Of Love and Shadows (1994) - full transcript
Irene is a magazine editor living under the shadow of the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile. Francisco is a handsome photographer and he comes to Irene for a job. As a sympathizer with the underground resistance movement, Francisco opens her eyes and her heart to the atrocities being committed by the state.
WOMAN NARRATING:
In 1973, my country, Chile,
was taken over
by a military dictatorship...
which declared a permanent
state of emergency.
A curfew was imposed,
and for most,
especially the privileged,
there was also a self-imposed
rule of silence.
A rule of see no, speak no,
hear no evil...
so life could go on as before.
My mother took this to heart.
I was brought up in the safety of
innocence at the "Will of God Manor";
our family home
turned old age home...
in order to survive financially
after my father left many years ago.
- Rosa, my dog Cleo... and the old people;
- Ahh, my little girl.
Don Quixote, the colonel,
a man we call death himself,
and an old actress,
Madame Josefina...
were my real family.
I was engaged to my cousin, Gustavo,
a captain in the army.
I worked at a fashion magazine.
My life was carefully guided
by my mother...
who was determined to assure us
a place in society...
which was either with the rich
or with the military.
My life was safe...
- Come on!
- until I began to wake up.
Come!
Look!
Belgium laces,
French silk,
Irish linen...
just arrived from Brazil.
- Brazil?
- I've asked Rosa to put all these in your room.
It's time for you
to take care of him.
I'm never going
to iron those things.
Uh, where are you going,
may I ask?
Out with some friends.
- And if Gustavo calls?
- He won't.
GIRL:
Captain Gustavo Morante.
[Chuckles]
- At your orders, sir.
- About face.
Halt!
Present arms.
Wait.
[Soldier, Rifle Cocking]
Stop the car, sir.
He's from the Cardinal's human rights
commission. It's all right.
WOMAN:
There they are.
Maria Elena.
My brother.
WOMAN: Poor thing.
She couldn't even live with herself.
With those military men,
nobody's safe.
- Well? - Thank you so much for
coming, Doctor. I just...
I just can't.
Come on.
Tell me.
Go ahead.
They took us and threw us
under the bottom of a car.
You and...
My husband, Juan.
They drove around for hours.
Kicked us,
threatened us.
I could only think
of my little Gabrielle...
at home... by himself.
I just want to die.
- Why didn't I die?
- No, no.
No, you must live.
Be strong.
You have to fight.
We were separated, and he said
if I didn't cooperate,
my husband would pay.
In the next cell,
he put his hands...
all over me.
I could only think
of my husband's life.
I didn't want...
him to hear.
When he came back,
another voice.
More hands all over me...
[Opens Lighter, Ignites Lighter]
inside me.
I wanted to scream.
I didn't want my husband to hear.
They did it again and again.
Hey, let it go.
Let it go.
I'll see you next week.
God bless you.
[People Chattering]
- [Elevator Bell Rings]
- RECEPTIONIST: Hi. May I help you?
[People Chattering]
- May I speak with Irene?
- Excuse me?
- Irene Beltran.
- Irene?
- Yeah.
- This way. Poo-poo-poo-poo.
Blondes are the vogue this year.
I'm going to transfer
to the social pages. It's safer.
WOMAN1:
Who's that?
- Irene.
- WOMAN2: I'd fuck him.
WOMAN1:
Shh. Be quiet.
- Francisco Leal?
- Miss Beltran.
Irene.
Uh, I've read
your articles and...
- You're the photographer.
- Uh-huh.
I'm sorry I have to ask.
- Are you on any lists?
- No. I'm not on the blacklist.
- [Laughs] Good. Then we can talk.
- Sure.
Let me show you... my work.
- You hungry?
- Hungry?
- Yeah. Come.
- [Stammering]
So, Francisco...
which of my pieces
did you like the best?
Well, uh...
"Super Hormones
that Prevent Pregnancy."
- You said something interesting in that.
- I did?
You said,
"Conception is an act of rebellion."
Since '73, the magazine has to cover
naked breasts with black patches,
and certain words
are forbidden.
Such as?
[Laughs]
It's childish.
Abortion. Ass.
Freedom?
