I have a phobia.
Of running into human worlds that will have the power to imprison me.
This fear causes an urge to flee to places where only Nature rules,
whether it's a mother or a cruel stepmother.
Here, at a depth of 650 meters, in the light of a carbide lamp,
I'm free to be delirious with joy and torment.
Only those who flee from the masses are saved.
Is this the clay model?
Yes, a model made of soil, of clay.
I'm making it larger.
At first, I made a small model.
This was the idea, a sleeping giant.
A giant that is still being made in the Apuan Alps...
In an abyss.
You used to go caving?
Yes, I still do. Less often than before, but...
So, basically, by observing the raw material,
directly in nature, in the Apuan Alps...
...you fell in love.
Yes, yes. Going up there, I...
-Is this wax? -This is wax,
beeswax mixed with something else to make it more plastic.
Then, after the small wax model, you make the life-size model.
These feet are definitely yours.
Yes, I studied myself...
and I reproduced myself on this big rock, on the marble.
The giant is a way to express myself,
to measure myself against great artists such as...
Benvenuto Cellini, Michelangelo...
It's not a delusion of grandeur, it's just that...
you must talk with the giants,
otherwise how can you become a giant yourself?
It's all about comparisons. Sculpting is all about looking.
Maybe modern sculptors have stopped looking up to the giants, because...
they take them for granted, but they stir up emotions in me...
if you read about Benvenuto's life, and you are a sculptor,
then you can't help but want a giant!
That's the way it is. You feel like having it, doing it.
Come on.
My scent varies between the smell of a goat
and the one of the camphor tree.
I sneakily descend into the valley, into the cities
but at dusk I slip away, longing for my nest.
I like to be on my own: thinking, writing,
welcoming one friend at the time.
I follow the wild ideal of building everything myself.
This is in some way connected to my artistic nature.
Art perceived not as a product or an object.
It's about recalling more ancient splendours.
Mine are classical statues, portraying gods and saints.
People tell me it鈥檚 a dated style, that nowadays art is found elsewhere,
but the human figure has always fascinated me the most
and although I'm an unemployed artist, I will never stop sculpting this way.
Excuse me?
Wasn't there meant to be a meeting here, with Vittorio?
-It's been cancelled. -But is it in the afternoon?
Yes, but I don't know where.
Here, we are packing up.
-Hello? -Hello, Vittorio?
-No, no. I'm the driver. -Can you hear me?
-Yes. -This is Filippo.
Oh, hi. The meeting has been moved. In an hour we'll be in Bassano in Teverina.
-In Bassano in Teverina? -Yes, bye bye.
If you want to move here...
It's big, but my house is bigger!
It can contain my entire art collection!
One-hundred and sixty square meters? Is it nice?
Hey, we should think about it. We could send the paintings to Rome,
-we move here... Are those our windows? -Yes.
-Those are our rooms. -Now I see it.
Tell him to open it immediately. I'll book it tonight.
No, he's not here. He's in Naples.
-Filippo, don't you remember me? -Yes, I do.
There he is, Dobrilla!
Last time we met, we were in Sicily...
-Filippo! -Oh, yes! What an adventure!
-Filippo, you didn't even say hi! -Oh, Sabrina!
Filippo, look how grown up you are!
I've made up my mind, I'm tired of being in Rome.
-We're moving here. -Fine.
It's a one hour drive from Rome, right?
Why don't we ask Twombly to let us use his house?
Twombly wants to play the role of the artist, I fucking hate artists!
This place is not bad at all.
-What are the other floors used for? -It's all for sale.
-No, it's for rent. -So I would only occupy this floor.
But it looks bigger than 170 square meters.
That's because there's an apartment, on the other side of the building.
But these are our windows.
These and the ones looking over the valley.
We tried to open the apartment with a metal sheet, but...
We tried, we went upstairs with Alessandro but it wouldn't open.
-Who has the key? -The bricklayers, but they're in Rome now.
Let's pay a taxi for them to come back.
Hey, there.
The Director of the University of Palermo has written me an email,
to find a title for my lecture. He says:
"Maybe 'Culture and Development of the Territory'?"
My reply: "I hate the words 'development' and 'territory'.
Culture remains. So it could be 'Culture and Culture',
or 'Culture's Borders',
or 'Culture and Fate', or 'Culture and Power'."
Well...
You had mentioned that sculpture teaching position...
-Right. That one... -It is the reason why I came down...
There's Palazzo Savorelli, which is the new office of the municipality,
of City Council,
and on its third floor there are some beautiful rooms,
that would be perfect for the studio of a painter or a sculptor.
