Original subtitles

The former production Unit of the lnstituto Português de Cinema presents

PATHS

a film fabricated by

starring

I was going up the mountain Ahead of my flock

Clanging on my pot And stitching up my sheepskin cloak

When a she-wolf came my way She was big and gray

with the co-operation of

The tale of Branca-Flor extracted from the versions collected by

And took one of my ewe-lambs away The best one in the flock, I say

texts by

Run up, seven puppies Run down, shepherd dog

If you grab that she-wolf You'll enjoy a good supper

And if you do not grab her You'll taste my bitter crook

production manager

And they ran seven leagues All seven through ploughed land

And after those seven leagues The she-wolf was getting tired

I beg you shepherd In the name of God and your soul

I beg you shepherd In the name of God and your soul

To call these dogs away And I will head up the mountain

Dogs, take the lamb Take it to the flock

We do not want a lamb Bitten by a wolf

We only want your skin To make a shepherd's cloak

Where are you coming from?

Let me guide your dreams.

Bridle, like the lenient mane of trees, clutching the earth,

bridles the sap and the wind's breath.

To bridle the craving for the couple.

By wayward paths

vagrancy shall go forth with no apparent ties.

Over its trail, the oldest signs

of the whole plot and of persecution leave their print.

They ramble over the elusive path of unfeasible promise,

absorbed, like gods, in a lethal hope.

In their speechless privation, unyielding,

they are created as man and woman:

tongue-fled under the claws and spread-out flight of large birds,

of the agonizing custom,

of the age-old legend of a bloodstained reprisal.

Behold how thick with plain warbles

and crystals of peoples' memory

is the desert of ever-expanding love,

the crossing over shared, uneven guilt.

Good afternoon.

Good afternoon.

How beautiful she is!

- Like a mooress! - She looks just like a princess.

I wonder if she's an enchanted mooress?

In the old days there were plenty of enchanted mooresses.

The legends said that when the Moors were here,

they left behind many enchanted mooresses, with vast treasures,

and some people know how to disenchant them.

But that's neither for me nor for you.

She looks just like a princess.

If by chance she's an enchanted mooress

she must be from the days of Maoma.

The ancient said that in the days of Maoma...

D'you know who Maoma was?

Mahomet was a king

of the Arabs,

from Damascus, do you not know where Damascus is?

Damascus was the capital of Syria,

which is close to Jerusalem.

And from there came the said Mahomet,

the said Mahomet who was king of the Arabs.

And later,

he was a servant

to a rich Arab from Damascus.

From Damascus!

And later he became a servant and then a caravaneer

and then his master died and he married his widow.

Since she was rich,

with the wealth he got and the fame he came to have,

he became the king of Arabs.

Later, a commander of his troops,

by the name of Tarik,

told him to conquer the Iberian Peninsula.

Do you know what the Iberian Peninsula is?

It's Portugal and Spain.

He did not send him here to conquer land.

He sent him here because they had a religion, whose God was Allah.

Like our missionaries,

who marched out to Angola and Mozambique

to expand their religion.

With the troops he gathered all over Africa,

Tarik fought against

the lberians...

In the battle of Guadalete, so the legend said.

And after that, Don Rodrigo, the king of the Visigoths,

lost the battle of Guadalete.

And then the ancients, with that dance of the Pauliteiros,

made up a song called "Don Rodrigo lost the war".

Don Rodrigo was the king,

Pelagius was a prince but Don Rodrigo was the king

and they made a song about him that went like this:

Don Rodrigo was invited

There is bread and there is wine And there is a lamb ready to roast

But might as well not invite him Not invite him

The ancients already made fun of each other.

So it was the time of the Moors.

And people said mooresses carried a gold wire with them.

And they would coil the gold wire and,

if they didn't make a mistake while saying those words they knew,

the wire would come out and make a skein,

and at the end appeared the enchanted mooress.

If they got the words wrong

the mooress would once again be enchanted

and it wouldn't do any good.

Each man to his trade.

If I knew how to disenchant mooresses,

I'd try to grab one as pretty as the one that just went by.

