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Produced by Fuji Television Network Kadokawa Shoten Publishing & Toho
Official Film for Italy in Japan 2001 Foundation
Original Story by Kaori Ekuni & Hitonari Tsuji
Will you go there with me someday?
When?
Let's say...
...ten years from now.
Will you promise to do that, Junsei?
I will. I promise.
Twixt Calm & Passion
Spring 1994
The record rainfalls in 1 966 quickly flooded the Arno River
and all the historic areas of Florence.
Damaging numerous, irreplaceable works of art.
Paintings, sculpture, furniture, textiles, books,
and precious art stored in galleries and storerooms.
To save them,
we developed and mastered
new restoration techniques.
The entire city turned into a restoration studio.
It was a revolution in the craft of fine art restoration.
That pride and spirit have been passed on down to us.
Florence remains the most important center of
fine art restoration in the entire world.
Our mission, to resurrect historical pieces.
Our experts devote themselves to their work.
Often spending an incredible amount of time on one piece.
Let's take a look at it.
It's been a while.
Completed.
Wonderful.
Let me introduce my disciple Massimo.
You did a good job.
This one was greatly damaged.
He is an expert in water painting.
He colored it with complete skill.
It was damaged by dampness.
It took five years to finish it up.
I went to Italy to study art restoration.
I was twenty-three years old.
I'll use this gesso.
Okay.
I went to one of the leading studios in Florence.
For three years I studied as a trainee.
Some of the world's leading experts worked there.
Our teacher, Giovanna, was one.
She was an expert on oil painting restoration.
I managed to pass a few of the qualification exams.
Mostly due to Giovanna's teaching.
You added gesso?
Yes, I added it all.
Occasionally, Giovanna used me as a model for her work.
That first time, I was quite flustered.
All?
Take it all off?
All of it? Every stitch?
Completely nude?
I asked her three times, to make sure.
Everything...even my underwear.
The fourth time, I acquiesced.
Don't move.
Giovanna seemed to always
work on her drawings in silence.
I kept quiet and soaked up
the atmosphere of serene time and space.
To me, Giovanna was like a mother.
My mother died when I was young.
Her studio was always warm.
Giovanna's favorite perfume
exuded the gentle fragrance of the iris.
You're in a church.
Aoi.
- Take it away. - Not yet.
I want veal in tomato sauce and pasta.
Tell him no beans in the pasta.
No white beans, please.
Just translate.
Everything's fine, thanks.
You're always angry.
Who's Aoi?
You called her name in bed last night.
I apologized, didn't I?
My name is Memi. Who the hell is she?
Why ask?
It's nothing to do with you.
I'm sorry. Look, I apologize.
Waiter!
More wine here!
Memi is studying at a language school here.
Her roommate also attends the same school.
Those two facts are all I know about her.
In my heart...
...there's a woman...
...one I can never forget.
Spring 1997
Aoi.
That's her name.
As for me,
for all these years,
I could never...
...forget her.
You majored in Japanese literature in Japan, didn't you?
Right.
So this is not your field.
Morning.
How did you win Giovanna's favor?
What's that mean?
You should know.
Did you bed her?
Bed? A bed of sushi? I like it raw.
I heard that she is thinking about
getting Junsei to work on the Cigoli painting.
What?
That's great. Congratulations.
What's up?
Junsei's in charge of Cigoli.
It was painted in 1 61 0.
The owner is a private collector.
You want me to work on it by myself?
You don't feel up to it?
It's not that...
I do. I'd really like to do it.
What do you think?
It's good work.
Want me to get you something?
No, thanks.
I'll be back soon.
Alright.
Thank you.
Do a good job.
First, I worked on the surface.
I felt as if my soul, and the artist's, became as one.
Almost a sacred feeling as if my soul was being cleansed.
You know Lodovico Cigoli, don't you?
Back in Tokyo I showed you a print of his.
I'll finish it soon.
It's been three years.
How have you been?
Hey, Takashi.
What's wrong with you?
This girl called Kana is exquisite.
I quite fancy her.
She told me to ''take care'' when I left Japan.
It's just crap talk.
What's with you?
Well, yesterday in Milan...
...I met Aoi.
Here. This is where she works.
It's a jewelry shop.
She's been there three years.
You knew all along?
Don't be snotty.
No, give it back.
Forget I said it.
Don't do that.
Leave it there.
I should never have even considered telling you.
She gave it to me just as I was leaving.
She never said to give it to you.
But after all,
I was there when you split up.
I can't forgive you.
I want you out.
Now, I said!
Looking for a present?
Not really.
Actually, yes. A birthday present.
I see.
When is it?
May 25th.
Too late, that was last week.
Is it a present for your girlfriend?
