THIS WORLD CAN'T TEAR ME DOWN
I don't remember exactly when we went our separate ways,
but at the start of the 2000s,
it had been a while since I'd spoken to Cesare.
Hard to say why, but I think it was to do
with me not complying with the Alfredone Doctrine,
which sadly regulates the lives of people in working-class neighborhoods.
If you can fight, you can go out looking like Lady Gaga
and you won't get any shit.
Otherwise, the more you fade into the background, the better.
I'll explain the event behind this doctrine.
In the mid-'90s, people of Rome were as open-minded as Alabama.
Alfredone would go out in Tiburtina holding hands with his boyfriend.
One time, a guy on a moped went past and said...
Fags!
Alfredone was swift,
and he had hands the size of pizza paddles,
bigger than Gianni Morandi's.
Each knuckle was the size of one of my knees.
It was a bloodbath.
A 70-day prognosis and a moped that ended up unrecognizable.
From that day on, no one ever gave Alfredone any shit.
Everyone tried to make conversation.
Oh, I've seen Philadelphia.
Wonderful film!
Of course, this inclusive atmosphere didn't benefit the whole LGBT community,
but just those spokespeople who were capable
of putting you in the hospital for a few weeks.
For the others,
the great decree of the empire of the suburbs continued to apply.
And it applied to everything, not just sexuality.
"Anything deemed eccentric,
outside of known and reassuring beauty or behavioral canons,
generally... we fucking hate it."
Hey, shithead! You're in Borgo Sabotino, not Milan Fashion Week!
Do what the fuck you want, but keep a low profile, under the radar.
You do understand that the abomination on your head
doesn't conform with that.
You're not exactly a sharp killing machine.
To be fair, in the two years I had that red mohawk,
I was beaten up more often than the rest of my life put together.
The hospital was like a second home. I had a weekly fixed slot.
Yes, a life of combat.
Like last Friday, when you turned up with that war wound.
My goodness, sir! What happened to you?
I cut my tongue licking the yogurt foil lid.
Anyway, I didn't give a shit.
The point is that I'd just discovered punk,
and that was my salvation.
It gave me a refuge
from a whole world I didn't know how to fit into.
And a tribe of oddballs who made me feel like I could take on the world.
I think all this might have been a bit much for Cesare.
He didn't understand what we did,
or why we dressed like we were looking for a beating.
It's not like he ever told me, but I'm convinced
that's also partly why we ended up on different paths.
When I went to concerts at night,
I always saw him hanging out with those shitty people,
the same ones I fought with.
Often, I didn't even say hi
because I felt like I embarrassed him.
Who the fuck is sending you out like that?
Then he'd have to explain
how he knew that asshole with the shitty hair.
That's why I was really surprised when I got that call one day.
It had been ages since we'd spoken.
Hey, Zero? It's Cesare.
I was happy because I missed him.
I was bummed that he didn't give a shit about me anymore.
Hey, Ces! How are you? It's been ages!
Listen, I'm calling to ask you a favor.
Can you lend me a few hundred...
My mom has a problem.
They haven't put the money in her account and she needs to pay the car insurance...
And she needs it to go to work.
I don't have any work coming in.
I'll pay you back at the end of the month.
Ces, I don't have any money.
I'll pay you back as soon as my mom gets her pension.
I swear, Zero.
Of course, it's just that I don't have it. I have...
I don't know, 80,000 lira. That's all.
Can't you ask your mom? I'll give it back at the end of the month.
Wait, listen... Let me see, we'll speak later.
Guys, this is really hard for me.
It's not about the money.
I may be stingy, but I'd lent money to friends millions of times.
And when I needed it, they'd lent it to me.
Friends help each other, it's normal.
But what do you do
when you feel like someone is bullshitting you
and you end up looking like a dumbass?
Hey!
Imagine you're in The Truman Show and everyone's watching you.
Exactly! That's what's making me paranoid.
Imagine there's a woman from Pomezia
who's just finished watching Deal or No Deal on TV.
She changes channels
and sees the scene of Cesare telling a friend...
Watch me take this fool for a ride. He's as gullible as a fish.
She sees the phone call and you giving him money.
And what does this woman do?
She calls her husband and says...
Honey, look at this idiot!
