What We Wanted to Be (2024) Movie Script
It was the fall of 1998.
In a downtown cinema,
they were showing on Thursdays
that Hollywood cycle of classics.
And, of course, I wouldn't miss
a single one of those old films.
A light?
Oh, if you're so kind.
Thanks.
How I needed this!
Nothing beats
this damn vice.
I mean watching
a movie like this.
Did you like it?
A master,
this Howard Hawks...
First time?
That I've seen it?
I caught some
part when I was a kid
on TV, but I didn't get it...
because they talk too fast.
And you?
I know it by heart.
Still, I always discover something new.
Sorry.
Thanks.
I would have liked
to see it for the first time.
For you,
it wouldn't have been the same
knowing the surprise
ending, right?
Well... no...
Actually, no.
The surprise ending was in the one
they showed last week.
Which one did they show?
That one over there.
Ah, "Witness for the Prosecution."
What a great film. I missed it.
I never suspected for a moment
that she was the same woman.
Dietrich tricks you.
A total genius.
Even her voice changed.
Different accents.
Did you notice?
Even though she's German
and English isn't her first language.
German like the director.
They were close friends
with Billy Wilder.
It shows they had a blast filming.
Well, it was a pleasure to discuss it
with someone while it's still fresh.
We turned onto Corrientes
Avenue, discussing what we'd seen
together but separately.
We crossed 9 de Julio, recalling stories
in black and white, except ours.
WHAT WE WANTED TO BE
-Good evening, how are you?
Very well, thank you.
Dinner or just drinks?
Just a drink.
What are you thinking?
Nice place, huh? Classy.
Must be expensive.
Leave it, my treat.
-It's not necessary.
-No, I'm serious.
I went out without money,
but I can handle a couple of drinks.
Stop checking and order
whatever you want.
What were we talking about?
I was telling you that
the other day I read that...
some actors don't have
a personality in real life.
Really? You don't say.
They say they spend their time being others
until they forget about themselves.
Really? Is that so?
Look, without going
further, Dietrich, for example,
in "Witness"
how she transforms, right?
What's more, into two women at once.
They say in real life,
that crazy one had quite a personality.
And why crazy?
She slept with every
actor she worked with.
There you have. Every role
turned her into another woman.
We're all a bit like that.
What do you mean?
Actors.
They need to
please their audience, right?
We cater to ours.
To family...
Friends... Any other type of relationship.
Ah.
I don't understand.
That we choose to
be what they ask of us...
out of fear of being alone.
What did you want to be
when you were a kid?
-Me?
-Yeah.
-As a kid?
-Remember?
I don't know
I wanted to be so many things...
Something must have
won over everything, right?
Astronaut.
And what happened?
What do you mean
what happened?
Your parents didn't let you?
Are you kidding me?
Are you blaming being
born here, in this country?
Well of course,
it had an impact.
Look at how many
years have passed.
We don't have a single
Argentine astronaut.
What do you mean, none?
Seriously. I'm a space fan.
There isn't any.
And you, then?
Me what?
No, forget it.
I must be confused.
I thought I saw you
in the newspapers.
-Good evening.
-Good evening.
What will you have?
For me, a tea and
a toasted sandwich, please.
Sir?
They're talking to you.
Yes, bring me a whiskey.
-Which one do you prefer?
-A vernacular one.
An Old Smuggler.
White label?
Do you sell it?
-With or without ice?
-With.
Can I change the tea
for the same?
-Is the sandwich still on?
-Yes.
Where did you study to
become an astronaut?
I studied by mail.
Interesting, by mail.
I found the ad in a magazine.
-"Isidoro"?
-No, "Lupin."
Sure, they had those
kind of ads in those magazines.
"Study Astronautics,
the profession of the future."
"48 lessons."
My family never found out.
Afraid they'd forbid you.
Deep down, I was afraid
the course was a scam...
Sure. Space travel
was in its infancy, right?
And I was so young that I had a hard
time completing the exams.
Did you return them by mail?
Every week. With the return address
of a schoolmate.
-What grade?
-Fourth, afternoon shift.
-Did you graduate?
-Yes.
With the best grades.
But then...
the institute closed because
NASA raised objections.
Oh, really?
The last envelopes were
all arriving opened.
I suspect they thought there was
some Russian involvement and...
they were afraid that
once graduated, we could be
recruited as cosmonauts.
Well. Now you say it...
But let me tell you something.
Not even if they had offered me a trip
to Mars, I'd have moved to Russia.
You weren't a fan of communism.
Besides, there was the language issue. I
had just started learning English
with The Beatles' songs.
Imagine me trying to talk
that language. It was...
Thank you.
Here's to...
...our dreams.
Before we continue
telling each other stories,
we should agree on some rules.
-Do you think? -I like
rules. -Are you sure?
Yes, I had to follow so many
to avoid crashing with the capsule.
Then you tell me
which planets you visited.
No, not planets.
I mostly orbited...
Let me tell you what
I've been thinking.
I'm listening.
You don't have to play
along if you don't agree.
Play or Stop?
Sure, go ahead.
Tell me, and let's see.
Do you realize that...
...we haven't even said our names?
Oh! Bad!
What's your name?
Shut up.
-What did I say now?
-I almost believed you're an astronaut.
I mean, don't tell me
your real name.
In any case, make up one
that will convince me.
American or Russian? Can
it be Neil or Yuri?
Yuri! Yuri...
Commander Yuri.
Well, then I'm going to be called...
...Irene.
I love it.
My second-grade teacher...
-Don't tell me!
-What did I say now?
We are two complete strangers, Yuri.
Do you see that between us
we could be...
what we always wanted
without anyone holding us back?
Take it, if you want, I'm not
going to eat it all.
Tell me more.
But to stop being what was always
expected from us, first...
Bye to the past. Bye to...
...details.
No teacher's name,
nor parents', nor if we have...
children, if we're married,
what neighborhood we're from.
I think I get it.
And? What do you think?
I'm in.
I hope I don't mess it up.
Sure?
Let's try.
So, we agree on not
being the everyday us?
Why not?
At first, I kind of regretted
pretending to be an astronaut.
I should have chosen
something less fantastic
from all the things I
dreamed of as a kid.
For example, a forest ranger.
Or one of those divers
with Captain Cousteau.
But well, that was the first
thing that came to mind.
And off to fly.
Oh, you scared me.
Why are you up so early?
I didn't go to college. I stayed
reviewing for tomorrow's exam.
How's that going?
It's all figured out.
The curtain guy came!
As soon as you left. The janitor
let him in. Caught me naked.
Oh, I forgot they were
installing them today.
Do you like them, Seba?
Yes or no?
It's your thing.
Why do you say that?
For me, let it all be seen.
Or maybe nothing at all.
I don't understand
why you keep at it.
How are you, Mom?
I felt great all day.
See, going out at night
did you good.
You were right.
Where did you go?
I went to a cinema.
-Alone?
What did you see?
One of those oldies I like.
Long?
Why?
You came back late.
Are you checking up on me? Huh?
I worried...
Then I went to a bar.
I didn't realize how late it was.
Otherwise, you'd be going for a
William Gibson or writers like that.
I believe, honestly, that an
Algis Budrys would suit you perfectly.
If not, take something
by Robert Silverberg.
The one where Dr. Hawksbill
builds a time machine.
Nothing to do with Wells'.
Isn't that too much
for his age, Beto?
Please, Mabel...
Today's kids know
more about this than we do.
Am I lying, kiddo?
Well, maybe I got
a little carried away.
Still, it's always good
to buy them things for older ages.
Just like with clothes.
Suddenly, you dress them on Monday
to go to school and nothing fits.
That? Is it the Titanic?
This one here would
be its little brother.
Did all that fit inside?
Come here, get closer,
and I'll show you.
Look.
Down here are the cabins,
the kitchen, the engine room.
Is this a movie theater?
Of course.
They showed all in black and white.
Yes.
All in black and white.
And you, Irene?
What do you do?
Writer.
Novels?
Didn't you recognize me?
-Irene, what's your name?
-Irene Singer.
No, I can't believe it.
Really? The best-seller of the moment!
No, of course, of course.
Pleasure to meet you, Commander.
I'm blown away!
And have you read
anything by me?
Have I read?
Here's a huge fan!
And which of my novels, for example?
-"Another Woman".
-That one.
That novel is a masterpiece.
Really? Did you like it that much?
It pierced me.
It left me feeling dirty when I read it.
Feeling dirty?
And I also really liked your latest one,
I can't remember the name.
The one with the blind housewife?
Poor woman...
What suffering, right?
The husband cheats on her
and she doesn't see anything.
Terrible. Honestly, terrible,
yes. It's tough, huh?
To me... Yes, yes.
I read it in one go,
on a trial trip.
That's dangerous, man.
No, why?
No, because it goes on autopilot.
Oh, thank goodness.
For your work.
For our outer space.
What a coincidence, huh?
...where we ended up meeting.
I don't know if it's
such a coincidence.
We chose the same movie,
black and white,
in an empty theater.
I kept thinking
about what you said the other day.
About which nonsense?
Let me see.
No, no, no. No nonsense.
About how, at some point,
we do nothing but act for others.
Even though we never
touched each other, or even
used our real names, surely
at some point, they must have
thought of us as a couple in there.
The Brighton became the perfect set
to become what we always wanted.
Handsome.
We exchanged news
from made-up worlds.
We didn't even mention
if we had a partner.
And so with everything outside
the perimeter of those tables.
Autumn, winter, yes.
Around half past eight.
A bit earlier?
-No, it's difficult because I close
the shop at eight and... -No, Yuri!
-What's wrong?
-Don't tell me.
Oh, what an idiot...
Winter, then...
No, it's fine.
I can handle it 'cause I'll talk
to the guys in the space lab.
-Sure?
-Yes. I have to look into it.
Well, I'll let you know too
if I have to present
some book or make
a quick getaway to Paris,
for writing seminars.