Let me choose something for you.
How about this?
The color is very appealing.
I was wondering if she is...
''Marvin Lai Milan Branch Director''
Please.
It's from the Piedmont region.
It's been a while.
I asked at the jewelers.
He's recent, she's totally besotted.
I'll take them.
Wait here please.
Sorry, but I'll get going.
Did you invite me to see the painting
or to show off your new boyfriend?
Anyway, it was a mistake to come.
From what Takashi said, I thought you still felt hurt.
How come?
I'm just fine.
The past is all forgotten.
I'm happy now.
Junsei. Where have you been?
The police came looking for you.
The police?
You can't enter.
Are you Junsei Agata?
How did this happen?
Are you Junsei Agata?
No...
It wasn't me.
You must make a statement.
But it wasn't me!
No.
I didn't do it.
Let me go.
Who the hell was it?
Which one of you did this?
I'll take you back soon.
You know my roommate? She's found a new boyfriend.
An Italian guy, he works at a gym.
They fuck every night, he has to smother her cries.
You don't need me, do you?
It's obviously someone
with a grudge against Junsei.
A grudge?
Think about it.
It wasn't a robbery, nothing's missing. Junsei's Cigoli is the only damage.
Then someone must really hate you.
Takanashi, you found it.
Using my surname? Mind your manners.
You framed me up.
Did I now?
You were out partying, you screwed up!
The mass media jumped all over the story.
The studio lost its good reputation.
The police had no suspects.
Since it wouldn't be solved anytime soon,
the police closed us down until further notice.
I don't care if we never find out.
That way there's no one to resent.
Yes, but still...
This city just seems to get more and more rundown.
No matter how hard we work, we can't keep up.
The people of Florence all live in the past.
The only work here is
in restoration and tourism.
Don't let hate destroy you.
You have a future.
Some future.
Giovanna decided to take a sabbatical.
A rare chance to take a long holiday, she said.
Then she smiled.
I lost my job.
Unlike my colleagues,
I didn't want to go to another studio.
I couldn't see a future for me in this town.
Take care!
I gave my bike to Memi's friend.
I moved out of my apartment.
I went back to Japan.
Spring 1998
Junsei, I'm coming in.
I took Kana to Hakone.
She's a good girl.
Hi...
Is this that Aoi?
Yes, that's her.
Who are you?
If you're going to be taking it easy,
why not try a tempera?
I don't have the talent.
Yes, you have.
You just want me to do what my father didn't.
Does he ever visit, grandpa?
Sometimes he does.
For more money?
Nothing's changed.
Is the studio closing the only reason you came back?
Is that what made you run away from Italy?
I'm happy now.
The past is all forgotten.
A letter for you, Aoi.
- Thank you. - You're welcome.
He's stable.
Do you have Uncle's number in Kashiwazaki?
I called Auntie, but we'd better let Uncle know.
No, I haven't called Dad yet.
No point calling him.
Too early for the inheritance.
He's out of danger.
That's good news.
You, too. You're looking well.
I'm relieved.
Come on, Asami.
Your son is really cute.
He takes after me.
Why can't I cook for you?
Mind your own business. Stop hanging around.
You should talk!
I quit school and left Italy just for you.
Who asked you?
Don't blame me for everything.
So you don't care what I do?
Get pregnant and have an abortion?
I'm not like Aoi.
Who told you?
She aborted your baby.
Who told you?
That friend of yours. He told me.
She's a good girl.
She's trying to understand your past, that's why I told her.
You shouldn't have blabbed.
I didn't tell her everything.
I didn't tell her about your dad, or the details of you and Aoi.
Nor how you and Aoi spoke with your minds.
That's silly.
But you two were so close.
A good lesson for me.
Too much love can sometimes spoil it.
You never end up with your true love.
So Aoi is...
...she's happy in Milan, isn't she?
See you.
Thanks for the meal.
Memi, isn't it? Say hello for me.
Is Kana your second choice?
No, she's top of my list.
Sorry about that.
Goodbye.
Hey, Takashi.
What was that about my dad?
About him offering cash.
What cash?
To Aoi.
Didn't you know?
You're a sensible girl. I'm relieved.
How come?
Why didn't you tell me?
It's my problem, not yours.
I can't forgive you.
I can never forgive you.
I want you out.
Now I said!
Get out now!
An induced miscarriage.
The baby wouldn't have survived, anyway.
You?
Hi there.
Hello.
We just dropped by.
You must be Kana.
I'm Aihara, general affairs.
Why don't you go in?
I'll have the new will delivered to you here.
Fine.
Thank you for coming.
Asami, you too.
Thank you.
Are you satisfied now?
Remember your friend, Mr Tazaki?
His paintings soared in value soon after he died.