But I don't know the words.

The mooresses, you have to disenchant them in the dead of night

and the dead of night terrifies me. When the wolf's out, I stay in.

An old ballad told that a treasure is buried

from the Woodpigeon's Rock all the way to the Moors' Rock,

but for my part I don't want it, I wouldn't know how to spend it.

- Has your husband come back? - Yes.

- And what did he bring you? - A fanner.

- And how much did it cost? - A quarter real.

Oh my dear little fanner

Which cost him A quarter real...

I still remember those things, the dancing in those days.

When Uncle St. Roque... Don't you remember uncle St. Roque?

When he sculpted saints up on the cliffs?

Yes, he sculpted saints up on the cliffs...

And while he was sculpting the nose and the eyes,

he made us keep one leg up and hop,

otherwise the saint wouldn't do miracles.

He'd drag it out and we'd get tired and put our leg down.

He'd drag it out and we'd get tired

and put our leg down and he would scold us,

saying it was our fault the saint wouldn't do miracles.

I remember... Don't you remember Uncle St. Roque?

I do, sure I do.

He made so many statues of saints, carved out of wood.

Saint Anthony holding his crook, on his window.

Up on the cliffs, made of stone...

He liked St. Anthony a lot.

I still remember the names of some of the saints.

St. Callistus.

- He was very fond of St. Callistus. - St. Callistus was also his friend.

And St. Gregory.

He made us keep one leg up.

We kids were tired and he wouldn't let us have a rest,

if we did, the saints wouldn't do miracles. I remember.

Many of those saints were still around not long ago.

And they were quite well made.

And so was the window.

The window, as it was then, packed with all those saints,

would be worth good money nowadays.

There were at least 4 or 5 saints carved into the wood of the window.

It was quite well done.

The window had a round star-like thing.

That's it,

and the saints were on both sides of the wood of the window.

If the window hadn't been wrecked, it'd be worth good money.

Boys used to throw rocks at it, on account of the saints.

That's because they were rude.

What about the cross he made by the bonfire?

It seems it was Aunt Sendinesa that broke it.

And also further up, in that crag people called the Grindstone.

That's where the dial was.

We'd put a stone in the middle

and the shadow marked the hour. - Like a median line.

I remember that.

He was Isabel's grandfather.

- Don't you remember? - Yes, I remember him.

I still remember when he made a group of kids dance

on my brother-in-law Filipe's roof,

that open shed we inherited

from the sisters of...

Augusto's father.

I remember when we kept his sheep for him.

He used to wait for us every afternoon when we came back.

And when he had the time

he'd sculpt a saint.

He used to carry around a small flask full of wine.

Yes, always, always.

Thank you.

It's nice.

It's a cold day today.

But look, such a beautiful sight,

these plants, this tender grass.

It reminds me of that story about the little donkey.

Do you know the story of the little donkey?

Would you like me to tell you the story?

So I will, listen.

Once there was a little donkey

softly grazing in a soft meadow.

And next to him its master rested

as merry as the merry few.

But then, a strange noise fell upon the ears of both

and the master asked: "Did you hear it or was I dreaming?

It's thieves, I tell you, and they'll take you with them".

The donkey, slowly chewing away, turns his sweet eye

says to the master next to him:

"if a thief takes me away

"will I carry another packsaddle on top of this one?"

"You will not", replied the master, "if thieves do take you

"and you with thieves depart forget those silly thoughts,

"for a packsaddle you carry and another you will not".

And so the donkey said: "Then you run for it,

"for danger is close and certain.

"I for one will stay here grazing

"for if this bundle I hump will neither slim nor fatten

"why would I want to flee?"

So this donkey was teaching

to those that play the fool and take life's blows

that it's foolish to go out of the way and gallop far and wide

only to end up where we started.

So I tell you: "Be he tall or be he small,

"my vote he'll never get.

"For after my vote is handed, he whose hand holds the vote

"will grow and once he's grown will forget he ever shook my hand."

