THIS WORLD CAN'T TEAR ME DOWN
I don't think I said Cesare's name for 20 years.
When he disappeared, I didn't even notice because we didn't hang out anymore.
Until one day, someone, I think it was Wild Boar, said to me...
- Didn't you know he's in rehab? - What?
Yes, my mom knows his mom. She told her.
Cesare ill. Getting treatment, he is.
I couldn't believe it either.
When someone disappears, it means they got rich or got laid.
Instead... rehab! Who'd think of rehab?
Right, who thinks of that?
I'm talking about it as though I'm street-smart,
but heroin zombies weren't my generation.
I'm not that old!
Not that young either.
My generation was carefree,
when coke and speed were cheap,
and people went around bug-eyed and jaws clenched,
stabbing, smashing bottles on people's heads,
and having heart attacks at 35.
But I didn't know anything about heroin.
I mean, I didn't know where Cesare was exactly.
But I remember as a kid, I saw people talking on TV
about something bad that had happened in one of these rehab places.
I can still see the images of this filthy room,
like a horror movie.
But just a flicker,
because my mom turned it off as soon as she saw me there.
She didn't want Mommy's little boy to get scared.
So, when I asked her...
What was that, Mom?
She didn't want to scare me, but she had this theory
that you mustn't ever bullshit children.
So she said...
Darling, it's a place where drug addicts are locked away
inside a barrel and beaten to a pulp.
Inside a barrel?
Yes, sweetheart, a barrel.
A real one too. A wooden barrel that you have to curl up in.
And they keep them there to punish them, got it?
It's horrible! See what humans invent?
What nasty animals!
Thanks, parent number one!
My psychologist got a fancy car out of that. Damn you!
Bloody hell, I know not all rehabs are like that!
There are different approaches that have saved a bunch of people
without using the "beat it out of you" model.
But this cartoon isn't The History of Rehabs,
and the things that traumatized me most as a kid were that,
and a bit of Army of Darkness that I saw by accident when I was eight.
That's why, when I heard that Cesare was in a place like that,
I got that feeling of claustrophobia once again.
I'd like to say that we made an effort, we wrote to him,
we made sure that he knew we were waiting for him.
Or at least that I was, as he was my friend.
But that's bullshit.
Not because we were mean,
but he couldn't have contact with anyone from the outside.
Maddalena didn't like talking about it,
and if anyone asked, she just answered...
He's not well, but getting treatment, he is.
So it got to the point where no one asked her anymore.
Months went by...
Then years...
FOR SALE SOLD
And his absence just became normal,
like when you change the furniture at home and you get used to it.
Things like this scare me a lot.
This natural and relentless sea
that washes everything away because I don't know how to stop it.
It scares me that someone who played that big a part in my life,
whom I shared so much with,
can just disappear.
A bit like a comet.
One that flew through our lives.
You got used to seeing it,
then it disappears over the horizon.
You can still see the trail for a bit,
then that disappears too.
Life goes on as though the comet never existed.
Our lives, I mean.
No one ever thinks about the comet's life,
about what happens to it after it passes by.
Did you see him when he was hit? Could you identify him?
I didn't get a good look because it was chaos,
but it's obvious it was them.
Didn't he tell you?
Didn't he tell you it was those shits?
He was dazed when he got to the hospital. He says he doesn't remember.
They attacked us. We defended ourselves.
They picked on him because he's a big baby.
Those lefties have no honor.
When we left the town hall after that shitty vote,
I was upset because I was thinking...
My God, what the fuck is going to happen in five days' time? I already feel...
Five days and you're worrying about it already?
You're ridiculous. Five days is ages!
Did Mazarin not teach you anything?
Five days may never come.
Focus on the present.
Think about Pompeii
and all those people making long-term plans.
"Let's go to the seaside..." They all got screwed.
Okay, but if that time does come...
"If it comes."
That's something they said in the 1900s.
Use your head!
Maybe you haven't been told there's been an anthropological mutation.
Teenagers with bigger thumbs, the right to work, instability...
There's no point getting emotionally invested
in anything that lasts longer than a sitcom episode.
You actually might be wasting your emotional reserve.
Remember what the endocrinologist said?
Almost depleted.
Only today's worries go here.
These are tomorrow's.
A flashy trunk that is just out of the corner of your eye.
Everything further ahead in time gets thrown here.
Removal protocol.
Everything goes here.
From next Wednesday's council meeting,
to melting glaciers
and prostate exams.
See? All vanished.
Now, focus on today.
Watch the finale of Better Call Saul before you see any spoilers.
Well done, there you go!
Sit on the sofa. Watch TV.
Bury yourself in work so you won't think about a thing.
Hey, maybe even eat tons of crap.
You won't think about the future in your glycemic haze.
What a life, my friend!
Living the life of Riley!
No one can stop you now.
Well, I know someone who'd like to, but never mind.
Hey, what the fuck are you doing?
Today is judgment day and you're here slobbed out on the sofa?
What do you mean, today? I was drawing the poster...
You should've thought about the poster earlier!
You're late for the Great Battle of East Rome.
Hurry up, damn it! You have to pick Secco up
and go to the preparatory meeting.
