Original subtitles

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[feel-good music playing]

[Maria] I grew up in the driest place on Earth.

Our town was built in the desert where they'd found saltpeter.

My dad worked for the mining company.

All the men did.

We kids waited eagerly for something to happen,

but when things did happen, people were scared.

I wasn't.

[Julio] Who dares?

- A drag for anyone who tries! - [Julio] Not me!

[Rogelio] Nobody, you're shitty assholes…

- [Pedro] Not me. - [Julio] Me neither.

- [Pedro] No. - [Julio] No way.

- [Pedro] Look, she's going! - [Rogelio] I don't think she'll go in.

- [Pedro] Is she really going in? - [Julio] No, I don't think so.

[Delfina] She's so brave!

No, no, no! Don't go!

[screams]

[shrieks, breathes heavily]

THE MOVIE TELLER

ATACAMA DESERT, CHILE, 1966

Please, Don Nolasco, let me pay you half now

and the rest next week.

You can't, madam.

[indistinct chattering]

[wistful guitar music playing]

[indistinct chattering]

[woman on radio] I keep quiet to spare you the suffering

that this truth would cause you.

- [man on radio] Is it a horrible thing? - [woman sobs] Yes.

It is.

It is.

[man] I love you, Esmeralda.

Whatever it is, tell me.

I can take it.

We will find a solution.

- [Maria] A devil's tail? - [Marcelino] Mm-hmm.

It's beautiful.

Thanks.

[radio static playing]

It's dirty. Done.

[Esmeralda] Even if you suffer for me, you will leave me.

You won't want to see me anymore.

[man] But why do you say that?

I know this will not be the case. I'm sure of my great love for you.

Juan Pablo asked Esmeralda for a divorce.

- Dammit. - [Juan Pablo] I am her father.

[Esmeralda sobs] I don't know, Juan Pablo.

- I don't know. - [Maria] Onions?

[chuckles]

[Maria] Yes.

[emotional music playing on radio]

The flowers you gave me when you loved me

Dried up in a puff of your fickleness

And still

And still

You are the hope of my soul

The promise you made to love me always

Spread in the air like light smoke

Still

And still

You are the hope of my soul

Medardo.

[man 1] Medardo!

There's no water. Let's go home!

- [Luis] Come on, man. - [man 1 shouting indistinctly]

[Luis] Let's go, let's go!

[jackhammer drilling]

[Luis] Medardo, let's go!

[wistful music playing]

[Medardo] Hey, projectionist! What will we do on Sunday?

[projectionist] We are going to show a John Wayne film.

- Oh. - The best western in history.

[Medardo] Is it good?

[projectionist] Yes, really good.

Come and have a beer with us, Medardo.

No, I'd better go home. I should go home.

No, come on.

[Patricio] If I had such an amazing woman at home

I wouldn't stay either.

I wouldn't go to work.

[wistful music continues]

Three days until Sunday. Three days.

[Maria Magnolia] And they start dating again,

fine dining, ballrooms.

But she is much younger than he is.

[Maria] Like you and Dad.

[Maria Magnolia] No, even more so.

Gary Cooper was in his mid-fifties, and she wasn't even 25.

I'm done.

The bathroom is free.

Good night, Dad.

Good night, my darling.

[Maria Magnolia] Then they meet again at the opera.

But he is wary of her

because she is reputed to have had many lovers.

Why did you marry Dad?

Didn't you like boys your own age?

[Maria Magnolia] Back then, he didn't look much older than me.

The job at the mine made him like this.

I don't like boys my age either.

[pensive music playing]

[Maria] Every day was exactly the same.

Except for Sundays.

The name Medardo suited my dad just fine

because he had an obsession with names beginning with M

since it dawned on him that his mother's name was Martina

and his father's Magno.

[Medardo] Maria Magnolia, I'm waiting for you.

[Maria] Mariano, the eldest, stuttered.

He loved westerns.

[imitating gunfire]

Give it to me.

[Maria] Mirto, my middle brother, was very keen on comedies, soccer,

and women.

- [Medardo] Mirto! - I'm coming! I'm coming!

[Maria] My third brother, Marcelino, loved everything in black and white.

Marcelino. Come on, hurry up.

[Maria] And I was almost christened Marilyna,

in homage to Marilyn Monroe,

who was nobody when her name was Norma Jean,

according to my dad.

My mother threatened to separate.

[Medardo] Hurry up, kids, we're late!

So in the end, I was named Maria Margarita.

[Maria] Changed your hairstyle again?

Why settle for being a firefly when you could be a star?

[Maria] And her name was Maria Magnolia. Two M's.

But if this hadn't been the case,

my dad would have married her anyway because she was very mysterious,

and she loved films like he did, although they always made her sad.

No one ever really knew where she came from.

Excuse me.

[Maria] Some said from over the mountains.

How are you?

"God opened the sea with a blast of his nostrils."

[Maria] My father wasn't a religious person.

He was quoting a scene from The Ten Commandments.

Sundays were the happiest moments for my dad.

Like when Moses parted the Red Sea.

Here, daughter.

You have dust on your face.

Thank you.

It's broken.

It's the only one I have.

- Hello. - Hello.

