De Acá a la China (2019) - full transcript

Everybody is nobody.

And no one is everyone.

We are the day.

We are the night.

We are the noise.

We are the silence.

All the answers are in your heart.

Imagine this glass
represents the world's population.

Seven billion people, right?

Now, if these seven
billion people are the planet...

one fifth is Chinese.



Boys, can you take to your places?

Yes?

-May I help you?
-Yes.

I find it appalling
that you are not telling him the truth.

We discussed this many times,
I won't tell him.

It's very selfish.

Don't you see it's insane?
It's just insane.

-Please, don't tell him.
-I won't say anything.

So, he will be in China for three years
to take a Mandarin course.

What is Mandarin?

It's the official language of China.
It's what all Chinese people speak.

So, in three years will you be able
to speak fluent Chinese?

No, I wish, but...

You'll speak some Chinese.



Yes, the idea is that after three years,
at least, I'll be able to speak a bit.

Hello?

Hi, Pablito, how are you?
All good.

Yes, hold on a second while I call him.

It's for you, Facu.
Pablito is on the phone.

-Okay.
-It's Pablito.

-I'll be back in a minute.
-Pablito!

Who is Pablo?

The son of... Do you remember Alejandra,
the girl from across the street?

How could I forget? He used
to pee on the door handle of your car.

-Motherfucker.
-Where is that kid now?

Thank you very much.

-Pablito.
-What's up, champ? How are you doing?

Hold on a second.
Are you okay?

-Yes, all good.
-Yes?

-Can I help you?
-No, I'm fine.

What are you doing?

News?

I spoke to Eugenio.
Everything is on track.

Perfect.
It's the same amount, right?

Yes, the same, don't worry.

It's very important
for this guy to know that...

Everybody is inside?
Nice.

It's like a dragon
and you see people's feet, huh?

I didn't know that...

What dragon, asshole?
What are you talking about?

Amazing.
No, it's just that auntie is around.

-Long distance is expensive, idiot!
-Excellent.

Do you need anything?

-No, no.
-No?

-I'm fine.
-Great.

My God,
it's like a two-million-dollars call!

I can't really talk right now.
I will see you in two days, okay?

Okay, cool.

-Good.
-Bye.

Take care.

-Bye.
-Everything was great. Thanks.

Let us know when you get there.

-Good luck, buddy.
-Take care. I'll see you soon.

-Well...
-Have a good trip, Facu.

Thanks.

Don't be wild.
Behave yourselves.

All right, I will see you at...

-Two o'clock.
-Two o'clock, perfect.

See you later, Dad.

-You said bye to everyone, didn't you?
-I did.

-Don't oversleep.
-I won't.

Three years is not that long.

Three years is an eternity.
It really is.

-Hey, Horacio.
-Bye, buddy.

Are you sure you know
what you are doing?

How would I know?

-But someone has to do it.
-You?

There are 10,709 supermarkets
in the country, Daniel.

1,688 in the capital city.
9,021 in the rest of the country.

Have we all gone mad?
Are we all going to stand and watch?

Hi, honey.
I'm taking brother home.

It's very late,
you're killing me!

Okay, I'll sort it out. Don't worry.
Kisses. Bye.

All good?

Do me a favor, take this money
and get me bread crumbs.

-Bread crumbs?
-Half a kilo, yes, any brand.

I'll wait for you around the corner.
Bye.

FRIENDSHIP

Hi.

Hi.

It's 9,50.

No, no. Coins.

-No coins.
-Check again, I'm sure you have some.

-No coins.
-Check again.

More candy?

Two candies! Two candies!

Bye, my friend!

Let's go, come on, move.

He doesn't even know my name!
"Friend," really?

Bye. Be safe.

-Bye, Facu, please take care.
-Sure.

In 1986 my father owned a store
in the heart of Saavedra neighborhood.

Despite it being small,
everyone used to buy there,

because it had everything.

However,
in the early nineties,

the Chinese began to arrive.

At first,
nothing really happened,

but then, more came.

Although my dad struggled
gram to gram, slice to slice,

he could not compete

and had to close the store down.

Today, 20 years later,

my revenge begins.

FROM HERE TO CHINA

Hello, I'm looking
for my friend, Pablo Zap...

-How are you, brother?
-Great.

Let me help you with these.

-Unbelievable, huh?
-Let me show you the room.

-Who is she?
-A friend. She works here at the hotel.

-What did she say?
-Never mind.

Thanks.

Okay, we are here, right?
Shanghai.

And we are heading to Fujian.

85% of the Chinese people living
in Argentina come from there, you know?

That's exactly a thousand kilometers,
we'll pass through two provinces.

Okay, where is our guy?

Xiamen.

How do we get there?

Thank you.