Perfect.
No, no, no...
Don't you feel sorry?
What should make me feel sorry?
Bouncing back unread novels.
Not at all!
Thanks to that, we eat.
Happiness?
Does it bring me happiness?
Look. Sometimes, when I notice
they want to act smart,
like this guy, for example...
-What?
-Nothing.
He has nothing to say,
and he puffs himself up imitating style.
He wants to be a Joyce.
He thinks he can turn any
lousy sunset into a whole life.
And he fails miserably.
I don't know, read it yourself,
see if you agree.
Well, poor thing.
Maybe...
he's just starting.
He'll see sooner or later
that he has no talent.
Can you explain this sudden
outburst of compassion for humanity?
Leave it, I understand myself.
Anyway, I don't mind
that you think that way.
It took you time to understand
that you weren't born to be a writer.
Me? I never said that!
Yes, you did.
No, maybe I let it slip, kid.
You want or do you dont want to tell
others what you come up with.
Or what happens to you.
Well, you get what I mean, right?
In any case, I passed you
more than one gene.
-Me. -And why do you
study literature, then?
Here, read.
From the beginning.
I met someone.
A guy?
A gentleman.
Where?
No, it doesn't matter.
Of your age?
Yes, old like me.
What does he do?
He's an as... astrophysicist.
Oh, really?
What's wrong?
Can he handle the telescope?
No, that's it, enough. I'm not
telling you anything else. Done.
Don't get mad, mom.
Come on, I'm kidding.
-What?
-Tell me, I want to know.
-Sure you want to know?
-Yes, I'm sure.
I suspected something anyway.
What? What did you suspect?
Come on, Sherlock Holmes,
change your face,
I'm not telling you
anything else. Enough!
What do you want?
You never went out
and suddenly, on Thursdays,
you come back at any hour.
Yesterday we met
for the third time.
Oh... Well...
-In American terms, you're a couple.
-Oh, see! Okay. Enough.
-Come on, come on.
-No, it's over.
-It was a joke.
-It's over.
Give me the remote.
Come on, come on.
I swear I'll be quiet.
-Enough.
-I don't even ask if you fell in love.
Over.
Go to your room.
Go to your room.
Read...
Take it and read.
Just a little joke.
Enough.
Astrophysicist.
Enough, I told you.
Mind you, from time to time
she also put her foot in it.
Like when I cut myself and appeared
one of our Thursdays with a bandaged hand.
What happened to your hand?
You can't ask me that.
Sorry. I didn't realize.
How are you?
I got distracted cause the new
novel is driving me crazy.
It's over.
-Let's change the subject.
-Yes, better.
A white label for the gentleman.
-Can I order one for you? One for her.
I accept it, sir.
-What are you doing?
-Just in case.
Don't go around guessing
the rouge's brand.
I can see you scouring the
perfumeries to find out where I live.
It's not that serious.
You felt bad about the hand.
Which hand?
We're crazy, Yuri.
No. It's reality. Every time
it gets involved, we fight.
Isn't it too late
to be ourselves?
No. We have to let it go by.
Something of ours
will always come up.
Can I put it up?
Are you hiding the hand?
Come on.
Now, how stupid.
I could have just said
"I cut myself" and that's it.
Without making such a fuss.
Moreover, I cut myself with glass.
Did they give you a tetanus shot?
What are you asking me!
I always keep it up to date
the tetanus shot.
- Hazards of the trade, right?
- Yes, well.
With so much machinery
around you can get hurt, right?
Right.
My ass is full of craters.
Poor thing.
- It looks like the moon.
- I can imagine.
- Do you want me to show you?
- No. Enough, Commander!
Another time, please!
Speaking of having a good time,
there's something I've wanted
to ask you for a while.
I'm listening.
The two of us...
are...
forbidden to fall in love, right?
I don't know, Yuri...
What do you say?
I'm asking
because you invented the game.
Why should we think
about that so soon?
Soon? It's been
like three months...
Well, you say it like
it's such a long time.
Well, okay.
No, it's fine, it's fine.
You're right.
Forget it.
No, I don't know if I'm right,
but put yourself in my place.
I do, I do, I do.
I don't think I can bear it.
What? Falling in love?
I mean waiting for you down here,
while you're spinning up there.
-I'm retired anyway.
-Don't sell me that crap.
No, I'm serious.
Can I tell you my age?
-Or is that also forbidden?
-You can. I would never.
On the 15th of this month, I turn 53.
On the 15th?
Yes.
Look at that.
-You looked younger.
-I'm no longer fit for galactic trotting.
Still, I'm in the business.
And what are you doing?
Training pilots?
Developing new space meals.
It must be quite complex, right?
Yes.
It's not easy to put a
roast with potatoes inside
a little bag
to eat it with a straw.
Did you manage?
I'm working on it.
But going back to what
we were talking about, I also
wouldn't bear seeing you
locked up all day
in a room feeding a typewriter.
I don't type.
Well, whatever. I have
a friend in your field,
and he said you need
isolation, lots of silence.
See?
Do you realize why it's not
worth it falling in love?
Luckily you realized,
our thing would have been a disaster.
Now, Irene, if we are...
forbidden to fall in love,
at least we have permission
to talk about it.
Yes, of course. Yes.
For example,
about sex.
For example.
I mean, our adventures,
some experiences, right?
-As long as we respect...
-The terms of our contract.
Pact.
Okay, pact.
Our pact.
Have you ever fallen in love?
I mean, loved someone.
Or did it never happen for you?
Desperately, you mean?
Never.
What a pity.
And you?
I had some stories,
adventures...
until I got married and
quickly got divorced.
Does it distress you?
It distresses me not
having been lucky.
You're not the only one,
I'm divorced.
What was he like?
A very peculiar man.
I imagine, he must have
been really intelligent.
Deaf-mute.
Ah.
Look at that.
Mute.
Must have been complicated.
No! On the contrary, we had a blast.
And why did you break up?
He found a good speech therapist.
Taught him to speak.
He told her he loved her
and left with her.
What a piece of scoundrel!
No, no.
Good guy...
Things happen.
And what did your wife do?
Trapeze artist.
Oh!
At a circus?
Freelance acrobat.
She did a bit of everything.
A relationship, let's say, very...
Flexible?
Um... Excuse me.
-Do you have "Seaweed"?
-Which one?
"Seaweed on the buttocks."
That one where
the planet gets flooded,
we turn into mollusks,
except for the Japanese.
No, it doesn't ring a bell.
Green cover. Dystopian one.
Wasn't very well understood at the time.
No idea.
About an Argentine dry cleaner
named Pocho Tanaka.
Tanaka...
Tanaka, yes.
Hiroshima survivor.
His genes mutated,
he got a nervous tic.
Did you search at the front?
You really don't have it?
Almost certain.
It was a finalist for the
Zozobra publishing award.
-Do you know who wrote it?
-Yes, of course.
-Who?
-Me.
Get out!
Check, at least.
Get out of here. Go away!
Are you into science fiction?
I liked it as a girl for a while,
then I got over it.
Do you read it?
It's not for me.
I find all the mistakes.
Right. They can't fool you
after so many flight hours.
Not to Daddy...
They come up with such nonsense.
Besides, if I'm going to read
a book, it's precisely to
forget the problems at work.
And of course... It's like asking,
I don't know, a plumber...
to only read about toilets,
faucets, washers...
Maybe that's why I get
hooked on your novels.
It seems so strange that
you like what I write.
Why don't you believe me?
Because I write about women.
They're the ones who read me.
And what are you up to now?
People alone in bars.
-Is that the title?
-Yes.
Nice.
I don't know if nice,
but the nights are
increasingly filled with
those who have no one.
How do you know she
has no one?
Believe me.
Do you know her?
I know us, Yuri.
Look at how she dives
into those pages.
The curve of her back, the...
the desire to transport herself, to...
become, for a while,
that other one that doesn't exist.
And there were many
of her characters.
So many more than what
I had wanted to discover.
The night filled with
its emptiness.
Without realizing it, I had also
become one before meeting her.
Only after a dozen Thursdays,
I would dare to make up
...a slightly more interesting
childhood for her.
I was born in Africa.
And that I am alive is a miracle.
I should be dead
many years ago.
What happened to you?
At six, I had
a nasty accident.
With my parents, we used to go
on safari every Sunday.
In Nairobi, it's
like going to a soccer match.
I can imagine.
The jeep overturned.
Rhinoceros.
It hit us head-on.
Tremendous beast.
I don't remember a thing.
They told me later because I
ended up in the hospital for two years.
-In a coma?
-They thought my brain was dead.
What you are telling me
is terrible.
My parents died on the spot.
You can tell me everything.
I can help you to make a catharsis.
I was saved by an Argentine nurse.
Juanita.
She worked in
hospitals in poor countries.
-What do they call it?
-Volunteer?
Right, like firefighters.
I had everything erased
from my mind.
It was a blessing
that it was her because
she taught me word
by word in Spanish.
Lovely lady.
She knew that Nairobian
wouldn't work for me because
after the trauma
I had with the wildlife,
I didn't have much of
a future in Africa.
All those creatures around
weren't going to help.
She adopted me,
we came here, and...
-You stayed alone with Juanita?
-I adored her.
She told me that many times
the doctors came to unplug my tubes.
And she would stand firm
and sweet-talk them
tell them that I had moved
an arm or blinked an eye.
And that would convince them
not to cut off the electricity.
Thank God
she persevered.
Soon after, she had this syncope.
She was 50 but
looked much older.
Due to the malaria she had
contracted in Africa from mosquitoes
and what we had to endure
here because of the economy.
Quite a feat to become an astronaut
in a country like this.
Yes.
Also I had the issue
of seizures.
-Sequels of the accident?
-No, no.
The rhinoceros had nothing
to do.
Attacks that I had since
I was bitten as a baby by a tsetse fly.