Given the village's woe, and his own narrow means,

I ventured to promise the hero a victory against the evil hordes.

My own fife.

My conjuration gained that spirit

that feeds the faith of storytellers.

I didn't know

that by steering the young emissary towards a hesitant vagrancy,

I was dooming myself to the abjuration of all my powers.

He seized both my body and my silence,

and we both roamed through wretched hells

under the benevolent smile of those that had already forgotten

the magic formulas for disentangling spells.

I believed myself woman when I cast him out of the small community

where he traded with the living and the dead,

promising him a much more extreme destination.

I did not know that that royal excursion

would be made through the insides of my body

in all its terrible metamorphoses.

Like a fatherland,

once more conjuring its legends of splendour and misfortune,

I furtively suppliant,

chased after the peacefulness and fecundity of another story.

When the fox Chases the chickens

It's bad for the parents Worse for the kids.

Now listen: we're gathered here because of the cattle that's missing.

What should we do?

Should make a round to look for them and check for footprints,

or to find out how they went missing.

But where are the footprints? I didn't see any,

the cattle doesn't seem edgy, I haven't seen any wolfs

and just yesterday Xaíco complained one was missing.

The shepherds didn't see any footprints either.

Still, we have to go look for them.

It can't be a villager, nobody steals around here.

Not even the clothes on the hanger, or the corn on the threshing-floor.

So, let's make a round and forget about the village.

We should make that round during the day.

- And when do you want to go? - Tomorrow.

And what time should we go, early?

Very early, there's lot of ground to cover.

Then listen: we get up at daybreak, eat something and then we go.

We'll take a packed luncheon and some wine with us

so we won't have to waste time coming back for it.

You all know what to do: we leave first thing tomorrow.

Play, rest assured that you have all the time and all the space.

What happened, young man, why are you so sad?

Sheep are going amiss.

That's the work of the devil.

Go down this path, you'll find a stream

where three young girls are bathing.

Two of them are bad, one is good:

Branca-Flor; ask for her help.

Look at me Miguel How pretty I look

With a frieze skirt And a flax shirt

I have three children Not enough to feed them

I start singing And teach them how to dance

Look at me Miguel How pretty I look

With a frieze skirt And a flax shirt

Dance Pedro, dance Mum, I want bread

Dance some more And bread you'll have

I have three sheep And a lamb

I want to get married But nobody will take me

Let's go to bed Let's go to sleep

I'll take the wrap I'll take the oil-lamp

I saw the panpipe coming But I didn't see the player

O how sad I am And how my heart bleeds

Look at me Miguel How pretty I look

With a frieze skirt And a flax shirt

I'll give you back your clothes on one condition.

And what is it?

You have to swear to protect me.

And how can I protect you?

Make your father give back the sheep he stole.

I'll protect you. But you must never tell my father

that you have seen me or talked to me.

What do you want?

Give back the sheep you've stolen from me.

First you have to bring me a jug with wine made from this bunch.

Don't worry. Rest your head on my lap.

I bring you the wine.

Have you seen Branca-Flor?

May God strike me blind if I've seen Branca-Flor.

I'll give you back your flock

if you bring me bread made from this flour.

May God expand the bread and His Grace throughout the world.

In praise of the Virgin Mary, one Our Father and one Hail Mary.

I see Branca-Flor's hand.

May God strike me down if I've seen her or her me.

I'll give you back your flock

if you bring me a guitar that I've dropped in the bottom of the sea.

Kill me.

And throw me into the sea.

Then call for me three times.

If by the third time I do not come,

woe for me and woe for you.

Branca-Flor!

Branca-Flor!

Branca-Flor!

I'll give you back your flock if you marry one of my daughters.

Choose the one that pleases you the most.

Gee up!

Go on, little donkey.

Go on, move it.

In a poor man's land, he who doesn't work doesn't eat.

You have to work a lot just to end up with nothing.

Gee up, donkey, move it!

Do you see this sword?

It's the proof that my father wants to kill us.

We must run away, now.

As soon the day comes, when my mother's powers die out.

Kill them!