Pablo! Pablo!

That's him.

Thank you for coming.

-Okay, look...
-Let's see.

This is your application number,
the documentation,

and the payment details,
without my commission.

I'm sorry, is this the permit?

When we are done
with these formalities,

someone from the Administration
of Industry and Commerce

will go to the store for an inspection,
check a couple of things,

and in 15 days or so,
you will get the permit.

Excuse me.

Anything else?

Does the owner know we are coming?

He does, but he only speaks Mandarin.
You will speak to his grandson.

His name is Nick.
His English name is Nick.

Nick.

So, where's my stuff?

No, we counted it
a thousand times.

Wonderful.
You have my number, right?

Yes, don't worry.

Don't call me.

I'll call you, okay?

-Thank you very much.
-Good luck, guys.

This is it.

Let's go.

My father did business in his store.

My grandfather
also did business in his store.

Even the grandfather
of my grandfather

did business in his store.

If you want to take up this challenge

you must show extraordinary courage,

and you must be

especially careful,

because you don't know when,
inadvertently,

the dragon will raise
his tail against you.

How was it?

Great. It's done.
The first month is sorted.

Excellent.

Shall we go for a walk?

Come on, let's take a walk.

Shall we?

Momo, Facundo,
Facundo, Momo.

-Hi.
-Shall we?

No, no, no.

Hello, how are you, Vale?

Okay, okay.

How are you, Dad?
Good, everything's good.

Yes, we are already here,
with Pablito, in Xiamen.

Yes, he is around.

Hey, Horacio!

He's sending you kisses.

All great, yes.
We had an introductory talk today.

Very good, yes,
they all seem to be nice people.

All right, sure.
I'll write to all of you later.

Yes, don't worry.

Bye, Vale!
Please send my love to Dani!

All right, Dad.

Me too. Love you.

Come on, dude.
We open tomorrow. Let's go.

I find it appalling
that you are not telling him the truth.

We've already discussed it,
I can't do it.

When do you plan to come back?

When I witness one of them
shutting down.

They are here.

They arrived.

-Red tea?
-Checked.

-Jasmine tea?
-Checked.

-Mushroom soup?
-Got it.

-Rice wine?
-Yep.

-Spicy noodle?
-Checked.

-Mate?
-Got it.

-Octopus soup?
-Checked.

-Powdered milk?
-Got it.

-Coffee?
-Checked.

-Caramel?
-Got it.

-Cane spirit?
-Got it.

And Fernet.

We rock.

Now we're talking.

THE HAND OF GOD

Hello.

Do you like it?

You like?

All these products are from Argentina.

How much is it?

Ten.

Forty.

Total.

Keep the change.

-Thank you.
-Bye, bye.

Does it have a giraffe?

No, not the giraffe one.
Check, it should be the white one.

-The one with a crazy panda?
-Yes. Bring it to me, please.

Thanks, Pablito.

All right.

-Eighty two.
-Eighty two?

Eighty two.

So I must give you 82.

-I don't have any change.
-Me neither.

I don't have change.

-Pablito, do you have any coins on you?
-No.

-Nothing?
-Nothing.

Candy, candy.

Thanks, bye.

-Hi.
-Hi.

Seven.

Pablito?

Yes.

Could you manage this?

Thanks.

Bye.

It is on you, right?

Addition, subtraction, 6, 6.

-Pablito?
-What?

-We did great today.
-Awesome!

Let's go, dinner is on me.

Is that fish?
It isn't, is it?

Nowadays you see
more and more foreigners arriving.

Not so long ago it was not easy
to find them around,

but now, the number
is increasing every day.

At the same time, more and more
Chinese are migrating abroad.

I just do not know their destinations.

China is the country with the world's
greatest migratory movement.

According to current statistics, there
are over 64 million Chinese overseas,

distributed worldwide.

One can safely say, where there's
a country, there are Chinese immigrants.

Thanks.

Bye.

That's so much fish.

Get used to it.

Hi, Eugenio, how are you?
It's Facundo.

From the supermarket.

Yes, I know, I know, but...

I'm calling you because
you said someone

from the Administration of Industry
and Commerce was coming but no one did,

so I would like to know...

Right, yes.

And, approximately,
when do you think they will come?

Hello, hello?

-Facu!
-What?

These girls are friends of Momo.

Who is Momo?

Three yuan.

Have you ever dreamed
that you fell backwards into a cesspit

that turned out to be
your own infinite void?

What? I didn't get it.

Where are you going?

Where are we going.

No, no, no.

Where are we going.

How are you? Okay?

I am coming to start the love story.

No, I don't understand you.

I'm coming so that you and I fall in love,
and I'll show you other parts of China.

And we will walk together holding hands,
kissing each other,

and running on the beach.
That kind of things.

