All language subtitles for The.Proposal.2018.1080p.BluRay.H264.AAC-RARBG

[soft music playing]

[woman] Dearest Federica,

I thank you infinitely,

as it was you who led me to Barragán,

and Barragán who brought me back to you.

Over these past three years,

I've thoroughly enjoyed
our written exchanges.

It was my desire to know Barragán

that first drew me to your ownership
of the rights to his name and work.

Now...

I contemplate at what lengths
you and I stand from him in our triangle.

Federica, I know my offer is unorthodox,

but please know my proposal stands.

[man] Once again,
we are here in this historic room

as the guests of the Pritzker family
and the trustees of Harvard University.

This evening,
we honor Luis Barragán of Mexico.

Ηe has been called a poet
among architects.

The artist among architects.

And unlike most of us,

he has accepted solitude as man's fate.

Perhaps the best
and most pleasant duty I have

as the Secretary of the Jury

is to call and tell
the Pritzker Prize laureate he has won.

When I telephoned
Señor Barragán in Mexico,

he was overcome with emotion.

Ηis voice choked and he said so movingly,
"I cannot speak."

Tonight Luis Barragán
honors us by his presence.

[woman] Dear Federica Zanco
at the Barragan Foundation,

I'm writing this letter
to request a visit to the archive.

I'm a visual artist,
writer and researcher.

For some time now, I have been studying
Luis Barragán's life and practice.

To continue my investigation
into Barragán's legacy,

I would like to visit
your archive of his work in Switzerland

and to study firsthand
his sketches, models,

photographs, source material
and inspirations.

I thank you in advance
for considering my request

and look forward with great anticipation
to viewing the archive.

Sincerely, Jill Magid.

Unlike the certainty of death,
legacy always remains an open question.

In Barragán's case, I have many.

What happens to an artist's legacy
when it is controlled by a corporation?

Who can access it?

Who can't?

When Barragán died in 1988,
his legacy was divided.

Ηis personal archive
and his architecture are in Mexico.

But his professional archive,

including thousands of his drawings,
negatives and models,

was purchased by the chairman of the Swiss
furniture company, Vitra.

For the past 20 years,

Barragán's archive
has been closed to the public

and held, inaccessibly,

below the Vitra corporate
headquarters in Switzerland.

[woman, as Federica]
Dear Jill Magid, thank you for your mail

and interest in the work of Luis Barragán.

Unfortunately, at the moment,
we are struggling

for closing a major publication
on the archives.

This is a complex project,
developed over many years,

and during the next months,
we will be completely unable

to allow access to the collection,

nor be of any help to third parties.

I hope you would understand.

With best regards,
Federica Zanco, the Barragan Foundation.

[man] I didn't buy the Barragán archive.

I, uh... I took it on consignment.

I had really no idea
how big it was until it arrived.

It was overwhelming to me.

Vitra, or Rolf Fehlbaum,
the owner of Vitra,

they had heard about the fact that I
somehow had the Barragán collection.

I was approached immediately,
and they made it very clear

that they wanted to buy
the entire archive.

Τhey wanted to keep it together.

And they have their campus
of great architects.

I actually was sympathetic to the notion.

'Cause it's much better than breaking it
up and selling it piecemeal.

It was probably the biggest sale
of architecture ever.

I remember this was termed as a gift,

that they were acquiring the drawings

to celebrate Federica's
engagement to Rolf,

that this was like
an engagement present to Federica.

[Jill] I imagine a love triangle

where the proposal of one man brought
the promise of another.

Rolf Fehlbaum bought the archive in 1995,

and later trademarked
Barragán's name without the accent.

He established the Barragan Foundation,

which Federica,
his now wife, has since directed.

In an article I found from 1998,

Federica suggests the archive
would be open within a couple of years.

It's now been 20 years.

Without access to his professional archive
in Switzerland,

I turned to his personal archive,
owned by a Mexican foundation.

I arrive at Barragán's house and studio,

where his personal archive remains
and his professional archive once was.

I will stay here while the museum
is closed to the public.

Τhe director of the museum
welcomes me into the small entrance hall.

I follow her up the raw volcanic steps.

She shows me to the guest bedroom,

not the master bedroom,
where I thought I'd sleep,

in the bed in which Barragán died.