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
So, you're a psychologist?
- Freudian?
- Freud.
Jung. Marx.
Marx?
Did he write about psychology too?
False consciousness.
He said that... "Shame is the only
revolutionary emotion."
Are you sure you're
not on the blacklist?
[Chuckles]
My father is an anarchist,
retired in Spain.
Maybe... my brother
Jose, the priest?
Maybe... my oldest
brother, Javier,
who's a teacher?
Not me.
- What made you... - Well, after '73,
my kind of psychology also became taboo.
And unaffordable.
Listen...
I'm looking for
a respectable job.
I don't want to end up photographing
weddings and birthdays.
Pick me up at the "Will of God Manor'
tomorrow. I'll give you an assignment.
Thank you.
- No, no, no. You're out of work. Let me pay.
- Please.
My father taught us that courtesy
never stood in the way of anarchy.
- So.
- [Chuckles]
- [Doorbell Chiming]
- [Woman1 Complaining]
IRENE:
I'll get it.
Francisco. Rosa?
This is Rosa.
- Come in. Come in.
- What is this? A madhouse?
Well, it is
the "Will of God Manor'.
- Mother, this is Doctor...
- Hello.
- [Grunts, Sighs]
- [Dog Barking]
Francisco, this is my mother.
Mother, this is my colleague, Dr. Leal.
- Pleasure.
- Colleague? Hmm. Doctor?
Yes, but Francisco's a photographer
now and we're on an assignment.
Mm-hmm.
Irene.
- You have a little something from Gustavo.
- [Humming]
He'll be here for the weekend. I didn't
open it. There was a note for me as well.
Captain Morante and Irene
are engaged to be married quite soon.
- [Humming Continues]
- Rosa!
A cricket born sings
'til its last morn.
[Laughing] She always speaks
in that maddening way.
Now, she'll watch
her soap operas all day and eat.
Pleasingly stout
is what beauty's about.
[Chuckling]
Oh, where are you going today?
- We're going to Los Riscos to
interview a saint. - Uh-huh.
- They say she works miracles.
- Ah. And what kind of, uh, miracles?
She cures insomnia and hiccups,...
...comforts brokenhearted,
makes it rain and restores youth.
Hmm. When live saints
do their best,
dead saints can rest.
[Groans]
[Horn Honking]
I love it!
It's like a flying horse.
- Who is Gustavo?
- What?
Your fiance.
My cousin. We've been engaged
since childhood.
It doesn't sound serious.
My captain is very serious.
He's going to be
a general someday.
When he grows up.
He's a man's man.
- What's that?
- I'll teach you his song.
- No thanks.
- "I am the bridegroom of death;"
"I have felt her cold breath,"
"...but I hold her high
as my banner."
It's a fascist song.
- No.
- Yeah.
How do you know?
My father.
Franco's fascists
chased him out of Spain.
"Long live Death."
It was their motto.
- Well, Gustavo's not a fascist.
- He's not the bridegroom of death?
- No.
- No.
[Shuts Engine Off]
Is this where
Evangelina Ranquileo lives?
Yes, but the miracles
are at noon.
- That's the one.
- Hello.
- WOMAN: That's the saint!
- BOY: She doesn't look like a saint, Mother.
IRENE NARRATING:
Saints were commonplace in the villages.
Not much of a story,
but it would pass the censors.
WOMAN: She's the one who can
solve your family's problem.
- Look at the city girl.
- The girl is crazy, pure and simple!
- And the miracles?
- What miracles are you talking about?
Don't believe that
propaganda.
- What the girl needs is a man!
- GIRL: There she is. Look.
- [Laughing]
- GIRL: Is that what a saint looks like?
- WOMAN: It's almost time.
- [Watch Ticking] Twelve o'clock.
[Villagers Singing]
# Alleluia #
# Alleluia #
- # Alleluia #
- [Sighs]
- # Alleluia #
- WOMAN: She's so pale. Look at her.
# Alleluia #
[People Chattering Softly]
MAN:
It's okay.
- # Alleluia #
- WOMAN: She's started.
- # Alleluia #
- There she goes.
# Alleluia #
All right, Maria, just watch.
- She will comfort us, I know she will.
