Original subtitles

[sighs]

[sighs]

[shaky breathing]

[in Spanish]

[dog panting]

[in Spanish]

May I help you?

Please.

[chattering in Spanish]

[woman] Sit down. Sit.

Fifty.

-Receipt?

-No.

Thank you.

Goodbye. Come on.

-[door opens]

-[dog whining]

[door closes]

[dog whining]

[keys jingle]

[dog whining]

[whining, sniffing]

[woman] There was a time,

four straight years, until three

days ago,

when I waited for you

while I watched a DVD or read.

And you always came back.

The night was ours,

and some entire mornings.

There were also afternoons

which,

as if by magic,

turned into nights.

You always came back.

Until three days ago.

-[dog barking]

-[sniffles]

[whining, sniffing]

[whining, panting]

[sniffing]

[whining]

[sniffing, whining]

[popping lips]

[sighing]

[inhales sharply]

-Fuck! [grunting]

-[dog barking]

Shut up!

[whining]

[ax clatters]

[sighs]

[panting]

[grunts]

[whining]

[sighs]

[sniffing]

[whines]

[phone rings]

-[whining, sniffing]

-[ringing continues]

[barking]

[ringing continues]

[scoffs]

[sighs]

[sighs]

Shit.

[whirring]

[sighs]

[phone ringing]

Hello?

Oh, it's you.

Oh, you're turning into a robot.

Yes, that's better. I hear you

now.

I-I was in the street.

I can't hear the phone in the

street.

Thank you for calling back.

Oh, I haven't stopped.

I went to the theater

the last two nights with Marta,

and, uh, I took some drugs.

And, uh-- Oh, also I saw Fabian,

my agent.

Compulsively I've taken to

eating.

Well, if there's one thing I

don't have

to complain about, it's my

metabolism.

It burns everything.

I, uh-- Vietnamese and Italian.

I don't know the name.

Well, to be honest, the last

three days,

I haven't stopped.

I don't know if I'm amused,

exactly.

Yeah, you're right.

My mind is very occupied, yes.

And I don't stop.

I'm escaping.

Well, you told me to go out.

Escape, go out. What does it

matter?

They're the same thing.

Last night?

Uh, I-- I went to bed. Very

early.

I was very tired,

and I went to sleep quickly,

and, um--

And then Sofia came, and we had

lunch,

and then we went shopping.

Mmm. Silly stuff.

Things for the apartment.

Practical things.

In the future, I'm going to be

a practical woman for a change.

And, uh-- And I have to keep

occupied.

That's what my therapist said.

I went to see him too.

Well, I had to go.

To save you and to save me.

I've loved you so much.

I've been afraid of hurting you.

Didn't you realize that I'd get

nervous

whenever we were in the kitchen

and I'd see a knife

and I'd have to put it away

immediately.

It scared me to imagine I might

be sticking a knife in your

chest.

Kill you? No, no, no, no, never.

The opposite.

It's like, uh...

It's like Marta with her

vertigo.

And-And-And the worse thing

about heights

isn't that she becomes

light-headed

when faced with the void.

It's that the void attracts her,

like a magnet.

Do you understand?

It's like her fear of falling

pushes her to jump.

And then-then the same thing

happened to me with the knives.

The fear of something bad

happening to you.

It made me imagine

my hand was wielding a knife

and I was sticking it into you.

I-- I became terrified of

myself.

I mean, for a second, I was

visualizing

your wounded, bleeding body.

You can't even imagine how I

felt.

I-- I was afraid of myself.

And I needed expert help.

So I went to a therapist.

That I need to invent new

habits.

Replace all the ones I acquired

with you.

Even though I don't want to do

anything.

Even though I do everything

like an automaton.

Yes, but don't worry,

I never mention your name.

Yes, I'll throw myself into my

work.

You won't believe it,

but Fabian, my agent, says that

women of my age are fashionable

again.

Timeless beauty, he calls it.

The clients love my pallor.

That mixture of madness and

melancholy.

I think it's a fucking joke.

I'm a waste.

I'm a ruin of what I once was.

But if that's what sells now.

And it'll be good to work on

something.

Yes, your cases are packed.

They have been for three days.

They're here, fed up of waiting

for you.

Sense of humor?

Well, I never really managed

to use it with you.

When I'm crazy about someone,

I lose my sense of humor.

It's very inconvenient,

not being able to be funny

with the one person

you'd most like to be funny

with.

No, I wasn't funny with you.

I was... special.

Daring.

Submissive.

Thin. [scoffs]

Passionate.

And fortunate.

I came into your life at a time

when

you wanted to try new things,

new feelings.

As if desiring someone wasn't

the oldest feeling in the world.

And I was a different woman.

So different that at times, I

think

you forgot that I was also a

woman.

Yes, and I accepted the

situation.

I'm not saying that I enjoyed

sharing you,

but given the circumstances,

I accepted the humiliation.

Even though I suffered like an

animal.

No, I know it wasn't your

intention.

I'm not reproaching you.

I was aware of it, but

I didn't enjoy any the less

because of it.

I suffered like an animal,

but I enjoyed like an animal.

I was so drunk, so intoxicated.

I forgot about reality and time.

But reality always prevails.

Our love was going against

a lot of things,

and I accepted the risks.

And what I got in exchange

was four years of happiness with

you.

I never thought

life would adapt to my desires.

I paid a very high price.

But what I got in exchange is

beyond measure.

I'm not accusing you, my love,

and I'm not fooling myself.

These are the rules of the game,

the law of desire.

And four years of happiness with

you...

it's priceless.

I accept everything.