The problem is that I came here
for a different reason.

-Okay.
-Okay.

I think "love" in this story
works in a different way.

Are you sure?

Don't you want to try out
our love story just a little bit?

I'd love to, but I won’t be able
to keep up with both stories.

Let's go to a dude's house.
Everyone is there!

Who is everyone?

Everybody is nobody.

And no one is everyone.

We are the day.

We are the night.

We are the noise.

We are the silence.

All the answers are in your heart.

Open the door!

We're closed!

Open the door!

We're closed!

Open the door!

-I can't believe it.
-Almost done, just ten more days.

Hey, Momo is here.

How are you, Momo?

-I am from Chile.
-Hey, I'm Facundo, what's up?

-Nice to meet you.
-All good?

Yes, very good.

We are from Argentina.

So, what kind of store is it?

The main reason for coming to China
is to open a supermarket

in the same way Chinese
are doing it in Argentina.

Why is that?

Well, it's more like
my friend's idea, you know?

How do you say in Argentina?
Mucho gusto?

-Mucho gusto.
-Mucho gusto.

How is it going?
How can we help you?

How much is it?

How much is it?

You have money, right?

No, I can't give you any more credit.

How do you say "no more credit"?

Look who's coming.

Did she bring back the empties?
You have the empty bottles?

The empty bottles.
No, the empty bottles.

The empty bottles.

Forget it,
we won't lend her anymore.

The money...

Bye.

-Facu?
-What?

Nick is here!

Bye.

How are you managing?

-Fine.
-Excellent.

-You?
-All good.

Pablito, we should head back.

Thanks.

You are seriously stupid.

-What happened?
-You've been re-categorized, dude.

What, what do you mean?

The inspector came, he saw the products,
and guess what he stamped?

"Importing Company."

Well, but wait,
we can take them out.

No, you can't just take them out.
This is China, man.

What shall we do?

You're in deep trouble now.

Take a look at this number.

This is the amount
you should be paying.

You've got 30 days.

Plus, you've got
to hire a Chinese employee.

Why?

Because all importing companies in China
must hire Chinese workers.

Wait a minute.
There must be another option.

Closing down, dude.

This is all we had upstairs.

-Can you count it?
-Sure.

I bought too many things
and they are very heavy.

Do you do delivery?

I don't understand.

Could you translate for me?

-No...
-Sure, yes.

We need all money we can make.
Even the smallest tip is good for us.

Have you thought about what to do
with the Chinese guy we should hire?

Do you want me to talk to him?

Cool, you talk to him
while I take this stuff.

Hi?

Yes, I know.

Where will I find a foreigner
who has to pay for a permit

to commercialize imported products?

I should have them
in front of me right now!

It's mathematically impossible!

I've got the money on me!
It's right here!

It's impossible!

Hello?

Hello?

Excuse me.

Excuse me.

Boss!

Boss?

Boss.

Boss?

You've brought it already.

How much is it?

-Eighty three.
-Eighty five?

-Eighty five.
-Please wait while I fetch the money.

-Thank you.
-Mao is in all of our bills.

What?

That all of our bills have Mao's face.

Thank you. Thank you.

-Bye.
-Good bye.

The large denominations, 50s and 100s,
are always separated in this drawer.

All the small change we use
during the day, we keep in this one.

Before the day is over, please remind me
to make you a copy of the keys.

This is the money from the delivery
and I have an idea that could save us.

This is Hu, Momo's friend.

-Hello.
-Hi.

Can you come here one second?

-It is all sorted out.
-Perfect.

He'll do the day shift,
and we'll take the night.

Good.

There's just one thing, he moves in
with us for 30 days until we pay the debt.

Why?

He lives far away,
it will not suit him otherwise.

Perfect,
but we'll take it off his pay.

-It's done, there's no problem.
-Great.

One more thing,
he speaks Spanish.

-Do you speak Spanish?
-Yes, a little bit.

If I speak to you,
do you understand me well?

What was the idea about?

The ship departs every day
at four o'clock in the morning

and returns at four o'clock
in the afternoon to the same place.

And when do you pay?

You will get your money every day
when we are back in the port.

Let's get to work.

From where do you know Momo?

We met in high school,
when I was 15.

Can we check the suppliers?

Did the guy from the Pau Mien come?

Yes, he did.

-Did he bring everything?
-Yes, everything. The invoices.

Perfect.

Baijiu?

Baijiu came,
but did not leave everything.

He didn't?

-I have no money.
-Was it not enough?

-Yes, not enough.
-You should let me know if that happens.

-We need Baijiu for tomorrow.
-Okay.

-Okay, please pass me the money.
-It is 850 today.

850?

Okay, it's perfect.