You can ignore this guy for a year,
then you just feed him a few lines and he'll give you money.
You should call him too. We need a new kitchen.
See? It's not about the money.
It's the idea that word will get out that I'm a laughingstock.
ATM - INSERT BULLSHIT
Like the answer to the question,
"Why did he choose me?"
was actually...
Because you're the village idiot, bro.
It was a question of pride that was plugging up my mind.
I didn't think about how he felt asking me for those 200,000 lira.
Whether he was embarrassed,
or whether I was just one of 400 people on the list
he was calling up for money.
Or whether he was going through hell
and it wasn't a question of being embarrassed or crafty.
I don't know if he needed it for drugs, or if he owed it to someone
because he'd got into debt with the wrong people.
I just remember I had this sense of humiliation
that was burning my skin
because I felt he was bullshitting me.
What should I do, Sarah?
If I give him money, is it like wearing a sign that says,
"I'm a gullible idiot"?
Zero, if you decide to give him the money,
it's because he's your friend and he asked you.
Why should helping someone make you look like an idiot?
You don't need to rid yourself of all your possessions,
but between Saint Francis of Assisi and Ebenezer Scrooge,
there's a middle ground!
MIDDLEMAN GENEROUS BUT NOT GULLIBLE
I just don't know if he's being genuine or if he's using me.
Listen, when you help someone, you make yourself vulnerable.
And it's always a risk, it's a gamble.
But even if you lose,
you're on the good side of those who played well.
Even if he does just want to steal from you,
he's the bad guy. You did the right thing.
Is it right even if I don't know what he's going to do with the money?
Listen, there are three things that make you a good person to others.
Helping those who ask without too many questions,
going at the speed of the slowest person,
and not leaving anyone behind.
If you follow all three rules, you might get ripped off,
but when you die, you won't end up in the same circle of hell as Thatcher.
Here's 250,000. It's all I have.
Thanks, little bro.
I'll pay you back when she gets her pension.
Later this month. Next month at the latest.
I think that's the last time I spoke to him.
THE STREET
Would you stop that, please?
Let me warn you, the situation has gotten complicated
because a kid got hurt today.
One on the other side. Do you know what that means?
That someone got hurt.
That it was one of you.
I was just passing by, I didn't see anything.
Yes, with five paper bombs on you.
Less than seven is personal use.
I like him.
He's very tautological.
She's in the kitchen.
I'm going to work. Message me once you've finished arguing.
Yeah, look, I'm not here to fight.
But I'm shocked by that video I saw.
I know. I tried talking to her,
but I think she's really stressed.
I'm glad I have to go out, actually.
If I don't get a text from you within an hour,
I'll call the hospitals.
See you, Zero. Bye.
Hey!
Let's not go around in circles for three hours.
I don't want to piss you off, but you do realize what you're doing?
Well, since you're not stupid,
you know that if you agree with those shits on TV,
you're giving them a license to keep doing that stuff.
Plus, you're putting us in a shitty situation.
Aren't you gonna say anything?
You've been my fucking moral beacon all my life, and now...
What does "moral beacon" mean? Just so we're clear.
Well, you're the one who's always taught me right from wrong,
like a pillar...
Right. Have you not realized that I'm stuck right here like a pillar,
I haven't moved for ten years
and haven't even taken half a step forward?
What do you mean?
I've spent five years busting my guts,
first at university, then with my PhD,
with everyone saying,
"Well done! You can do anything! You're so clever!"
The only thing I wanted to do was to teach children.
Instead, I've spent ten years
hidden away in a warehouse in an industrial area,
bringing coffee to people who make toilet brushes.
Ten years with no prospects.
Well, I feel like I'm in a rut too, but that doesn't mean...
You too?
You really think you're the same as ten years ago?
You make comics and cartoons.
Ten years ago, you were working at the airport.
After work, we had to put a saliva sucker on you,
or you'd drool all over the sofa like a boiled zucchini.
How can you say such bullshit?
Fine, in another way...
Fuck another way! I'm talking about this!
You might not remember,
but I was the enthusiastic one with every door open ten years ago.
That's why I took care of you,
because I was sad that you were struggling.
I went with you to take your drawings to comic conventions.
I made you strawberry tiramisu because you were sad,
but you had the taste buds of a six-year-old.