So you could come there and give some sculpture lessons,
but the project is temporarily on hold.
-The sculptor, of course... -Don't you have a ground floor?
No. This won't do for you, since you have to move rocks,
-marbles and... -It could work with some clay models.
Right. You could do them up there,
but we could find you a more appropriate space on the ground floor,
in the setting of the Necropolis of Sutri, where there are marvellous, amazing tombs,
you could nestle in a tomb, and you would be all set.
A tomb to live in, and a tomb to die in.
The two of us could share another tomb.
-You have a husband, don't you? -No, I don't.
-You don't? -I'm not that crazy!
I thought that was a wedding ring! We are good, then.
A feature of all human beings
is that I know you better than you know yourself,
because I've never seen my own face.
You can see mine, I can only look at myself in the mirror.
So what did he do? He did Jupiter, starting from here.
-Isn't your Jupiter like this? -It was like becoming a statue,
-if you think of yourself as a statue. -And he did Narcissus.
With his feet on the base, on the ground, and Narcissus is reflected on the water.
So it is turned upside down. That's a great intuition!
The idea of going down into the abyss and making a sculpture there is exciting too!
So you're the one that went deepest underground
-among all Italian speleologists. -Well...
-Oh, there it is! This is the idea... -...together with my fellow speleologists.
This one should be mine, too. It's a beautiful profile on plate he did,
and this is Jupiter.
The idea is for Jupiter to look at himself from where he can.
Standing very high on a pedestal.
-Beautiful! -It's like a virtual reality in marble.
-Very beautiful. -Here there are other things he did...
And this amazing piece, which is very popular right now,
is Ronaldo.
He's a trisexual. He goes with women, men and animals.
When he goes with a woman and she gets pregnant,
she tells him: "Please, don't recognize our child!
Leave the child to me."
That's how it went!
With men, he gets by, because you know men...
But if he wants to screw a goat,
he prefers to screw the billy, in order not to ruin a little goat's cunt.
Goats are little misses, so...
-He does the same with horses! -He goes with stallions and not with mares!
It's a little bit more complicated, but he can do it.
-We'll come visit you with him. -Of course!
-Yeah, right. So let's keep in touch. -We'll be happy to.
That's in Castel Fiorentino. I don't know if... do you know Certaldo?
-Sure. -Where they do the Mercantia Festival.
-Of course. -Castel Fiorentino is close to Certaldo.
Eight kilometers away.
Don't mind this one, but these two...
What? Don't mind me? I have an art gallery!
You'll see, together with Vittorio we'll manage to arrange something.
He also wanted to involve me in this teaching project...
-Right, a school... -A Fine Art school.
-So? -Well, we will have to see.
Why don't you come to Sutri, so we can start wrapping things up?
-Let's talk about it! -I'm serious.
The facility is ready, we have 300 square meters at our disposal.
You could start immediately.
There's no point in waiting.
-Can I talk to you about this? -Don't worry.
I know I should avoid to venture into the abyss on my own,
but for me sculpting is connected to an erotic and sexual need.
One of the greatest symbols of this desire
is a sleeping giant I outlined in the depth of an Apuan abyss.
I wanted to give him a face like the one of the beautiful Christ
Cellini made towards the end of his life.
Very smooth. With curly hair.
But the statue I made doesn't look like anybody.
It's still a cocoon, a chrysalis.
It's just coming out.
Even though I spent years on it, it still has no shape and no resemblance.
-Hi! Goodbye! -Hey there!
Are you running away?
-Hi! -Hi!
-What's up? Out for a smoke? -Not bad. Yes.
Stay down, down.
-Daddy! -Would you like a Fuji apple?
-No. Come! -Look, Melia.
Holy moly!
It could drive you crazy!
-What a show! -Why did you ask me to do it?
-Do you want me to hold you up? -Yes!
Are you dizzy?
-Oh, my little baby! -Daddy!
She's dead! She's dead!
You aren't dead then, are you?
-Are you starting again? -It's something different.
Show me.
Wow!
Bravo! But who taught you that?
She wants to become an environmental journalist.
-Right Melia? Tell dad about it. -No.
-Will you sail away with Greenpeace? -No, with She...
What's its name? Sea... Sea Sharped!
-Sharp... dunno! -Shepherd!
You're pushing me to the ground!
-Shall we ride together? -No.
-Is it time for kicking me in the shin? -Yes!
Nooo!
Have you become a goat?
Come on, give me a kiss!
No!
Bye, daddy!
I am your fabric!
-Bye, daddy! -Bye, little one!
-Bye! -Bye! Good night.
