The Butcher (Il macellaio) (Il Macellaio)

THE BUTCHER

Do you think we should say everything?

How do you mean?

Like that it was your idea originally and I was against it

No, better not - we ought to be a bit more diplomatic

You'd better do the talking then

No, it might look suspicious

We have to act naturally

It isn't easy for me

I'd rather be honest and say it was your idea originally

That doesn't mean you don't go along with it, does it?

So what? That's not the point

What's the problem then?

Now we must stop to think...

about a fundamental aspect of our decision

The child of our dreams...

can never correspond to a real child

It's one thing to dream, quite another to live

A well-balanced person doesn't get depressed

When the dream inevitably turns out different from the reality

We all agree about that, don't we?

You, for instance...

Granted that all of us, of course

Would like an attractive, tall, bright, endearing child

But since love isn't measured in aesthetic terms

do you think... you would agree to adopt and love a child

who is not particularly attractive?

Well, sure... when you want a child

you can hardly go to a supermarket and pick one

A child is a child, so...

Well, yes, I think we should take him

Should take or... would want?

Would want, sure... would want

Would you like to say something?

I picture him blond, with green eyes

in a bright, airy room

with all his toys

I'm standing there watching him. And as he plays...

- I can hear him singing - What is he singing?

No, I can't actually hear the song

but he's singing softly,

like we all do when we're content

- It happens, doesn't it? - Sure

Alina What?

Nothing

Well? Well what?

Did I sound convincing?

Very

Why do they say these sessions are just to get to know us

to exchange experiences and all that bullshit

when it's obvious they're testing us?

Who the hell do they think we are? A bunch of idiots?

What's up?

Miss Alparti is one of the many well-connected young people...

her father is a university baron

and powerful art critic

who wake up one fine morning and conceive a whim to be an artist

She could have been something else - a poetess, a writer a musician...

But unfortunately for us she took it into her head to be a painter

with the deplorable results we can all see

I appreciate that an exhibition of her work in our gallery

could be of some... diplomatic benefit to us

However, the immediate result that I can see

is a vertical drop in the style and image of our gallery

the only gallery in this city with international prestige

So I wonder, dear Alina, why on earth...

you want us to make such a bad impression?

Lorenzo, why do you turn everything you say

into an ideological statement?

Giulia Alparti is no Picasso

She's no Guttuso, we all know that

but I found many interesting aspects in her recent work

Now that is a brilliant example...

of pitifully groping for arguments!

Congratulations, Alina, you outdid yourself,

Bravo...

Listen, don't you dare speak to me like that!

We're friends but show some respect

I've listened to your bullshit all morning

which is more than you did with us

I'm in charge here anyway, so I'm telling you officially that

Giulia Alparti's show will be held here on the date

I'll let you know tomorrow

If nobody has any comments, the meeting is over. Thank you

"Dear Alina, generosity prompts me to shrug it off"

"as a case of power going to one's head"

"it happens in the best families"

"For the sake of our old friendship and ideals"

"you can affectionately get stuffed"

"Good luck, hopefully many miles away"

"your darling ex-manager, Lorenzo"

What was your answer?

"Resignation accepted" And tomorrow I 'm seeing Giulia

I'll get more things

From Lorenzo?

Come on, from Giulia

Believe me, I really like her work

Don't you So, so

How much is so-so?

I told you at the meeting

Aside from the politics,

which you know leave me cold I quite like Giulia's work

I just think you're overestimating it

If Lorenzo slated it

it was for ideological reasons, that's all

Let's change the subject

Yes maybe we'd better

When does Daniele leave? Tonight

Where did you say he was going? Ex-Russia?

Kazakhstan Tadzhikistan, those places... Samarkand too

Not bad I wish I could go with him

What's the weather like there?

Beautiful... Summer, nice and cool

How do you feel about him going?

Normal And after?

A complete washout Why

I don't feel like going out any more... people bore me...

The weeping widow More or less

You know what we should do? We should revive our snappy spinster tandem.

We're cute, we're shapely...

No, spare me that. I'd rather be a widow

Do you think Daniele plays the weeping widower too?

Or does he lay the Samarkand girls?

Nice, very funny... I'd bust his face if he did

Attagirl, that's it!

No, look, I honestly don't think he's the type

Sure? Positive?

What time is he going?

9:20

Our sauna's off today then? Why?

I thought you'd want to be with him

No such luck! He rehearses right up to the last minute

He'd rehearse on the plane if he could

You're here at last! Everything okay?

It is in here, outside it's sweltering!

Let's see what you've got for us. Come on

There's more room here

Yes but the light's poor. What a pity...

They're beautiful! What do you think? This one's great

The reflection's terrible, let's go outside

How nice and cool it is here! And the light's very good too

Maybe round here... that's better

Now we can appreciate it.

This is beautiful Nice line that

Alina

The tests show you are very run down physically

It's one of two things you don't sleep enough

or you don't eat enough. Or both

How much sleep do you get?

A normal amount. More than normal, I'd say

I could sleep 20 hours a night

That's not a good sign either

Can you tell me what you eat?

Milk... yoghurt... lots of fruit... vegetables

Are you a vegetarian?

No, not exactly

What do you mean by that?

I eat meat occasionally when I go out to dinner

but I'd rather not

Would you have any objections to an animal protein diet?

You mean I'd have to eat a lot of meat?

A normal amount. Regularly

Yes, it would be a problem

I won't go into the logic of that, it's none of my business

My job is to prescribe a diet

consisting of 200 grams of red meat per day

Freshly cut, to be eaten rare and never boiled

Plus this vitamin complex

to be taken twice a day before meals

Your problems... of conscience, let's say, are your business

but you should know

that your usual diet seems poor to me and totally inadequate

Do you eat many oranges? No, not many

There, you should have a lot of oranges too, if you don't mind

There we are... for Mrs. Emilia

Always pretty as a picture...

Young... and bubbly

yes, like mineral water

If I wasn't married, I'd jump at the chance!

Why let marriage stop you? There's always divorce

How can I do that? I wouldn't know which one to pick

I'd jump at the chance with you too

Jump with who you like, they're welcome to my place

You don't know what you're missing

It's nice and cool in there, huh?

Like to come in with me?

If it wasn't for you, I'd stay in there all day!

Give me the usual, Bruno

"This is 5798961"

"You have 30 seconds to leave a message" "or send a fax after the beep, Thank you"

"Alina, this is your erstwhile vice-manager Lorenzo Viliani"

"who misses you terribly"

"Don't worry, I'm not asking you to hire me back"

"Hey, this is the third time I've called!"

"When will you stop being so snobbishly anti-cell phones?"

"It's only a matter of time you'll give in like the rest"

"I want to talk to you. Can you call me?"

"I have a cell phone -

although you banned it in the gallery"

Any news of the engineer?