Um, some Pololeo sweets,

and some candy for the kids, please.

[clerk] Certainly.

- And some chocolates for me, please. - [clerk] Right away, sir.

Allow me to treat you, Mrs. Castillo.

- No, no. - I insist.

You look lovely in blue.

[Maria Magnolia] One for you, and one for you.

- Here. - [Mirto] Thank you.

Mr. Hauser bought them.

We're in row four. Come on, let's go.

Let's go! Hurry up.

[indistinct chattering]

Move over.

[indistinct chattering]

[woman] I don't wanna sit up so close.

This seat's for her.

[man] Excuse me. Pardon me. Pardon me.

[movie begins with dramatic music playing]

[gasps]

Marion Michael Morrison. Three M's.

How could John Wayne not be an actor?

- What? Obviously. - Obviously.

[stuttering] John Wayne is the best.

Nobody draws faster than him.

But he's not as good as Kirk Douglas.

I knew from the start that this guy, being such an idiot,

didn't kill Liberty Valance.

[Mariano] Yes, he ruined everything!

And you don't know how glad I am to have had such a skillful son.

But would it be possible that for every five words you say,

at least two aren't swear words?

What does the journalist say to the star

when he's about to tell the truth?

He said,

"When legend becomes fact…" isn't that right?

"…print the legend."

What the hell does that mean?

It means

that although sometimes reality isn't as interesting as the lie,

as the film rightly says,

lying always has a price.

[emotional music playing]

[breathing heavily]

- [indistinct chattering] - [lively music playing]

No, man. I can't.

[chattering and lively music fade]

[emotional music playing]

[students] Saltpeter was discovered in 1860

by miner Jose Santos Ossa.

[teacher] Saltpeter is one of the country's main sources of wealth.

Was it always so?

- Yes. - [students] No.

[teacher] After the Pacific War,

Bolivia was defeated, and the Atacama Desert became Chilean.

Does anyone know what saltpeter is used for?

- For fertilizers. - [teacher] That's it.

Anything else?

- Sausages. - [teacher] Precisely.

Anything else?

Gunpowder.

[Maria] Someone said we are such stuff as dreams are made on.

I think we're made of the same stuff as movies.

[man in film] Fourteen, thirteen…

[Maria] And sometimes films have the same magic power as dreams

to predict the future.

…four, three, two, one, zero.

[whistle blowing in film]

Medardo, what are you doing, you idiot?

Medardo!

[somber music playing]

[indistinct chattering]

The wheel, Luis.

That's good.

- All right. - Put the wheel on here.

Okay. Fix it down there.

No, Mirto, please.

[Hauser] I'm afraid there is only compensation in the event of fatalities.

[Maria Magnolia] But my husband worked like a beast.

All these years, he never missed a day of work.

Monday to Saturday, even two shifts in a row if necessary.

The company recognizes Medardo's commitment.

But it won't assume responsibility.

Do you know what? You only think in numbers.

On the contrary, madam.

After the war, my father had to clear minefields in occupied countries.

And, in your mind, you imagine the day

when someone turns up at your doorstep to give you the bad news.

And as expected…

that day came.

I am sorry about your father.

But my husband is here with us, Mr. Hauser.

- Hello. - Hello.

Go on.

[Maria Magnolia] This is my home too, Mr. Hauser.

Well, not exactly.

It's the company's.

It's yours on a provisional basis.

If it's all right with you,

why don't you come by the office tomorrow morning?

No.

It's not all right with me.

I want you to assure me here and now that my family will stay in this house.

And that my husband will be paid his full salary.

- He has four children to feed. - [Hauser] Yes, I know.

And believe me, I want to help you.

But this was just a courtesy visit.

I am not here as the plant manager.

"The Lord of Hosts will do battle for us.

Behold his mighty hand."

- [Luis] Hold it. - [Marcelino] Come in, come in.

- Yeah, hold it, kid. - That's it!

I'm going to sit here!

We're ready, compadre!

- [Mirto] He'll love the chair. - [Luis] No, don't help us.

Come on, guys, give me a hand. On the count of three.

- [Mirto] I'll get down. - [Luis] Right. One, two, three.

- Hold him! - [Medardo] Right there.

- Careful! Watch out for his hand. - [Marcelino] I discovered my natural gift.

[Luis] Are you comfortable?

[Marcelino] Do you need a cushion?

[Luis] You see, compadre? See what I did with your children?

- [Medardo] Good one. - [Luis] It's great.

- See you tomorrow. - [Mirto] I want to get on too.

[Luis] Well, help me move it.

[Medardo] "And God opened the sea,

with a blast of his nostrils."

[door closes]

[wistful music playing]

[breathes heavily]

[wistful music continues]

Number five.

[Aurelio] Clearly, for our employers, we, the workers, are not human beings

but mere instruments to increase the wealth of the American bloodsuckers.

That's what we are.

This is a class struggle, an anti-capitalist struggle,

and an anti-imperialist struggle.

[all exclaim in agreement]

They were full of promises, but what happened in the end?

- Nothing at all. - No more!

[Aurelio] And the outcome of this conflict will depend on the national solidarity

that we will awaken in the entire Chilean working class

and the political pressure we have to exert.