She tells me the guest bedroom is where
all of Barragán's girlfriends slept.

I'm the first to sleep here
in almost 30 years.

[dogs barking in the distance]

The patio in the garden
is full of clay vessels.

I read Luis loved the smell of wet clay.

Every morning, the maids would dip the
vessels into the reflecting pool

so that the smell of wet clay
would waft into Luis' studio.

I try to lift a vessel. It doesn't budge.

[distant barking]

Every few minutes,
I hear a plane pass overhead.

Cars honk and dogs bark.

Τhe noises surprise me.

I would've thought that Barragán,
known for his love of silence,

would've built the walls
of this house thick enough

to hold the world at a sonic distance.

I was wrong.

Τhere is a silence, though. I can feel it.

Barragán's style was, um,
so original and different...

than other architects

who were just following
the style of Frank Lloyd Wright

and architects like that.

And he...
he used to work with imagination,

more with stories.

Ηe lived the whole house, every day.

Ηe... Ηe spent some time in the library,

some time in his bedroom,
sometimes in the garden.

Ηe had a literary ideal of architecture.

Υou have to live in stories.

Well, there were many problems
after Barragán's death.

My husband was working with Barragán

from the late '60s to '88,
when Barragán died.

The archive was mentioned in the will
as inherited to my husband.

And in case he wasn't there,
I was mentioned as... as an heiress.

Τhen my husband died.

So, the lawyers in charge of the will
gave me the archive,

the possession of the archive.

It's heavy to get something like that.
It's heavy.

And in order to maintain the archive

or to do something with it--
because you have to do something with it--

I decided to sell it.

For two years, I thought that the archive
should stay in Mexico.

Until...

Since I had no response,
I realized that nobody cared for it.

So, I decided to sell it outside.

And, uh, Max Protetch was interested.

I decided to call him, and he said,

"Well, I have a client in Switzerland."

And, uh, as soon as I sold it,

everybody got very interested
in national feelings

and national treasures.

But it was too late.

The archive is a huge one.

It weighs about 1,000 kilos.

Everything was at the studio.

In this archive, you can see the evolution
of Barragán architecture.

Luis Barragán understood
that it was interesting

to keep all this material alive

because he feIt he was going to die,

and everybody would like
to survive in some way.

[soft guitar music playing]

[Jill] Dear Federica Zanco,

you may recall that
I reached out to you this past winter

requesting permission to visit
the Barragan Foundation.

I was sorry it was not possible

for me to view the foundation
at that time.

In the meantime,
I have been fortunate enough

to receive full access
to Barragán's personal archive.

I've been spending time
in his house and studio,

reading his letters, browsing through
his collection of photographs,

and perusing his library.

While I am getting a sense
of Barragán the man,

I want to better understand him
as an architect.

This November,
I have a solo exhibition in New York,

in which I will be displaying
the works that I've made

based on photos and texts
from Barragán's personal archive.

I am writing to invite you
to curate a number of pieces

from Barragán's professional archive

to be displayed within the show.

As you know the archive so intimately,
I welcome any material that you can offer.

I sincerely hope that you are able to
contribute to this project.

With warmth and admiration, Jill Magid.

[woman, as Federica] Dear Jill Magid,

while sharing your interest and enthusiasm
in the work of Luis Barragán,

I am also aware of the differences

between your eminently
artistic approach and mine.

I am involved with scholarly research

on Barragán and his archives since 1995.

And the book we are trying to complete
is the conclusion

of a very long, thorough investigation

of original sources,
documents and testimonies.

Given this fact, I really cannot consider
contributing to your exhibition

within this short notice.

While you are, of course,
entitled to display objects

and original documents
from any collection,

I trust you would make yourself aware

of the possible copyright implications
of any sort of reproduction.

[Jill] In 1995, Vitra purchased far more
than the physical archive.

Τhe corporation also acquired
the intellectual property rights

in all of Barragán's work.

This entitles it to widely control visual
representations of his architecture,

even though it doesn't own
any of his actual buildings.

Τhese rights are strictly enforced.

The Barragan Foundation
claims these rights

regardless of the image's origins

or the medium
in which it will be presented.

Renowned photographer René Burri

took a wealth of images
of Barragán's work in the 1960s,

decades before the archive was purchased.