Coffee keeps me awake. It's not because of the taste.
Then you found your way.
You all found your way.
You moved forward, you did things.
While I stayed here.
I was the girl who could do anything,
and I became the girl who was doing nothing.
And now I'm the poor girl who, in the end, hasn't done anything.
Don't pull that face.
You don't remember what it's like
when you think you're doing everything well.
You close your eyes for a second, and when you open them,
you see you've thrown your life down the toilet,
always stuck on the same square
without even rolling the dice.
My God, Sarah, we're still young. You can still...
We're not young, Zero. You're not young, though you dress like an idiot.
And I'm not young. Plus, I'm also female.
If someone sees on my CV that I'm almost 40,
do you know what they think?
Who is this? An elephant carcass?
Is she covered in maggots? What use is she to us?
We'll have to get rid of her at the recycling center.
THANKS, WE'LL CONSIDER YOU FOR YOUR IVORY TUSKS.
And now that it's finally my turn to get out of that square,
they're closing the school, and I'm going back to the start.
START
Does that sound fair to you?
Sarah, I'm sorry,
but do you realize that you're helping those shitbags by doing this?
I'm not helping anyone!
You think I agree with those who want to throw them in the sea?
Or with the ones with swastikas on their foreheads?
My point is simple.
If the school closes because parents don't want
to send their children close to the shelter
because they don't feel it's safe,
then you have to acknowledge it, even if you don't like it.
What do you mean?
That you have to agree?
It means that maybe the shelter needs to be moved somewhere else.
Don't you realize that's exactly what's been happening for the past month?
Those 30 poor people
have been tossed from one neighborhood to another.
If someone, at some point, doesn't set the principle...
Does this principle thing only apply to my life?
You've all done your own shit and sorted your lives out.
You've found your place in the world.
But I have to lose everything and not say a thing
because principles are more important?
Sorry, but in my work, I've tried to do everything right
and respect my own principles.
What about not leaving anyone behind?
The bullshit about going at the pace of the slowest one?
Do you know what my pace is?
- Do you want to know what it is? - Yes.
I don't have one, because I'm tied to a pole.
I'm stuck there, on my own, watching you get smaller and farther away.
And you don't even turn around!
I'm sorry if you think that...
You don't even turn around!
That's the second time I've been left speechless,
like with Cesare the other day.
I feel like I have the instructions in my hands
for what's right and wrong.
They're as clear as day, like the ones for IKEA flat-pack furniture.
But the parts in the box aren't the ones on the sheet.
They're a tangled mess of sorrow, solitude, frustration,
abandonment, and guilt,
so laden with monsters
that the manual is completely useless.
Did you see Sarah?
I don't want to talk about it.
Let's go to that thing at city hall and get it over with.
Oh, I brought the bombs.
Again? You have to leave them in the car. No bombs. It's a peaceful thing.
But we're going to city hall!
It's a boring place. Without bombs, what's the point?
My God, it was like talking to Mowgli from The Jungle Book.
I explained to him for the fourth time
how the wonderful mechanism of democracy worked.
So, today the council has to vote on an agenda proposed by the Nazis.
Do you have the banner?
Which is, the next city council meeting
will take place outside the shelter, next Wednesday.
In the community.
At that meeting, they want a vote to close the shelter.
Are you following me? At least nod.
With your vacant look I never know what you're thinking.
No, I heard the start.
Long explanations give me a nosebleed.
Okay, just remember that this bullshit of holding the meeting there,
in the community,
is just so that Nazis from all over Rome can come
and make up the numbers, giving the impression
that the whole city wants to close the shelter.
So why are we here today if this thing is next Wednesday?
Yeah, why are we here exactly?
Because the city hall can't support the Nazis
and hold the meeting wherever they say.
Okay, this shelter system is shit.
But when Black people in America got the right to vote,
it's not like they went...
Yes, to carry out this important vote,
we will have the process decided
by this social promotion association
that is deeply rooted in the local area.
Fine, but what are we here for?
Apart from telling them that this thing isn't right?
I actually understand Secco's objection, because I always have doubts too
about how much influence we can actually have.
I mean, I know it's right.
For me, if you're not expecting a tree in the Garden of the Righteous,
but at least a bonsai on the Poggio Mirteto roundabout,
you should show up and do the right thing.