-Bye, bye. -Bye!
My life has always made me somewhat solitary.
It is one of my limits.
I had my space and time both with men and women.
With two of them I had children, Rodrigo and Melia,
but I wasn鈥檛 able to be a dad.
I could have devoted more time to it.
Instead I avoided this role,
with the excuse of being too busy,
but also because of my own troubles,
my intolerance, which is not good.
I always fall back into that form of egoism expressed in my being alone,
thinking only about my sculptures or my fields.
I miss you, children.
I find comfort knowing that you are growing up beautiful,
strong and wild, anyway.
There it is!
You can see it from...
from afar.
It's a block... it's not very white.
It's a block, yes. It is!
Just a little thing!
It's not very white, but for a giant...
it could work. We will see.
This one is for deactivating it.
I've already repaired it a little.
It may be a little outdated, considering caterpillars,
but for me it works fine.
-Woo! It stood up! -It stood up!
It's a beautiful beast, isn't it?
Good.
Why don't you give it a little pat? A kiss!
-Now I must conquer it. -Now the real conquest begins!
With sweat.
These are two models for two giants... how did you call them, the giants?
The two gay friends.
-Are those calipers? -Yes.
-One for each... -One for each of the three dimensions?
Yes, for the three dimensions. Most of all, I use them because,
by using three reference points,
I can identify one.
The fixed points are here, at the ends,
I found them outside of the block.
I will enlarge this little model and make it eight times and a half bigger.
Yes, the caliper is an ancient instrument,
I invented these poles, I don't know if they work,
for modern people.
Given it's ancient...
But it works.
You leave a line as a mark...
They are so beautiful, with all those leaves projected on them.
You made a lot of progress!
I do a lot of farm works,
then I feel like I'm drying out, and I miss it.
Are you afraid of becoming a country bumpkin?
-Yes, I turn into a country bumpkin... -A bumpkin...
Now I need to harvest the olives,
then I must cover the goat shed, before winter comes...
Do you miss your dialogue with marble?
Yes. The country is beautiful, but you must find a balance,
a bit of this, a bit of that.
If you stop sculpting, then you miss something.
You feel you're lacking something.
You stop talking to your beans.
You send a boy, a child to school.
The State sends him to school,
teaches him about the Iliad, about the Odyssey.
And what can the State expect from a boy who reads these books?
Can he become a peaceful citizen?
A man resigned to dull love and passions, to a quiet life?
If he reads the Iliad, no.
How can we explain Chiron and Achilles?
We explain it by going in search for adventure and intense love.
For this reason, maybe also because of these classical readings,
my lovers were always heroes.
One of them was a boy I used to descend into the abysses with.
The human being I had to survive with.
Tied with a belly rope.
A beautiful, hypogeous love affair.
Never in daylight.
Maybe at the crack of dawn.
But nothing more.
Fil?
-Hi, Stefano! -It's good to see you.
How are you? Do they know now?
Yesterday I went to this doctor...
And what did she say?
She's the only one that gave me a therapy.
-The others gave up on me... -What do they tell you? What's wrong?
You know...
According to official medicine, they do some exams,
-and if they find nothing... -Then you have nothing.
You could even be dying, but...
You're making this up. What therapy did she give you?
-My throat is covered in wounds... -Ok.
-The tonsils? Where? -No, it's the throat.
-Can you swallow? -Hardly.
Wait a second, Stefano. My phone is ringing.
Is there any coffee left?
Hello? Martina?
Stefano is here.
Tell her I say hi.
He says hi.
He's just arrived. He sneaked in... like a ghost...
Now we'll go choose some rocks...
Even if you won't be there, tell her to come to the exhibition.
Wait, hold on.
We'll talk later. Bye, Martina.
Basically, as I told you, the room is a black square.
All black. Black floor, black ceiling, ok?
-A black box. -So the white marble stands out.
The white marble stands out.
This is amazing, Fil!
Did you see the one for the Sardinians?
Well, let me tell you you didn't work hard on this, Fil.
-What? -You wanted to wrap it up quickly.
Imagine if it were made of bronze!
-The velvet... -Look at these hands!
Look at this wheel, too.
At some point you told them to fuck off, didn't you?
-It's not like they refused it. -They liked this one.
The artists' work is to tolerate the buyers,
not the rest... at least for normal artists.
-What are these? -They are rock breakers.
-Is it this way or that way? -This way is fine.
My dear Fil, it really shocks me to see you in such bad shape.
It happens, you know?
It happens, but when it happens to you...
This is amazing!
Don't you have another version of Jonathan, a single statue, just the torso?
