Uh-uh, I ain't going out with no high school boy.
He's 19.
So I'm supposed to be impressed he was kept back?
You leaving?
What are you developing in the back?
Nothing.
Probably some nudie pictures.
He's good.
Come on.
What? He's cute.
You always say that.
Well, why don't you then?
Um, Mr. Sneider?
Good night, Simon.
You love that too.
I always laugh.
Yes?
You said-- earlier, you said, um...
Oh, right, right.
Right.
Here you go.
Take care of it.
Hey, watch where you're going!
Hello, mama.
You're late.
Where were you?
I was delivering some stupid packages.
I thought maybe you met a friend.
Do you have a new friend?
That girl from down the hall?
No.
How was your day?
Mr. Lawson expects everything he wants
in five seconds.
If I get one thing wrong, he yells--
look to the right.
To the left.
Good. Thank you very much, Mr. Pensara.
You have macular degeneration.
The part of your eye that processes light
is diseased.
Can you fix it?
I'm sure you're going to want
to talk this over with your family.
I'm gonna prescribe you
these drops.
You take them two times a day,
once when you get up in the morning
and once before you go to bed at night.
They've been effective
in slowing the course of disease
in some patients.
How long do I have?
A few months.
Oh, it's very progressed, Mr. Pensara.
I'm sorry, but you're going blind.
Tommaso, how are you?
Good morning, Tommaso.
Buenos Dias, Tommas.
Notice anything different about me?
My bangs.
My daughter cut them and--
oh, yes, I see.
Very nice.
Gracias.
Ooh. Oh.
This is-- this isn't for me.
It's for Vargas.
I'm sorry.
Hello, Mr. Pensara.
I'm sorry you had to wait.
I'll be late getting back to work.
Well, you didn't have an appointment.
Am I really going blind?
What do you do, Mr. Pensara?
I'm a painter.
What do you paint?
People, mostly.
Well, did you talk to your family?
I don't have one.
Do you have friends?
Of course.
Do I look like a pariah?
I think you're gonna need to talk to them
and ask for their help right now.
Is that your son?
Yes. How old is he?
In that picture, he's 20 months.
Well, I have patients waiting, so I have to get back to work.
Yahoo!
Uh-oh.
Hey. Hey.
How you doing?
Fine.
What do you want?
I needed your signature on some papers.
That's a waste of time.
I told the bank I'd have them back
first thing in the morning.
To refinance a place we're not gonna keep?
So if he's rich, you might change your mind.
Rose.
Rose, I'm sorry.
I'll drop it, okay?
Hi, mark.
Hi, rose.
Hi, Jen.
Can you explain
how it is that those dogs
are always dressed better than I am?
I bet you they have a charge account
over at Barney's.
Bergdorf's.
So what are you doing tonight?
I have to finish some reading.
The apartment's playing over at the Beekman.
Okay, well, I'll see you later.
Oh, come on.
It'll just be a couple of hours.
It'll be fun.
I can't. I have to read.
How many more chances
are you gonna get to see Jack Lemmon
strain spaghetti through a tennis racquet?
Hay, Tommas.
Estas mi--
you remember my daughter Christina.
Very nice to see you.
And these are my grandchildren,
Yvette and Carlitos.
We're going out to lunch.
Say hello to Mr. Pensara, children.
Hi.
Wait.
"First class."
And "handle with care."
Thank you.
What do we say?
Thank you.
Yvette, you're a pretty little girl,
but you will be a beautiful woman.
It's very nice to see you again.
And you.
Have a nice lunch.
My daughter, Christina,
she wants to take a trip to Puerto Rico,
and she wants to take the whole family.
It's just that I'm not sure
if I should join them.
I see new people coming into your life.
I see a new man coming into your life.
A new man.
En Puerto Rico, ay bendito, dios me libre.
Bonasera, Tommaso.
Buenos Dias, Isabel.
Dear Isabel,
I would like to have the pleasure of your company
for a performance of Beethoven's string quartets.
If you would like to join me,
please let me know at your earliest convenience.
Sincerely yours, Tommaso Pensara.
If business doesn't pick up, we're cooked.
The guy who invented the digital camera,
the number one reason
to repeal the assault weapon ban.
Yeah.
Mr. Sneider.
You like that, eh?
Hey, Simon, you finish your prints?
Yeah, and?
Yeah, well, at least you got a hobby.
And hobbies are good.
They keep you from going crazy
like me.
You're a funny kid, Simon.
You don't say much, do you?
Come on, Simon, let's play.
You lost some weight.
For real?
Mm-hmm.
You got to eat,
or you're gonna disappear
like Houdini.
You're crazy, mom.
Oh.
Ma, ma.