It's not time for doubts.

We must coordinate politically with our comrades from Vergara,

Maria Elena, and Victoria.

You're my brother Marcelino's classmate, right?

Yes.

[Aurelio] Let capitalists do their restructuring and calculations,

but they should know,

if all saltpeter workers unite,

we can bring the country to a standstill.

Don't worry. My dad always fixes these things.

[workers cheering]

- Long live the revolution! - Hurrah!

Let's go.

- [workers] Go Chile! - Hurrah!

- Long live the Socialist Party! - Hurrah!

- Long live saltpeter workers! - Hurrah!

- Long live Recabarren comrades! - Hurrah!

Why are we leaving if Mauricio's dad said he could fix everything?

They want to change the world first, and we don't have that much time.

Are you going to Mr. Hauser's office?

Perhaps.

But a little later. Come.

[Maria] Dad says he's German

and that the Germans are not to be trusted.

Why?

[Maria] Because they are always the bad guys in movies.

[Maria Magnolia] This one can be trusted.

Wait for me here.

Sure.

Good afternoon, ma'am. Please come in.

Look how beautiful.

Please, this way.

[sentimental music playing]

We don't even have enough for beans,

and Nolasco won't lend us any more money.

Didn't you give him your earrings?

He cashed in our previous debts.

[Medardo] Dammit! In this house, money is on horseback, and we're on foot.

[Maria Magnolia] Is that all you can come up with? A joke?

[Medardo] Shall I go to heaven so you have one less mouth to feed?

[Maria Magnolia] What will we tell the children?

[Medardo] About what?

The cinema.

It's all they care about.

I'll think of something.

Hello, Charlie. Long time no see.

[Charlie] What is it, Spats? What are you doing here?

[Spats] I just dropped in to pay my respects.

- [Charlie] You don't owe me nothing. - [Spats] I wouldn't say that.

You were nice enough to recommend my mortuary to your friends.

- I don't know what you're talking about. - I got all those coffins on my hands.

[Charlie] Honest, Spats, I had nothing to do with it.

Goodbye, Charlie.

No, Spats, no! No, Spats. Please, no! No …

[dramatic voice] Goodbye, Charlie.

[imitates gunfire]

And the gangsters…

It must be when Jack Lemmon throws up.

[Mariano stammers] …shot.

[Mariano stammers]

The phone fell, and the gangsters…

[stammers]

…got distracted.

[stammers] There, Joe and Jerry tried to escape.

Then…

Maybe it's… it's not a good idea for me to be the one to do this.

The "ra-ta-ta-ta" came out great.

Yes, I don't…

[stammers] I don't know. It's best if one of the others does it.

Mirto?

Next Sunday?

[Holly whimpering in film]

[Paul] Holly.

[cat yowls]

Holly, Holly!

Leave me alone!

- Holly… - No!

[Mirto] Then the asshole enters the flat

and the bitch goes crazy,

destroying everything in her path.

The fucking lamp.

The fucking cat, she grabs the stinking cat…

[imitating cat yowling]

Shut the fuck up!

Here.

[Holly whimpering]

No!

Leave me alone!

All the feathers fly everywhere like…

Dammit! What do you call those things when you fart in the water?

Enough, Mirto. Why was she angry?

How the fuck would I know?

All I know is that she was completely nuts.

That's all.

But in any case,

who understands women? Not me.

Marcelino?

Fine.

[dramatic string music playing]

My love

I love you

My love

I love you, I love you

My love

I love you, I love you, I love you

[Marcelino] The train starts to move.

It's a sturdy and robust steam train, steel-grey colored.

The train is fitted with sash windows

and a wooden interior cladding.

Swing doors that open outwards

and vertical metal handles

which people hold on to in order to get on the moving train.

The wheels of the train begin to squeak,

- and the-- - Marcelino.

The film is a bit long.

Get to the end.

And the train disappears in a cloud of smoke.

[lively music playing]

[wistful music playing]

My granny says it's a dirty film

for people over 21.

I'm sure it's not that bad.

I see my brothers' willies, and I don't pull a face,

and I'm perfectly fine.

Are you kidding me?

Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Frank Sinatra…

How do we get in?

- I'm going in now. - See you there.

Sh! Shut up!

I never knew it could be like this. Nobody ever kissed me the way you do.

[Milton] Nobody?

Not even one out of all the men you've been kissed by?

[Karen] How many do you think there've been?

I wouldn't know. Can't you give me a rough estimate?

Not without an adding machine.

Do you have your adding machine with you?

All that fuss about some necking on the beach?

Yes, people exaggerate.

What about your dad?

How is he?

Very well.

Quieter than usual.

You can't imagine how hard it is to move him

from the chair to the bed.

Or take him to the toilet.

It must be difficult.

Especially for your mum.

Yes, especially for her.

What about yours?

Doesn't she take you to the cinema?

I don't know. I never met her.

Well, but you have a granny

who won't let you see dirty films.

Yes.