Look at this beauty!
This clay model is amazing.
Didn't you have another head like this... Oh, no! That's the Rasta Adam!
The one downstairs. A single piece of plaster.
-Or is it this one? -That's the original one made of clay.
This is awesome! But look at how you ruined it, you bastard!
It was just as beautiful as a Greek one!
You made the hair using wool covered in plaster.
No, that is clay. It's all done with wool.
This is all cladded wool.
-This one... -This one is not in such bad shape,
this thinning out only makes it more beautiful, if you ask me.
If we wanted to take it, we could've just...
but I'm afraid it would break on our way down.
We could've just filled these cracks and it would have been perfect.
A little bit more baroque...
Fine. It's amazing, but it stays here, outdoor, sleeping.
What are you doing?
-First, I pose and then... -Ah, you take measures!
I want to check if this one is good,
because that one doesn't work, and here I liked it better like this.
So... also this way, you see? There's a mirror up there.
Ah, so you can check from above!
So I can check it better.
How could I watch myself otherwise?
On this side, the work is harder.
This way, the legs come out better as well.
Then, when you get to these angles here, or here, observing yourself is...
it's not like having a model, someone you look at from wherever you want,
it's a little more complicated than that, but you do it just the same,
little by little, since up here time is almost still.
I can see three bodies now!
They look like each other, they are in harmony.
Well, you've almost finished the clay model.
Let me uncover it.
Are you happy with the result?
You can never be too happy, but...
There's... There are some beautiful angles,
and I obviously know which are the ugly ones, but I won't say.
There are some. But you can always find flaws.
But I'm happy with it.
Then, one of these days, I'll turn it into plaster.
-She wanted to walk on the wall... -That's fine. Let's go.
It looks good there.
-It's beautiful. -Isn't it beautiful?
It's been a while since you last saw it.
I always imagined it on the ground, I wanted to put it on the ground,
-but I think that... -No, it's perfect.
-It looks perfect. -Its own coating is fitting too.
We could even think about putting this one on the wall...
So we can fill all the walls.
The light for Saint George drove me crazy! Eventually, I put it like this...
-No, no, that's fine. -We even built this cannon, just for you.
No, no, it's fine.
This is the caption for Adam, I'm going to attach it now.
That's it. This is our tribute to you.
What a nice little room!
It's all sculpted.
-I thought it was an addition... -No. I had to finish it.
This is Saint George and the Dragon.
It represents the moment the Dragon is cut in half.
There are some broken metal sheets, some smoke coming out...
-Is this marble? -No, this is Pietra Serena from Florence.
He's right there, isn't he?
Ah, you arrived at last.
Here I am. I'm not in very good shape, but...
But are you okay? Here is Dobrilla!
-Haven't you exhibited this in Milan once? -Yes.
-I didn't know this one. What about this? -It's just arrived and it's his first work.
-Did its light go out? -No. We haven't put a spotlight on it yet.
-Look, this set-up is marvellous. -Lots of people like it.
-Is this Filippo Dobrilla? -That's him!
The great master, Filippo Dobrilla.
We were admiring your acts of bravery, because that's what they are.
Good job.
-Are you from here, from Lucca? -Yes, from Lucca.
I can still recall my father鈥檚 hugs, when I was eighteen,
when I was doing my military service and I would set off after a leave.
He used to take me to the train, he would get up at an ungodly hour,
he used to hug me and say:
"I'll wait for the train to arrive and then I鈥檒l go."
And I would timidly reply: "No, just go. Leave, go back home."
Now I yearn for those hugs.
Now I would wait for the train to arrive, just to feel his hugs loosening...
those hugs,
that, at some point, were gone.
Ouch!
Come on, we could have...
-Don't you want something to drink? -No.
Aren't you thirsty? There's a little bar over there...
No, I had some water earlier.
-What do you like? -Coca Cola.
-Let's go grab a Coca Cola, then. -No.
Eating something with it, though, or it will punch a hole in your stomach.
Yes, don't worry, sometimes I eat something.
Let's go!
Come on!
Fine. We can stay here as well.
You get rid of your phone... You nourish yourself with your phone!
-No, I'm not at that point yet. -You don't eat sandwiches.
Me, I'm always hungry!
I'm almost always hungry. But now I'm not.
Back in my room, I have...
I saw in your drawer you've stocked up with bread!
In the middle of the night, you start...
I want to keep it. I feel bad when I waste bread.
I have my stash of candy hidden under the wardrobe.
-There's my... -You wouldn't believe it!
-Really? -All kind of junk food!
-Do you have it, too? -I have it, too.