Burri owns the photographs,

but the foundation controls
their circulation.

In 2007, filmmaker Ηeinz Emigholz

wanted to make a film
about Barragán's architecture.

Even these images I filmed inside
of Barragán's house could be restricted.

The blue painting in the library alcove
is not a Josef Albers,

although it looks deliberately like one.

Barragán himself had no problem owning
unauthorized reproductions

of other artists' work.

[inaudible]

[Juan] Τhere was this architect
that phones me

and tells me, "There are some visitors
here from Switzerland

that must absolutely see the house."

Ηe told me they're
very important people from Switzerland.

They were in Mexico
just to visit Barragán House.

And when they came,

they were overwhelmed by the house,
absolutely overwhelmed.

I mean, well, Rolf was more restrained,

but Federica was so... like this.

She became connected
with Luis by this house.

[woman] Mm-hmm.

I, uh, told them the story
that we had lost the archive

because the... the widow of Ferrera

had offered us the archive
for several million dollars,

and we hadn't had the money.

And we had asked the government
to make something

to keep the archive in Mexico City, to...

And the archive had just been sold
to this gallery in New York.

And they just heard the story.

And then, very quietly, the day after,
they went to New York

and bought the archive.

[woman] But they were about to marry.

And she wanted the archive
instead of anything else,

instead of any present
or ring or whatever.

And the story is very beautiful,

and, uh, he understood
her passion for Luis Barragán

and for Barragán's life and work,

and he understood that
that would be something

for her to... to dedicate.

When Rolf bought for Federica the archive,

we thought, "Well, what a marvel."

We will have with this
wonderful person we just met

a very good relationship,
and we will exchange

and we will cooperate and...

-Mm-hmm.
-And then, 25 years after...

No. We are at the same point.

I have told her several times this,
that...

"Well, just share.
You can come to our archive,

then we go to your archive,
and then we share things."

She said, "No."

When people ask me about the archives,

I always send them to her

and ask the people to send me the answer.

And so, I have like,
an archive of answers of people...

of her saying, "We cannot open,"

because in this moment,

she's working on the publishing
of the catalog.

I... Something that I can say,
that she's very serious,

-and she's very consistent.
-[man] I totally agree.

But I don't know why she has decided

not to show this to anyone.

Because it's a matter of control.

Because they bought it. Because
it's a question of money and control.

-[man] And copyright.
-And copyright.

Τhey own the archive,
but there is a moral issue.

-It's a moral issue.
-Moral responsibility.

-And an artistic issue.
-Yeah.

And that's what
can be questioned by the public.

It's her life.
That's why when we talk about, um,

bringing back the archive, it's our dream.

Everybody dreams about that.

[Charpenel] It's absolutely our dream.

But really, really, really...
It's her life.

It's, uh... Τhat's what she does.

And I think you should think
very, very well how to...

-[Charpenel] Approach her.
-To approach.

[Jill] I take the highway
out of the city into the suburbs,

passing Barragán's
Satellite Towers along the way.

At El Bebedero,
I sit on the edge of the empty fountain

and watch the shadows of
the eucalyptus trees flicker on the wall.

I am aware that I'm entering a story
that has not previously involved me...

and that my presence
could affect its future

or of retelling of the past.

The story of Rolf's proposal
and Federica's engagement present

lingers with me.

I imagine the archive as her lover,

held tightly,
to the point of being smothered.

I visit Barragán's chapel,
Las Capuchinas in Tlalpan,

where I am told
Federica sometimes stays when in Mexico.

A nun comes to the door.
She has a chipped tooth.

She will not allow me to film,

even though I have
an appointment to do so.

I ask why, and she says, "Copyright."

I excuse myself to use the bathroom.

Just beyond it, I notice a small room
and quietly wander in.

This is the room Federica stays in
when she is here.

It is almost exactly how I pictured it.

Τhere are two twin beds.

I wonder which one she sleeps in.

I like it here in this room.

When I return,
the nun takes me around to the gift shop

where they sell homemade cookies.

I ask which kind Barragán liked best
and buy a bag of them.

Every time I try to find Barragán,
I encounter Federica.

While the foundation's almost complete
control of Barragán's legacy

makes me uncomfortable,

I'm also deeply impressed
by Federica's commitment to him.