Mind you,
I never deceived her.
In any case, the only thing
I did was lie to Irene.
If I came up with those
adventures, it was because as a kid
I was always fascinated
by everything related to Africa.
In fact, my dream is
to dare to go on a safari someday.
At one point, I even saved
up to treat myself.
I almost traveled to
the Black Continent, but no.
At the last minute, I chickened out
due to this little problem I have.
I'm talking about
my fear of flying.
Do you want to tell me what
the novel you are writing is about?
I came up with it
while talking to Yuri.
Did he inspire you?
In any case, it was
what brought us together.
Have to do
with his thing?
Nothing to do
with the cosmos.
Though everyone
has their own, right?
I could write a whole shelf
about you and me.
Another one about how
I met your dad and
how he made me feel
the most beautiful woman in the world.
A book like this thick.
With his gestures.
The fights.
The laughter.
The desire to see you grow.
Until the accident...
I want to meet Yuri.
I couldn't tell him
what I'm going through.
Why?
Because everything's
more than fine between us.
And I don't want
to worry him.
They met one autumn night
at that fancy bar.
He approached her table
to ask her
what she was reading.
And the lonely woman barely
peeked, tilting the cover of her book.
"Too handsome,"
she said to herself.
A miracle to notice him so
interested in what little I think of me.
The lonely woman had struggled
so much to recover her body.
After a few years, she began
to feel that damn
disease was returning
to her insides.
Are you okay?
I'll be right back.
Anything else, Commander?
What's with all this
back-and-forth writing?
We use napkins
for emergencies.
Sure.
I think I understand.
Fermn.
What's up?
What do you understand?
I wanted to play
for Boca Juniors.
To avoid betraying the pact,
I had to swallow the pain
of seeing her emaciated.
And of course, crossed my mind
to confront the issue once and for all.
Or at least ask her
what was going on
through another of
our lifesaver napkins.
But no.
Of course, I couldn't do that to her,
especially when she needed to
believe in being
that other woman
for a couple of hours
every week more than ever.
A few Thursdays later,
she showed up with a
wool hat that couldn't
quite hide her shaved head.
I had no choice but
to head to the bathroom to hide
the anguish of not knowing
how to bring up the issue.
The paralysis.
The terror of losing her.
Are you okay?
-Yes, I feel fine.
-Did something upset your stomach?
-No, why do you ask?
-Because you rushed out.
Oh, no, nothing like that.
I just needed to pee.
Can you continue?
Yes, sure. I was telling you that,
more than once,
when I was in orbit,
I would start to think that...
our planet...
must have always looked
the same from above.
Unless it was nighttime, I suppose.
Of course, what a moron.
Because city lights didn't exist.
Must be quite a sight,
right?
Amazing.
You get used to it, though.
Like everything.
After so many missions,
it must have become routine.
Still, when Earth
faces the sun,
it's nothing more than a ball...
blue, covered in clouds...
with some patches of grass, deserts.
It becomes something eternal.
To put it in some way.
Exactly what...
cavemen would have seen
if they had had rockets, right?
To me...
What?
I feel something similar to
what you're saying, but with the sea.
With the sea.
Are you okay?
What was I saying?
-You were talking
about the sea. -The sea...
That it also must
still be the same...
Virginia Woolf might have seen,
I suppose.
Forget it, only I understand myself.
It inspires me...
...to believe from the shore in that
kind of eternity you're talking about.
That's the one that doesn't care
when we were born...
What...
what we are capable of sharing
beyond damn time.
You haven't been there for a while?
-To the sea?
-Yeah.
Three, four years?
Do you want us
to go together?
-On vacation?
-Yeah, now...
They're coming soon.
-Both of us?
-Yeah.
-You and me?
-Yeah.
We can't, Buzz.
Well.
Doesn't matter.
Maybe I'll take the chance, and...
get to know the south.
Where would you like to go?
Patagonia.
Maybe I'll take a little
trip to Bariloche.
Hi.
I'll take these six, man.
I took them from the bargain table.
All of the same price.
What do you want?
Uh...
To pay for them.
Are you going to read all of this?
Little by little.
Alright. Take them.
Go ahead. Have a safe trip.
Are you giving me them?
Yes, yes. There you go.
From then on, the cosmos
became the metaphor
for her illness
many Thursdays.
We can see many other worlds.
So many, and
as impressive as ours.
Although from here they only seem
like insignificant specks of dust.
They had just invented the telescope.
But we still know so little
about the universe where we were born.
Not even why we exist.
Not even what will happen
to us when...
No one ceases to exist so easily.
What do you know?
Believe me.
Spinning up there,
I understood...
that we are nothing but stars.
Are you okay?
So stars...
Not only Dietrich is a star.
Exactly.
What happened
to the wool hat?
It made my head itch.
Looked good on you.
What can you do?
I'll give it to you.
-For me? Seriously?
-Yeah.
Try it on.
-Here?
-Go ahead.
I'll check later.
But I promise I'll wear it.
You better...
What are you up to?
Heading to the sea?
I'm going south.
Well, maybe
you'll wear it sooner then.
I leave tomorrow.
-Really? Where?
-New York.
Seriously? That's great.
Two weeks.
Alone?
Yuri... Yuri... Yu...
Buzz. My name is Buzz.
Behave, Buzz.
I'm going with my cat.
I have no one to leave him with.
Shall I take care of him?
No. He also needs
change of scenery.
Thanks.
"What do I fear?",
the lonely woman wondered.
"What? What? What?"
And she answered that it went
beyond the pain of ceasing to exist.
Not seeing her son anymore and
him suffering without her.
That since meeting
her fearless astronaut,
another fear had been added
to her list.
And it was the one of not being able
to help each other achieve
what they had always
dreamed of separately.
Oops, sorry.
It's nothing.
I don't know.
Something...
What a big bug!
They say it's safer than a car.
It never falls.
It has to be a...
Do you know about flying?
Just in case, I chose a means of
transportation safer to me.
At least I got to know
some parts of Patagonia.
And in Bariloche...
...I even dared to take my
first steps in the space race.
But beyond the courageous act
that filled me with pride...
...admiring in silence all
that explosion of nature...
...I started to miss
Irene more than ever.
As a lonely tourist,
all that beauty
around me didn't help.
Everything I had predicted.
I felt a kind of
nostalgia for myself.
For the one who, facing
his favorite writer,
each quote represented
what he slowly believed he was.
What are you doing there?
That's strange...
Slow it down
with the whiskey.
Easy, she should be coming soon.
I don't get it, honestly,
I don't get it.
Have a coffee. I'll get you
another one of yours later.
What's up, kid?
Long time...
Everything fine. And you?
What are you looking for?
I brought you some books.
Uh-huh.
Didn't I sell you this one?
Uh-huh.
Kid! Kid! Hey!
Hey! The books!
"Don't worry. Your friend is OK
and she misses you.
She just needs a few more
Thursdays to get strong again."
At that moment, I didn't even
wonder who the messenger was
that was surprising me
with happiness.
It was enough for me to know
that Irene was recovering...
and that she missed me too.
That I was still
the naturalized African astronaut
who made her laugh in our
extraterrestrial world.
It cannot be...
Did you like Manhattan?
When I was packing,
they called me at the hotel.
So from from New York,
you had to sail to Paris.
What could I do, Buzz?
No, that's great.
I'd like to know.
You've never
been to Paris?
Well, I flew over it
100 times, but very high.
It must not be the same in orbit...
You miss a lot of details.
You can't even see
the Eiffel Tower.
And it's tall, huh?
I was born there.
I know that city better
than Buenos Aires.
I can't believe it,
I didn't know.
Didn't I ever tell you
that I'm French?
No, you're full of surprises.
Did you have your hair cut there?
Yes, it became fashionable, this short.
It suits you perfectly.
-Thanks.
-Keep it like that.
I don't know, I'll see.
Here, they look at me a bit weird.
Don't mind them.
In no time, everyone
will copy you.
No doubt about that.
How many here would
like to be French like you?
When I tell arround that I studied at the
Sorbonne, do you know how they get?
-They turn green with envy!
-I can imagine.
As if one had chosen it, right?
And where would I study?
It was around the corner.
-What did you study.
-Literature.
Of course!
I'm so dumb.
Have you decided
on your dinner?
First, I'd like a
Cointreau on the rocks, please.
Are you sure?
For me the same without ice.
So you kept coming every Thursday.
Staying in the fight.
I should have let you know.
From there?
How were you going to do that?
I could have asked for the bar's
phone and tried to get you.
Maybe you didn't
want to worry me.
With what?
I mean...
The thing is that
I landed this morning.
That I came by just in case,
you appeared,
and here we are another Thursday.
You knew I wouldn't
let you down.
Did you see family there?
I just have some cousins.
No one I really want to see.
I came back 'cause
I was invited to give that talk.
About what?
Structuralism.
Ah. I dont understand nothing about it.
There's not much to understand.
It's what, in some way,
we all think,
but written with more important,
complex phrases.
That's why the subject
hooks me.
Mostly it's poetry.
I don't get you.
I like playing with words,
turning them around,
inventing theories like that.
Still, sometimes I think that
silence explains what's important better.
Maybe that's why I chose space.
Because up there,
everything is silence.
In the vacuum,
sound doesn't travel.
We'd have nothing else
but to be mute.
We should manage...
in a different way without
going around in circles.
Now that you mentioned it...
I confirmed it
during spacewalks.
Ah.
Did you walk in nothingness?
Did they let you out of the capsule?
What's up, Buzz?
Only we let ourselves
out of the capsule.
Did they let you out or not?
Yes, of course, babe.
It's not a big deal.
I went out, took a couple of turns
and came back
before the bug bit me.
Another tsetse fly?
No... I mean that if
you get used to being
floating in nothingness,
you can become addicted.
To nothing?
To solitude.
It's been ages
since I had one of these!
Too sweet for you.