They're waiting for you!
Why do you leave everything to the last minute?
It just drives me crazy!
OUT OF ORDER DAMN IT
Hello, Zero? This is Osvaldo, from A Random Show. We met last week.
How are you? Everything all right?
Do you remember you're on the show at 4 p.m.?
Don't worry about getting to us, we can send a car.
Don't worry, I'll make my own way there. It's fine. I'm not an idiot.
I'll call you when I'm outside.
Four p.m. on the dot. Great!
How will you make it at 4 p.m.? You can't leave the riots halfway through.
Don't worry, I've calculated everything.
The town hall meeting is at 2 p.m. We get there early.
We'll see it's full of police and think...
"Shiver me timbers!"
"You're defended by the cops this time too!"
We stay there, make a bit of a scene,
we shout, throw something.
We'll be on one side, them on the other.
The chairman will say...
We can't hold the meeting in these conditions.
All done by 3:30 p.m.
I'll leave the car nearby, dash off, and go on the show.
All perfect, everything fitting into place like Tetris.
What if they use filters?
"Filters" here refers to the local custom
of planting disguised individuals
in the nearby streets,
in order to catch small groups or individuals walking away alone,
maybe to go back to their cars.
Hey, no filter exists that can find me!
Soy turista mexicano!
It's very nice here. It reminds me of the State of Chihuahua!
So, we arrived at a warehouse for our prep meeting.
There were all sorts of beasts and creatures.
Let's say it wasn't exactly a SWAT team.
The neighborhood dinosaurs were there, some familiar faces from the area,
and some I hadn't seen since Coronavirus,
like Teapot Friend.
The procedure is always the same, and it's quite simple.
Let's wait for the last few, we'll make a big group,
and we'll go together
so we can get there early and set up in the best spot.
Let's check out access to the square,
so if anyone wants to join us there
they won't end up amongst the Nazis.
Has anyone had a look? Are the cops already there?
The cops are obviously going to be there.
We promoted this disaster. We literally put up posters.
The cops can't not be there.
What more could we have done? Send an invitation on letterhead paper?
Not sure. Mariangela went to have a look on her moped. She'll be back soon.
In the great division of war roles,
the scout lookout is absolutely crucial.
Guys, there are no cops.
It's empty. Maybe one DIGOS car.
But they could have just been two sad gentlemen
on their lunch break listening to Biagio Antonacci.
What do you mean, no cops?
I pay my taxes. I want them to beat me up, not the Nazis.
Are the bad guys there, at least?
No one's there. And there's no one at the café.
Oh well. No cops, you don't know how many Nazis will be there...
Sounds perfect. No evaluation at all.
A bunch of fools whose strategy is
crossing your fingers and "may God have mercy on us."
I like it.
It sounds like a beautiful crepuscular tragedy.
They'll study it at school one day, like the Battle of Thermopylae,
but with pheasants instead of King Leonidas.
All right, guys, I know archery.
I know that we all want to be remembered
as the hero who stood out by using his sword
and hand-to-hand fighting...
But archers are essential.
They decimate the enemy army from a distance.
They terrorize them with a shower of arrows,
disrupting their ranks.
Of course, archers can also grab a stick
and join the warriors,
but it's more for show, as if to say,
"I'm here too!"
It's the others who deliver impact force.
I realize some might be horrified, and think...
It's 2023!
They're still doing that?
What is this, the Middle Ages?
The answer is...
No, obviously it's not the Middle Ages.
It's an antique metaphor. I like Game of Thrones.
And it's more grandiose than saying we're going to pick up a shopping trolley,
fill it with stuff to throw, and take it with us.
Like Legolas in The Lord of the Rings, but less graceful.
Like low-cost Legolas.
No archers today, I think.
No archers?
Who will prepare the terrain for the Spartans who need to fight?
They need support, the poor guys! Don't underestimate the role...
Zero, the Spartans are all in jail after Dicksville.
The front line is in jail or has been reported.
All we have are those here today.
Right at that moment, two distinct things happened inside me.
The first was the complete replacement
of all the muscles in my lower limbs
with 14 tons of panna cotta,
meaning my legs went all soft and shaky all of a sudden.
The second was something animal-like,
my primordial reptilian instincts reawakening at a time of danger.
Drowsiness.
Devastating drowsiness, when the eyes just won't stay open,
you can't stop yawning,
and you feel like you'll fall asleep as soon as you sit down.
I know. "What kind of animal reaction is that?"
Animals should stay alert, right? Sharpen their senses.
But no! Animals know that in great prairies,
the biggest risk isn't being attacked by a predator,
it's that others might think...
He's shitting himself that a lion's going to come.
What the fuck are you doing in the great prairies?
Go and have drinks somewhere fancy, you fucking hipster!
Whereas flaunting your drowsiness, yawning wildly
without even putting your hand in front of your mouth,
expresses your disregard for danger.
So the other animals think...
Damn! That wildebeest sure is crazy. He doesn't give a shit.
Look, Mario. See what it means to yawn in the face of death.
So, this narcolepsy
is the supreme form of defense of my own dignity.
