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At the Café Momus, Rodolfo introduces Mimì to his roommates.
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Spontaneously, they pour out their love for one another.Ī festive crowd celebrates Christmas Eve in the Latin Quarter. He also snuffs out his own candle, and as the two search in the darkness for her key, their hands touch. Rodolfo is instantly attracted to her and manages to detain her by concealing her key after he secretly finds it. Obviously ill, she nearly faints, and drops her room key. Mimì, a young neighbor, enters, wishing to relight her candle. Rodolfo promises to join them after finishing some work, but a knock at the door interrupts him. Marcello, Colline, and Schaunard leave for the Latin Quarter. The men ply him with drink, and when he boasts of marital indiscretions, they throw him out with feigned indignation. Just then, Benoit, their landlord, arrives to demand his overdue rent. Even though Schaunard has brought home some food, the bohemians decide to take their holiday dinner in the Latin Quarter. Their two roommates, Colline, a philosopher, and Schaunard, a musician, return home. On Christmas Eve in Paris, two poor young bohemians, Marcello, a painter, and Rodolfo, a poet, attempt to work in their freezing garret.
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