Oh, come on. It's terrible.
It's like a third eye.
Who is she?
Let me get those.
No, I want to know who she is.
Are you stalking her?
Well, that's perverted.
Why do you want to take pictures
of girls you don't know?
Instead of taking pictures of women,
why don't you try talking to one?
Since feeling is first,
who pays any attention to the syntax of things
will never wholly kiss you.
Kisses are a better fate
than wisdom.
The best gesture of my brain
is less than your eyelids' flutter.
Hm.
Life is not a paragraph,
and death, I think,
is no parentheses.
So, what do we make of this?
Becca.
I love it when he says,
"the best gesture of my brain
is less than your eyelids' flutter."
Why? He's kind of saying
we can miss out on life
if we intellectualize stuff too much.
Exactly, exactly.
He also goes on to say,
"kisses are a better fate than wisdom."
Right on.
Okay, how about the last line at the end,
"and death, I think, is no parentheses."
Well, what is a parentheses?
Sort of like a time-out.
Okay, so what Cummings is saying here
is that he's using the parentheses as a metaphor
to say that death actually is not a time-out,
that it's-- it's the end, final.
Okay, okay.
34th precinct.
Yes, I want to report a...
Yes?
I received some photos in the mail.
What kind of photos, ma'am?
Of me mostly and my husband.
I don't know what it is.
I don't really know what it is.
Someone's been following me.
What's your name?
Rose, rose Phipps.
What's your address, Mrs. Phipps?
251 west 83rd street, between Broadway and west end.
All right, hang on.
I'm gonna transfer you to officer Banda.
These were delivered to me yesterday.
They have your address on the back.
I wonder if you know who took them.
Excuse me for a minute.
Mr. Sneider, I think you better handle this.
He'll be with you in a minute.
Hi. Hi.
Simon.
Simon, could you come out in the front, please?
Come here, Simon.
This woman--
I'm sorry. I didn't get the name.
Rose Phipps.
Miss Phipps.
Miss Phipps says she got these photos.
She received them yesterday.
You know anything about them?
No.
We get a lot of orders here, miss Phipps.
I can't remember every one of them.
Can you look it up?
Uh, no, not without the order number.
I'm sorry.
Who would do this?
Well, forgive my forwardness,
miss Phipps, but you are
an extremely attractive woman.
Look, they were obviously developed here.
Are you sure you don't remember anything?
No, I...
No, nothing's coming.
Melanie?
Do you?
Well, maybe it's your boyfriend.
He's not my boyfriend.
How can he take the picture if he's in it?
Excuse me.
Miss Phipps,
can I talk to you for a moment?
Listen, miss Phipps,
I really don't want to have a problem over this.
Isn't there some way that we can resolve this situation
so that everybody goes home happy?
That's not necessary.
Simon, would you come with me, please?
I don't know what game you think you're playing, son,
but it stops right now.
I got enough problems with my business already.
Hey.
I don't want to make trouble for you,
but I want to know who took these photos.
It was a cold day.
You took them?
You followed me?
Wait.
Why?
I liked the scarf.
No, no, not really,
because he could hear the music in his head,
the rich, beautiful melodies,
each instrument,
the other strings, the wind, the percussion.
It's--it's like they were playing it
right in front of him.
No, what is sad is not a composer going deaf, no.
What is sad is a painter going blind.
You know, before today,
I had never been inside Lincoln center.
Never?
Paul and I always listened to music,
but we didn't go out much.
Paul didn't want to spend the money,
and with our girls, it was always,
you know, save, save, save.
I never had children so everything I saved
was for me.
Oh.
Have you ever been married?
No.
Tommas, you're a very cultured man.
Why do you work in a mail room?
Where should I work?
I don't know.
It just seems like an odd job
for somebody like you.
Well, I've been
with the agency for 15 years.
I make enough money.
I report to no one.
People leave me alone.
What else do I need?
Do you see what's happening?
Did you know that in his later years,
Goya became blind?
He used to touch his subjects' faces
with one hand and--
have you seen those paintings?
They're grotesque.
Well, Monet had cataracts when he did the water lilies.
We studied him during--
I'm not Monet, Dr. Phipps.
It doesn't matter.
No, it does matter.
Do you think future students
will care about why my work changed?
No one will study Tommaso Pensara, believe me.
Well, many artists are discovered
after their deaths.
Well, I'm almost there.
Don't say that.
Without my eyes,
my life is completely meaningless.
It's not.
Do you know what it's like to lose
the one thing that gives your life meaning?
Have you any idea?
Do you know what it's like to wake up each day
with the knowledge that your life has no meaning?
I lost my son.
I lost my son eight months ago.
He was almost two.