But I'm always a bit scared of coming across like this...
This is my opinion!
I told you loud and clear!
And it's also written in all caps in size 20 on this piece of paper!
Look, it's an interesting idea.
But don't tell me.
You know what?
We're going to tell one of my friends,
who is precisely the person in charge of gathering these ideas.
Guess who it is. My ass!
- All right, but... - Shh!
He says your opinion is valuable.
After work, he's coming to take that rubbish you wrote
and study it in detail.
Just leave it over there,
between the laundry detergent and the cat shit. Right there.
Tighten your belt, buddy!
Hi, everyone! We've come to remind you
that this municipality cannot give in to the Nazis!
DON'T EXACERBATE THE WAR BETWEEN THE POOR
I thought we were doing something that would create an uproar,
that the police would drag us out like in The Strawberry Statement,
and that would at least give us the allure of martyrdom.
But no one gave a shit.
One of them got annoyed because he suddenly woke up and asked...
Who are these people? The ones from the Portonaccio bus lane?
No, the others, for the n...
People with a lot of melanin.
She didn't really say "people with a lot of melanin."
She said a word that we've decided not to use,
but not because of all that bullshit
"dictatorship of political correctness," which doesn't exist.
Rainbow Police! You are under arrest!
No! It's a complicated issue.
If there is a racist monster in a work of fiction,
it doesn't make sense to make them speak as sweet as pie.
Hi, everyone!
But it's also true that if you want a word to disappear from common usage,
then you need to stop using it,
otherwise it'll keep going round and round forevermore.
You're probably thinking...
That's a bit of a mindfuck. I don't give a damn.
No shit. Your job is being a sock. What do you care?
But since my job is to use words,
it makes sense to question things behind the scenes.
Yes, it's lovely for you to share this reasoning with us.
But you know why they say "behind the scenes"?
You know what they're behind?
They're behind "what the fuck do we care!"
See?
Post it on Facebook if you want, so old people can read it.
But let's move on, please.
Fine, I can nap for another five minutes, then.
Today, we have come to tell you
that we will use our bodies to stop these people
coming to spread hate in our streets. So, those who vote...
Are there still snacks in the vending machine?
...will be responsible for everything that happens that day!
It will end up in a fight!
Do we have the manpower to do this?
Come on, don't act like you were born yesterday.
It's all a strategy.
Think of it as House of Cards, but in East Rome.
Have you read The Art of War by Sun Tzu?
Bluff, relaunch, aim high. Always!
Nine times out of ten, you win.
Who's going to bother checking if you're really crazy or just acting?
Come on!
Zero! Secco! It's you!
No way!
Always causing a scene!
Boom! It was Greta Boffelli, our old school representative.
I didn't know she'd been elected to the council.
That was embarrassing.
I felt like we were doing sit-ins again,
which she was against.
Unbelievable! Secco doesn't even have bombs!
What happened? Did you lose a finger?
He doesn't let me bring things anymore.
He doesn't want me to express myself. He's like Billy Elliot's dad.
Anyway, just between us, you're right to protest.
What's happening is unacceptable.
And the president is really incompetent.
When we were in government, this would never have happened.
Silence, please!
We've listened to your speech.
We now ask you to compose yourselves so this council can proceed with the vote.
So, to briefly explain what Greta said,
you need to consider that our city council
is essentially divided into three large areas.
Two of them represent the great traditions of the 20th century.
Progressives on one side and Conservatives on the other.
Obviously, they've spanned centuries, the evolution of our species, blah, blah,
and they've transformed because they've adapted.
We chose to represent the Conservatives
as huge mammals firmly planted on the ground
with a very strong link to people's moods.
In theory, they support lofty issues which might well be debated.
The understanding of individualism.
The value of tradition.
The invisible hand of the market.
But here, everything is reduced to, "What do we do with the immigrants?"
They stay balanced
because some of their voters agree with the Nazis,
but would never vote for someone with a swastika on their face.
So we assume the walruses will vote for the council meeting to go ahead.
Then the Progressives.
And I think that, at least on this topic, we're safe.
Never mind them looking down on you,
because over the years they got this long neck
as they needed to reach the fruit
on the highest branches in the Capalbio rainforest.
But they have a legacy of values, of equality, and being welcoming.