[applause in distance]

[flamenco guitar music playing]

Smoking is a pleasure

A brilliant

And sensual pleasure

Smoking, I wait for the man I love

Behind cheerful window panes

And while I smoke, I don't consume my life

Because the floating smoke Tends to lull me to sleep

Lying on my sofa

Smoking

And making love

Seeing my lover happy and enamored

Feeling his lips kiss with wise kisses

And feeling the affair with more desire

When I feel his eyes

Thirsty for passion

So when I'm feeling this good

Run, I want to go crazy with pleasure

Feeling that heat

Of intoxicating smoke

That ends up lighting The ardent flame of love

[cheering]

Little brats! Get out of here!

Run, run, run!

What are you doing here?

It was my idea.

We were just having a peek.

You're the Union man's son, aren't you?

Yes.

Is it true what he said?

What did you see?

Nothing.

We couldn't see anything.

Just a woman… in sequins

who sang about smoking.

She looked beautiful

with those feathers.

Her dress all shimmery…

in those high heels.

But the audience didn't seem to hear her singing.

They didn't look at her the way people watch films.

Well, what happens is that some men, when drinks go to their heads,

they go crazy watching a pretty woman dance.

I wouldn't want to be looked at like that.

But not all venues can be the Municipal or the Caupolican Theater.

You have to start somewhere.

Listen to me, buttercup.

It's not about how people see you on stage,

but how you see yourself.

If you feel and act like an artist,

you are an artist,

no matter if you are performing for thousands of people

or for a group of drunks.

Artists are like fireflies.

They have a light that makes them shine.

But that light is also a curse.

You just can't turn it off.

It's within you.

It has to come out, and if it doesn't…

your heart withers.

If you stop paying, nobody will pay afterwards.

Yes.

Old son of a bitch.

Guess what.

It's your turn.

[dramatic music playing in film]

Ah! [laughs]

Sh!

- I am Spartacus. - I am Spartacus.

- I am Spartacus. - I am Spartacus.

- I am Spartacus. - I am Spartacus. I am Spartacus.

Thousands and thousands would have gladly died in his place.

[chuckles] What was he? Was he a god?

He wasn't a god.

He was a simple man.

A slave.

I loved him.

He was an outlaw!

A murderer!

An enemy of Rome.

Tell me.

Why did you love him?

It's useless for me to tell you.

You wouldn't understand.

So Crassus goes to Spartacus.

He is chained together with his friend Anthony.

Crassus orders his Roman guards

to force Spartacus and Anthony to fight.

They'll fight, one against the other, to the death.

He who lives… shall be crucified.

Anthony is at his mercy.

Forgive me, Anthony.

I love you, Spartacus.

Like my own father.

Me too, Anthony.

Like a son I will never get to see.

- [grunts] - [chuckles]

Varinia approaches where Spartacus is crucified.

This is your son, Spartacus. He is free.

I promise he will always remember you.

[applause]

[emotional music playing]

[Maria] And that's how I officially became the family's movie teller.

I am Spartacus.

I am Spartacus.

[Maria Magnolia] Are you sure he didn't go with you?

I am Spartacus.

Look, he doesn't stutter when he dreams.

[Mariano] I am Spartacus.

I am Spartacus.

Let's see how my nightgown fits you.

Time here is all messed up.

It's as if it doesn't move forward, but it flies by.

Thank you, Mom.

And in no time, you're going to be as old as I was when I had Marianito.

Promise me you won't let what happened to me, happen to you.

Promise me you'll have a life, a life of your own.

Isn't your life your own?

It's just that sometimes you feel

you haven't been in control of your life.

So, will you promise me?

No.

- I don't like to make promises. - How come?

I don't know. It's like carrying a huge stone in your pocket.

I understand.

But this promise isn't a stone.

On the contrary. It's like…

a little hole where you can dump all the weight you don't wish to carry.

Yes, Mom.

A life of my own.

I promise.

[indistinct chattering]

- Hello, Maria Margarita. - Hello.

I'm home.

Mom?

Where's Mom?

[wistful music playing]

[breathes heavily]

- Where did my mom go? - I don't know, baby.

Mom!

Mom! Mom, please don't go! Mom!

Mom! Mom!

Mom!

Mom! Mom! Please don't leave me!

Mom!

[crying]

[Mariano] Hey.

Dad.

Yes.

I'll go.

[wistful music playing]

Listen, she left some clothes,

so maybe she left to look for a job

to save some money and come back in a little while.

Shut up.

[students] Saltpeter.

[teacher] Lead sulphite.

[students] Lead sulphite.

[teacher] Azurite.

[students] Azurite.

[teacher] Copper.

[students] Copper.

[music fades]

[sobs]

[crying]

[Hauser] Thank you.

Hello.

- What can I get you, miss? - Some marshmallows.

[clerk] Straightaway.

- I'll pay for them. - [clerk] Yes, sir.

Thank you.

Look.

You're going to hear things said in town.

I have nothing to do with it.

In fact,

I am as surprised as you are.

A small bag of Pololeo sweets.

[clerk] Yes, sir.

[Hauser] Here.

She loved them.

[man in film] Our home office has 31,259 employees,

which is more than the entire population of, uh, Natchez, Mississippi.

I work on the 19th floor, Ordinary Policy Department,

Premium Accounting Division, Section W, desk number 861.

