You?
You looking for Alfonso?
No, we want to see Don Achille.
You can tell me.
We have to speak to him.
Achille!
Who is it?
The shoemaker's daughter and Greco's older daughter.
I'm coming.
Well?
The dolls.
The dolls?
Ours.
Kid, there's no dolls of yours here.
You took them, down in the cellar.
Pinuccia!
Did you take the shoemaker's daughter's doll?
No, I didn't.
Alfonso, did you take it?
You took them.
We saw you.
You, who?
Me?
You took them and put them in a black bag.
So, I took your dolls and I put them in a black bag?
Achille, it's ready.
Coming, just a moment.
Buy yourselves some dolls. And remember...
that they're a present from Don Achille.
Good evening, enjoy your dinner.
Lenù, what do we do now with all this money?
We're rich.
- We'll buy dolls. - Yeah...
It's too late now.
We have to hide it, tomorrow we'll see.
Why?
We can't keep it at home.
If they find it, they'll take it.
So, where will we hide it?
Come with me.
I've done many things in my life, but without conviction.
I've always felt slightly detached from my own actions.
whereas Lila, although she was continually in motion,
small and nervous, stuck to the things she did.
We gotta find something to put it in.
what most impressed me, what I noticed all the time,
was her firmness.
Lila was firm.
Look.
It's perfect.
We have to hide it underground.
No, it'll get wet.
So where do we hide it?
There, in that hole.
Help me close it.
- Tomorrow we'll come back and get it. - Yeah.
Time passed, and we got caught up in other games.
Every time one of us suggested going to the ponds
to get our money, we took turns finding an excuse not to go.
It was as if that iron box bound us
more closely than anything we had already.
Then that day, Lila came to call me
and told me that we needed to go and get our money
and that she knew how to make more.
It's here.
With this money we'll buy the book the stationer's got.
"Little Women."
Here it is.
It's still there.
She told me that the woman who wrote it
made so much money
that then she gave some to her family, who were poor.
And what are we going to do?
We'll read it, we'll see how you write a book,
and we'll write one, too.
That's how we'll get rich, Lenù.
Let's go!
Have you come to get it?
- Is it good? - How would I know?
With all my troubles, I have time to read?
I'll give you a discount.
Bye, Iolanda.
Watch out, kid.
That man's always with Don Achille.
"Playing Pilgrims.
'Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents,'
grumbled Jo, lying on the rug in front of the fire.
'It's so dreadful to be poor!'
sighed Meg, looking down at her old dress.
'I don't think it's fair for some girls to have plenty of pretty things
and other girls have nothing at all,'
added Amy."
You gotta go home, you hear me?
Are you going or not? You piece of shit!
I'll send you to the graveyard!
You, what are you looking at? Go, Michele!
Marcello, you too.
Go, Marcello!
Send him to the graveyard!
They're gonna kill him. Let's go.
Alfredo, what's wrong? You got anything to say to him now?
Get outta here! Don't show up again.
That piece of shit Don Achille wants to take away my work?
I'll kill him! I'll kill him!
Lenù, too many bad things are happening.
Don't you think it's strange they gave Carmela's father a job,
after what he said about Don Achille?
Let's go home.
We read "Little Women" for months,
so many times that the book became grimy,
tattered.
But it was our book and we loved it dearly.
"With curious mixture of solemnity and excitement,
she replied in a loud voice: 'Your sister!'
'You?' cried Meg, dropping her work.
'I'm so proud!' And Beth ran to hug her sister."
It makes you cry.
Jo also wrote a story
and no one thought she could write it.
We have to do the same thing.
Yes, even though Jo's a grown-up and we're not.
You want to grow old and then make money?
We have a pail here in our head, full of words,
where there's everything we need.
You pull out one word, then another, and that's how we'll write the book.
Maybe we should first go to the school where you study Latin.
Yeah, sure, we'll wait to study Latin...
I wonder if my mamma spoke to the teacher.
I don't care what my mamma said,
I'm taking the admissions test anyway.
Then you'll need books and new exercise books, who'll pay for them?