I'm sorry.
I was a boy when my father died.
When my parents' friends came over,
they would take me aside, and they would say,
"Tommaso, don't cry. Be strong."
But you know when they say "be strong,"
they mean "i don't want to hear about it."
It's a lot of bullshit if you ask me.
Hello, my darling.
What a night.
Let's dance.
Sometimes
I don't think you realize how much I love you.
Ma, ma, ma.
What's wrong with you?
Let's dance.
Mm.
Come on.
Dance with me.
You love me, don't you? Hm?
Mama.
Ma.
...se ha desarrollado de una manera fantastica...
Hi, Simon.
You want some of these?
Come on, they make you feel real good.
Man, why you so serious all the time?
You ever kissed a girl?
'Cause Melanie here, she says she gets hot
just fantasizing about you and shit.
Shut up, Ana.
Man, this is your chance.
It's okay.
I'll see you later.
Ooh, rock hard, man.
What is with you?
Hey, Mr. Phipps.
How are you, Karen?
Mark.
Hey.
Um, I'll be--
see you at the desk in a minute.
You should've called.
This is incredible.
Listen, my students are having a reading of their poetry,
and I was wondering if you'd like to come.
When is it?
Next week.
Is that what you came to talk about?
Oh, no, not only that.
I wanted to apologize for what I said to you
the other night after the movie.
I forgot what you said.
Rose, this is bullshit, okay?
I know that the last few months
have been very tough for you, and I just wanted--
you act like it something that's only happened to me.
I just want you to stop being so mad at me all the time.
Do you still cry?
Of course I do.
Because I cry every fucking night.
I know that.
How do you know?
Because I know you.
You think so?
If I don't, nobody does, right?
You're wrong.
Another guy?
Yeah.
When'd you meet him?
Just recently.
Is it serious?
Not really.
Have you slept with him?
No.
Do you plan to?
I don't know.
Hey.
You're home early.
Don't you got enough of me at night?
Rose is seeing somebody else.
Oh, mark, I'm so sorry.
I don't know what to do.
She's making
a big mistake.
Maybe.
What's that supposed to mean?
It's her life.
You think this is okay?
I don't know.
She's the one that's got to find out.
Find what out?
You want me to read your tarot?
No, Claire, I don't want you
to read my tarot or break out your Ouija board
or stick pins into a doll
or whatever the hell else it is
you friggin' people do.
That's not necessary.
That's my next appointment.
You want to know the truth, mark?
And this is just sister to brother talking.
You're really judgmental sometimes.
Is that right?
I'm just trying to be honest.
You take people's money to tell their future,
and you're gonna lecture me on honesty, huh?
Great.
Mark.
Hello. Can I help you?
Hi, I've been receiving
your catalogue every week.
And I just really wish that you would stop sending it to me.
What's the customer number?
It's highlighted in yellow on the back.
Kh789.
You've ordered a few products from us.
I don't think so.
The musical Cheshire cat?
Big Ruby gorilla.
The Mozart cube.
Stop. I know what I ordered.
Well, did your child like the toys?
He liked them a lot.
I just--i don't need them anymore.
I'll take you off the list.
Thank you.
Shit.
What's going on?
Come on, mark.
I'm really unhappy about this.
You're bringing a negative vibe into my space.
My wife's out there fucking some other guy,
but we should try and maintain
the positive vibes?
You know there's a price to pay
for your-- for your idea of happiness
in this bogus, idealized world you inhabit.
It's not bogus.
It's real.
And it's hard-earned.
So what am I supposed to do,
just kick back and relax
while rose is out there
enjoying her little escapade?
You know, I don't think this is about rose.
I never hear you talk about Casey.
Fuck off, Claire.
Is that how you talk to rose?
What could you possibly know about losing a child, eh?
I know more than you think.
You don't have any clue.
You have absolutely no clue.
I've had two miscarriages.
Not the same.
I wanted those babies.
They were fetuses, Claire.
Fetuses, okay?
Casey was two.
A living, breathing
little boy.
Can you grasp that?
Hi, this is rose.
Leave a message, and I'll call you back.
Rose, it's me.
Listen, you remember that time we drove down to Chesapeake?
What were we?
Must have been 24, 25.
And it started to pour so bad
we ducked into that little shoe store.
And you tried on these beautiful Italian sandals,
and I kept telling you that they were too expensive.
You looked absolutely beautiful in those sandals.
And I never told you that.
I miss you, baby.
I miss the two of you
so much.
I'm sorry I ever blamed you.
I'm so sorry.
Just a moment.
Isabel.
I brought you the chicken sandwich.
And senor Vargas is here for a client,
and those were left over.
Grazie.