My name is C.C. Baxter. C for Calvin, C for Clifford.

However, most people call me Buddy.

Why don't we discuss it over the holidays?

I could call you, pick you up, and we'll have the big unveiling…

Are you sure this is the right way to wear this?

I think so. Here.

You don't think it's tilted too much? After all, this is a conservative firm.

I don't want people to think I'm an entertainer.

[woman] What's the matter?

[Baxter] Uh, the mirror. It's broken.

Yes, I know.

I like it that way.

Makes me look the way I feel.

[phone ringing]

[woman] Your phone.

Yes?

Uh, just a minute.

If you don't mind, this is sort of personal.

Have a nice Christmas.

Do you want to come in?

May I go with her?

Yes.

- Leave the bike there if you want. - Okay.

[indistinct chattering]

[sighs]

[shushing]

Baxter

is one of the 32,000 employees of a giant company in New York.

He works long hours.

[Baxter] I love you, Miss Kubelik.

[Kubelik] Three.

Queen.

Did you hear what I said, Miss Kubelik? I absolutely adore you.

[Kubelik] Shut up and deal.

[soaring feel-good music playing]

[all laughing]

Why didn't you think of this before, Medardo?

This crazy girl narrates the black-and-white films

as if they were in technicolor and cinemascope.

It was as if we were with Lemmon Jack in his bachelor pad.

This is clearly an artistic show in every sense of the word.

And art, my friend, is paid for.

No. It would be very odd for my friends to pay to enter my house.

[Aurelio] I agree with Lucho.

If your daughter has a talent, she's a gold mine,

in your condition, make the most of it.

No way!

You can't pay to see my daughter perform.

Hey, what if it wasn't inside?

What?

Outside?

Well, what name shall I give you?

Will you button me up, Dad?

I don't know. Well, come to think of it,

in the music world, everyone changed their names.

Like Danny Chilean. Do you know his name?

No. What was it?

Javier Astudillo Zapata.

- Really? - It's ready.

Thank you.

And like Sussy Vecky. Do you know her name?

Gladys Lucavecchi.

- You're good. - [Mirto] Yeah.

[Maria] It's all in the "Ecran" magazine.

And you, what did you decide? I have to finish the poster.

How about Buttercup, like Mom called you?

Damn it.

I told you not to mention her again.

I told you!

She's nothing to you!

She left! She left you!

She left you!

Don't mention that woman again!

Do you understand?

Don't mention her in front of me! Shit!

RITA VALENTINA THE MOVIE TELLER

[Mariano] Hello.

Go inside.

Hello.

- Hello. - Hello.

[Mirto] Come in.

Come in.

- Come in. - Over there in the middle.

Hello.

Have a seat over here.

Your rece-ce-ceipt.

[sighs]

[wistful music playing]

Dad.

- [man] Hello, Rita Valentina! - Hello!

[woman] Rita Valentina!

- [man] Hello. - [Mauricio] Hello!

- [Maria] Mauricio. - Maria Margarita.

You look beautiful.

- I'm going to the cinema. Want to come? - Yes, sure.

[man on radio] President Frei announces the purchase

of 51% of the Chuquicamata…

It is high time to nationalize the saltpeter works.

I won't disagree, Don Primitivo.

As long as I don't lose my job.

[woman] Maria Margarita.

Look, my mom is ill. Won't you come and see her and tell her a film?

Bewitching Kisses, do you know it?

Yes, of course. A beautiful film.

- Thank you. - See you.

You had no idea what film she was talking about.

Which one will you tell her?

- I don't know, I'll think of something. - "I'll think of something."

What?

No, nothing.

Something came to my mind.

- What came to your mind? - No, no, not here.

Later.

I'm going to pay.

- Yes, you have to pay. - Right.

"I remember her as the desert remembers the rain."

"I remember her as silence remembers music."

"I remember her very clearly although I never got to see her."

"Her infinite silhouette is drawn in my memory

as the horizon is drawn on the road."

Is it about your mom?

From now on we'll call you The Poet.

[bell ringing]

And if you don't kiss me now, it will never happen.

- My mother was very touched. - [chuckles]

- Thank you very much. - Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mirto.

Shall we go to the store?

[lively music playing on radio]

[laughter]

[car honks]

- Hello, Mariano. - Hello, watchman.

What… poems does he write for you?

How can I tell you the things he writes for me?

If you want, I'll tell you what he does to me.

[stutters] If I hear he's climbing up my little sister's spout,

he's going to hear from me.

That guy gives me the creeps, with those owlish eyes of his.

[stutters] He won't ask for comedy, that's for sure, but he pays well.

- Hello. - [Nalasco] Hello.

Come on in.

What's this for?

Things for the scenography.

You won't need it. I have everything you need here.

[stutters] Well then, I'm off to play soccer with Mirto.

When you're done, come get me at the pitch.

[Maria] Mm-hmm.

[stutters] You don't need me, do you?

[Maria] See you.

Come. Follow me.

We agreed on 20 pesos, right?

Yes, 20.

[Nolasco] They say you can do all kinds of films.

[Maria] Mm-hmm.

Here, put this on.

[Maria] Thank you.

I brought you a drink for later.

Which film would you like me to tell you?