Go and harness that horse

that flies with the speed of thought, not the one that runs like the wind.

That way, nobody can catch up with us.

My boy be changed into garden and I into a gardener.

Have you seen a boy and a girl go by,

mounted on a horse that runs like the wind?

I sell garlic and buy nuts, I buy nuts and sell garlic,

I buy nuts and sell garlic.

My boy be changed into an hermitage and I into a hermit.

Have you seen a boy and a girl go by

mounted on a horse that runs like the wind?

Ding dang dong! Bells are ringing and the priest runs to the altar.

Ding dang dong! Bells are ringing and the priest runs to the altar.

Like a two-men army we roamed, faltering,

through the most wayward and narrow paths,

a solitary pair in search of the great way

where we would find the simultaneous abolition oi vice,

sovereignship and worn-out habits.

Befogged by the mist that adorned it with the great and remote splendours

of stirring waters at sunrise

and of the nocturnal stellar globes

! chased that shadow,

recoiling from the excessive line parting days and nights,

from conceited ignorance,

from unfurrowed manliness.

Perhaps it were the waters of my most archaic memory

that begirded with tears her body adorned with the tinsels of old,

and I chased the promise she had goaded me with,

docile and reluctant.

Outlined in the mist of first-fruits,

the density of our drifting bodies

paralleled all possible humane existence,

out of which the fermentation of soils and legends

drew sustenance and novelty.

Driven by a very fresh humility,

for she was a woman and a stranger,

holding on to the recent memory of her witchcraft,

I wrongly thought myself destined to bring the news

of her advent and of her harvests

to all the villages,

thus renouncing myself and my kin

in pursuit of those sweeter than sweet thighs

through the meanders of streams and ridges of ploughed land,

trusting she knew the safest route.

I did not know that her destination fattened upon

fattened upon the length of my member and the calling out of my name.

I did not know that we moved fleeting mountains

across the retina of our eyes,

simply by having listened, haughtily, to her candid defiance,

nor that she but pursued my following her.

I did not know that the bonds ancestors bequeath

across the insurmountable had in fact been built

on the dual illusion that supported us,

this meagre rank, devotedly abiding the strict law of the arduous path,

skirting the farms of man, Its joyless succession,

in preparation of love.

Oh oh oh, Tam tam tam

Paps in your arse

I prepared them And you ate them...

Great and painful and secular was men's care

over the damages brought by the separation of lands,

and over infertility.

Where will I put to rest my objectless compassion

and the hollowness of my womb?

Some communities and bodies are condemned

to roam this narrow path from where one cannot be redeemed.

Having crossed that bridge, the age-old victory over the vacuum,

the construction of ogives,

the measuring of the stone's tracery against the passing of the flesh,

we sang songs of death and oblivion,

as if, between us, a new body had burgeoned,

and, resplendent as neophytes,

we had left behind the stigma of origins,

and then the descent to the entranced territory

and our luminescent bodies' true war

against the suspension of difference had truly began.

We would either beget or perish without traces.

Woe on you, younger gods!

The ancient laws you have overridden.

Rent them from my hands.

But I, disgraced, whom you have dishonoured,

shall now turn the full weight of my wrath against this land.

I shall get vengeance

by spreading over the earth venom,

that shall make it barren.

Where it shall fall, shall leafless blight arise,

affecting earth's offspring.

And over the soils

- O justice! -

therein bearing marks

that shall destroy all immortal beings.

What cry, I ask, avails me now?

Will I be made fun of?

Will citizens forlorn me?

A bitter injury indeed.

How sadly and dishonourable abuse

the misfortunate daughters of the night have borne.

Dishonoured are you not.

You should not turn your wrath upon men

and thus make - ye goddesses -

the earth despiteful to them.

I only of all goddesses, as Zeus knows,

know of the key to the chamber where his thunderbolts lie stored.

But there is no such need.

Hear then my advice.

Do not cast upon the ground your rash threats,

to make them fruitless.

Calm your bitter wrath's black inward surge.

For high shall be your honour,

set beside me for ever.