Please, remember to phone the guy
of the Baijiu tomorrow, okay?

Fine, why don't
you get some sleep now?

-I will. Bye.
-See you tomorrow.

-Bye, Facundo, bye, Hu.
-Bye, Momo.

-Why don't you go to rest now?
-Yes, I'll go to sleep.

-Okay.
-Sure.

-See you tomorrow.
-Okay.

Thanks, Hu.

Why don't you go and rest a bit too?

-Go, I'll stay.
-Will you?

Yes. Go rest.

It will be good for you.

-Cool, could you finish with this?
-Yes, keep it separated.

-Did I wake you?
-No, it's okay.

Too tired?

-Hard work up there?
-I'm exhausted.

I'm done.

But It's only a few more days, right?
We'll be done in two more days.

Two more weeks
and all this mess will be over.

Being in a difficult situation is
like standing in a fishing boat,

violently shaking.

Buddha said,
"Circumstances arise in the heart

and the heart is shifted
by the circumstances."

When you face difficulties, you must have
a secured body and a calmed heart.

Because it's only with a fearless heart
that your body is in a perfect balance.

It's very simple:
you must rest more.

Good night.

-Bye.
-Bye.

Bye.

-Hello?
-Hello, Dad?

Hey, how are you, son?
It's been a while since we talked.

What's up?
How are things going?

Have you been so busy
you couldn't call?

The last days have been really complicated.
Too much to study.

Too much to study.
And are you learning anything?

I bet it's quite difficult, isn't it?

Yes, it is complicated,
but you learn, slowly but you learn.

What time is it there?

It's nine o'clock in the evening.

What time do you go to bed?
Eleven p.m.? Is it like here?

Tonight I'll stay up
a bit longer studying.

Hello, hello?

Hello?

Can you hear me now?

Yes, now it's perfect.
It's perfect.

Son, we are missing you
like crazy here.

Do you know when
you're coming back?

Not yet, I don't know yet.

Auntie is constantly asking
when you are coming back.

I don't know what to say,

I tell her you might come back
at the end of the year,

but auntie says it's almost the end
of the year and you're still not here.

Is it that difficult to learn Chinese?

It's quite difficult actually.

Anyway, I can hear you are exhausted.
Go to bed.

Tomorrow you'll feel stronger.
The whole family is sending big hugs.

We love you and miss you a lot.

And please, call us whenever you can.
It is easier for you to call than for us.

Big hugs and good luck.

-Mate?
-Thanks.

Tired because of the boat?

Quite a bit.

I understand your work very well,
because I used to be a fisherman too.

My grandfather was a fisherman.
My father was a fisherman.

I was also a fisherman.

In order to survive in a harsh context
my entire family,

from generation to generation,
always followed the fishing tradition.

The elderly used to say:
"Those who follow the divine will,

are the ones who will prosper."

During the nineties of the last century,
I made contact with fellow friends

who went to Argentina to earn a living.

They started opening supermarkets and
made lots of money as entrepreneurs.

I motivated myself and I borrowed money.

In this way, with the money I borrowed,
I arrived to Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Subsequently, I opened a supermarket.

Did you have a supermarket
in Argentina?

Yes.

I'm going to rest.
Good night.

The supermarket is dead.

Your idea is dead.

When dead, new life begins.

I wish you a very nice trip.

Thank you.

Hu, thank you very much, thanks.

This is for you.

Let's move.

See you.

Nice adventure.
As always, big head.

Where are you heading?

South Africa... I don't really know yet,
now when you leave I'll decide.

Okay, I will see you soon.

-Look after yourself.
-Thank you.

You are more than welcome, big head.

Send my love to your family.
Have a good trip, enjoy your time.

-I will see you soon.
-Send kisses to your mom.

See you soon, okay?

Keep it together, brother!

Facu!

Did you get laid?
Really? Not even paying?

Why did you go to China then?

Alejo, Mariano!

Hey!

Facu, how was the trip?

Good, but at the end,

they added very expensive fees
and we couldn't afford it any longer.

Oh, what a shame!

-But it was good.
-Good, I'm glad it was useful.

Say something.

Come on, say something.

The easiest one.

Wo meyo Linchien.

And what does it mean?

It means "I don't have change."

Who is missing?

I ordered beer.

-Great!
-Very good.

Let me help you.

-Hello, Pino.
-Hello, Horacio.

-How are you doing, buddy?
-All good.

-Sorry for bothering you this late.
-No, it's fine.

Are you having a party?

My son just arrived back from overseas,
we are celebrating.

What a beautiful day!

Thanks, good luck and my apologies again.
See you later.

Bye, Facundo.

Bye, my friend.

Everybody is nobody.

And no one is everyone.

We are the day.

We are the night.

We are the noise.

We are the silence.