Under the bed, everywhere!
So it's a problem we have in common!
Awesome! I envy you! Because of the sculpture.
-It's because of the cane sugar. -Nice! Bye, bye.
Good.
A friend of mine calling from a gallery in Possagno.
He wanted to say hi. He said: "I was here and you came to my mind..."
-Have you gained some weight? -Maybe, in the last few days...
You look good, by the way.
ONCOLOGICAL MEDICATIONS TRANSPORT
Is water coming in, Filippo?
Really? Shall I put rags on the floor?
I'm just joking, but...
That's all we need, right?
-What? -That's all we need!
-Water inside? -Yes.
We will put on gum boots.
-I saw it coming, the sky turned black... -It hailed a little, too.
-Yes, right. -Rainstorms are so beautiful!
I would like to go out naked.
Mmm... no!
-Right now I don't feel very well, but... -Mmm... no!
I'd come back soaking wet, begging you to dry me off.
But I really feel like dancing under the rain.
I'm off!
While the wings will be modern, right?
-The wings... -They will be the wings of a plane.
Airfoil wings.
Nice.
A little studded...
A character with a vibe somewhere between classical art and warrior of the future.
-The characters you find in comic books... -A post-atomic character.
Yes, exactly! Post-atomic!
-Do you know who Zoroastro was? -Zoroastro, not the founder of religion?
No. No. No, because...
Since we live between Fiesole and Florence,
my mom always used to tell me this story.
Also, on top of the mountain, in Fiesole, there's a memorial stone,
of this servant that lived with Leonardo da Vinci in Florence,
and he was the one that actually put the wings on
and all other machineries, and jumped down from Fiesole's third hill,
the one where the mines are, which is steep.
He must have been a real character! Can you imagine?
Should I jump? Should I go now?
This is crazy! He must have been a little like you!
And for this person, who is a hero, the one who jumped down for Leonardo,
nobody ever made a monument.
Nobody ever showed him some respect.
Since the first time we met,
I think about this cave that belongs to my childhood,
to my teenage years. It's the place where I...
-Where you used to hide. -Where I used to hide, exactly.
According to some interpretations, since...
there are two schools of thought: one that thinks it's Cefalu,
and the other that thinks it's this place,
the place where Odysseus was shipwrecked. And there's the description of this cliff,
that among the thunderous and ancient waves rises smooth and shining...
I would like to do an art installation.
Taking one of your statues there.
-I would like to have it transported by sea... -That's beautiful.
-Let's try and see. -We will try, because...
I think it will be wonderful. I can already see it.
Actually, I've been seeing it for a long time.
Also, bronze works very well in a dim light.
If I look out of the window...
there's a landscape. Well, half a landscape.
There's the back of the hospital.
And there's a glimpse of landscape, with the hills in the distance.
There's a little slope,
parked on the side, ready to go, there's the emergency car, a Panda.
An electric car, already on charge.
The other day, I was looking to see the food arrive,
and there was a hearse, instead.
The shiny kind.
So you could see... I waited for a while, I was curious...
They took... one of us.
Poor guy! He must've been... terminally ill.
Well, you know...
This week, I've seen a couple of dead people being carried away.
Yes. It's funny. All hearse drivers are pot-bellied!
Big men!
They always wear shirts.
Anyway, you see some...
Yes. Some daily activities happening in the back of the hospital.
A rainstorm is on its way.
"The energy of those who are born on May 22..."
Sorry, I can't breathe!
"...makes them suited for epic accomplishments!"
That's true!
"They are magnetically attracted to mass-produced creations,
and to forms of entertainment in which they can express their talent
with variations and developments that can be different every time.
The excesses in their lives are not represented by the money they collect,
or by the number of friends they are surrounded by,
but by the amount of things produced." This is totally you!
-Potatoes, oil... -Everything! Oil...
Statues... dunno.
Does it say anything about the lymphatic system?
No, it doesn't say anything. They must've forgotten it.
In some ways, it's right!
Water is beautiful.
Some muddy water...
There are some groups of plankton...
I am a plankton eater.
I'm a mammal fish, like a fin whale.
I have a lot of filters here.
I filter... my food.
It's white.
I swim upwards to find some more plankton...
It's good!
Other fish... I don't eat them. They pass and go.
I'm a peaceful fish.
I dreamily see a man, a derelict.
The man is standing still in a bottleneck, in an uncomfortable position.
Voluntarily trapped inside the most tormented hole of this world.
He has been there for hours, for millennia.
Breathing slowly.
Listening to the sound of the earth.
To Rodrigo and Melia.