So they shouldn't vote for the Nazis' motion.
It looked like Greta Boffelli agreed with us.
Hey, I called a company for this.
- Good evening. - Hi.
- But you're doing it on your own. - What?
Boring the fuck out of us with these explanations.
If I don't explain this, no one will understand.
Yes, I was just helping you out. I'm not saying anything.
Fine, all that's left is the third area,
the platypuses.
What a pain in the ass!
No one knows what the fuck they are.
A senseless jumble of poorly-assembled animals.
They appeared a few years ago
from the failed ideologies of the 20th century
with buzzwords like...
You need to be honest!
And you say, "No shit! No one's telling you to steal!"
But after the Stone Age,
the Iron Age, and the Golden Age, this is the Dickhead Age.
So they won the last elections and have the majority.
But they're not Nazis, so they shouldn't insist
on having that meeting outside the shelter.
Dear colleagues, please, let's begin the vote.
- Do you think they get it? - I think so.
...yes or no?
Yes.
We knew that. What else would the walruses do?
Personally,
I'm against these racist forces who are distressing our neighborhood.
But we were elected to guarantee honesty,
so we'll vote with our conscience.
I abstain.
I think we should have the courage to meet people.
We can win from a dialectical standpoint.
So I'm embracing the challenge. I vote yes.
What? What dialectics?
Please, you've already stated your opinion.
Let's respect this moment of democracy.
Yes.
- I abstain. - Yes.
What the fuck are we going to do? They have the majority. If they vote yes...
Yeah, it could be tricky.
But it's not over. We still have the giraffes.
But I'm not good at math. I dropped it as soon as I could.
- Yes. - Yes?
- Yes! - Yes.
Yes.
Greta, are you all voting yes?
Yes, but we don't agree with the Nazis. We're not crazy.
- It's for the greater good. - What good?
Don't you realize that if we meet the Nazis, people will get hurt?
Yes, it's regrettable, but then we can say
that the platypuses can't even manage a city council.
The president will have to go.
But we'll get our heads split open.
Yes, heads being split open is always unpleasant,
but put it into perspective.
We'd get back in, and we'd reimburse you for the bandages.
We'll put them in the budget.
Two hundred bandages.
We'll even throw in a neck brace. You can all share.
- To hell with stinginess! - Councilwoman Boffelli?
Yes.
The motion is approved,
therefore the next council meeting
- shall be held in Via Marsupelli... - Shitheads!
- ...next to the migrant shelter. - You're in trouble!
Next item on the agenda,
the bus lane on Via Portonaccio.
You seem like a switched-on girl.
Did you really have no idea how that day would end?
All I know is that after that video, people stopped me in the street.
- To say what? - To thank me. To tell me their story.
Something was building up in the neighborhood.
Everyone wanted to tell a bit of their own experience.
All people who didn't want the shelter?
Yes, but others too.
This had knocked the lid off a pot that had been simmering for a while.
A light had been switched on. Everyone wanted to talk,
even those who had stayed quiet their whole lives.
Sorry, guys, but what do we do now?
What does Sun Tzu say about this stuff?
Nine times out of ten, when you bluff, it goes in your favor.
The one time it doesn't, you gotta accept it.
An ancient Chinese proverb says,
"You gotta take it on the chin, bro!"
So we have to go.
You don't think we can say, "Sorry, we were joking"?
Don't joke! We've said it now. That's how it is.
We promised fire and flames. We have to go and get arrested if needed.
And if we don't go...
We're finished. No one will ever believe us again.
Next time, they'll laugh in our faces.
It's like the boy who cried wolf.
You know what happened when the wolf came?
Help! Wolf!
We don't give a shit.
You've made us come out three times. The other night, it was hailing!
Fuck off!
Nobody believes you anymore.
Don't think that I'm happy. I paid the babysitter 40 euros.
My mom will only have him if it's for work or to get laid.
The Nazis weren't in
the parent-grandparent Peace Agreement of 1995.
You think you've thought of everything, and then...
It's like when you play chess and you get to the point
where you only have one move.
The knight moves in an L shape.
Even if it'll get taken, that's all you can do.
Sure, you can wait, you can waste time.
You can even wait for time to run out.
But you have to see what will happen while you're waiting.
Subtitle translation by: Luisa Zamboni