Original subtitles

Forgive me, I've been drinking.

Guard !

Come up! We'll go for a drive !

Help him !

Come on, go up !

Let's go !

Anura!

But...

where was the weapon ?

Under the bed.

The captain's.

He got up at five in the morning

and suddenly decided to take

the rifle under the captain's bed

and shoot his head off.

How did the other soldiers react ?

By then, they all hated the captain...

That will happen in our camp too, very soon

If I served up North

at least, I could fly a helicopter.

You can't imagine, what great feeling it is...

when you smoke a joint before, it's like being fucked by God.

Don't blaspheme !

Oh! Did I say something wrong ?

I too believe in Buddha and the gods.

I go on a pilgrimage each year.

Why do you talk in such a way then ?

Fuck, what I said

is how great it is...

when you're up there flying.

it feels like you're making love to God.

It's so great.

Battí.

Poor girl !

She's washing her husband's underpants.

Piyasirí, you got a cigarette ?

No I don't want a cigar.

Where's my sister ?

Don't worry about me.

Many women are unmarried.

That way, I'll be glad to be an aunt.

They need people to teach in remote areas.

I applied.

If they accept, I'll move away from here.

I will teach what I've been taught.

I won't be a burden for you two any more.

Such a lesson in godliness! Your sister will become a buddha.

Latá!

I committed no sin.

I've always wanted to earn paradise.

But I won't die in this desert without a holy place.

If you die here, you'll be reborn as a toad or a snake.

How are you ?

Did you eat well?

Where's your brother ?

He's all right ?

Little bird of mine !

Little thief of mine, little thief of mine !

What's that ?

A mongoose....

Mon-goose...

Little Bird...

Battí...

What ?

Come on, we'll pick some guava.

You fool ! It's poison !

Spit it out !

Die !

Look...

You want to see a magic trick ?

You think you'll grow taller doing that sort of thing ?

Well tell me...

If I get to be taller, I'll become a doctor.

Why "if"? You're bound to grow taller.

Tell me the truth : Shall I grow taller ?

All you have to do is learn properly and you'll grow taller.

What if I become like Little Bird ?

Who ?

See, same as your hair grows,

or your nails grow, you will grow taller too.

It's the same with people, animals, les animaux,

trees, plants...

It is not the same.

Don' lie to me !

This tree is the same every day !

You're insane !

I've known it to be small.

You're a liar.

You don't know it yet, but such is is the world.

What do you mean by such ?

What's wrong ?

A woman died.

She swallowed some poison, I think.

The animals might devour the boody.

They're going to tell the police.

Did she live in the village ?

I had never seen her before.

She was pregnant,

her belly is huge.

The rifle is at the station.

You want an umbrella ?

-Didn't my sister take it ? - I've got one too.

No need.

I'll run.

Sister in law ?

Battí!

What are you doing outside ?

Come on inside !

Come out of the rain.

Little Bird...

Do you know who's called Little Bird ?

It's someone like Battí...

Little Bird's parents were poor.

One day, they offered thir daughter

the last rice portion left in the house.

"Dear Child,

"we can give you no dowry, we can get you no husband.

"You must try and find a suitable man on your own."

Little Bird thus leaves and walks from one village to another,

in search of a husband.

But she could not find a man who would marry her.

She goes on walking though, searching...

Walking on and on,

she eventually reached a remote village

and met up with a group of tillers working in a rice field.

She came close.

When she faces them, none of them

takes any notice of Little Bird but one.

This one looks famished.

He's tilled for such a long time

that his body is stooped, almost folded in two.

Little Bird understands that the man

has taken notice of her and seems to like her.

She moves close to him and tells him :

"I brought a portion of rice as my dowry

"Would you be interested ?"

The man is really happy about that.

"If such is your request, thebn it's perfect.

"You see my house over there

"go there and cook the rice.

"When it's ready, shout for me.

"I'll come at once."

Little Bird rejoices too.

She runs, runs to the house, washes the rice and cooks it.

When the rice starts boiling,

she must call the man to come and eat.

She comes out of the house and is about to call out.

Blimey, she does not know his name.

But she remembers his stooped back.

So she calls out :

"Hunchback, hunchback, the rice is boiling !"

The other tillers, hearing this, burst out laughing.

And this makes the hunchback angry.

In his rage,

he grabs his spade and runs, runs, runs towards Little Bird.

He hits her on her skull

and she dies at once.

Then...

shocked by his fury and feeling deeply sad,

desperate, the hunchback lies down on his bed.

The rice, still boiling,

starts whispering: "Hunchback-ooh, hunchback-ooh."

The hunchback's fury gets worse.

He gets up and kicks the pan of rice down.

The rice scatters on the ground.

A crow appears from nowhere

and starts picking at it.

he calls out

cawing on : "Hunchback-caaw, Hunchback-caaw."

The hunchback is furious.

He comes near the crows, attempts to hit it.

He fails.

The crow flies away and comes down on the roof.

From there, he caws on :

"Hunchback-caaw, Hunchback-caaw."

The tiller is raging mad.

"You'll get what you deserve!", he says to it.

He burns the roof of his house.

The fire spreads,

singing : "Hunchback-pff, Hunchback-pfff."

The man gets really crazy

and his soul, demoniac.

He jumps into the fire.

Little Bird,

I'm still burning in this fire.

Little Bird.

You missed the 5:30 bus ?

No, it was pay day.

Great...

We live as toads art the bottom of a well.

The war could start again, we wouldn't even know it.

Anura, I brought you a T-Shirt.

This is for you, Latá.

This is my size.

We can swap, if you wish.

That's for Battí.

I saw, Latá, that your new dress is torn.

you have ripped it on a tree, maybe.

May I use the toilets ?

Of course.

Right, I'm off.

Where were you ?

Is this the way you work ?

I had to go to the toilets, chief.

You were already caught here !

You're not trying to fuck with me ?

O.K., move away !

Anura!

Anura!

Open the door!

Who is it ?

We're from the camp.

Get dressed and come quickly.

The captain wants to see you.

You know why ?

No, not really. Come on !

Brother...

Anura, get down!

Do it before we come back, understood ?

But who is he ?

I haven't got his id.

Finish him off, that's it.

Why me ?

You or me, it's the same !

You know we're not supposed to shoot.

Come on, do it !

Do it !

Since then,

for hundreds of years,

the hunchback has been burning and he is still burning

in the same fire.

Little Bird,

dead, then alive, then dead, then alive again

has walked in the desert,

holding her rice in her hand.

She does not know the meaning of her female nature.

She does not even know if she's Little Bird.

And she walks on...

Where's the old man ?

I'm not feeling well...

You've got a fever.

I do want to go to school.

Can you help me get into the bus ?

Statement from the police

Colombo since the 14th Mr. Tangawelu has been missing

Age: 24.

Height : 5 ft 2

Kuruduwate,

Mis Wasanta Kumari has been missing since the 6th

Age: 19. Height : 5 ft

Vavuniya,

Miss Yogaraja Sivarani has been missing since the 7th

Age: 14. Taille: 4 ft 6

Near Medavachchiya Wavuniya, at about 2 miles,

the body of an unknown man was found.

Age: About 30.

Very short hair.

English subtitles : Raleigh/Cinephage