Elisa, My Life (1977)

Geraldine Chaplin: Elisa, Esposa de Luis

Photos 

Quotes 

• Isabel : Photography really frightens me.

  Elisa : Why?

  Isabel : I don't know. It's like a miracle - to see yourself in the past.

• Elisa : [reading a paper written by Luis]  My fatigue is that of someone going nowhere. But where was I going? What was my goal? Maybe it was all just an illusion. I can't say I've been deceived, because I was party to the deception. Only now do I realize that the things I've learned, although mostly worthless, but which gave my life meaning - I've reached the point - where they are no longer of use to me. Now this man I see in the mirror wants to begin a new life, without rejecting the past. This man has nothing. Neither youth nor physical charm, nor does he feel that he's found truth, but simply believes that life itself is it's own reward.

• Elisa : At night we had to sleep with our arms crossed like this - to avoid evil temptations.

• Elisa : Everyday I realize we're further apart. It's strange. You live with someone for years, then realize you don't know them.

• Luis : Don't be shy. You're a good actress.

  Elisa : Up to your old tricks.

  Luis : No. Look, this is the part.

  Elisa : The World. "Oh, Supreme Maker..."

• Elisa : You're a person incapable of giving, incapable of love. You keep things inside. You're selfish, calculating, always trying to benefit from everything. You've never seen my sensitivity, my insecurity, my need for reassurance, my loneliness. Nothing. My anxiety. Nothing. You don't know me.

• Elisa : Without mutual honesty, what's the point?

• Elisa : I threw myself on the bed, and just lied there, silently. My world fell apart. In one brief moment I saw the failure of a relationship that had never worked. I felt lost.