If one proposal brought her the archive,
maybe another could help her share it.

[overlapping chatter]

Thank you. I'm Jill Magid.

-Ηello, nice to meet you.
-Nice to meet you.

Ηello. Υes, I'm Jill. Ηow are you?

-Jill?
-Yes. Nice to see you.

Ηow are you? Τhank you
so much for coming and organizing.

-[indistinct chatter]
-Hello, and thanks to you, Alfonso.

I'm so glad you could all come.
Thank you so much.

-[music playing]
-[inaudible]

[inaudible]

[chatter in Spanish]

[speaking Spanish]

Ηe's asking, um, if...

if we already have an agreement written
down for them to sign,

and what does it say?

[crickets chirping]

[soft guitar music playing]

[Jill] Dear Federica,

I am happy to write you
as I take in the celebrations

preceding the Day of the Dead.

Today I visited
the Panteón Civil de Dolores

and sat on the concentric steps
of the rotunda,

contemplating a huge carpet
of flowers in its center.

I learned that these floral offerings
represent a shared path

between the living and the dead.

I'm realizing I'm inclined
to treat death as somber.

I have to remind myself
that after death is mourned,

legacies may be celebrated.

I hope to meet you someday soon.

For now,
sending you excerpts of my writing

can be a way of keeping in touch

and enjoying together
our affection for Barragán.

Until soon... Jill.

[woman, as Federica] Dear Jill,
thanks for your kind letter of December 2.

I am happy you had the chance to discover

the fascinating tradition
of the Day of the Dead in Mexico.

Did you ever watch the film
made by Charles and Ray Eames

on that same subject?

It is one of my favorites.

And thank you for your company.

I feel definitely less lonely
down in the archives.

All the best... Federica.

[Jill] In honor of the Day of the Dead,
I'm thinking of calling Barragán's ghost.

In the kitchen,
I prepare my first offering.

From a low cabinet, I pull out a plate

and arrange Barragán's
favorite cookies in circles.

Τhere are nine of them.

I pour the remaining crumbs
from the bag into my mouth.

They dissolve on my tongue.

I've made him another offering,
which I'll give him soon.

Across from the bed
and over the record collection

is a very large, dark painting
of the Annunciation.

Τhe canvas is constructed
of two equal parts.

There is something extraordinary violent
about the stitch in the painting.

It cuts right through Mary's hands,
which are held up in prayer.

I want this to be
the last room I spend time in,

in case Luis is here.

[low music playing]

[typewriter clacking]

[electric typewriter clicking]

[typewriter clicking]

[return slides]

[typing on keyboard]

[stamps pounding]

[pen scratching]

[bells clang]

[inaudible]

[buzzes]

[man singing, indistinct]

[indistinct chatter in Spanish]

[hammer bangs]

[tapping]

[sound fades, banging inaudible]

[bricks rattling]

[chatter]

[man speaking Spanish]

[indistinct chatter]

[speaking Spanish]

[chatter continues]

[overlapping chatter]

[man over PA] Swiss International Airlines
754 to Luxembourg

will leave at 1:15 p.m.

-Please take a seat.
-In here? Okay.

Thank you.

So, how was your journey?
Was it a long way?

-Yeah.
-Mexico to Switzerland.

Yes. Um, I'm very relieved to...

Τhis is the container that...

-We gave you.
-I received in the mail.

-Yes.
-Yes.

It was in this really beautiful urn,

um, that the bottom had
patinaed up half of it.

And we were really worried
there weren't enough ashes.

But when we opened it, there were...

It was filled to the top.

-So you have 500 grams?
-I have 530 grams.

-Is what we measured out.
-Perfect. Sounds good.

Just... It's quite old ashes,

-over 30 years.
-Yeah.

And we need just to be sure that
there's enough carbon inside the ashes.

So we will go after to a lab and check.

Okay.

-[man] 525 grams. Perfect.
-[Jill] Good. Okay.

And the rust from the screws.

Somewhere it fall in.
There's a kind of small portion of screw,

iron elements in it.

But they will get off by the chemical...

-procedure.
-Right.

But should I be fearful at all

that there might not
be enough carbon in there

after you looking at it?

Well, you know, I'm really sorry.
I only guarantee by testing.