Rino will take care of it, then I'll pay him back for everything he does for me.
And when we write the book, I'll make him the richest man in the neighborhood.
There's Gigliola.
So?
The teacher said Gigliola can continue.
- And your parents? - They said she could.
- And you? - I don't know.
We know we're going.
Gigliola, if you're going, there's no way we're not going, too.
Carmela, it's late, go and give Mamma a hand.
I have to go.
The teacher didn't say anything to Carmela, she's not smart enough.
Let's go, I want to see if my mother's back.
- Bye. - Bye.
They're sending me to study Latin.
- Do you really like school? - The teacher says I'm good.
I don't. I'd like to go to work.
We're happy that Alfonso will go on studying, aren't we, Mamma?
Tell us what you need, sir.
I never had a head for study,
but I'm glad that someone in the family's reading books.
- I'm going home. - Me too.
Wait, let me see!
Papa's happy that Alfonso is doing well.
Can I help you?
We'll have the boy do some paid lessons
and I assure you he'll pass the admissions test.
Thank you, sir.
You hear that? Alfonso's going to study Latin.
- Thank you, sir. - Goodbye.
- I want to go home. - Wait, let me hear.
I need this money.
- I told you to go away. - I even put in some new parts.
You only did half your job, don't be a beggar.
I'm gonna buy a new one, I'll show you what a real motorcycle looks like.
I gotta go.
Fresh fruit!
Lenù!
You keep the book today, I don't want my father to find it.
- Hi. - Lenù.
Here you are.
Sit down.
Sit down, Lenù.
You know what your teacher says?
You're always talking to her and she didn't tell you?
What's this about, that the teacher wants money?
She needs extra lessons for the test.
What test?
- To get into middle school. - Middle school?
- Why should she go to middle school? - She says she's smart.
Let me get this straight:
if she's smart, why does she need extra lessons?
The test is difficult.
- Then she's not smart. - She's smart at making us waste money.
She can't keep studying,
because I need a hand and so do you.
You're not going to middle school.
Lenù...
Without the teacher's help you won't make it?
I'll try.
Who do you think you are?
We work and the young lady studies!
Am I your maid?
Quiet, in there!
Go check on your brothers and sister, that you can do without extra lessons.
Do I have to say it in proper Italian?
You've forgotten dialect? Go!
I'm going to take the test anyway.
- How dare you! - Wait!
Stop it! I'm sick of the sound of you!
There are four of them, we have no money. Who'll help me? She has to.
You're always humiliating her.
You broke my whole track!
Leave me alone!
It's due me, you hear me?
Due you.
- What's due you? - Money.
I wake up at six, go to the shop, work until eight at night,
it's normal that I want to be paid.
But you have a bed, you have food. What do you need this money for?
As long as I come to work I want to be paid.
It's my business what I do with the money.
Rino, I already pay you generously, because I'm teaching you a trade.
Soon you won't just be repairing heels or edges,
you'll be able to make an entire shoe.
Did the lady across the street bring the money?
It took her a month, but she brought it all.
Papa, I don't want to insist,
but if you pay me I'll send Lila to school.
- What? - I'll pay for her school.
What was that?
Lila has to go to school, if Papa pays me, I'll take care of it.
School? Why, did I go to school?
No.
- Did you go to school? - No.
Why should your sister, a girl, go to school?
She's the smartest person in the neighborhood, ask the teacher.
Your sister is smart, but she doesn't have to go to school, Papa has decided.
And you won't get paid as long as you live under my roof!
- Speak to the teacher. - Enough!
Enough!
We won't speak to the teacher because she's not going to school anymore!
Is that clear?
Yes.
Sorry.
Here.
Look what I brought.
- Where'd you get it? - That lady, this morning.
Lila?
Come and help me.
I'm coming.
Lenù, come.
Sit down.
We'll pay the money to Maestra Oliviero.
We'll come up with it somehow.
Thank you.
Thank your father who's kind, if it was up to me...
But you have to be the best.
You hear me? Good isn't enough.
The best of all.
Signora Cerullo, it took some persistence to get you here.