Nothing's too sweet for me.
Oh, sorry.
Did the romantic come back?
I am romantic.
I'm teasing you,
don't get mad.
And of course, I also
like playing with words.
You see, I knew it!
I'm talking about crosswords.
At one point, I was a fan.
I had a hard time
with the names of battles.
And also cities
that no longer exist.
It was complicated for me
with painters
of whom I had seen something, but
the name didn't come to mind.
Also had
a hard time with last names.
Who was the one that invented the
scientific name for the firefly?
Van Puffelen.
It's written with two Fs.
Ah, you kept quite a bit!
I learned because I was
embarrassed to ask what I didn't know.
Then I got used to it, and it was a
great company on space missions.
More than a pastime, right?
To think that using only
deduction, a pen,
one ends up learning
without anyone telling you anything, right?
How's the new novel going?
With so much travel, the truth
is that I made little progress.
I put together some
sentences, took notes...
I kept thinking about the title.
Do you still like it?
Many characters?
I focused on a
somewhat sad woman.
How do you imagine her?
She has something of mine...
What?
Details.
But not so beautiful.
That's for sure.
Besides, you're not a sad woman.
You're a strong.
Writer, Sorbonne, Paris, travels...
Oh, no, I can't believe it...
No. She can't do this to me.
Who can't do what to whom?
That old hippie?
Don't you like
that someone cares for her?
Oh, please, see if that eye sore
is going to love her!
I said "care for," "care for."
Fermn?
Tell me, ma'am.
Who's that long-haired
guy over there?
Apparently, he hosts
children's parties.
He says he sings in a band.
-When I was young, I also played
the drums in a... -Shut up, moron!
You?! Playing the drums?!
You're making up
any nonsense now.
Enough.
The fact that he was kinda hippie
made him look to your mom as
a sentimental delinquent.
Because that woman
had been her character.
The loner who unintentionally...
-Uhmm...
-Who unintentionally what?
Had helped her recover.
Did they know each other?
Nothing like that.
Mom needed her to
finish the novel.
Unknowingly, that other woman gave her
strength to move forward.
Seeing her with that weirdo
stopped her for a while.
Until she figured it out,
changed to first person, owned it...
-She didn't have to hide in her anymore.
-Did she let you read her stuff?
Since she was admitted, at the
hospital, she started writing non-stop.
And then, when she got better...
She continued at home.
Here's to our outer space.
And Thursday after Thursday,
following that year 2000,
the economy of 2001 came upon us.
Then became
quite difficult for all of us
to avoid the reality of
a country in ruins.
-What will you have?
-Bring us an Old Smuggler. We'll share it.
Get a half and half with a bonus!
What can you do?
This country never learns.
Don't you want to change
to a cheaper place?
-Do you think so?
-I think so, Buzz.
You charge him whatever you want,
Cosme. I'll leave up to six here.
Put them on the menu for me.
But I have some of the
other whiskies.
Buzz is a fan of this one.
What do you say he's called?
Buzz.
Gringo?
He was born in Africa.
Just play along.
Don't let it slip that you
met me as a kid, okay?
Yes, "don't let it slip,". Since you moved
two blocks from here,
you haven't come to say hello.
Excuse me, but I was swamped with work.
Is he black?
-Black?
-The guy is black?
No, no, he's not black.
He happened to be born there.
Are you guys dating or something?
-What's up, fool? Say sorry!
-It's OK.
Two fugazzettas,
and one humita for Sousa's table.
If you need a great waiter,
I have the candidate
for you, Cosme.
Bring me someone worthwhile.
What are you doing, idiot?
You can't even make coffee...
This pizza is a luxury.
Michelin star.
Oui, oui, mon chri.
C'est magnifique.
Oh, la la, la mozzarella.
You handle French well.
You should give me lessons,
since you graduated from the Sorbonne.
I didn't graduate.
-Really?
-I gave up on the diploma.
Why?
It had to do with the
political context of the time.
Ah.
-Do you understand?
-No.
I'm talking about May 68.
Of course. Sartre didn't
accept the Nobel Prize.
You couldn't settle
for a bourgeois title.
Exactly.
Did you go to the protests?
Front row.
So great!
Hand in hand with Simone.
The Beauvoir?
Eat slowly,
it'll make you sick.
Look.
Goosebumps, thinking that
you were there marching,
and me here suspecting
the Russians.
Did communism
never appeal to you?
Answer me.
No, all good with the Soviets.
Especially at the beginning.
But I won't deny
that I was a bit tempted
to play the revolutionary
to pick up girls.
Oh, I can't believe you.
What did I say now?
If you'll be like that,
let's stop talking.
But wait. You can't
deny that communism failed.
-So communism failed?
-Yes.
Is that why you're Buzz and
you won't be called Yuri?
No, no, no.
Now you're mixing politics
with interstellar
interplanetary exodus.
I'm talking about communism
and non-communism.
That you wanted to pick up girls
with communism or not.
I'm talking about what
I intend, which is to leave this planet.
And if you want to come with me,
we'll run away together.
All you think about is getting laid.
Me?
Two.
You just go with the flow.
Gunslinger.
Good pizza, huh?
Without understanding it,
the economic situation brought us down
from the galactic
to the political.
All of a sudden, I thought about
accusing Fidel of imprisoning homosexuals.
And your mom would fight it.
But the next Thursday,
we'd change seats, and
she criticized the Russian revolution
while I defended the feats of communism.
...you're one of those
who prefer to forget
what that son of a bitch
Stalin did.
Do you know who you are?
Those who don't get that if it weren't
for him, Hitler would have won.
-What?
-Hitler would have won, yes.
I'm going to make you
a synoptic chart...
What do you know about Russia?
What do I know about Russia?
Russia was a country
with 95% illiteracy.
And so?
See, you're thick, I can't talk to you.
You don't understand anything.
In 5 years, they manufactured
2 million tractors.
You know why? 'Cause
they copied from Henry Ford.
-Who did they copy?
-Henry Ford.
The Soviet Union put a satellite
in orbit in 40 years.
Such a waste, the Sputnik!
Pure propaganda.
Ah, no, no, no, no.
Don't mess with what's mine.
If you don't know, ask me,
I'll teach you for free.
What do you think you are,
mail-order astronaut? Please!
By mail? Yes, go, go.
We landed on the Moon.
You didn't.
Can you explain what the heck reaching
the Moon served for? Neoliberal recruit!
Wait, I don't
understand how you called me.
"neoliberal recruit."
But what can you get,
Bolshie, indoctrinated!
And it remains to be seen if they
really reached the Moon. I have my doubts.
Ah, precisely you bring out
that conspiracy theory?
Fake astronaut!
-No theory.
-I unlearn with you.
-No theory.
-I'm going backwards.
I saw in a documentary
that it was filmed in a studio.
The flag doesn't wave, and the footsteps don't match.
By not having to be what
we were taught but didn't live,
we didn't care to think what
we wanted according to the moment.
The skeptics.
There you have it. We could
call the Yankees imperialists
one week, and defenders
of humanity the next.
I could tell your mom without
guilt that believing in God
was something for fools and
she was shocked.
And the next week
she'd get in my place,
and I pretended to cross myself
calling her a heretic.
Hi.
Hello.
Everything okay?
You?
Good.
Good evening.
What are you doing here?
I'll bring you the usual,
commander.
-What's he doing here?
-We'll kiss each other later.
Now start ordering, I have two
hands and the bar is full...
How did he get here?
I don't know, ask him.
But it's weird...
A little surprise I had for you.
Getting a job for the waiter
is in her novel.
Yes, your old lady
was awesome then.
We talking about social justice,
trying to fix the world
one side and the other of the table,
and Fermn was unemployed...
How were you two going
to fix the world,
if didn't even let each other know
that you were from the same neighborhood?
If we didn't cross paths
with your mother before,
it was because science
fiction wasn't her thing.
Anyway, destiny managed.
You're quite romantic, too.
I take after someone.
Yes.
No doubt.
Hey, Beto.
Tell me.
Why did you stop seeing each other?
Didn't she tell you?
No.
I let slip a really stupid detail.
What are you talking about?
One of our Thursdays...
I mentioned that my birthday
was on the 15th of that month.
On a day I had told her I was retired,
I almost showed her my ID, and well...
I gave my date of
birth, and she caught it.
What does that have to do with
deciding not to see each other?
That year, my birthday...
was on a Thursday.
And when I went in, I noticed that
your mom was waiting for me with
a square-wrapped gift.
I had a little problem at the lab.
What was your mom's name?
Seba...
Please.
Her name was Irene.
So that was her name.
Writer?
No.
She wasn't.
Until you gave her strength
and, by the way, a story.
Empty of topics.
That night we chose...
...to tell each other experiences with
analysts who never treated us.
Lacanian.
Was the type of therapy?
She told me.
I don't know much...
-A she?
-Yes.
Did you like her?
Yes.
Yes, she was cool.
She felt more traitorous
to the pact than ever.
Of course, I also accused myself
of the same when I understood that...
...I had leaked her real data, like
my date of birth, something that...
Excuse me.
Good evening. It's been a while.
-How are you, commander?
-Well, Fermn.
Does your son also drink?
-He's not...
-Yes, go ahead.
Pour me one.
Here's to your mom.
My mom.
What can I say...?
From then on, our Thursdays
were never the same.
I understand.
Do you really?
What do you understand?
Tell me, you who always
saw us from the outside,
without giving away the game.
That reality covers what
we really want to tell,
and if I want to be a writer, I must
be careful not become its slave.
Did you learn this at the university?
No.
Mom.
Not university...
You and mom made me
understand that...
...the moments that
really matter are the...
...ones when you dare to
invent your own world.
And that's how we stopped
seeing each other.
Without knowing which life
the other would return to.
But well, Seba...
...the moments I shared
with your mom...
...became forever...
How can I explain?
What should I call them?