Whichever you want.

Would you like The Tarnished Angels?

Yes, perfect.

But… come a little closer.

I'm a bit deaf in one ear.

A light-aircraft aerobatics show

is about to begin.

Closer.

A little closer.

It is about to begin in the middle of a fair in the desert.

- Dozens of light aircraft… - Come a little closer.

Come.

Come.

Closer.

Sit down.

[indistinct chattering]

[Marcelino] Please.

- [stutters] Over here. - Hello.

[lively music playing on radio]

[soft whistle] The night shift is asleep.

[indistinct chattering]

What should we do?

Does anyone know where she is?

Sis, everyone is waiting for you outside.

Come on.

[door opens]

[chattering continues]

[music fades]

[breathes deeply]

He teaches her sign language and lip-reading,

and people realize that she's not stupid,

as she used to be called, not a bit,

but quite the opposite.

This isn't The Tarnished Angels.

[Maria] But one day

she's alone in her house, and the fisherman appears

and he says to her,

"Hey, silly, look what I brought you."

He shows her the violin and starts playing it wildly,

a senseless and dreadful cacophony.

Then he puts his arms around her and kisses her roughly.

"It's the first time someone has kissed you, isn't it?"

"Don't be scared, silly."

"Once, I caught a seagull that had the same frightened look as you."

So, Belinda,

realizing the danger,

tries to escape.

But although he's bony and skinny, he's much stronger than her.

And he surrounds and pins her,

he throws himself on her with his foul stench and owlish eyes

and starts tearing her clothes off…

[Maria screams]

[audience clapping]

[officer] Wait. Stand back.

Madam, please.

Please.

Keep calm.

Every son of a bitch gets his punishment, right?

[woman] He deserves it! Let him rot in hell!

[officer] Hey, that's enough.

[man] Take him away! We got rid of him at last!

Don Nolasco seems to have been killed with the handle of a shovel. [chuckles]

And now the cops are questioning everyone who owed him money.

[stutters] So,

half of the town.

[laughter]

[Mirto] They should question themselves.

All the cops had debts with him.

Even Captain Alvarez owed him six months of his own salary.

[laughter]

[Medardo] That's why all those morons were laughing their heads off.

Of course, everyone's debts will be cancelled.

I don't know about that,

but whoever did it, gets 113 years of forgiveness or even more.

[laughter]

So then,

the cops won't bother much about finding the culprit.

[Medardo] Hey, baby.

What film are you going to tell today?

- The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. - Ah, right.

[Medardo chuckles]

Watch out! Watch your back!

There's one left.

Do you want anything special, Daddy?

No, it's just that…

You reminded me of a film, of a particular scene.

Shall I tell you about it?

There…

there was a young miner who had a job in copper.

One day,

as tired as hell,

he took a shortcut through the desert

and found a lonely house in some godforsaken spot.

And next to the house,

a ramshackle van.

On top of it, he saw a dancer standing there.

A very pretty young woman, skinnier than a broomstick…

[laughs]

…who danced to a melody that was playing purely in her head.

The young man hid behind a tree so as not to interrupt her.

And she kept on dancing.

He was spellbound.

So,

when she finished dancing,

the dancer bowed

to an imaginary audience.

And there, the young man couldn't hold back,

and he began to applaud.

She froze.

He came out slowly, but she

jumped off the van, scared to death, and ran home.

He told her to stop, that he just wanted a little water.

And miraculously she stopped.

Listen to this. He was a good soul.

She took him to the well.

He didn't know what to say, so he made a lame joke.

But she laughed.

She was an angel from the other side of the mountain range.

The fact is that the young man never went down the same path again.

And after a month, they were married.

And they had a daughter who loved cinema.

But he could never replace her imaginary audience.

[banging]

Pig! You almost got me killed!

[soft laughter]

[Maria] When did you unload it?

You know,

in this world, there are two kinds of people.

[soft laughter]

Those with a loaded gun,

and those who dig.

You dig.

[loud cheering]

[whistling, whooping]

[man] Bravo!

Bravo!

Dad?

[sobbing]

[crying]

- [crying continues] - [melancholy music playing]

Do you think Mom knows?

I don't think so.

Although news flies in La Pampa.

When has anything ever flown here? Don't be stupid.

Why did you say that?

Because she may come back.

[door closes]

They tell me he died listening to you narrate a film.

Yes.

- Which one? - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

Ah.

I'm sure he died happy.

- Would you like a drink? - No, thank you.

If you came to talk about the house,

I wish I could give you better news,

but I'm afraid you and your brothers will have to hand it over.

Is this provisional too?

There's nothing I can do.

Maybe you could.

Mariano is old enough to work.

I understand.

Is he the one who stutters and likes cowboys?

He's good with his hands and no longer stutters.

Tell him to come and see me.

Thank you.

Is there something else?

You know where she is, right?

When your father had the accident,

I started giving her money from time to time to help the family.

She must have saved

some of the money for the trip she had planned.

[melancholy music playing]

Does she write to you?

Yes. Now and again.

I'm afraid she already knows about your father.

If that was giving you any hope.

Here.

It might have more of an effect if you tell her.

Teatro Ideal, Antofagasta.