Your daughter writes beautiful stories,
with words she creates images, surprising for her age.
Effortlessly and without anyone having taught her.
I know, I know.
We have a responsibility, you as parents and I as a teacher,
to contribute to society with a mind like your daughter's.
We can't sacrifice her.
Who wants to sacrifice her?
You see, miss...
we're a big family and we live off my husband's shop,
which also has to feed his unmarried sisters and my parents.
I don't understand everything you say, I'm sure you're right,
only...
Look at these drawings.
Look at the hatching.
Did she do these?
Now do you understand what I'm saying?
Your daughter is good in every subject.
All right... I have to go.
Speak to your husband.
I'm sorry, we can't afford it.
Then you don't understand!
Miss, I do understand.
You think I'll speak to my husband and he'll change his mind?
You think my daughter, who's a girl,
will go to middle school like a lady
while her brothers'll go to work?
Maybe things are like that in your house.
But not in ours.
May I?
Goodbye.
Artichokes, potatoes!
I even got sorb apples.
Look what a beauty this tomato is!
Lila!
What are they doing over there?
Stefano Carracci's father bought him a Vespa.
To make the Solaras envious.
Here.
- What do I do with these? - Eat them.
Green?
Let them ripen.
- No, I don't want them. - Then throw them away.
Oranges!
That was nice of Enzo, I think he wants to be your boyfriend.
- And he gives me sorb apples? - What should he do?
I don't know, he should say...
"Tomorrow I'll take you to the sea."
I've never seen the sea.
My mamma said she took me, but I don't believe her.
I don't remember it.
Wait. You wanna do something?
What?
- Tomorrow we'll skip school. - Are you serious?
Yes, let's go to the sea.
I want to see it.
Rino says the water glitters, it's a magnificent sight.
If they catch us, they'll kill us.
No, we'll say the teacher invited us to her house after school
for a party.
Since when has the teacher ever invited us to a party?
That's the very reason we'll say it.
It would seem so exceptional
that none of our parents would go and ask the teacher if it was true.
Besides, Gigliola's been to the sea, we're the only ones who haven't.
And it's not fair.
Lila!
Climb up, we're going to the shop.
Wait, I'm coming.
Well?
- My father would beat me to death. - Why should they find out?
Well?
All right.
See you at the gate at the usual time.
Salad greens!
Oranges!
Cherries!
Salad greens!
Come and buy from Enzo Scanno.
Elena, are you coming down later?
I can't, I have to study.
I had never left the four-story white apartments,
the courtyard, the parish church, the public gardens,
I had never felt the urge to do so.
Let's hurry, if anyone sees us, it's all over.
Let's put them behind here.
Let's go.
Trains passed continuously on the other side of the scrubland,
cars and trucks passed up and down along the big street,
and yet I can't remember a single occasion
when I asked myself, my father, my teacher:
where are the cars going, the trucks, the trains,
to what city, to what world?
when I think of the pleasure of being free,
I think of the start of that day.
I had no responsibility.
Lila knew exactly how to get to the sea,
the pace, the time we had to get there and return.
I felt joyfully open to the unknown
and so I gave in to it.
What's wrong?
Will you tell me what's wrong?
Let's go back.
And the sea?
It's too far.
- And home? - Also.
Then let's go to the sea.
- No. - What do you mean no? Why not?
Let's go, there's still enough time. The sea can't be too far away now.
I don't want to get wet.
If we go back we'll get wet anyway.
She's looking for me! Now what will I do? How did she find out?
Maybe when you told her about the teacher she knew you were lying.
What difference does it make?
I'm going.
No, you better stay here, maybe they haven't found you out.
- All right. - Bye.
Bye.
I'll kill you!
I came to get you from school with an umbrella!
You wretched girl, wait till I tell your father, no school for you!
You have to beat her too, she has to learn.
You already beat her enough.
- You'd send a girl like that to school? - Yes, that's what we decided.
She decided.
Of course, with a fool of a father like you!
You don't even know how to hit your daughter.
What kind of man are you?
Where is she?
Elena!