The Secret of What Is Real
by Irene Singer
In a downtown cinema,
they were showing on Thursdays
that Hollywood cycle of classics.
And, of course, I wouldn't miss
a single one of those old films.
A light?
Oh, if you're so kind.
Thanks.
How I needed this!
Nothing beats
this damn vice.
I mean watching
a movie like this.
Did you like it?
A master,
this Howard Hawks...
First time?
That I've seen it?
I caught some
part when I was a kid
on TV, but I didn't get it...
because they talk too fast.
And you?
I know it by heart.
Still, I always discover something new.
Sorry.
Thanks.
I would have liked
to see it for the first time.
For you,
it wouldn't have been the same
knowing the surprise
ending, right?
Well... no...
Actually, no.
The surprise ending was in the one
they showed last week.
Which one did they show?
That one over there.
Ah, "Witness for the Prosecution."
What a great film. I missed it.
I never suspected for a moment
that she was the same woman.
Dietrich tricks you.
A total genius.
Even her voice changed.
Different accents.
Did you notice?
Even though she's German
and English isn't her first language.
German like the director.
They were close friends
with Billy Wilder.
It shows they had a blast filming.
Well, it was a pleasure to discuss it
with someone while it's still fresh.
We turned onto Corrientes
Avenue, discussing what we'd seen
together but separately.
We crossed 9 de Julio, recalling stories
in black and white, except ours.
WHAT WE WANTED TO BE
-Good evening, how are you?
Very well, thank you.
Dinner or just drinks?
Just a drink.
What are you thinking?
Nice place, huh? Classy.
Must be expensive.
Leave it, my treat.
-It's not necessary.
-No, I'm serious.
I went out without money,
but I can handle a couple of drinks.
Stop checking and order
whatever you want.
What were we talking about?
I was telling you that
the other day I read that...
some actors don't have
a personality in real life.
Really? You don't say.
They say they spend their time being others
until they forget about themselves.
Really? Is that so?
Look, without going
further, Dietrich, for example,
in "Witness"
how she transforms, right?
What's more, into two women at once.
They say in real life,
that crazy one had quite a personality.
And why crazy?
She slept with every
actor she worked with.
There you have. Every role
turned her into another woman.
We're all a bit like that.
What do you mean?
Actors.
They need to
please their audience, right?
We cater to ours.
To family...
Friends... Any other type of relationship.
Ah.
I don't understand.
That we choose to
be what they ask of us...
out of fear of being alone.
What did you want to be
when you were a kid?
-Me?
-Yeah.
-As a kid?
-Remember?
I don't know
I wanted to be so many things...
Something must have
won over everything, right?
Astronaut.
And what happened?
What do you mean
what happened?
Your parents didn't let you?
Are you kidding me?
Are you blaming being
born here, in this country?
Well of course,
it had an impact.
Look at how many
years have passed.
We don't have a single
Argentine astronaut.
What do you mean, none?
Seriously. I'm a space fan.
There isn't any.
And you, then?
Me what?
No, forget it.
I must be confused.
I thought I saw you
in the newspapers.
-Good evening.
-Good evening.
What will you have?
For me, a tea and
a toasted sandwich, please.
Sir?
They're talking to you.
Yes, bring me a whiskey.
-Which one do you prefer?
-A vernacular one.
An Old Smuggler.
White label?
Do you sell it?
-With or without ice?
-With.
Can I change the tea
for the same?
-Is the sandwich still on?
-Yes.
Where did you study to
become an astronaut?
I studied by mail.
Interesting, by mail.
I found the ad in a magazine.
-"Isidoro"?
-No, "Lupin."
Sure, they had those
kind of ads in those magazines.
"Study Astronautics,
the profession of the future."
"48 lessons."
My family never found out.
Afraid they'd forbid you.
Deep down, I was afraid
the course was a scam...
Sure. Space travel
was in its infancy, right?
And I was so young that I had a hard
time completing the exams.
Did you return them by mail?
Every week. With the return address
of a schoolmate.
-What grade?
-Fourth, afternoon shift.
-Did you graduate?
-Yes.
With the best grades.
But then...
the institute closed because
NASA raised objections.
Oh, really?
The last envelopes were
all arriving opened.
I suspect they thought there was
some Russian involvement and...
they were afraid that
once graduated, we could be
recruited as cosmonauts.
Well. Now you say it...
But let me tell you something.
Not even if they had offered me a trip
to Mars, I'd have moved to Russia.
You weren't a fan of communism.
Besides, there was the language issue. I
had just started learning English
with The Beatles' songs.
Imagine me trying to talk
that language. It was...
Thank you.
Here's to...
...our dreams.
Before we continue
telling each other stories,
we should agree on some rules.
-Do you think? -I like
rules. -Are you sure?
Yes, I had to follow so many
to avoid crashing with the capsule.
Then you tell me
which planets you visited.
No, not planets.
I mostly orbited...
Let me tell you what
I've been thinking.
I'm listening.
You don't have to play
along if you don't agree.
Play or Stop?
Sure, go ahead.
Tell me, and let's see.
Do you realize that...
...we haven't even said our names?
Oh! Bad!
What's your name?
Shut up.
-What did I say now?
-I almost believed you're an astronaut.
I mean, don't tell me
your real name.
In any case, make up one
that will convince me.
American or Russian? Can
it be Neil or Yuri?
Yuri! Yuri...
Commander Yuri.
Well, then I'm going to be called...
...Irene.
I love it.
My second-grade teacher...
-Don't tell me!
-What did I say now?
We are two complete strangers, Yuri.
Do you see that between us
we could be...
what we always wanted
without anyone holding us back?
Take it, if you want, I'm not
going to eat it all.
Tell me more.
But to stop being what was always
expected from us, first...
Bye to the past. Bye to...
...details.
No teacher's name,
nor parents', nor if we have...
children, if we're married,
what neighborhood we're from.
I think I get it.
And? What do you think?
I'm in.
I hope I don't mess it up.
Sure?
Let's try.
So, we agree on not
being the everyday us?
Why not?
At first, I kind of regretted
pretending to be an astronaut.
I should have chosen
something less fantastic
from all the things I
dreamed of as a kid.
For example, a forest ranger.
Or one of those divers
with Captain Cousteau.
But well, that was the first
thing that came to mind.
And off to fly.
Oh, you scared me.
Why are you up so early?
I didn't go to college. I stayed
reviewing for tomorrow's exam.
How's that going?
It's all figured out.
The curtain guy came!
As soon as you left. The janitor
let him in. Caught me naked.
Oh, I forgot they were
installing them today.
Do you like them, Seba?
Yes or no?
It's your thing.
Why do you say that?
For me, let it all be seen.
Or maybe nothing at all.
I don't understand
why you keep at it.
How are you, Mom?
I felt great all day.
See, going out at night
did you good.
You were right.
Where did you go?
I went to a cinema.
-Alone?
What did you see?
One of those oldies I like.
Long?
Why?
You came back late.
Are you checking up on me? Huh?
I worried...
Then I went to a bar.
I didn't realize how late it was.
Otherwise, you'd be going for a
William Gibson or writers like that.
I believe, honestly, that an
Algis Budrys would suit you perfectly.
If not, take something
by Robert Silverberg.
The one where Dr. Hawksbill
builds a time machine.
Nothing to do with Wells'.
Isn't that too much
for his age, Beto?
Please, Mabel...
Today's kids know
more about this than we do.
Am I lying, kiddo?
Well, maybe I got
a little carried away.
Still, it's always good
to buy them things for older ages.
Just like with clothes.
Suddenly, you dress them on Monday
to go to school and nothing fits.
That? Is it the Titanic?
This one here would
be its little brother.
Did all that fit inside?
Come here, get closer,
and I'll show you.
Look.
Down here are the cabins,
the kitchen, the engine room.
Is this a movie theater?
Of course.
They showed all in black and white.
Yes.
All in black and white.
And you, Irene?
What do you do?
Writer.
Novels?
Didn't you recognize me?
-Irene, what's your name?
-Irene Singer.
No, I can't believe it.
Really? The best-seller of the moment!
No, of course, of course.
Pleasure to meet you, Commander.
I'm blown away!
And have you read
anything by me?
Have I read?
Here's a huge fan!
And which of my novels, for example?
-"Another Woman".
-That one.
That novel is a masterpiece.
Really? Did you like it that much?
It pierced me.
It left me feeling dirty when I read it.
Feeling dirty?
And I also really liked your latest one,
I can't remember the name.
The one with the blind housewife?
Poor woman...
What suffering, right?
The husband cheats on her
and she doesn't see anything.
Terrible. Honestly, terrible,
yes. It's tough, huh?
To me... Yes, yes.
I read it in one go,
on a trial trip.
That's dangerous, man.
No, why?
No, because it goes on autopilot.
Oh, thank goodness.
For your work.
For our outer space.
What a coincidence, huh?
...where we ended up meeting.
I don't know if it's
such a coincidence.
We chose the same movie,
black and white,
in an empty theater.
I kept thinking
about what you said the other day.
About which nonsense?
Let me see.
No, no, no. No nonsense.
About how, at some point,
we do nothing but act for others.
Even though we never
touched each other, or even
used our real names, surely
at some point, they must have
thought of us as a couple in there.
The Brighton became the perfect set
to become what we always wanted.
Handsome.
We exchanged news
from made-up worlds.
We didn't even mention
if we had a partner.
And so with everything outside
the perimeter of those tables.
Autumn, winter, yes.
Around half past eight.
A bit earlier?
-No, it's difficult because I close
the shop at eight and... -No, Yuri!
-What's wrong?
-Don't tell me.
Oh, what an idiot...
Winter, then...
No, it's fine.
I can handle it 'cause I'll talk
to the guys in the space lab.
-Sure?
-Yes. I have to look into it.
Well, I'll let you know too
if I have to present
some book or make
a quick getaway to Paris,
for writing seminars.
