And with this film, he almost did.
"Who am I?" "You are nobody."
"The trains at our party are the best in Rome because they go nowhere."
"That's mine. Life, it's nothing."
Nothingness doesn't make a great novel or movie. At the end of the film, Mother Mary and his dialogue reveal the answers the author has found.
Mammy asked him why there were no new books coming out. He replied, "Because I was looking for the most beautiful, and I didn't find it."
Was it his first love, the shimmering ocean on his ceiling, or the beautiful sculptures, paintings, buildings in the city of Rome? neither. Because they separate, die, disappear, decay.
What Jep was looking for was another beautiful city.
Mammy answered him: "Why do I only eat the root? Because the root is very important."
She took a breath, and the flock of flamingos flew to the dawn.
For Jep, it's like a riddle, more like a Zen koan.
He recognized the illusion of the world, that life is just a trick, and what we see here is, at most, a fleeting reflection of the most beautiful.
And as a novelist, his greatest duty and achievement is to tell and reveal this trick.
But that's not enough, there's something more important - roots.
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