You can blame me for being an

adventuress

but I always pay my price.

[sighs]

No, you're right, it's not good

taste

to talk about price. I'm sorry.

-[whining]

-Ah, here comes the dog.

He always knows

when it's you on the phone.

You have to take him.

He's like a lost soul.

He-He spends his whole day

looking for you around the

apartment,

and when we go out,

through the whole neighborhood.

And when I was packing your

things,

he was hitting me with his paws.

I mean, he knows what's going on

but he does not understand it.

How can he understand it?

No, you must take him.

He's going to be miserable.

He already is miserable.

He misses you so much.

He's not interested in me.

He's your dog.

No, you--

He-- You're the one he wants.

Your letters? How could I burn

them?

No, I put them in a little

Chanel case.

You burn them if you want to.

I'm sending you everything.

Your letters and mine and... all

notes.

I kept all the notes.

The notes are beautiful.

You know, every word you ever

wrote me.

You have them there,

so you don't need to worry

that I'll try to blackmail you

or sell them to a tabloid.

Well, no, I would never do it,

but this way, you can be even

surer.

The only words I'm keeping

are...

the ones you spoke to me in

person.

They're engraved on my heart.

I'm doing my best to erase them

since I can't send them

with the correspondence.

So, anyway, your, um, suitcases

are packed, and your leather

shoe bags,

so you can come and get them

whenever you want.

The black suit?

Yes. I collected it from the

cleaners.

I put it in a suit carrier.

Separate.

[inhales]

José?

No! You have to come.

That's what we agreed on.

That you would come.

You don't say goodbye to a woman

you've loved for more than four

years

with a telephone call!

I've been waiting for you for

three days,

practically tied to the leg of

the bed,

waiting for you,

without going anywhere.

The theater?

How could I go to the theater

in this state?

I didn't go out with Marta!

I haven't eaten with her or

anyone.

I haven't eaten a bite in three

days!

I haven't just come in from the

street.

I haven't left the house.

You said you would come.

Well, it's true that Marta has

vertigo.

It is not true that

I went to the therapist.

I told you that to reassure you.

It is true about the knives.

And don't complain. I never

attacked you.

And it is also true that my

agent, Fabian,

called, and one or two ads have

come up,

and at my age and in my current

state,

some clients like me.

No, I went out once to buy

something.

But don't ask me what,

because I'm not gonna tell you.

Am I all right?

Are you really asking me that?

No, I am not all right!

These last three days,

I've lost control more than

once!

When you didn't come and you

didn't call,

I attacked the bed with an ax!

And then I took a load of pills.

When you called, I was

unconscious!

Thirteen pills. I counted them.

Thirteen's my lucky number.

No, don't shout. I'm sorry I

shouted.

Just-- I-- I just--

Let me tell you everything then.

I wasn't going to, but as you

can see,

I'm incapable of keeping

anything from you.

The pills. I--

I knew that the combination

wasn't lethal.

I know all about drugs. They've

been

my only friend for some time

now.

No, my love, I staged it.

I was hoping someone would find

me,

and at that moment, you called,

and it woke me up.

I'm not trying to blackmail you.

I just want to finish

what I was telling you.

I know this is your last call,

that you'll never call again.

I've been like a wreck

these last three days.

Today I got dressed for the

first time.

I had to put on a lot of makeup.

I looked so terrible.

And I wanted you to find me

looking pretty.

Dead but pretty.

Darling, I didn't to it. I'm

here,

I'm alive, I'm talking to you.

I-- I-- No, it was just an idea.

I-- I've done nothing these days

but wait.

You're allowed to think while

you wait,

aren't you?

No, I-I'm-- I don't want to

shout.

I'm-- Forgive me.

I admit I did consider

throwing myself off the terrace.

But you don't like gory

spectacles.

You're opposed to blood.

You can be violent, but you

don't

like blood, wherever it comes

from.

No, pills were... the best.

A sweet death. Disappearing into

a dream.

Well, that wasn't my dream.

No, my dream was to disappear

with you.

I didn't mind where.

Yes. That was my dream, not

yours.

But admit...

at one time, we dreamed the

same.

Hello?

H-- Are-- Are we cut off?

Or did you hang up?

Coward!

[clattering]

[phone rings]

Hello?

Oh, it's you.

Yes, we got cut off. It happens

sometimes.

Thank you for calling back.

To say goodbye, yes.

I'm-- I'm so sorry that I lost

my temper.

And send José whenever you like.

I'll leave your things with the

doorman.

It's just such a pity that

we're...

saying goodbye like two

strangers.

Well, I can't think of any other

way of

stringing this goodbye out.

I-- I just want to ask you

one little thing.

I'm on the terrace.

I came out to water the plants.

Go out onto the terrace where

you are.

Oh, you're not at home?

Well, wherever you are, go to

the window

and look towards our attic.

I'm not asking you where you

are,

who you're with,

whether you made love last

night.

I'm just asking you to go to the

window

and turn to where we lived

together.

I know you don't see me.

I'm on the terrace too, saying

goodbye.

It doesn't matter that you don't

see me.

Just look towards here and

imagine me.

Yeah. Some smoke.

Yes. Some flames.

I'm what's burning, my love.

I'm gonna hang up now.

I have to learn to

hang up on you, darling.

Goodbye.

[siren wailing]

[barking]

Dash.

Come on. Come.

[in Spanish]

Come on. Good boy.

Dash, I want to talk to you.

So I'm your master now. All

right?

And you're gonna have to

get used to the idea

that you and I,

we're going to mourn him

together.

All right?

What do you think about that?

Can we have a pact?