[melancholy music continues]

[lively music playing on radio]

[music fades]

[flamenco music playing]

Enjoy. Go inside.

[music ends]

[dramatic music playing]

[man] Beautiful woman!

Lovely!

What a beauty.

[Maria] Excuse me.

Is Maria Magnolia here?

Yes. That's her dressing room.

[knocking at door]

[Maria Magnolia] Mm-hmm.

[woman] A girl left them for you.

They look expensive.

Hmm.

[wistful music playing]

[woman] She looked very elegant.

Yes.

[distant siren wailing]

[music fades]

[whispers] How did it go?

Is she here?

The theatre was sold out,

and it wasn't a very big cabaret, but it was modern and full of lights.

She came out in a Spanish polka-dot dress,

with a rose in her hair

and with a feather boa

and, when she went on stage,

everyone started clapping and calling her name.

Then she started to dance and sing.

The flowers you gave me

When you loved me

Dried up in a puff

Of your fickleness

And still

And still

You are the hope of my soul

It was the most difficult,

but perhaps it was the best film I ever narrated.

Because it allowed me to bury my mother.

Did the audience like it?

Some threw flowers at her.

[Mariano] Did you see her?

Did you speak to her?

Yes, but only for a short time

because there were lots of people who wanted to greet her.

But she gave me lots of kisses and sent lots of kisses to all of you.

Did she tell you if she was ever going to come here?

She said it was difficult,

that she had lots of performances, and she's going on tour

throughout Chile and as far as Argentina.

[Mirto] Hey, we might see her on TV!

- [Marcelino] Yes, that's true. - [Mirto] Yes.

What?

[indistinct chattering]

[dramatic music playing]

Just you wait…

- [TV static] - [banging TV]

[Maria] I prefer the cinema.

[Mariano] Back.

Everyone, back.

Back.

Don't go near. This way, please.

That's as far as it goes. Madam, I'm sorry. Back up.

Maria, this Sunday we are going to show the best western ever.

Loads of shooting!

Romanticism.

[Maria] Radios with monkeys,

as the projectionist called them, invaded the town.

People stopped going to the cinema.

As for me, only from time to time, a sick old woman with no television set

would send for me to narrate an old film.

Fortunately, we were able to stay in the house.

Without telling anyone, Hauser helped us.

He made Mariano the new watchman.

Don't worry about the money.

He dreamt of being a cowboy all his life.

But as soon as they gave him the job,

they decided to swap the horse for a bicycle.

If no one comes today, can I have my trousers back?

[Maria] No, you gave them to me.

[sighs]

[Maria] I began to feel lonely.

I deeply missed the cinema,

its closeness.

A place where I could dream.

My escape route.

I needed something to do on Sundays.

[footsteps approaching]

My brother Mirto became infatuated with a young widow

who lost her husband in an accident…

The mine gave her compensation,

and she bought a fabulous car

to start a new life in a better place.

Thanks.

[Maria] He was awed by her

and went with her to Coyhaique,

some 2,500 miles to the south of the country.

Mirto! You can have them back.

Not bad for someone who didn't understand women,

to end up following them to the end of the world.

- I'll miss you. - Me too.

- [car honks] - Go on.

Mirto!

[Maria laughs]

[woman singing on TV]

There is a place very close by Where they go

Boys and girls to dance

You already see echoes in the air…

Juanito, another round.

- Shall we play one more game? - Sure.

Jose, can you lend me some pesos?

I've lent you enough.

Don't even look at me.

Juanito.

Put some more pesos on my tab. I'll pay you back when I get my salary.

Go home, Mariano. You've had enough for today.

You're so ungrateful, Juan.

Didn't you owe Nolasco eight months' salary?

Thanks to me, you don't owe him anything.

Thanks to me, no one owes Nolasco anything.

Bunch of good-for-nothings!

You're all a bunch of ungrateful bastards!

- [singing fades] - [somber music playing]

- [door opens] - [officer] Mariano Castillo!

[Mariano] It's me.

[Maria] Two days later, the police came.

Stay there. Stay there, please!

[Maria] Mariano confessed that he'd killed Nolasco to free our family from debt,

but he never said he had done it to take revenge

for what that son of a bitch moneylender had done to me.

[car engine starting]

My brother Marcelino began working in the saltpeter works,

and that made him open his eyes wide.

- How did it go? - Fine.

I'm hungry.

They want us to keep our heads down. Convince us that things can't change.

- It's ready. - [Marcelino] Right.

And that's it.

But people are taking action.

The workers in Maria Elena,

in Victoria, and at the works in Taltal are realizing

the power we have if we join forces.

One day, the saltpeter workers will be the owners of all this.

[Maria] Let's hope so.

[man on TV] Traditionally here, every year after the elections

the supporters…

We're winning.

…have no better way to celebrate

than to jump into the fountain in the square.

Some achieved their purpose, but immediately the police arrived…

We shall prevail…

We shall prevail…

A thousand chains must be broken

We shall prevail, we shall prevail

We will overcome fascism

[lively dance music playing]

Mauricio!

[tender piano music playing]

[indistinct chattering]

Why do you live alone?

[Hauser] My wife was reluctant to leave Europe.