What are you thinking about?
I'm not used to doing stuff like this without Sarah.
It's like I'm missing a moral cover for what we're doing.
What moral cover do you need for throwing bombs at Nazis?
That's the only thing in my life that even Churchill agreed on.
Look.
Yes, on the whole, I agree with you.
But fighting monsters with swastikas on their face is one thing.
Fighting with those we grew up with, Sarah, Cesare...
Will you stop defending that asshole? What are you, his lawyer?
What can I say? I don't think he's right,
but I get that something's clicked inside him,
and it makes me feel I have no right to judge him.
That's why I don't know what to say on TV today.
It's true that I had better luck than he had.
Even if we still live half a mile away from each other,
in some respects, it feels like four billion light-years.
And that makes me feel like shit.
What the fuck do I know? Maybe if we'd led the life he has,
we'd think the same way.
You're talking a load of shit.
Anything that isn't ice cream is shit to you, but...
So, because you've hit the big time,
you need to feel sorry for any little shithead?
And you're saying this to me?
If you need to atone for shit, speak for yourself.
I'm not making cartoons, I haven't bought a house,
and no one's ever given me shit.
I know, but you grew up in an environment...
Where did I grow up?
I'm an orphan. I was on the streets at 15.
I've never had a full-time job, no one to support me, nothing.
Everything I have, I got for myself,
and I've never taken anything from those who are worse off.
I get that you feel guilty,
but you think you're the only enlightened one
who knows right from wrong?
Hey, Federico! Why are you here?
Why aren't you at work?
- I took today off. - Why?
- Are you a cop? - Come on, tell me.
It pisses me off that these people come here
and spread poison in my neighborhood.
Da', why aren't you at work?
I did a night shift, clocked out at 7 a.m.
I slept two hours, but I don't care.
I came here from Albania in 1991.
I became Italian when I got married.
If they had their way, I wouldn't be here now.
Who the fuck is it?
You think people are here so they can go to Mass on Sunday?
Everyone's got so many issues
that you could write a whole comic on each of their lives.
But they don't use that as an excuse to be assholes with whoever's worse off.
Now, if you'll excuse me, these bombs won't prepare themselves.
I get you, Zero.
I felt like shit too when I saw Sarah in that video.
Do you think we're doing the right thing?
Do you think it's right that because of some pathological liars,
this neighborhood will be remembered as the one that sent immigrants packing?
What about those 30 souls that got off that boat? What are they gonna think?
That we're a bunch of assholes who throw bombs at them at night?
I don't know how today is going to pan out,
but when people talk about this, I want them to say
that there are people here that kicked those Nazis' asses.
Or at least they tried.
That must've been the first time I'd hugged Teapot Friend.
It's normal to hug someone
when you're about to do something so crazy, so absurd,
where you risk going home with your head smashed in.
It's normal.
But that's not why I hugged her.
I hugged her... because she sucks, for crying out loud!
She's the only one in worse physical shape than me.
She's clumsy, slow, she even smokes.
She's no use in a fight either.
That makes me think that if she's there, then anyone can be there, really.
It means we're doing a family-friendly riot.
I'm sad that the dog with the wheels died ten years ago,
otherwise we'd be a proper dream team!
Hey, guys, let's go!
- Let's go! - Come on!
I'd have dragged it out for another couple of hours,
but eventually we had to go.
We'll be done by five, right? I have to go back to the restaurant.
It had better be, or my wife will kill me. I have to pick up my little girl.
Something else comforted me as I was walking.
It's true that Sarah wasn't there,
but we were all where we were supposed to be.
I don't understand shit about poems,
but one stuck in my head since I was a boy.
It's by Calamandrei and it goes,
"Should you wish to return on these roads, you will find us where you left us."
I know it sounds a bit corny.
But if you take away all the pompous garb,
you're left with the core.
The essence is these people here.
They've got their own shit and tons of contradictions,
but they're here when they're needed because this is where they need to be.
Even if I get arrested, I can take responsibility for it.
At least in front of the mirror.
Of course.
It's not like you'd be arrested for getting your dick out by a care home.
That seems like cold comfort to me,
but whatever floats your boat. What can I say?
The hospital called.
He's likely to stay there for 20 days.
Oh, okay, that's not too bad!
Yes, but 20 days count as double, with that surname...
But he's the son of...
Yes.
Oh, shit!
Of course. There's going to be shit for everyone.
Did you know that the guy you beat up was the son of someone important?
I don't know what you're saying.
If you want my advice, miss,
let's have the name of whoever beat him up.
This isn't the spring of silence anymore,
but the winter of narcissism.
What you don't tell us today we'll find out tomorrow on TikTok,
with bad grammar.
It's no use you all ruining your lives.
We were better than a synchronized swimming team.
We were there at 2:30 p.m. on the dot.
NO INVASION
Well, the cops aren't here, but neither are the Nazis.
Maybe they're not coming.
Maybe they changed the time and place and didn't tell us.
If they're not here in 15 minutes, I don't think they'll come at all.
Right to housing!
Right to work!
We don't have them!
And they won't either!
Subtitle translation by: Luisa Zamboni