Perfect.
No, no, no...
Don't you feel sorry?
What should make me feel sorry?
Bouncing back unread novels.
Not at all!
Thanks to that, we eat.
Happiness?
Does it bring me happiness?
Look. Sometimes, when I notice
they want to act smart,
like this guy, for example...
-What?
-Nothing.
He has nothing to say,
and he puffs himself up imitating style.
He wants to be a Joyce.
He thinks he can turn any
lousy sunset into a whole life.
And he fails miserably.
I don't know, read it yourself,
see if you agree.
Well, poor thing.
Maybe...
he's just starting.
He'll see sooner or later
that he has no talent.
Can you explain this sudden
outburst of compassion for humanity?
Leave it, I understand myself.
Anyway, I don't mind
that you think that way.
It took you time to understand
that you weren't born to be a writer.
Me? I never said that!
Yes, you did.
No, maybe I let it slip, kid.
You want or do you dont want to tell
others what you come up with.
Or what happens to you.
Well, you get what I mean, right?
In any case, I passed you
more than one gene.
-Me. -And why do you
study literature, then?
Here, read.
From the beginning.
I met someone.
A guy?
A gentleman.
Where?
No, it doesn't matter.
Of your age?
Yes, old like me.
What does he do?
He's an as... astrophysicist.
Oh, really?
What's wrong?
Can he handle the telescope?
No, that's it, enough. I'm not
telling you anything else. Done.
Don't get mad, mom.
Come on, I'm kidding.
-What?
-Tell me, I want to know.
-Sure you want to know?
-Yes, I'm sure.
I suspected something anyway.
What? What did you suspect?
Come on, Sherlock Holmes,
change your face,
I'm not telling you
anything else. Enough!
What do you want?
You never went out
and suddenly, on Thursdays,
you come back at any hour.
Yesterday we met
for the third time.
Oh... Well...
-In American terms, you're a couple.
-Oh, see! Okay. Enough.
-Come on, come on.
-No, it's over.
-It was a joke.
-It's over.
Give me the remote.
Come on, come on.
I swear I'll be quiet.
-Enough.
-I don't even ask if you fell in love.
Over.
Go to your room.
Go to your room.
Read...
Take it and read.
Just a little joke.
Enough.
Astrophysicist.
Enough, I told you.
Mind you, from time to time
she also put her foot in it.
Like when I cut myself and appeared
one of our Thursdays with a bandaged hand.
What happened to your hand?
You can't ask me that.
Sorry. I didn't realize.
How are you?
I got distracted cause the new
novel is driving me crazy.
It's over.
-Let's change the subject.
-Yes, better.
A white label for the gentleman.
-Can I order one for you? One for her.
I accept it, sir.
-What are you doing?
-Just in case.
Don't go around guessing
the rouge's brand.
I can see you scouring the
perfumeries to find out where I live.
It's not that serious.
You felt bad about the hand.
Which hand?
We're crazy, Yuri.
No. It's reality. Every time
it gets involved, we fight.
Isn't it too late
to be ourselves?
No. We have to let it go by.
Something of ours
will always come up.
Can I put it up?
Are you hiding the hand?
Come on.
Now, how stupid.
I could have just said
"I cut myself" and that's it.
Without making such a fuss.
Moreover, I cut myself with glass.
Did they give you a tetanus shot?
What are you asking me!
I always keep it up to date
the tetanus shot.
- Hazards of the trade, right?
- Yes, well.
With so much machinery
around you can get hurt, right?
Right.
My ass is full of craters.
Poor thing.
- It looks like the moon.
- I can imagine.
- Do you want me to show you?
- No. Enough, Commander!
Another time, please!
Speaking of having a good time,
there's something I've wanted
to ask you for a while.
I'm listening.
The two of us...
are...
forbidden to fall in love, right?
I don't know, Yuri...
What do you say?
I'm asking
because you invented the game.
Why should we think
about that so soon?
Soon? It's been
like three months...
Well, you say it like
it's such a long time.
Well, okay.
No, it's fine, it's fine.
You're right.
Forget it.
No, I don't know if I'm right,
but put yourself in my place.
I do, I do, I do.
I don't think I can bear it.
What? Falling in love?
I mean waiting for you down here,
while you're spinning up there.
-I'm retired anyway.
-Don't sell me that crap.
No, I'm serious.
Can I tell you my age?
-Or is that also forbidden?
-You can. I would never.
On the 15th of this month, I turn 53.
On the 15th?
Yes.
Look at that.
-You looked younger.
-I'm no longer fit for galactic trotting.
Still, I'm in the business.
And what are you doing?
Training pilots?
Developing new space meals.
It must be quite complex, right?
Yes.
It's not easy to put a
roast with potatoes inside
a little bag
to eat it with a straw.
Did you manage?
I'm working on it.
But going back to what
we were talking about, I also
wouldn't bear seeing you
locked up all day
in a room feeding a typewriter.
I don't type.
Well, whatever. I have
a friend in your field,
and he said you need
isolation, lots of silence.
See?
Do you realize why it's not
worth it falling in love?
Luckily you realized,
our thing would have been a disaster.
Now, Irene, if we are...
forbidden to fall in love,
at least we have permission
to talk about it.
Yes, of course. Yes.
For example,
about sex.
For example.
I mean, our adventures,
some experiences, right?
-As long as we respect...
-The terms of our contract.
Pact.
Okay, pact.
Our pact.
Have you ever fallen in love?
I mean, loved someone.
Or did it never happen for you?
Desperately, you mean?
Never.
What a pity.
And you?
I had some stories,
adventures...
until I got married and
quickly got divorced.
Does it distress you?
It distresses me not
having been lucky.
You're not the only one,
I'm divorced.
What was he like?
A very peculiar man.
I imagine, he must have
been really intelligent.
Deaf-mute.
Ah.
Look at that.
Mute.
Must have been complicated.
No! On the contrary, we had a blast.
And why did you break up?
He found a good speech therapist.
Taught him to speak.
He told her he loved her
and left with her.
What a piece of scoundrel!
No, no.
Good guy...
Things happen.
And what did your wife do?
Trapeze artist.
Oh!
At a circus?
Freelance acrobat.
She did a bit of everything.
A relationship, let's say, very...
Flexible?
Um... Excuse me.
-Do you have "Seaweed"?
-Which one?
"Seaweed on the buttocks."
That one where
the planet gets flooded,
we turn into mollusks,
except for the Japanese.
No, it doesn't ring a bell.
Green cover. Dystopian one.
Wasn't very well understood at the time.
No idea.
About an Argentine dry cleaner
named Pocho Tanaka.
Tanaka...
Tanaka, yes.
Hiroshima survivor.
His genes mutated,
he got a nervous tic.
Did you search at the front?
You really don't have it?
Almost certain.
It was a finalist for the
Zozobra publishing award.
-Do you know who wrote it?
-Yes, of course.
-Who?
-Me.
Get out!
Check, at least.
Get out of here. Go away!
Are you into science fiction?
I liked it as a girl for a while,
then I got over it.
Do you read it?
It's not for me.
I find all the mistakes.
Right. They can't fool you
after so many flight hours.
Not to Daddy...
They come up with such nonsense.
Besides, if I'm going to read
a book, it's precisely to
forget the problems at work.
And of course... It's like asking,
I don't know, a plumber...
to only read about toilets,
faucets, washers...
Maybe that's why I get
hooked on your novels.
It seems so strange that
you like what I write.
Why don't you believe me?
Because I write about women.
They're the ones who read me.
And what are you up to now?
People alone in bars.
-Is that the title?
-Yes.
Nice.
I don't know if nice,
but the nights are
increasingly filled with
those who have no one.
How do you know she
has no one?
Believe me.
Do you know her?
I know us, Yuri.
Look at how she dives
into those pages.
The curve of her back, the...
the desire to transport herself, to...
become, for a while,
that other one that doesn't exist.
And there were many
of her characters.
So many more than what
I had wanted to discover.
The night filled with
its emptiness.
Without realizing it, I had also
become one before meeting her.
Only after a dozen Thursdays,
I would dare to make up
...a slightly more interesting
childhood for her.
I was born in Africa.
And that I am alive is a miracle.
I should be dead
many years ago.
What happened to you?
At six, I had
a nasty accident.
With my parents, we used to go
on safari every Sunday.
In Nairobi, it's
like going to a soccer match.
I can imagine.
The jeep overturned.
Rhinoceros.
It hit us head-on.
Tremendous beast.
I don't remember a thing.
They told me later because I
ended up in the hospital for two years.
-In a coma?
-They thought my brain was dead.
What you are telling me
is terrible.
My parents died on the spot.
You can tell me everything.
I can help you to make a catharsis.
I was saved by an Argentine nurse.
Juanita.
She worked in
hospitals in poor countries.
-What do they call it?
-Volunteer?
Right, like firefighters.
I had everything erased
from my mind.
It was a blessing
that it was her because
she taught me word
by word in Spanish.
Lovely lady.
She knew that Nairobian
wouldn't work for me because
after the trauma
I had with the wildlife,
I didn't have much of
a future in Africa.
All those creatures around
weren't going to help.
She adopted me,
we came here, and...
-You stayed alone with Juanita?
-I adored her.
She told me that many times
the doctors came to unplug my tubes.
And she would stand firm
and sweet-talk them
tell them that I had moved
an arm or blinked an eye.
And that would convince them
not to cut off the electricity.
Thank God
she persevered.
Soon after, she had this syncope.
She was 50 but
looked much older.
Due to the malaria she had
contracted in Africa from mosquitoes
and what we had to endure
here because of the economy.
Quite a feat to become an astronaut
in a country like this.
Yes.
Also I had the issue
of seizures.
-Sequels of the accident?
-No, no.
The rhinoceros had nothing
to do.
Attacks that I had since
I was bitten as a baby by a tsetse fly.
Mind you,
I never deceived her.