The earth's first-fruits shall be yours,

eternal gifts for childbirth and for wedlock.

Thus you'll praise what I'm advising.

! was dishonoured.

Oh, ! and my ancient soul,

forced to dwell in this land, as one impure and worthy of contempt.

No, the rage and grudge I breathe

consume me utterly.

O Earth!

My flesh is pierced with sorrow.

My heart is wounded with pain.

O Mother Night, hear me!

Other gods, with craft invincible,

have taken a}! my ancient honours

and brought me to the dust.

I'll bear with your rage,

for you are older than I and thus your wisdom far exceeds my own.

Yet I have received from Zeus no small measure of judgment.

But if to other land you go, you shall regret it.

Heed unto this prophesy:

the rolling tides of time will bring forth brighter glory to this town,

and if you gain a seat of honour by the temple of Erechteus,

men and women filing past

shall offer you more than you could find in the world beyond.

Cast not therefore on this soil I cherish

those bloodstained darts that corrupt our youthful entrails,

intoxicated with rage and frenzy, not with wine.

Nor pluck, as it were, the heart from cocks,

to make the breast of my people boil with anger.

Nor give them a thirst for internecine wars

that may arise between them.

'Tis enough there's war abroad,

for those men driven by lust for fame.

I want no birds who fight their wars at home.

That's what I offer you:

share with me this place most loved of gods,

and thus receive fair mercy, honour and good care.

! was dishonoured.

Oh, ! and my ancient soul,

forced to dwell in this land as one impure and worthy of contempt.

No, the rage and grudge I breathe

consume me utterly.

O Earth!

My flesh is pierced with sorrow.

My heart is wounded with pain.

O Mother Night, hear me!

Other gods, with craft invincible,

have taken my ancient honours

and brought me to the dust.

I will not tire of giving you words of advise.

That never may you complain that you, an elder goddess,

was spurned by me, a younger deity,

and disgracefully cast out from our city by its citizens.

If persuasion's grace be sacred to you,

if my soft words can soothe and conquer your heart,

then you will stay.

If that is not your wish,

it would be unjust of you to vent your grudge and wrath

on this city, thus hurting its people.

For your are justly entitled to take your allotted portion of this land

and to receive your share of honour.

Queen Athena, how would be my life in this place?

One free from pain or distress. Do not spurn it.

If I accept, what honours would I get?

No house shall prosper without your grace.

Would you grant me that much power?

I will bless all who worship you.

This promise, will you hold to it forever?

Why would I pledge what I cannot fulfil?

Your words already begin to soothe me. I renounce my wrath.

If you stay in this land you win more friends.

What chant should I raise to bless this land?

Such as would forebode happy victories.

Let gusting winds from earth, from wave, from sky,

blow in sunlit days over the land.

Let our herds and harvests overflow with plenty,

and the seed of mortals in this town be protected.

Root out the impious.

As the gardener fosters what he sows,

I wish to defend this righteous race from sorrow.

This things are yours to provide.

As for the deadly wars where men seek glory,

leave them to me; I'll see this city wins

triumphal victories and is honoured among mortals.

Then I'll accept to live at Athena's side.

! will not scorn a city

where Almighty Zeus and Ares dwell,

precious harbour for the altar of all gods of Greece.

m a}! my benevolence,

t pray that a radiant sun

make burst from earth

bounteous happy harvests.

Behold what my love for this city has accomplished.

To bind to this place the powerful and implacable deities,

whose office is to sway the lot that rules our mortal day.

If there's a man that does not acknowledge these stern deities,

he's ignorant of where life's blows arise.

His father's crimes drag him before these goddesses and there,

and though his state on earth is high and loud his boast,

in silent anger they will crush him to dust.

Let no deadly wind whip the trees.

Behold my offerings.

Let no fire that shrivels budding plants

ever come near this land.

Let no festering Might

waste and wither the fruit in these parts.

May the earth be fertile and make the flocks increase,

to every ewe twin iambs.

May the earth be rich in treasure,

thus honouring for ever the fortunate god-given gifts.