I bet his family is clawing over the inheritance right now.
This way we're spared any ugly disputes.
As for impregnating young females,
it's all taken care of.
See you later.
Hey, Junsei.
What did you say to Aoi?
She's not that kind of girl.
You insulted her!
Apologize!
Apologize.
Say you're sorry.
That's enough.
You apologize.
Stop that!
Apologize.
Spring 1999
Dear Aoi...
Forgive me for writing out of the blue.
This will probably be the first
and the last long letter I write you.
I'm at the apartment in Tokyo.
I ran away from Florence. Yes, I ran away.
I came back to Japan.
I went to Shimokitazawa today.
The place where I first met you.
Spring 1990
Hey chief.
Ten yen?
It's only ten yen?
This would cause a riot in Asia.
Hey. Is that any good?
That's really great.
- I've never heard it. - Me, neither.
That's how we met.
In that shop, in that town.
Just a quick passing, no words exchanged.
Why do I remember it so vividly?
It's yours.
When I saw you the next time, you looked a little wary.
But I was a regular visitor to the museum.
I already knew they'd hired a new receptionist.
She was part-time.
She went to my alma mater, but a different discipline.
One more thing.
I found out that she was always alone.
And I knew it.
The kind who doesn't mind being by herself.
I thought you were a very strong person.
But the reality was quite different.
You were lonely, craving for company.
At the same time, so stubborn and unyielding.
What could I do?
You lent me an umbrella.
Not this one.
- It's a present. - Don't want it.
Why not?
I don't want it.
At the time, we were both only nineteen.
We were so young and immature.
But I wonder why we had to be so nervous.
The first phone call from you.
Our first date.
The coffee shop where we met.
The first film we saw.
If I found music or a book I liked, I told you before anyone else.
We talked about so many things.
You told me about your childhood.
Your father was Japanese.
That's why you have a Japanese name, Aoi.
But he died when you were young.
After your mother remarried, you found it hard
adjusting to a new family.
You'd been alone for a long time.
And then you came to Japan to study.
Looking for a place to belong to, you said.
Please.
Come in. You need slippers.
Will you have something? How about coffee?
Or perhaps a cold drink?
Grandpa used this place as his studio.
That's mine.
This one, too?
I stopped halfway through that one, too.
Ice. Where's the ice?
Here it is.
It's still hot. Just wait.
Those ones, too?
They are Grandpa's.
I'm going home.
I'm leaving.
That first time you came to my place,
I couldn't sleep all night thinking about you.
All that we shared back then remains unchanged.
That's what I believed.
But the coffee shop we used to meet at
was torn down and replaced by a new building.
The secondhand record shop
is no longer there, either.
They moved to another town.
Do you still remember?
The courtyard at the university
where we used to hang around?
The cello player who practiced there?
Always playing the same piece.
Always getting stuck at the same point.
We used to giggle at his squeaky efforts.
We really did.
He was playing when we kissed for the first time.
Darling Aoi...
Now I've forgotten how the tune goes.
Incoherent bits of old episodes.
Yes, it's just some old story from the past.
Thank you for reading this.
I'm embarrassed at how childish I was
when I saw you in Milan.
Now I'm ashamed of it.
Forgive me.
Please give my best regards to Marve.
Please take care of yourself.
Hello, Agata speaking.
Hello?
Aoi?
At last...
...I'm glad you're happy now.
To Aoi, far away in Milan.
Now I'm living a completely separate life.
From Junsei.
Yes. Hello?
Junsei.
Angelo?
Listen.
Last night, Giovanna...
...no one knows why she killed herself.
We'll hold a service at the studio.
Junsei?
I can cancel the wedding now.
Ciao. See you.
Junsei.
So you came?
I'm at another studio.
Takanashi teaches restoration, he's an impossibly strict teacher.
Giovanna would be pleased.
She felt you had talent.
I should tell you.
The painting was damaged...
...by Giovanna.
She did it soon after you left.
What are you doing?
Stop it!
Stop!
Stop that!
Let me go!
Others saw her, too.
But everyone kept quiet.
We wanted to protect the studio by protecting Giovanna.
But in the end, it was shut down, anyway.
The reason I never told you...
...was because I was jealous of you.
Just like Giovanna.
Jealous of your talent.
No, not just your talent.
It's that straightforward earnestness about you.
I hate dealing with that.
I'm awkward, that's all.
I wish life was easier for me.
You're doing it again. It upsets me.
Maybe Giovanna was in love with you.
I hear the studio's going to reopen.
Next spring.
Spring 2000
Junsei, open up. You're there, aren't you?
Open the door.
Sorry, I was in the middle of breaking up.
With Aihara?
No, Eriko from sales.