- Shh!
[Groaning]
[Rattling]
- [Train Passing By]
- [Gasping]
[Explosions]
[Groaning Continues]
Cure my legs, santita!
Don't let them take
my Juan to the army!
God bless you,
Evangelina.
Heal my husband!
Oh, please! I beg you!
SOLDIER:
Go! Go! Go! Move it!
Up against the wall!
Face the wall!
- [Villagers Chattering]
- [Shouting]
Your identification?
I'm a journalist
and he's my photographer.
Name?
- Francisco Leal.
- What is your shit here?
- What did you say?
- I'm not talking to you!
- But I'm talking to you, Commander.
- Irene, please.
- [Moaning]
- Pradelio!
- Sir?
- Is this your sister?
- Affirmative, sir.
- [Explosions]
- [Bottles Shattering]
- [Rifle Blasts]
- [Irene Gasps]
- [Villagers Gasping]
[Rifle Blasts Continue]
- Animals!
- Irene!
It's a miracle you
didn't kill everybody.
- Why are you so nervous, honey? We were
just firing in the air. - Don't call me, honey.
- Why are you here?
- Well, Pradelio here told me about his sister...
and how the doctors and priests
couldn't do nothing about it.
Then I said,
"This is a job for the armed forces."
- [Moaning Continues]
- WOMAN: Evangelina!
Don't touch her!
Come here.
- [Screaming]
- WOMAN: Oh, my God!
[Snorting]
[Moaning]
[Screaming]
[Villagers Chattering Quietly]
[Groaning]
[Panting]
Fall in, assholes!
Sergeant Faustino Rivera!
The camera!
[Grunts]
Evangelina.
WOMAN:
It's a miracle they didn't kill us.
Excuse me, Reverend.
Would you like some more lemonade?
- God save us.
- And keep us.
It was only some bullets fired
in the air and a mangled hen.
We'll get more pictures.
[Kisses Cheek]
[Patriotic]
[Man Chattering]
That's good.
No, that's much better. Perfect.
- What are we doing here?
- Camp.
Kitsch.
Surrealism.
The society
of the spectacle.
- Is that Marx or Freud, Doctor?
- Where have you been since Thursday?
Where do you think?
- The bridegroom of death.
- So bitter.
- [Horn Honking]
- I'm sorry.
I'm sorry. I just wanted
to invite you to have dinner, and then...
Thursday?
I'll be free Thursday.
Will you? Really?
What?
Be free?
[Music Continues]
Gustavo.
Leaving for Panama now?
Yes.
But I'll be back soon.
Um, Captain Morante,
this is Dr. Leal.
Countess! The light is leaving us.
Everything's melting! We must...
- Oh. Excuse me. - Mario, have you
been introduced to Francisco Leal?
- He's working with me now.
- How do you do?
- How do you do?
- And this is my fiance Captain Morante.
The notorious Mario.
I'm sorry. I don't shake hands
with... degenerates.
Why don't you want to
touch him, Captain?
Maybe all the rough camaraderie
at the barracks is...
...just a cover for your homosexual panic?
I'll see you all
in the morning.
[Music Stops]
Fascist!
Love?
I'm cooking italiano tonight.
Pasta marinara.
I guess you're free.
- I guess I am, yeah.
- [Chuckles]
Veuve Clicquot Ronsardin.
Le Grande Dame, 1969.
Booty, plunder.
From the wives and mistresses
of the generals...
whom I paint and primp and brush,
groom and hypnotize...
into being the
most beautiful women in the world,
because I reflect them...
as they want to be.
To illusion.
Hmm?
To reality.
It was a prostitute
who saved my life, not the church.
[Chuckles]
Your story...
and a little bit more
of your "Admiral's Concubine."
My brother took me
to a "house"for my...
rite of passage.
[Chuckles]
I panicked completely, truly,
when they left me alone with her.
She sat on the bed
next to me and...
held my hand.
She told me...
"This isn't something
you can be forced to do."
I was weeping in terror.
"Go away. Far away, boy.
Because if you stay,
they'll end up killing you."
I understand.
She saved my life.
"If you don't fall in love,
you'll go far," she said.
Well...
how far did you go?