Do you hear that, you guardians of my city,

the blessings she will bring?

For mighty is the Furies's power

among immortal gods above as well as below.

As for men, it's clear they weave their fate decisively,

for some a life of song, for others a life of tears.

I ban those blows that cut men down before their time.

Grant sweet maids the joy

of wedded fife.

You too, O Fates, supreme rulers of mortals' fortunes,

you our sisters, goddesses who apportion all things justly,

who in every home, at every time,

grant us your righteous visitation,

most honoured by a}! gods.

I rejoice to hear this love-filled blessings conferred upon my land.

Blessed be persuasion

that kept watch on my tongue and lips

when I met such a fierce refusal.

Zeus, god of parley, prevails.

We have secured a lasting victory in our struggle for justice.

! pray disharmony,

which lusts after evil, may never roar aloud within the city.

That thirsty dust, moist with our citizens' dark blood,

in its reckless ardour never more incite passions for revenge,

which may muse the city to fall.

Let men exchange joy for joy,

united in common friendship and common hate.

For that, among mortals,

is a cure for many ills.

Are not the Furies in search of kind words?

I see now that the presence of these fierce faces

will bring all sorts of benefits to my city.

Be kind to their kindness,

and raise them to honourable heights,

and you send your land and city

on the path of righteousness and justice.

Day after day we trod speechless through

outlying {allows and valleys with crystalline streams,

akin to restless torrents that exempt you from things past.

Sleeping and rejoicing on straw,

we ineluctably steered the deflux of our bodies

towards the unctuousness of the rust-covered clot

that would reconnect us to the earth.

We came down through bare stretches oi time and space between cities,

on our way to a greater opacity,

a settled flesh or house, a wide shore.

We were becoming most youthful,

like wild creatures, oblivious of any sense of guilt,

childishly mimicking the manners of paradise,

aloof and hazy such as carnal angels

resplendent with a primal light.

Good man, who tied you up?

My Master ordered me tied to this bucket-wheel.

I work till sundown and then, to get home...

I need to walk for two hours.

I earn 17 escudos a day,

I have a wife and two children,

what can I do?

And, besides,

the masters have others servants that have us arrested.

Assassins!

You can go now.

Sit down.

I am truly sorry about the incident,

but I can't tolerate

this kind of disturbance in my properties.

Our duty is to provide for the good fortune of these lands,

and hold off the growth of weeds.

There is an order in this world

and although it weighs heavily...

Upon our conscience,

I am its keeper.

Now you are my guest.

- A man's been murdered. - I know,

I know.

He once had been a good worker.

Another man's been humiliated. Tied up like a beast of burden.

My wife,

my children.

The eldest takes after his father.

Strong character,

well-drilled intelligence.

He's coming to that age of chasing after their first skirts,

but to all appearance he won't let himself be caught in the female web.

If he doesn't get spoiled,

I bet with legitimate pride

that he'll become a man fit to govern this house.

Perhaps the country even.

The mother of my children is virtue incarnate.

Not a peep comes out of that mouth,

and for twenty years she's honoured an honest,

though far from warm, marital bed, as they say these days.

She's pale, prone to migraines,

but a good breeder.

At harvest time, he sends the female servants to thrash the ripe wheat

and later to feed the fallen corn to the partridges.

Jesus did many wonders, many,

and people believed them and saw them,

but only the blessed ones,

you saw them, Thomas, because you believed.

Jesus told him:

"Achtung! My God and my Lord".

He told him, and Thomas answered

To be or not to be,

faithful, but sceptical.

Matthaus achtundzwanzig:

Angela's Domini descerit desceridis et dixit mulieribus:

conquerit ressurerixt sicut dixit Aleluia.

Mxau, okay, mxau, mxau.

Word of Salvation.

We praise Thee, Lord.

Through this Holy Gospel, forgive us.

Brothers, sisters,

friends, brothers-in-law and others,

the manna fallen from Heaven

was not one, but three.

It was faith, hope, charity.

