All right, just let me do the talking and act casual.Luca · 2021 — Chapter 5 of 9 · 3'13" · B1
Luca and Alberto's Dinner with Massimo, Explained: Money is tight
It looks like a friendly dinner — Giulia brings two friends home and her father Massimo serves pasta. Underneath, everyone is tense: the boys can't say where they're really from, and when talk turns to the race and its entry fee, "I can't sell what I don't have" shuts the door until they offer to work.
What happens
Giulia brings Luca and Alberto to her father Massimo's house for dinner in Portorosso. Massimo is a fisherman with a big knife, and the boys are secretly sea monsters, so they try to act casual. Over pasta he asks where they're from and why they came; when the race and its entry fee come up, Massimo says money is tight, and the boys offer to work on his boat.
Listen for
do the talkingput you to workwhat got into himact casual
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Phrase of the scene
do the talking
to be the one who speaks for the group
朱莉娅带两个朋友回家吃饭，进门先让阿尔贝托别出声，由她来应付爸爸。
You hold the map; I will do the talking at the gate.
Also in this scene
- put you to work
to set someone to a task
- what got into him
a question about a sudden strange mood
- act casual
to behave as if nothing unusual is happening
Everything marked in this scene
25 notes across 60 lines
to be the one who speaks for the group
-some friends for dinner. -(BOTH GASP)to behave as if nothing unusual is happening
-some friends for dinner. -(BOTH GASP)-some friends for dinner. -(BOTH GASP)liaison
-some friends for dinner. -(BOTH GASP)negative of do well with
-Is there enough for four? -(KNIFE CHOPS)Everyone in Portorosso pretends to believe in sea monsters.pretend plus infinitive
-(LUCA GASPS) -Huh? (YELLS)And what brings you to Portorosso?Funny you should ask.liaison
Yeah.Uh, you know what? Don't worry about it.You get so upset.There's also the entry fee. Money is tight.I'll work double shifts at the pescheria. Whatever you need.I can't sell what I don't have.Um, excuse me?will for a promise
Um, excuse me?Oh, we? We know lots of fish.to set someone to a task
You want to work? I'll put you to work.put someone to work
Machiavelli! (SHUSHES) Don't you...elision
Machiavelli! (SHUSHES) Don't you...I'm so sorry about the cat.a question about a sudden strange mood
I don't know what got into him.It's fine. We're gonna head back to, uh...Luca and Alberto's Dinner with Massimo, explained
What's really going on
The dinner is a test the boys are failing quietly. Massimo is warm on the surface — he cooks, he offers a room at the end — but everything around him is a fisherman's livelihood: knives, the pescheria, "What I need is more fish in my net." Luca and Alberto are in his house because they need something from him, yet they can barely answer a simple question about where they're from, and the only cover story they have is borrowed from Giulia. The scene also plants its central bargain: the race is expensive, the family is broke, and the boys' real advantage — being fish — is exactly what they can't reveal. "You want to work? I'll put you to work" sounds generous, but it turns them into labor before it turns them into friends.
Theme
SecretsThe boys must hide what they are at the very dinner that could help them, turning a friendly meal into a performance.
MoneyA child's dream of the race meets a fisherman's tight budget, and the scene settles it with labor instead of cash.
Listen for
- do the talking — liaison
- Funny you should ask — liaison
- put you to work — elision
I can't sell what I don't have.The father's way of saying no to the entry fee: if the fish aren't there to sell, there's no money for the race.
What I need is more fish in my net.His real ask: not extra hours at the shop but more catch. The boat, not the counter, is where money comes from.
Everyone in Portorosso pretends to believe in sea monsters.A line about the town's fake sea-monster photo — it winks at the secret the boys are hiding right at the table.
He doesn't do well with fear.A warning dropped before they walk in: someone nearby panics when scared, which sets up the boys' terror around the fisherman and his knife.
Questions about this scene
Why won't Massimo let Giulia enter the race?
He says money is tight and he can't sell what he doesn't have — the fish aren't coming in, so he can't afford the entry fee or another season of watching her get crushed.
Does Massimo know Luca and Alberto are sea monsters?
Not yet. He only sees two boys who claim to know fish, and by the end he hires them onto his boat — the audience knows far more than he does.
Why do Luca and Alberto offer to work instead of just leaving?
The race is their way to win a Vespa and stay on land; with no money, working the boat is the only way to earn the entry fee.
What is a pescheria?
It's a fish shop, the family business Giulia offers to work double shifts at. The film keeps the Italian word rather than translating it.
Luca · 9 chapters
All chapters →
Up next · Chapter 6eat someone for breakfastSigning Up for the Portorosso Cup
Chapter 1if I ever saw oneMom Bans Luca From the Surface
Chapter 2catch yourselfLuca Learns to Walk on Land
Chapter 3Silenzio, BrunoAlberto Teaches Silenzio, Bruno
Chapter 4underdogsGiulia Recruits the Underdogs
Watching · Chapter 5Money is tightLuca and Alberto's Dinner with Massimo
Chapter 6eat someone for breakfastSigning Up for the Portorosso Cup
Chapter 7too muchGiulia Shows Luca the Stars
Chapter 8bossing him aroundLuca Wants to Go to School
Chapter 9worried half to deathSea Monsters Revealed at the RaceChapter 5 of 9 · about 14 min to go