Is that enough for you?
Will you stop it?
Are you happy now?
She's going to school. She's going!
That's enough, Lenù, it's over.
And don't cry.
I'm sorry.
I didn't think we'd get caught,
or that they'd get so mad.
Now they definitely won't let you study Latin.
No, they're letting me take the test.
Why do you ask?
No, I was worried.
Just as well it turned out this way.
Yeah.
So, Peluso, how long are we going to take?
Come along, now.
Don't just stand there.
You have to add another zero and take out the decimal point.
Cerullo, you think you're really something, eh?
You think you're the best, don't you?
But you're nobody.
Keep quiet and speak only when you're questioned, is that clear?
- Miss... - Quiet!
I told you to be quiet and not answer back!
You go to your place.
Now, how much does a kilo of pasta cost?
1.580 divided by 12.5.
Add a zero and take out the decimal point.
125 goes into 158 only once, the remainder is 33.
You continue.
Good, bring down the zero...
Lila disappeared for a while.
She had a bad case of the flu, she, who was never ill.
I heard she had been seen in the street looking very pale and thin.
Rino.
Lila?
She has a high fever today.
She's not coming to school, no use waiting.
It seemed to me that I could understand that fever.
I knew she was suffering, and I didn't like her pain.
Pisa is bathed by the Arno.
It is the seat of an ancient university
where Galileo Galilei taught.
The cathedral square is a true artistic jewel
with three marble monuments...
I missed her, but I didn't have the courage to look for her.
I studied, but I didn't know what I was studying without talking to her.
"Teacher."
The days went by monotonously,
I'd go to the teacher with Gigliola for the extra lessons
and then I'd go home.
"Source."
I thought that even if Lila had tried to hurt me
when she asked me to go to the sea,
I had already forgiven her, and I couldn't wait to see her.
"Lieutenant."
It was as if one side of my body were always cold.
Something was missing.
- What is it? - Is Lenù here?
Lenù.
Hi.
- How are you? - I'm fine now.
I want you to read it.
What is it?
A book.
- Did you write it? - Yes.
It's called "The Blue Fairy."
We said we were going to write it together.
But you're always doing lessons with the teacher.
Read it and tell me what you think.
What struck me most is something I know how to say now,
but wouldn't have been able to then.
The writing contained Lila's voice.
She expressed herself with difficult words, without mistakes,
and yet you didn't feel the artifice of the written word.
It was special.
Lila.
It's amazing.
- Did you really like it? - It's wonderful.
You think I can make money with it?
You should let the teacher read it, she can still help you, it's important.
No, I don't want to.
But you should.
Please.
Do what you want.
I'm going to get the laundry, see you tomorrow.
We will want, you will want,
they will want.
Elena?
Indicative mood, past tense of the verb "to cry."
I cried,
you cried,
he cried.
Wait. Gigliola, you continue.
We cried,
you cried,
they...
They?
Crieded?
What?
- Cried. - Yes, but you don't seem to understand.
You can't make a mistake, or else you won't pass the admissions test.
- May I go to the bathroom? - Go to the bathroom.
- Wash your hands afterwards. - Yes, miss.
Miss?
Lila has written a wonderful book that she wants you to read.
Tell Cerullo that she should be studying for the diploma
instead of wasting time.
Elena, do you know what the plebs are?
Yes.
The people, the tribunes of the plebs...
the Gracchi.
Good girl, the Gracchi.
But I'm talking about now.
The plebs are quite a nasty thing.
And if someone wishes to remain a plebeian, he, his children,
and the children of his children deserve nothing.
Listen to me carefully: forget Cerullo and think of yourself.
Lila, sit down. I'll braid your hair.
No, I don't want to.
I even have a new ribbon.
Lenù, come here, I'll do braids for you.
- I want them. - All right.
- What a nice ribbon, who gave it to you? - The lady at the notions store.
- Is it silk? - It's like velvet.
I gave her your book.
But she still hasn't read it.
As soon as I have time I'll write another one, that one was no good.
That's not true, it was wonderful.
- It was garbage. - No, your book's wonderful.