Junsei said he has something to tell me.
What's going on?
I only found out yesterday.
What does it mean?
You're going back to restoration?
Restoration is...
...giving life to something that's dying.
It's the only profession that lets you bring back the past.
That's what convinced me.
So you won't be a painter?
You're too wrapped up in restoration.
You suck.
Wait.
Just wait.
Let me go! You don't even care about me.
Calm down.
I'll go back to Italy to start over again in restoration.
You're a liar! All lies!
On my own, this time.
I've long waited
for the day when you would see only me.
What the hell was I to you?
- I Thank you. - Stop it!
Don't pity me or apologize.
That's not what I want to hear.
What I really want to hear is...
...what am I to you?
What am I to you, Junsei?
All I want to know is...
Why not?
Why can't I be the one?
Tell me why!
Because I love only Aoi.
I tried to forget her.
I tried to take you in.
But I...
...I still love Aoi.
Even if I never see her again.
I will...
...I will always love her.
She was a good girl.
She said now she could finally let go,
because you told her the truth.
Goodbye, you fool, she said.
You poor soul.
No luck with your first or second love.
And you? Still chasing that girl at work?
She's here now.
Kana, from the secretariat.
I was about to chase another.
Do your best.
See you.
It's that string quartet again...
A man stopped by to see you just now.
- Thank you. - See you.
Goodbye.
A long time ago a boyfriend asked me to go with him.
But I'd just started this shop and I thought I belonged here.
I don't want you to end up regretting like I did.
The place where you belong can only be found in your heart.
Spring 2001
This studio was closed down because of that matter we call
''The Tragedy of Cigoli.''
But in the short space of one year
it has been successfully reborn, as you can see.
It's all due to the skills of our talented restoration experts.
This was found in an old church.
The condition was poor and the damage was extensive.
Did you work on it?
They said I couldn't do it, but I begged them.
Excuse me.
It was the Cigoli's masterpiece.
This past year, coming face to face with the work again,
I attempted my own rebirth.
I...
...so many times I had to rescue myself from my feelings.
Aoi.
I wonder if you've already forgotten...
...the promise we made.
Junsei, do you know...
...this old saying?
Will you go there with me someday?
The Duomo in Florence?
Yes.
When?
Far in the future.
When will that be?
Maybe, ten years from now.
In ten years,
we'll both be in our thirties.
The twenty first century.
Are you serious?
We'll be unchanged, we'll still be together.
Then Junsei, will you promise me?
Let's make it on my 30th birthday,
at the Duomo in Florence.
Alright. I promise.
How is he?
Marve, I mean.
He's back in Los Angeles.
With you?
Since when?
Two years ago.
You came all this way?
I don't know what to say.
I didn't make plans for after this.
I doubted it would happen.
I thought I'd wait all day in vain.
That was okay.
So I'm at a loss.
I never expected you'd come.
You're in a bind.
I'm just confused.
Do you understand what I mean?
But I remembered.
I never forgot.
When do you leave?
Tomorrow morning.
Then let's go and eat.
Maybe a drink.
I have something to show you.
Come with me.
Surprised?
I'm...
...I thought to myself...
...it was a miracle.
A message from God.
Like an illusion.
A glitch in time.
Caught up in the illusion,
we loved each other passionately.
Trying to reassure ourselves.
Trying to make up for all the missing time.
It's alright. You can take the day off.
Enjoy yourself.
No, I'm coming.
Sorry for not calling sooner.
See you later.
Here's your coffee.
Look, I have to go now.
I'm leaving.
I'll see you off.
I want to.
Goodbye.
Now I wish we hadn't.
That stupid promise.
Be happy.
Thank you.
Take care.
I'm glad we did.
I wanted to, Junsei.
I'm so glad we met.
Farewell.
Hey.
Did you enjoy it?
You were asked to play it?
Your girl asked me to.
Last year she asked me to come and play it.
''Next time, play it in Florence,'' she said.
Last year?
In Milan,
at the square.
She's in Milan?
Thank you!
Sorry.
The Milan train?
It just left.
If you take the next Eurostar,
you'll be there 15 minutes before the one that just left.
Miracles don't usually happen so easily.
The only miracle for me was
that you were waiting for me.
You stayed so calm.
What can I say to you?
How can we mend
the blank between us?
Should we even try?
Not by reliving the past.
Not just hoping for the future.
The present is all we have.
My dear Aoi,
those sad, lonely eyes...
...if I find myself in there...
...then...
...you and I...
...we'll be...
Yutaka Takenouchi
Kelly Chen
Screenplay by Fumie Mizuhashi
Music by ENYA
Produced by Fuji Television Network Kadokawa Shoten Publishing & Toho
Directed by Isamu Nakae