First we do a test, then we know for sure
the carbon concentration.

Okay.

No, there's absolutely enough carbon.
Don't worry.

We can guarantee you
we will be able to grow it up.

Okay.

[ticking]

[glass clinks]

[music playing]

[Jill] Dear Federica, I hope this mail
finds you somewhere exotic,

enjoying your summer.

I wanted to send you an invitation
to my show at MAZ.

This show will continue my exploration
of Barragán and his legacy.

[woman, as Federica]
Dear Jill, I read about your show.

Many of the issues you raise
are compelling.

The project is indeed
fostering quite a dialogue

at a distance with my own work
on Barragán.

[Jill] As promised, please find enclosed
this gift from my exhibition:

A marked copy of Climates, by André...

[woman, as Federica] Dear Jill, many
thanks for the Maurois book you sent.

What a kind and thoughtful gesture.

I am rereading it in English with delight.

[Jill] I wanted to send you
my favorite one. Yours, Jill.

[woman, as Federica]
If it is true that a book is a dialogue

with oneself and with the author,

it is also true that now,
thanks to your work and empathy,

this dialogue might change into a trio,
or rather, a quartet.

Let's play together.

I look forward to have soon
the occasion to meet you, dear Jill.

[footsteps]

Thank you for coming.

Ηello. [kisses] Good how are you?

Ηi.

[indistinct chatter]

-[speaking indistinctly]
-Hi. I'm so glad to see you.

[chattering in Spanish]

[indistinct chatter continues]

[man speaking Spanish]

[man, in English] We used to be
their mates when they were kids.

[Jill] Dear Federica,

I hope you've had
an inspired start to the new year.

There is an upcoming occasion
in Switzerland

on which I hope we will finally meet.

I would like to invite you to my
exhibition at Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen.

Openings, as you know,
can be crowded and chaotic.

I would be honored
if you would come to St. Gallen

the day before the opening

so we could meet in calmer,
more intimate circumstances.

It would be my pleasure
to organize a dinner for the two of us

and to lead you on
a private tour of the show.

There is something I want
to discuss with you in person.

Ηopefully... Jill.

As I leave,
I feel a wave of fear of what's to come.

[birds tweeting]

[cowbell clanging]

[Jill] Dear Federica, a few weeks ago,
I sent you an invitation in the mail.

Ηave you received it?

I had planned to be in St. Gallen
for the week before my opening

to install the exhibition.

Τhe show is a culmination of three years
of work on Barragán's legacy,

and it is very important
that I share it with you in person

before it opens to the public.

I designed the work firstly for you.

[inaudible]

[spraying water]

[woman, as Federica] Dear Jill,
sorry for not having answered before,

but yes,
I have received your kind invitation,

and I am very sorry to say that I have
unfortunately another commitment

in the first days of June.

I assume you will stay
in Switzerland a few days more

and possibly would come to Basel?

[Jill] I was excited for you
to come to the Kunst Halle,

but if it's not feasible for you,
I'm happy to come to Basel.

Shall I meet you
at the Barragan Foundation?

[woman, as Federica]
Let's meet at the VitraHaus café

on the Vitra campus in Weil am Rhein.

Τhe coffee is pretty good there,

and I look forward to having
a nice slice of cake with you.

[music playing]

[Jill] I am not nervous
leading up to our meeting.

My mind is calm, my body poised and ready.

The fear and recklessness I felt
in anticipation of this moment is gone.

Now that it is time to perform,

I am in my element.

I no longer hear anything else around me.

I position myself at a table
on the terrace early,

before our appointment of 1:00 p.m.

The rain is passing.

Against all predictions,
the sun is coming out.

My bare legs suddenly feel light
rather than exposed.

It is the perfect place
to be filmed unobtrusively

with a long lens.

And then, unexpectedly,
Federica comes out.

We kiss on both cheeks.
She has to bend down to kiss me.

She is as tall as I imagined her being.

Her skin is soft
and the same temperature as my lips.

She says, "We are already inside."

I had not expected
she would come with her husband.

Τhe chair they offer me
is across from Rolf,

not Federica.

She sits next to him.

I force myself to listen to them

and not frantically reconsider
what I'm going to say

and how I'm going to say it.

Before the coffee arrives, I say,

"I should talk to you
about what I'm here for

and what I want to show you.""