What book?
No book.
See you tomorrow.
Where are you going?
Home.
Ah, Lenù!
Anyway, tell Maestra Oliviero
that I'm taking the admissions test.
That's what I decided!
I'm going to school, even without the test!
That's enough of this business!
I'm going! I don't give a damn!
Now you've really pissed me off.
Stop it!
Let go of me!
Stop it, Fernando! Have you lost your mind?
- I'll smash your face! - I'm going!
I'll do what I want!
- I'll kill you! - Fernando!
Look what she made me do, the little bitch!
You drive me crazy!
What, you're not even dead?
You were born to spite me.
I don't want to hear anymore about middle school!
Get it?
You'll do what I say because I'm your father.
I'm not hurt.
Jesus, what happened?
What happened?
Let me see.
What happened?
What did she do?
Nothing, she just fell.
- What did she do? - Nothing, she fell.
Careful, she's hurt her arm.
Slowly, slowly.
My baby girl.
In the end something happened that surprised everyone:
I passed both tests, the elementary-school diploma
and the admissions test, with straight A 's.
Lila only did the test for the elementary-school diploma
and got all A 's and an A- in arithmetic.
Middle school was no longer mentioned at her house.
Well done, Lenuccia!
Sit here.
I can't wait to go to work to say how smart my daughter is.
She passed her tests and she's going to middle school!
She's grown up! Let's give her a little coffee.
- What are you doing? - Just a drop.
- Will you give me some, too? - No, you're too little.
- When can I have some? - When you go to middle school.
Now he's going to middle school, too!
Lenuccia did better than Spagnuolo's daughter,
than Carracci's son and the shoemaker's daughter.
- How did she get straight A's? - She's so smart!
She's a scientist, she takes after her father.
Lenù, while I clean the kitchen, you make the beds.
- Today, leave her alone. - There's so much to do.
This morning leave Lenuccia alone, today is a holiday.
- Who is it at this hour? - I don't know, I'll go see.
You stay here, eat.
Eat.
- What happened? - Vittorio, a tragedy.
Something terrible.
- Someone's been killed. - Who's been killed?
- What are you talking about? - He was still in his pajamas.
They found the pot still on the stove.
He was killed with a knife.
- Did you hear anything? - No, I didn't hear a thing.
- The saucepan was still on the stove. - They found a knife.
There was blood everywhere.
Yeah, so I heard.
A murder!
They say maybe he got in through the window.
- What happened? - A murder in the neighborhood.
- Who was killed? - Nothing.
Who would have thought someone could kill Don Achille!
Don Achille was killed?
- Don Achille was killed? - Yes.
How is it possible?
It happened, it means it was possible. Go inside.
- What happened? - Don Achille was killed.
Don Achille was killed.
Those two came from outside. Excuse me.
- Hi, Lenù, - Good morning, Don Fernando.
Did you hear?
Who was it?
Wait, I'll come down.
The investigators found him facedown on the floor,
he was killed when he woke up.
He had just opened the window to let in some fresh air.
He got out of bed on purpose.
He was in light-blue pajamas,
all worn out,
and these yellowed socks.
When he opened the window...
the rain hit him in the face,
and suddenly, here, on the right side of his neck,
between his jaw and his collarbone...
A stab wound.
The copper of the pot was so shiny
that the blood looked like an ink stain
with a black line dripping from it.
The murderer definitely wanted to stab him in the heart
while he was in bed,
but he found him awake and stabbed him in the neck.
He didn't break in, he got in with a skeleton key.
How do you know all this?
I don't know.
I open the pail and pull out the words.
Let's go play at Carmela's.
Are we going or not?
- What's going on? - I don't know.
Let go of me!
I'm innocent! Help me!
Let go of him!
Giuseppina! Help me, I haven't done anything!
I'm innocent. The Solaras... tell them I'm innocent!
I haven't done anything!
Alfredo!
Mamma, are you hurt?
It wasn't Carmela's father who killed Don Achille.
Who was it?
I know who it was.
Who?
It was a woman.
It was a woman, Lenù.