In any case, the only thing
I did was lie to Irene.
If I came up with those
adventures, it was because as a kid
I was always fascinated
by everything related to Africa.
In fact, my dream is
to dare to go on a safari someday.
At one point, I even saved
up to treat myself.
I almost traveled to
the Black Continent, but no.
At the last minute, I chickened out
due to this little problem I have.
I'm talking about
my fear of flying.
Do you want to tell me what
the novel you are writing is about?
I came up with it
while talking to Yuri.
Did he inspire you?
In any case, it was
what brought us together.
Have to do
with his thing?
Nothing to do
with the cosmos.
Though everyone
has their own, right?
I could write a whole shelf
about you and me.
Another one about how
I met your dad and
how he made me feel
the most beautiful woman in the world.
A book like this thick.
With his gestures.
The fights.
The laughter.
The desire to see you grow.
Until the accident...
I want to meet Yuri.
I couldn't tell him
what I'm going through.
Why?
Because everything's
more than fine between us.
And I don't want
to worry him.
They met one autumn night
at that fancy bar.
He approached her table
to ask her
what she was reading.
And the lonely woman barely
peeked, tilting the cover of her book.
"Too handsome,"
she said to herself.
A miracle to notice him so
interested in what little I think of me.
The lonely woman had struggled
so much to recover her body.
After a few years, she began
to feel that damn
disease was returning
to her insides.
Are you okay?
I'll be right back.
Anything else, Commander?
What's with all this
back-and-forth writing?
We use napkins
for emergencies.
Sure.
I think I understand.
Fermn.
What's up?
What do you understand?
I wanted to play
for Boca Juniors.
To avoid betraying the pact,
I had to swallow the pain
of seeing her emaciated.
And of course, crossed my mind
to confront the issue once and for all.
Or at least ask her
what was going on
through another of
our lifesaver napkins.
But no.
Of course, I couldn't do that to her,
especially when she needed to
believe in being
that other woman
for a couple of hours
every week more than ever.
A few Thursdays later,
she showed up with a
wool hat that couldn't
quite hide her shaved head.
I had no choice but
to head to the bathroom to hide
the anguish of not knowing
how to bring up the issue.
The paralysis.
The terror of losing her.
Are you okay?
-Yes, I feel fine.
-Did something upset your stomach?
-No, why do you ask?
-Because you rushed out.
Oh, no, nothing like that.
I just needed to pee.
Can you continue?
Yes, sure. I was telling you that,
more than once,
when I was in orbit,
I would start to think that...
our planet...
must have always looked
the same from above.
Unless it was nighttime, I suppose.
Of course, what a moron.
Because city lights didn't exist.
Must be quite a sight,
right?
Amazing.
You get used to it, though.
Like everything.
After so many missions,
it must have become routine.
Still, when Earth
faces the sun,
it's nothing more than a ball...
blue, covered in clouds...
with some patches of grass, deserts.
It becomes something eternal.
To put it in some way.
Exactly what...
cavemen would have seen
if they had had rockets, right?
To me...
What?
I feel something similar to
what you're saying, but with the sea.
With the sea.
Are you okay?
What was I saying?
-You were talking
about the sea. -The sea...
That it also must
still be the same...
Virginia Woolf might have seen,
I suppose.
Forget it, only I understand myself.
It inspires me...
...to believe from the shore in that
kind of eternity you're talking about.
That's the one that doesn't care
when we were born...
What...
what we are capable of sharing
beyond damn time.
You haven't been there for a while?
-To the sea?
-Yeah.
Three, four years?
Do you want us
to go together?
-On vacation?
-Yeah, now...
They're coming soon.
-Both of us?
-Yeah.
-You and me?
-Yeah.
We can't, Buzz.
Well.
Doesn't matter.
Maybe I'll take the chance, and...
get to know the south.
Where would you like to go?
Patagonia.
Maybe I'll take a little
trip to Bariloche.
Hi.
I'll take these six, man.
I took them from the bargain table.
All of the same price.
What do you want?
Uh...
To pay for them.
Are you going to read all of this?
Little by little.
Alright. Take them.
Go ahead. Have a safe trip.
Are you giving me them?
Yes, yes. There you go.
From then on, the cosmos
became the metaphor
for her illness
many Thursdays.
We can see many other worlds.
So many, and
as impressive as ours.
Although from here they only seem
like insignificant specks of dust.
They had just invented the telescope.
But we still know so little
about the universe where we were born.
Not even why we exist.
Not even what will happen
to us when...
No one ceases to exist so easily.
What do you know?
Believe me.
Spinning up there,
I understood...
that we are nothing but stars.
Are you okay?
So stars...
Not only Dietrich is a star.
Exactly.
What happened
to the wool hat?
It made my head itch.
Looked good on you.
What can you do?
I'll give it to you.
-For me? Seriously?
-Yeah.
Try it on.
-Here?
-Go ahead.
I'll check later.
But I promise I'll wear it.
You better...
What are you up to?
Heading to the sea?
I'm going south.
Well, maybe
you'll wear it sooner then.
I leave tomorrow.
-Really? Where?
-New York.
Seriously? That's great.
Two weeks.
Alone?
Yuri... Yuri... Yu...
Buzz. My name is Buzz.
Behave, Buzz.
I'm going with my cat.
I have no one to leave him with.
Shall I take care of him?
No. He also needs
change of scenery.
Thanks.
"What do I fear?",
the lonely woman wondered.
"What? What? What?"
And she answered that it went
beyond the pain of ceasing to exist.
Not seeing her son anymore and
him suffering without her.
That since meeting
her fearless astronaut,
another fear had been added
to her list.
And it was the one of not being able
to help each other achieve
what they had always
dreamed of separately.
Oops, sorry.
It's nothing.
I don't know.
Something...
What a big bug!
They say it's safer than a car.
It never falls.
It has to be a...
Do you know about flying?
Just in case, I chose a means of
transportation safer to me.
At least I got to know
some parts of Patagonia.
And in Bariloche...
...I even dared to take my
first steps in the space race.
But beyond the courageous act
that filled me with pride...
...admiring in silence all
that explosion of nature...
...I started to miss
Irene more than ever.
As a lonely tourist,
all that beauty
around me didn't help.
Everything I had predicted.
I felt a kind of
nostalgia for myself.
For the one who, facing
his favorite writer,
each quote represented
what he slowly believed he was.
What are you doing there?
That's strange...
Slow it down
with the whiskey.
Easy, she should be coming soon.
I don't get it, honestly,
I don't get it.
Have a coffee. I'll get you
another one of yours later.
What's up, kid?
Long time...
Everything fine. And you?
What are you looking for?
I brought you some books.
Uh-huh.
Didn't I sell you this one?
Uh-huh.
Kid! Kid! Hey!
Hey! The books!
"Don't worry. Your friend is OK
and she misses you.
She just needs a few more
Thursdays to get strong again."
At that moment, I didn't even
wonder who the messenger was
that was surprising me
with happiness.
It was enough for me to know
that Irene was recovering...
and that she missed me too.
That I was still
the naturalized African astronaut
who made her laugh in our
extraterrestrial world.
It cannot be...
Did you like Manhattan?
When I was packing,
they called me at the hotel.
So from from New York,
you had to sail to Paris.
What could I do, Buzz?
No, that's great.
I'd like to know.
You've never
been to Paris?
Well, I flew over it
100 times, but very high.
It must not be the same in orbit...
You miss a lot of details.
You can't even see
the Eiffel Tower.
And it's tall, huh?
I was born there.
I know that city better
than Buenos Aires.
I can't believe it,
I didn't know.
Didn't I ever tell you
that I'm French?
No, you're full of surprises.
Did you have your hair cut there?
Yes, it became fashionable, this short.
It suits you perfectly.
-Thanks.
-Keep it like that.
I don't know, I'll see.
Here, they look at me a bit weird.
Don't mind them.
In no time, everyone
will copy you.
No doubt about that.
How many here would
like to be French like you?
When I tell arround that I studied at the
Sorbonne, do you know how they get?
-They turn green with envy!
-I can imagine.
As if one had chosen it, right?
And where would I study?
It was around the corner.
-What did you study.
-Literature.
Of course!
I'm so dumb.
Have you decided
on your dinner?
First, I'd like a
Cointreau on the rocks, please.
Are you sure?
For me the same without ice.
So you kept coming every Thursday.
Staying in the fight.
I should have let you know.
From there?
How were you going to do that?
I could have asked for the bar's
phone and tried to get you.
Maybe you didn't
want to worry me.
With what?
I mean...
The thing is that
I landed this morning.
That I came by just in case,
you appeared,
and here we are another Thursday.
You knew I wouldn't
let you down.
Did you see family there?
I just have some cousins.
No one I really want to see.
I came back 'cause
I was invited to give that talk.
About what?
Structuralism.
Ah. I dont understand nothing about it.
There's not much to understand.
It's what, in some way,
we all think,
but written with more important,
complex phrases.
That's why the subject
hooks me.
Mostly it's poetry.
I don't get you.
I like playing with words,
turning them around,
inventing theories like that.
Still, sometimes I think that
silence explains what's important better.
Maybe that's why I chose space.
Because up there,
everything is silence.
In the vacuum,
sound doesn't travel.
We'd have nothing else
but to be mute.
We should manage...
in a different way without
going around in circles.
Now that you mentioned it...
I confirmed it
during spacewalks.
Ah.
Did you walk in nothingness?
Did they let you out of the capsule?
What's up, Buzz?
Only we let ourselves
out of the capsule.
Did they let you out or not?
Yes, of course, babe.
It's not a big deal.
I went out, took a couple of turns
and came back
before the bug bit me.
Another tsetse fly?
No... I mean that if
you get used to being
floating in nothingness,
you can become addicted.
To nothing?
To solitude.
It's been ages
since I had one of these!
Too sweet for you.
Nothing's too sweet for me.