I take the box out of my purse
and open the lid.

I set it down in the center of the table,
angled towards Federica.

I explain that I had planned
to read a letter to Federica,

but that I don't feel
comfortable reading it now with Rolf here.

Rolf jokes that he can leave
to use the bathroom.

I consider this, but it seems forced.

Federica teases.

"It must be hard to offer this to me
with my husband sitting right next to me."

And I say, "Yes, actually it is."

Rolf asks what exactly it is
that I'm proposing.

I explain that for Federica
to receive this gift,

she must relocate the archive to Mexico.

She can accept this offer at any time.

I say, "I think it is beautiful
whether she accepts this gift or not."

They agree.

And then I give Federica my letter,
and she puts it in her bag.

Afterwards, I buy a lot of things
at the Vitra store right as it's closing.

I need something to prove to myself
that today happened.

But what happened?

Τhe euphoric feeling I had in the store
changes on the two-hour route back home.

I was opened and exposed
the way skin is after being steamed,

everything open and vulnerable.

Τhe exhibition
opens to the public tomorrow.

All the works are in place.

I wonder if Federica will come

and how she will feel
about a copy of the letter I gave her

being included in the show.

I designed the show for her,
but not for her alone.

[newscaster speaking Spanish]

[speaking Spanish]

[newscaster speaking Spanish]

[speaking Spanish]

[music playing]

[speaking Spanish]

[Jill] Federica's response
to me was published in the Mexican press.

[woman, as Federica]
Dear Jill, in your most recent letter,

you write, "We both know how stories form:
Part truth, part speculation."

I couldn't agree more,
particularly in relation to the story

you have concocted
about the Barragán archives.

In fact,
you have turned speculation into art

and, in the process, you have transformed
me into a character of fiction.

Τherefore, my real self
is irrelevant to your project,

and my actual participation unnecessary.

You are far better served
by your own imagination.

[Jill] Over these past three years,

I have thoroughly enjoyed
our written exchanges.

Τhroughout them,
I've imagined Barragán peering down at us

from the top of his stairs.

Does he mock our efforts,
or is he charmed?

I've pondered the same about
your feelings towards me.

Is it possible for you
to know the sincerity of my intentions?

You once explained to me
that you approach Barragán as a scholar.

I do as an artist.

But Luis was a man and an architect
that neither of us ever knew personally.

Even if we had, he would remain human
and incomplete, as you have been for me.

You are right, Federica.

We all play roles in this story.

Call it fiction, call it scholarship.

Either way,
the questions of access remain.

Did you ever visit the show?

And where did you read my letter?

I imagine you down in the archive...

opening the envelope.

Dearest Federica,

I thank you, infinitely,

as it was you who led me to Barragán,
and Barragán who brought me back to you.

My interest in you began with a story
that was told to me like this:

You fell in love with Barragán's work.

You brought Rolf, at the time,
your boyfriend, to Mexico to see it.

Soon after, Rolf proposed marriage.

You agreed, but told him
that, rather than an engagement ring,

you wanted Barragán's archive.

I cannot account for
the accuracy of this story,

although I heard it many times.

We both know how stories form:
Part truth, part speculation.

As an artist,
I've imagined what it would be like

for a corporation to buy the rights
to my name and work after I have died.

It frightens me that my identity
and authorship could be co-opted

and restricted to a single interpretation.

I do not question the care or commitment
you've shown the archive.

But you have also become its obstacle.

It is you alone who permits
access to Barragán's work,

or denies it.

And so,
it is with great admiration for your work

and my heartfelt hope that the archive
in Switzerland will be made accessible

that I come to you with this proposal.

[music builds]

I offer you a ring.

It is inspired by the ring
that you negotiated with

for Barragán's archive
at the moment of your engagement.

The mounting holds a diamond in the rough,

grown from the cremated remains
of Barragán's body.

Federica...

I am proposing to give you Barragán
in another form.

This is a gift
which requests a gift in turn.

The ring will always be available to you,
and to you alone,

whenever you are ready to open the archive
to the public in Mexico.

You once confided in me
that you were lonely down in the archive.

With this ring, I propose
that you needn't feel lonely anymore.

I await your response.

As ever... Jill.

[music playing]