Hope is nothing without faith;

faith is nothing without deeds.

Deeds are charity, charity is alms.

You need people

to give alms to, and people to receive them.

Because many will be called

but few will be chosen.

Therefore, there must be many to receive alms

and few to give them,

and those few will be

the ones saved.

I believe in one God...

Almighty Father, creator of Heaven and Earth,

of all things visible and invisible.

I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,

only-begotten Son of God;

and born of the Father before all ages.

God of Gods, Light of Light,

true God of true God;

begotten, not made,

consubstantial to the Father, by Whom all things were made;

Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven,

and became incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary,

and was made man.

Thus we show the power of the Church!

Thus we show the power of the Church!

Have you got a cigarette?

When are you going to take me for ride?

One of these days...

One day I'll take you for a ride.

Now I can't because I have my hands full,

I've got all this to clean up, horses to tend to...

No way, I haven't got a moment to spare.

But perhaps on a holiday, or a Sunday...

Yes, alright, on a holiday or a Sunday.

But there's a snag...

Your father might come...

We might get into trouble.

What are you doing after work?

After work, what I do is...

I work, my job's here.

My mates, when their time comes, they leave,

and I have to stay and tend to the animals, I can't get away.

And where do you sleep?

Over there, in a house nearby, where the horses sleep.

- I have to keep an eye on them... - With the horses?

I have to keep an eye on them, I can't get away.

On weekends, who do you stay with?

Who do I stay with on weekends?

That's a good question.

I can't get away, on my weekends I have to stay there.

What's that?

That's the horses' harness,

I'm cleaning them up

so that we can maybe go for a ride today.

So you are going to take me for ride?

Come.

I've heard that...

I don't know when it was, a few days ago,

over on Chimney Hill, it seems some people...

I don't know, rioted,

they wanted better wages and then people gathered...

There were these two scoundrels...

Well, in these situations there's always, that...

Thank you.

They started doing God knows what, the National Guard arrived,

killed them, and I was there to assist them...

Don Miguel was informed, it was nothing to speak of,

just one of those things that happen quite often these days.

But the boys went there and...

They took care of it, right?

They had a decent enough ending, they died a good death.

They died a good death, with all the...

I stood there watching...

Father, if you forgive my saying so,

their problem is they don't want to work.

They want to live on the fat of the land...

The problem would be taken care of if we only had more elbow room,

all we'd have to do would be to lock up a handful of leaders

and the thing would be put to rest.

But they were...

Scoundrels, weren't they?

Just the usual ones, you know? That handful of them...

- For a while now... - They're crooks.

Sometimes things go a little too far.

The guys perhaps just want some more bread...

No, they don't want more bread, what they want

is to make others rebel, make others want more bread...

When in fact they already have it.

But the National Guard can deal with it?

Yes, they can deal with it, but it's a stiff job.

What this extraordinary institution...

As our boss says, that's our job...

And we'll get over this, eventually. Won't we?

Note that they killed them decently, not in any odd way...

Well, I want to get this straight, it wasn't the Guard's fault,

they stirred things up such a way they had no choice.

It was either the guards or them.

But the Church...

Shouldn't the Church give support

to the action of a state force such as the National Guard...

That's exactly right, Don Miguel!

Don't you agree?

Instead of worrying about metaphysics, and commending souls

they'd better take care of the living, and clarify...

And young people.

But the truth is they seemed more like scoundrels to me.

Well, but by young people... Who is the young people?

Young boys...

They may be young in terms of age,

but not green when it comes to these goings-on.

No, they should die, no doubt about it.

I liked the way they died, because...

It's funny, they were agonizing,

and they even asked for a priest.

Curious, isn't it? I went there...

My men did everything they could to get you there on time,

we did everything in our power. - Which once again proves...

The impartiality of the institution,

which truly respects...

How can I put it, respects death even more than life.

Calm and order.

That's what order's all about, isn't it?

Precisely.

That's what order's all about, respect for death.

Here I am, castaway on the sandbanks.

This is the place where lands part,

where musing is at its peak.