Can i--
sit with you a while while you eat?
Busy.
Que Paso?
A bad day, I guess.
Thank you.
She works in my office.
Does she know what's going on with you?
She's from Puerto Rico.
Does she know what's happening to you, Mr. Pensara?
Do you remember meeting
your husband's family for the first time?
Did they accept you immediately?
Yes.
You hesitated.
I was thinking.
Don't try to protect me.
I'm not.
They didn't like you?
No, they liked me very much.
I don't believe you.
Mr. Pensara,
I asked if you told your friend Isabel
about what's happening to you.
I guess she has some idea.
You guess?
Do you think it'll change her opinion of me?
Probably not.
And when her family finds out?
You act like this is
the first time you've ever fallen in love.
Mamita.
Extender up.
Here. Here we go.
Isabel, te bordaste con la comida.
It's delicious.
Christina made the chicken.
That's good. It's very good.
You like it, Tommaso?
Oh, it's good.
Oh, good.
When did you come here, Tommas?
1958.
Oh, that was a long time ago.
It wasn't that long ago, Christina.
No, I didn't--
you didn't?
I had to get away from my family.
Why?
My father was a colonel in the army,
and he told me
that he was not a good person.
He had done bad things.
What kind of things?
Oh.
Go to the den, sweetie.
No.
Ay!
Carlitos.
Go on, Tommas.
Well, he told me he had been responsible
for the death of innocent people,
that he had tortured them.
How old were you?
15.
He had been sick for a couple of days,
and--and as I sat there beside him,
he pulled out a gun.
I wasn't really scared.
My father loved me very much.
What did he do?
He pointed the gun inside his mouth
and shot himself.
Oh, no.
I ran around the house, the patio
many, many times
until I was sweating and then sweating
and sweating.
You were just a boy.
My God, Tommas,
that's--that's a hellish story.
Well, you asked me why I had left home.
Tommaso,
to life.
You are a very interesting man.
Not really.
No, really.
I--i admire you.
Te gusta la leche. Me gusta El cafe.
No mas me gustan Los ojos de usted.
You make me feel so wonderful, really.
Don't stop.
I'm rose.
Simon.
I remember.
Why did you follow me here?
I don't know.
What do you want?
What did you think would happen?
Who was the man I saw you with?
He's my husband.
Don't worry; We're separated.
Do you want something to drink?
I could get you soda.
Do you want a beer?
No.
I'm gonna have a beer.
How old are you?
20.
Have you ever been with a woman?
Do you want to try again?
Hit me.
Did you hear me?
No.
Hit me.
I can't do that.
Yes, you can.
Hit me!
Hit me, Simon.
Harder.
Tell me I'm a bad mother.
No.
Bad mother.
Please leave.
Where were you last night?
You're just like your father.
Ma!
If you're not gonna help me, then get out.
This is ridiculous.
I'll have to leave eventually.
Either I will or you will
because you'll get caught helping me.
I'll be fine.
Carlitos asked me if he would be seeing you again,
and I said yes.
Was that a good idea?
I don't know, Isabel.
What did you feel when we kissed?
I felt happy.
You seem uncertain.
I'm not uncertain.
My heart raced.
Did yours?
I don't know.
You don't remember?
No, I remember.
I'll always remember.
Uh, meet me
after work in the park,
and we'll discuss it then.
Peter's poem clearly illustrates the use of metaphor.
How's it going with your friend Isabel?
It doesn't seem to be working out.
I'm sorry to hear that.
It's okay.
We weren't right for each other.
Sometimes that's hard to tell.
Um, read the top line.
H, c, a, g.
How long have you been married?
Six years.
What's a typical evening like?
My husband and I are separated.
Do you miss him?
Sometimes.
I--I bought a cane.
That's good.
That will help you.
About Isabel, can I ask you a question?
Yes.
Can you imagine your life without her?
Before or after this happened?
I guess there's only the present.
This is a wide-angle lens.
Please don't break it, Simon.
I appeal to the stars.
My heart peeled loose in the wind.
Oh, damn it.
Excuse me, sir?
What is it?
What do you want?
Do you need help?
Leave me alone.
Excuse me, please.
Yeah, yeah?
I need to get to the m-train to queens.
Like, I'm going to booth street.
Um, you got to take the 1-train to Times Square.
But you got to get on the other side.
Can you help me?
Yeah.
Yeah, come on.
It's this way.
What's your name?
Simon.
What about you?
Simon. My name is Tommaso, Simon.
Tommas. What is that?
Thank you. Tommaso is an Italian name.
Italian.
What, but you got a really thick New York accent.
I've been in New York since a long time now.
A long time.
I'm going to see my friend, Isabel.