Oh, sorry.
Did the romantic come back?
I am romantic.
I'm teasing you,
don't get mad.
And of course, I also
like playing with words.
You see, I knew it!
I'm talking about crosswords.
At one point, I was a fan.
I had a hard time
with the names of battles.
And also cities
that no longer exist.
It was complicated for me
with painters
of whom I had seen something, but
the name didn't come to mind.
Also had
a hard time with last names.
Who was the one that invented the
scientific name for the firefly?
Van Puffelen.
It's written with two Fs.
Ah, you kept quite a bit!
I learned because I was
embarrassed to ask what I didn't know.
Then I got used to it, and it was a
great company on space missions.
More than a pastime, right?
To think that using only
deduction, a pen,
one ends up learning
without anyone telling you anything, right?
How's the new novel going?
With so much travel, the truth
is that I made little progress.
I put together some
sentences, took notes...
I kept thinking about the title.
Do you still like it?
Many characters?
I focused on a
somewhat sad woman.
How do you imagine her?
She has something of mine...
What?
Details.
But not so beautiful.
That's for sure.
Besides, you're not a sad woman.
You're a strong.
Writer, Sorbonne, Paris, travels...
Oh, no, I can't believe it...
No. She can't do this to me.
Who can't do what to whom?
That old hippie?
Don't you like
that someone cares for her?
Oh, please, see if that eye sore
is going to love her!
I said "care for," "care for."
Fermn?
Tell me, ma'am.
Who's that long-haired
guy over there?
Apparently, he hosts
children's parties.
He says he sings in a band.
-When I was young, I also played
the drums in a... -Shut up, moron!
You?! Playing the drums?!
You're making up
any nonsense now.
Enough.
The fact that he was kinda hippie
made him look to your mom as
a sentimental delinquent.
Because that woman
had been her character.
The loner who unintentionally...
-Uhmm...
-Who unintentionally what?
Had helped her recover.
Did they know each other?
Nothing like that.
Mom needed her to
finish the novel.
Unknowingly, that other woman gave her
strength to move forward.
Seeing her with that weirdo
stopped her for a while.
Until she figured it out,
changed to first person, owned it...
-She didn't have to hide in her anymore.
-Did she let you read her stuff?
Since she was admitted, at the
hospital, she started writing non-stop.
And then, when she got better...
She continued at home.
Here's to our outer space.
And Thursday after Thursday,
following that year 2000,
the economy of 2001 came upon us.
Then became
quite difficult for all of us
to avoid the reality of
a country in ruins.
-What will you have?
-Bring us an Old Smuggler. We'll share it.
Get a half and half with a bonus!
What can you do?
This country never learns.
Don't you want to change
to a cheaper place?
-Do you think so?
-I think so, Buzz.
You charge him whatever you want,
Cosme. I'll leave up to six here.
Put them on the menu for me.
But I have some of the
other whiskies.
Buzz is a fan of this one.
What do you say he's called?
Buzz.
Gringo?
He was born in Africa.
Just play along.
Don't let it slip that you
met me as a kid, okay?
Yes, "don't let it slip,". Since you moved
two blocks from here,
you haven't come to say hello.
Excuse me, but I was swamped with work.
Is he black?
-Black?
-The guy is black?
No, no, he's not black.
He happened to be born there.
Are you guys dating or something?
-What's up, fool? Say sorry!
-It's OK.
Two fugazzettas,
and one humita for Sousa's table.
If you need a great waiter,
I have the candidate
for you, Cosme.
Bring me someone worthwhile.
What are you doing, idiot?
You can't even make coffee...
This pizza is a luxury.
Michelin star.
Oui, oui, mon chri.
C'est magnifique.
Oh, la la, la mozzarella.
You handle French well.
You should give me lessons,
since you graduated from the Sorbonne.
I didn't graduate.
-Really?
-I gave up on the diploma.
Why?
It had to do with the
political context of the time.
Ah.
-Do you understand?
-No.
I'm talking about May 68.
Of course. Sartre didn't
accept the Nobel Prize.
You couldn't settle
for a bourgeois title.
Exactly.
Did you go to the protests?
Front row.
So great!
Hand in hand with Simone.
The Beauvoir?
Eat slowly,
it'll make you sick.
Look.
Goosebumps, thinking that
you were there marching,
and me here suspecting
the Russians.
Did communism
never appeal to you?
Answer me.
No, all good with the Soviets.
Especially at the beginning.
But I won't deny
that I was a bit tempted
to play the revolutionary
to pick up girls.
Oh, I can't believe you.
What did I say now?
If you'll be like that,
let's stop talking.
But wait. You can't
deny that communism failed.
-So communism failed?
-Yes.
Is that why you're Buzz and
you won't be called Yuri?
No, no, no.
Now you're mixing politics
with interstellar
interplanetary exodus.
I'm talking about communism
and non-communism.
That you wanted to pick up girls
with communism or not.
I'm talking about what
I intend, which is to leave this planet.
And if you want to come with me,
we'll run away together.
All you think about is getting laid.
Me?
Two.
You just go with the flow.
Gunslinger.
Good pizza, huh?
Without understanding it,
the economic situation brought us down
from the galactic
to the political.
All of a sudden, I thought about
accusing Fidel of imprisoning homosexuals.
And your mom would fight it.
But the next Thursday,
we'd change seats, and
she criticized the Russian revolution
while I defended the feats of communism.
...you're one of those
who prefer to forget
what that son of a bitch
Stalin did.
Do you know who you are?
Those who don't get that if it weren't
for him, Hitler would have won.
-What?
-Hitler would have won, yes.
I'm going to make you
a synoptic chart...
What do you know about Russia?
What do I know about Russia?
Russia was a country
with 95% illiteracy.
And so?
See, you're thick, I can't talk to you.
You don't understand anything.
In 5 years, they manufactured
2 million tractors.
You know why? 'Cause
they copied from Henry Ford.
-Who did they copy?
-Henry Ford.
The Soviet Union put a satellite
in orbit in 40 years.
Such a waste, the Sputnik!
Pure propaganda.
Ah, no, no, no, no.
Don't mess with what's mine.
If you don't know, ask me,
I'll teach you for free.
What do you think you are,
mail-order astronaut? Please!
By mail? Yes, go, go.
We landed on the Moon.
You didn't.
Can you explain what the heck reaching
the Moon served for? Neoliberal recruit!
Wait, I don't
understand how you called me.
"neoliberal recruit."
But what can you get,
Bolshie, indoctrinated!
And it remains to be seen if they
really reached the Moon. I have my doubts.
Ah, precisely you bring out
that conspiracy theory?
Fake astronaut!
-No theory.
-I unlearn with you.
-No theory.
-I'm going backwards.
I saw in a documentary
that it was filmed in a studio.
The flag doesn't wave, and the footsteps don't match.
By not having to be what
we were taught but didn't live,
we didn't care to think what
we wanted according to the moment.
The skeptics.
There you have it. We could
call the Yankees imperialists
one week, and defenders
of humanity the next.
I could tell your mom without
guilt that believing in God
was something for fools and
she was shocked.
And the next week
she'd get in my place,
and I pretended to cross myself
calling her a heretic.
Hi.
Hello.
Everything okay?
You?
Good.
Good evening.
What are you doing here?
I'll bring you the usual,
commander.
-What's he doing here?
-We'll kiss each other later.
Now start ordering, I have two
hands and the bar is full...
How did he get here?
I don't know, ask him.
But it's weird...
A little surprise I had for you.
Getting a job for the waiter
is in her novel.
Yes, your old lady
was awesome then.
We talking about social justice,
trying to fix the world
one side and the other of the table,
and Fermn was unemployed...
How were you two going
to fix the world,
if didn't even let each other know
that you were from the same neighborhood?
If we didn't cross paths
with your mother before,
it was because science
fiction wasn't her thing.
Anyway, destiny managed.
You're quite romantic, too.
I take after someone.
Yes.
No doubt.
Hey, Beto.
Tell me.
Why did you stop seeing each other?
Didn't she tell you?
No.
I let slip a really stupid detail.
What are you talking about?
One of our Thursdays...
I mentioned that my birthday
was on the 15th of that month.
On a day I had told her I was retired,
I almost showed her my ID, and well...
I gave my date of
birth, and she caught it.
What does that have to do with
deciding not to see each other?
That year, my birthday...
was on a Thursday.
And when I went in, I noticed that
your mom was waiting for me with
a square-wrapped gift.
I had a little problem at the lab.
What was your mom's name?
Seba...
Please.
Her name was Irene.
So that was her name.
Writer?
No.
She wasn't.
Until you gave her strength
and, by the way, a story.
Empty of topics.
That night we chose...
...to tell each other experiences with
analysts who never treated us.
Lacanian.
Was the type of therapy?
She told me.
I don't know much...
-A she?
-Yes.
Did you like her?
Yes.
Yes, she was cool.
She felt more traitorous
to the pact than ever.
Of course, I also accused myself
of the same when I understood that...
...I had leaked her real data, like
my date of birth, something that...
Excuse me.
Good evening. It's been a while.
-How are you, commander?
-Well, Fermn.
Does your son also drink?
-He's not...
-Yes, go ahead.
Pour me one.
Here's to your mom.
My mom.
What can I say...?
From then on, our Thursdays
were never the same.
I understand.
Do you really?
What do you understand?
Tell me, you who always
saw us from the outside,
without giving away the game.
That reality covers what
we really want to tell,
and if I want to be a writer, I must
be careful not become its slave.
Did you learn this at the university?
No.
Mom.
Not university...
You and mom made me
understand that...
...the moments that
really matter are the...
...ones when you dare to
invent your own world.
And that's how we stopped
seeing each other.
Without knowing which life
the other would return to.
But well, Seba...
...the moments I shared
with your mom...
...became forever...
How can I explain?
What should I call them?
The Secret of What Is Real
by Irene Singer