Rotund like this stretch of water flowing around itself,

I lost, due to the heaviness of my body pregnant with weight,

the faculty to walk on air.

Such grace in my promise

and I imitated the kindest among goddesses,

condemned to an unrivalled youthfulness.

Not without tears, O waters, the sudden interruption to the games.

That friend of mine, much-cited and adrift, was sent to the gallows.

And I, depending on the appearance of my state of sovereign origin,

I was given food and worship by the most unscrupulous among mortals.

Here I am, facing the waters of endless moaning fervour,

and from here I shall set out on my way back.

! bring upon myself the crime

that strips men of the abhorred, lonesome glory.

Like you, great fallen waters,

I shall call for a resplendent trickle,

of water from such a steep path.

Sustained by lovers' initial belief,

I have long ago removed from my body mangled and thrown into the depths

a sublime instrument to strum against death.

But I have not as yet endured the wrath,

the injustice and the mercy of men.

I now retreat to the territory where the unscathed goddesses

and the most ancient legends are no longer plausible.

I surrender my body and its fruits to necessity

and to the most common of blessings.

O outermost waters,

totally blind to innocence and guilt,

devourers of humans' burning passions and their navigation,

give us back the motherly gift that spurs the reopening of routes,

along the sweet thread of celebrating brotherly rites,

along the bloodstained chain spilt from one generation to the next.

This is your son.

With your permission.

Good afternoon.

- Is it cold out there? - It's very cold.

- Would you like to warm yourselves? - Yes, for a minute.

Sit down, sit down.

I'm so tired...

And distressed.

I ran into some wolves up there, and I almost didn't make it.

Such a beautiful girl.

- Would you like a piece of bread? - Well, we could use a bite...

Go ahead, help yourselves.

That gentleman too, eat up.

We're going to finish it off...

Eat at will.

The fire sure is nice.

- Eat, eat. - Would you like a piece?

I'm not that hungry,

but bread asks for a drink.

To help slip down the throat.

I wouldn't say no to a bit of water to go along with the bread.

What about a pork steak?

That would be even better, but...

Allow me, then...

Let's get down to eating so the teeth don't get cold.

The fire sure is nice.

Are you cold? Warm yourselves.

Very, we've come from up on the mountain.

From Gralheira...

I wanted to bring a load of logs,

but the slope was too wet,

so I turned back.

It was too much for me anyway,

they were real logs, you see, very thick.

- They still had a lot of roots. - They sure had.

The hoe's what we used to cut them.

And the hoe and my hands suffered for it.

They're calloused.

Oh well, nothing comes from doing nothing...

Suckle the baby, won't you?

- I've fed her already. - Poor little thing...

The whole day on an empty stomach.

Madam, do you live here by yourself?

No, I just dropped by to rest,

and to suckle the baby.

I was so cold.

It was a good idea to keep the fire burning, otherwise...

We'd freeze to death.

Woman, what shall we have for dinner?

We'll have to make do.

You'll boil some potatoes.

What about the pan?

We'll have to borrow one from a neighbour.

Excuse me, would you mind if I borrow the child for a second?

Oh my beautiful baby!

My beautiful baby!

The chimney doesn't draw very well.

No it doesn't...

The house burnt down, didn't it?

It's very old.

Yes it did, one day it'll fall down.

This thing's very old.

Sérgio, look down there!

- Where? - Down there!

Did you see three men holding a baby pass by here?

No, we only saw three wolves pass by.

The bitch doesn't back down.

What's a face but a crust of gaping earth

if ifs not exposed to another face that endures it,

to hands that toil and soothe it.

From the tiredness of your eyes,

under the alternation of light and shadow

and the disrupter of nexuses,

decipher this body that unwraps itself.

I baptise thee, creature of God,

by the power of God and the Virgin Mary.

If it's a boy he will be Gervés,

if it's a girl she'll be Senhorinha.

Characters and actors by order of appearance:

Shooting started on the 23/9/75 and ended on the 15/7/77

Locations:

Production cost: 4.000.000 escudos

Duration 123'