But I managed to cajole her

by writing letters to her about the wonders of the Atacama landscape,

as if it were the Far West itself.

She liked to travel, she couldn't have children,

so we needed a new adventure.

But when she came

and saw how desolate it is here, she wanted to go back.

She told me women turn into pillars of salt here.

Do you think I'll turn into a pillar of salt?

You're too young to even think about it.

And I'm too old for you.

You're right.

I should have said what that son of a bitch did to me.

No. What you did was fine. You shouldn't have to relive it.

Besides, they would've blamed you.

I should never have left you alone with him.

I deserve to be here.

- What's that noise? - Something in Santiago.

- [guard 1] How do you know? - [guard 2] I just heard it on the radio.

What happened to… Mauricio, the poet?

He was a good kid.

And he still is.

You two were joined at the hip. You went everywhere together.

You were made for marriage.

He's with Delfina now, and it looks like they'll get married.

She won't let him slip away.

He got tired of waiting for me.

[Maria sighs]

And mother?

Did you see her on TV?

No.

[wistful music playing]

You didn't talk to her when you saw her, right?

I didn't want to.

She knows where we are.

I'm not going to talk about her, ever.

[guard 1] Time's up!

All prisoners back to their cells.

[Maria] What's going on?

- [guard] Let's go. - [Mariano] Take care, sis.

Take care of Marcelino.

[man on TV] The armed forces and law enforcement agencies

have been deployed today

only under patriotic inspiration

to bring the country out of chaos…

We can't give up, comrades.

Have faith that we still have time to change things.

We can't give up the fight. It's the only way to win.

[soldier] Come on! Hurry the fuck up!

- [man on TV] …that acutely… - [door opens]

…was being rushed in by Salvador Allende's Marxist government.

[tense music playing]

Stop right there!

[indistinct shouting]

[soldier] Stop. Stop right there!

[pants]

[ominous music playing]

[soldier] Come on, for fuck's sake! Onwards!

[man on TV] The Chambers

shall remain in recess until further notice.

[Maria] Marcelino.

[Maria] On September 11, 1973,

Pinochet took control of our country.

President Allende died.

Thousands more were killed,

others imprisoned and tortured.

People simply disappeared.

Others took their own lives.

[somber music playing]

[Maria] Days later, they found in the desert

a decomposing corpse disfigured by vultures.

They say it could have been Marcelino's.

But who's to say that it was him for sure,

or that he didn't ride a devil's tail to a much better world?

They set a curfew.

They closed the cinema.

It was as if fear had erased the color from the film,

and everything turned to black and white.

[music fades]

[radio playing indistinctly]

[knocking at door]

Radio Chilena ends its daytime program with…

Maria.

- Are you alone? - Yes.

I came to say goodbye.

Why? Were you sacked?

No. But clearly the ship is sinking, and I was never the captain,

so I shouldn't be the last to leave.

It's sad to see it all go down the drain.

Do you mean the saltpeter works or the country?

The saltpeter works.

It won't last much longer.

And as for the new government, well, you know me,

I could talk to the devil himself if I had to,

but that doesn't mean I'd want to.

- Where will you go? - Back to where I came from.

I hope you can leave too.

The mine was no longer good business, and it had a slow death.

The Americans left. Many people lost their job and home.

Hauser had to do the dirty work before he left.

One thing would have surprised Hauser, for sure.

But I never told him.

[Mauricio] Maria.

Hello.

What are you doing here?

I was looking for you. [chuckles]

- I'm leaving. - You too?

Because of your dad?

Will you try to find him?

Look…

I don't think there's much I can do for him at the moment,

but I want to write about what happens.

I want to be a writer.

And I need to get out of here to do that.

I'm going to start in the capital, and… I don't know.

- Who knows? - Hmm.

And Delfina?

Um, Delfina doesn't know I'm leaving.

Why are you telling me?

Because I want you to come with me.

[poignant piano music playing]

I can't.

Why?

Because…

I still have important things to do here.

Besides,

you and I already left a long time ago.

We left like

Charlie Chaplin and Paulette Goddard in Modern Times,

like Belmondo and Anna Karina in Pierrot, Le Fou.

Like Henry Fonda and Sylvia Sidney in You Only Live Once.

Write to me.

[Maria] The town, not I, had become a pillar of salt.

The dust was everywhere.

The last few days before I left, I didn't see anyone else there.

[wistful music playing]

I was only a bit older than my mom was when she first got pregnant,

so I guess I had broken my promise,

a life of my own.

But she was wrong

because this was the first time that I felt I was in control of my life.

"And God opened the sea with a blast of his nostrils."

[Moses] "Behold his mighty hand!"

[dramatic music playing]

Maria Martina!

Be careful. There might be broken glass.

Where did you used to sit?

Come, look.

There, in the third or fourth row.

All together.

[wistful music playing]

[Maria] We're going back home.

Run, quick, quick.

[guide] Come on, all aboard. The tour is over.

It's time to go back to the city.

Come on, please. The tour is over.

[Maria] Let's go in that way.

[Maria Martina] We are the last ones.

[wistful music continues]

[music fades]

[poignant music playing]

[music fades]