MovieChat Forums > C'eravamo tanto amati (1977) Discussion > Cruel scene

Cruel scene

posted 18 years ago by Mr_Nike_Guy
6 replies | jump to latest

There's a scene in that movie...

A man has married a woman. She loves him, he doesn't care for her. She suffers. She tries. One day she commits suicide : she causes a car crash, in which she dies.

Later on, the man visits the scrap yard. His wife materializes in the wrecked car. She says : "See ? I'm dead now. So what do you say ?". And he goes : "What do you want me to say ? I didn't care for you when you were alive. Why would I care more now that you're dead ?". And that's it. The logic is faultless, and so is the psychological truth behind it.

However, one thing that strikes me about that movie scene is that the husband actually visited the wreck... What was he doing in the scrap yard, if he didn't care AT ALL ?

[–] vschwager 18 years ago

He had to sign off the papers for the car to be demolished....alas

I think it's one of the greatest movie scenes I have ever seen.

Vincent

[–] Mr_Nike_Guy 18 years ago

Oh, I never thought I'd get a reply on this one, glad about that. This movie means a lot to me, and this scene strikes a particular chord. I'm really curious about how people construed it.

I would argue that the scene is completely dreamlike and, besides, takes place at night time, so it doesn't look as though Gianni is doing anything as down to earth as signing off papers. It’s also part of a series of “bubbles” in which time and action stop for a particular character to develop the dream of the moment, using other people as his own characters. But this one sticks out as shot in the continuity of the plot instead of being pointed as such by a freeze frame like the others, in spite of its unlikelihood. Which gives a scene an ambiguous degree of reality.

My companion, who’s a shrink, thinks that he came to confront the question. Meaning that anyone’s suicide always comes as a surprise, intellectually. Especially when coming from someone you “knew well”. But not meaning there’s necessarily anything affective involved.

Gianni understands that the suicide was an ultimate call for attention. So he considers this message to see if it has worked, and he observes that it hasn’t. The terrible thing lies in the conjunction of his ability to hear the message and his inability to be touched or questioned by it.

So in fact both answers are the same, one transposed in the material order, and one in the symbolic order : he feels the “administrative” obligation to put some things in order before he carries on… but he still doesn’t care. Nothing can make him care.

I answered my companion that if he came to confront the question, at least he came. He made a move. But it doesn’t prove anything either. He might as well have dreamed about the scene from his bed.

I guess that I just can’t accept the fact that he didn’t care, never would, and nothing could make him care.

[–] imbluzclooby 17 years ago

This scene which you are speaking of I remember well. She also asks him,"Do you have any regrets being my husband?" He shrugs and replies softly with a "no".

That is a very poignant scene. Many men do not love their wives and he probably only married her for her father's influence on his career anyways. His character was such an S.O.B. but I can also relate with him greatly.
He was really in love with the other gal, or maybe he felt that marriage hindered his freedom. Anyway this scene was symbolic and painfully truthful.

The tragedy here is that a woman devoted herself to her family and a man who did not love her. This puts his character in a bad light. To add injury to insult he also disrespected her parents and family at social gatherings. He just used her to broaden his career.
Only the eager and sincere get destroyed and the selfish and heartless people will learn and soon get theirs.

[–] veranck-1 17 years ago

You've already read this,
he has to be there for the insurance.

The dialogue you describe is not my favorite
of that scene.

It's when the wife says:

Nobody cares for you.
Only you care for yourself.

Beautiful.

By the way, it's the same guy that played
King Benny
in the movie Sleepers.

Talk about a cameo.

Frankoverlast.blogspot.com
Johnthebum.blogspot.com

[–] 88L71 15 years ago

Nobody cares for you.
Only you care for yourself.

For what I know (I'm italian and obviously saw this in original language) she says something like "not even you care about yourself".

The whole thing goes more or less this way:

[Elide died in a car accident (probably a suicide) and Gianni is at the car dump for insurance survey or demolishing or whatever formalities, as others pointed out. What happens after he signs, and the two guys condole and go away, is obviously a dream or dream-like experience, supposed to underline the fact that Gianni is actually uncomfortable with the whole thing and haunted by remorse even if he denies it]

Gianni: Elide!
Elide: did you receive my message?
G: what message?
E: well... why do you think you're here?
G: insurance, you know, formalities... after the accident... what else?
E: ah.. not because I called you?
G: c'mon.. you know I don't believe these things and never did
E: really? who are you talking with, so?
G: ... alone! with myself, like a nut! and that's why I'm leaving now
E: no wait! I need to ask you one thing
G: (reluctant) ok... so c'mon, go ahead
E: am I important to you now?
G: important... what do you...? important because you're dead? Well... I don't know... I don't think so... no... no.
E: (she curses at him in roman slang, more funny than offensive), why not?!
G: Elide... 'cause if someone was not important while alive she's not even when dead, that's why
E: you ignorant! Death sublimates
G: yeah, sure
E: you evidently didn't read Siddharta
G: no, I didn't read Siddharta
E: sure, you obliged me to read but you never read anything
G: Elide... what a pain
E: don't be coarse ... it's you Gianni, the unimportant one; you're important to nobody, not even to yourself. You just were for me... cos I was stupid
G: (s-n-i-g-g-e-r-s, ill at ease)
E: how are the kids?
G: hm.. I don't know, they're ok, I think. Fabrizio left home, and Donatella left too.. for England
E: I'm glad I saw you... goodbye honey
G: (smiles at her and nods) goodbye
E: with your remorses
G: (keeping smiling) not really, no remorse at all
E: sure, sure...
G: yeah, sure.

[–] mathmaniac 10 years ago

Thanks for the translation. I wasn't sure it was a suicide. You said 'probably a suicide' and that's kind of reasonable.