do you know? - Me? I don't.

- You say it. - Mirella!

Yes, say it!

- Yes, say it, say it. - Silly!

Do you know how babies are born?

- No? - I know. The stork brings them.

- Yes. - Really? Who gives them to the stork?

- God. - Jesus.

So, the stork goes to Jesus,

Jesus gives it the baby,

the stork flies down to Palermo and puts it where?

- Next to its mother. - Its mother.

- Jesus. - Because I saw

when my mother's friend's baby was born.

I saw him in a basket.

- Give it to me! - And so?

- Explain it to me. - In a wooden basket.

I see. And who puts him there?

- The stork. - But, how? The stork has no hands.

God.

So, is it the stork or God?

- What? - Who brought him, God or the stork?

- The stork. - Who put him in the basket?

God.

And what did the baby's mother say?

The baby's mother? She was very happy.

Professors Musatti and Moravia, I turn to you as experts

to ask you if the survey I have begun makes any sense.

Moravia, what do you think?

I think it ought to be done,

irrespective of its effects and results,

because it's the first time it's being done.

For the first time, I believe, a film has been made

which the French would call cinéma vérité.

And for the first time in Italy, cinéma vérité talks about sex.

A taboo not only on the screen,

but even in social interactions and everyday conversations.

I, therefore, believe that these interviews are a good thing.

I think people will either not answer or will lie.

For what reason?

Because they do not understand the issue, or because they are afraid?

Well, you know that from a psychoanalytical point of view,

ignorance and fear are connected.

Ignorance can be due to fear.

We might hide certain things from ourselves

to protect ourselves, so we do not know them.

And this is what happens with sex.

A sort of crusade against ignorance and fear.

These are the premises of a desecration.

Don't you agree, Moravia?

This is what I meant. It is desecration.

SURVEY 1

ITALIAN STYLE MIXED FISH FRY

Where a sort of sales rep tours Italy

probing the sexual preference of Italians.

And not to launch a product,

but genuinely trying to understand and accurately report.

Where, first of all, we see how Italians react

to the idea of such a movie

and, thus, to the concept of sex being an important part of life.

Very cheerfully is the director's comment.

VIAREGGIO, LUNGOMARE AT NIGHT

Should sexual issues be discussed openly or not discussed at all?

They should not be discussed.

- Do Italians talk about them or not? - We talk about them too much.

We talk about them quite a lot and in a bad way.

Would you like to see a film explaining those things?

- I wouldn't. - Why?

Because I don't like it.

Would you prefer a pornographic film, with strippers and the like?

The strippers, a bit.

You'd like that rather than a movie addressing the issue scientifically?

- Do you think it's right? - It's right for me.

- Are you not ashamed? - No.

What do you say? Do you like sexy shows, strip-teasers?

- I love them. - Have you ever been?

Once.

- Where? - In Tobruk.

- Where? - In Tobruk, in Libya.

- Did you enjoy it? - Hell, yeah.

What do you think of this young man going to see indecent shows?

That he's cunning!

Do you approve of such shows?

As a woman, I shouldn't.

But if I were a man, I would.

What is your view on erotic shows?

I certainly do not approve of them. But I tolerate them.

It's just entertainment. But I wouldn't go to see them.

For moral or aesthetic reasons?

For both.

A CRAFTSMAN'S SHOP IN FLORENCE

Is sexuality an important issue to you?

It is.

You sound so gloomy that it's almost frightening.

Doesn't this thought make you smile?

No.

It's sad rather than exciting?

Yes.

- So, sexuality is sad, yet important. - Yes.

I think sexuality is certainly an important issue,

but it's not a priority for me.

What's the top issue in your view?

It's a sentimental issue.

And how is the economic issue related to the two?

It's a hard question to answer.

- Maybe that is the most important. - I think so.

Madam, is sex an issue that interests or has interested you?

It interested me, rather than interests me. I have overcome it.

- Do you have children? - Yes, a son. He's 12.

I worry about how he'll grow up.

What will he become, his problems, his thoughts?

Often I feel like talking about it with him, but he's too young.

He's 12. He must be wondering about some things.

I'm sure. Maybe he has solved some doubts on his own.

He's quite bright, and sometimes I try to talk to him,

but he becomes evasive, maybe he's uncomfortable.

I see. Do you monitor his sexuality?

Like you watch him to see if he's ill or has a fever.

No. To me, he's just a baby.

But you want your son to be sexually normal?

Of course I want him to be normal, just standard, once he's a man.

To ensure that, you must be aware of these issues.

That is true. I will have to show more interest.

ANY SEASIDE RESORT IN ITALY

Excuse me, Miss Jacqueline,

is sex a very important issue in modern life?

- It is. - And for you personally?

For me as for everybody else.

In a particular, excessive way?

- Not excessive. Normal. - Normal.

The fact that sex is so important in our lives, is it good or bad?

Oh, my God. What a question!

True, these are rather silly questions. And for you, Peppino de Capri?

- I don't think so. - Why?

Well, there are so many people here.

Go on.

It is also because I am too...

Tell me, is it an important issue to you personally?

For me, personally, it's important.

I mean, it's everything. But in the modern world, these things...

In your view, this issue comes across in a different way,

but on a deeper level it is important.

- Is this what you are saying? - That's it.

- Thank you. - You're welcome.

Here we see how on the first issue that comes to mind

working on a film like this one on Italy, sexual cockiness,

Italians are divided or united when faced with the choice,

"To be a Don Juan or a good dad?"

Even though you are a bourgeois, you feel you are a Don Juan?

A Don Juan, I don't know.

I didn't use the right word.

But would you like to be a Don Juan or not?

- Honestly, no. - No.

- Why not? - It's society that makes me...

In our society, you have to be a Don Juan, otherwise...