Well, you see...
the military despise my kind,
but I keep my face smiling and servile.
[Chuckles]
I see.
One day, I could be pulled
from my salon at the palace...
and thrown into
one of their torture chambers.
[Sighs]
Can I tell you something,
in confidence?
Please.
I was trained as
a psychologist, right?
Irene told me.
Working as a photojournalist now.
- Yes.
- I'm something else, altogether.
What are you?
I work in the shadows.
Know what it means?
MOTHER:
Come, children,your uncle has a guest.
[Doorbell Ringing]
Hello. Come in.
- Smell.
- Oh.
It's coffee from Venezuela.
Uh... thank you.
Mm-hmm.
Irene Beltran, my family.
And Javier.
Javier!
BOY WHISPERING:
Uncle wants to see Papa.
FATHER:
Pretty. Pretty, huh?
Go ahead.
At midnight, she wakes me
to recite Neruda to her.
We once were young,
back in Spain,
in the middle of the civil war.
When I went off
to the battlefront,
she closed our house
and followed me.
I wanted to be with him
in victory, death or defeat.
Yes, true love that ended.
- Jose, don't start. - That ended in
a cracked head and a lost memory.
And a son, Javier,
born in the ruins of a convent.
He should have been
the priest, not you.
That's enough.
I'll get dinner.
I read your articles.
They make me laugh.
[Chuckling]
Marry her, Francisco!
- She already has a fiance, Mama.
- Ah!
All governments are corrupt.
They must be eliminated.
Power is perverse,
and always falls into the hands...
Be a man,
not a psychologist, my son.
Let's hurry before
he scares her away.
FATHER:
Irene,you see the slide rule?
It's the only thing
I carried into exile.
It was my father's.
He used it to reconstruct
buildings and build trenches.
- IRENE: What do you use it for?
- To measure perversity and corruption.
- Hmm.
- For someone who fled one dictatorship...
and lives in another,
hatred of authority...
TOGETHER:
can be a serious handicap.
Ah, I'm a little old to go around
with my tail tucked between my legs!
We had to remove his printing press
from the kitchen.
A little difficult to explain
during a police raid.
If anything happened to you,
- I would stick my head in the oven and die.
- Well, that's why I'm careful.
TOGETHER: That's why we removed
the printing press, Pop!
- [Children Giggle]
- LITTLE GIRL: Grandpa is showing off.
But we will soon go back
to Spain, right, Javier?
LITTLE BOY:
Papa.
Franco has died, Papa.
You can go now.
- To Spain.
- ALL: To Spain!
But the mothering earth
is dark,
and deep inside me,
I am dark.
I am a well...
and in the water the night
leaves stars behind...
and goes on alone
across the fields.
I don't wanna go to bed.
It's a question of having
lived so much...
that I wish to live
that much more.
FRANCISCO:
I never felt my voice so clear.
Never have been so rich
in kisses.
[Soldier Chattering, Cocks Rifle]
Try to get the names
of the torturer, Francisco.
I must have fainted.
Then I saw Juan...
next to me.
Hanging from a pole...
and so was I.
They were torturing
both of us.
Juan was worse off than I.
But...
- I can't. - No, no, no, no, don't
stop. Maria Elena, don't stop.
- Tell me, come on. Come on.
- [Sniffles]
[Inhales]
Gabrielle was there.
My son,
there in the torture room.
My little son.
[Sobbing]
They had him by his arms,
making him watch.
"If you don't tell us the names,
we will do him too..."
"...We will do him too."
I had no names.
[Sniffles]
I never had.
I invented names
I never knew.
[Sighs]
I can't stand it anymore.
No more, please.
Father Leal can't find them.
Father Leal
will keep trying.
Huh? We all will.
It's all right.
Now... you must
take care of yourself.
And fight and be strong.
And remember.
Don't forget.
We need the names too,
so this will never
happen again.
Never again.
We need the names because
we are fighting quietly against them.
We must get names.
[Writing On Paper]
How did you get free
on a Sunday?
My fiance can't
come in this weekend.
Oh, he comes in
every weekend?
No, not every weekend.
And your mother will let you go to...
Where is he?
- Panama.
- Panama, unchaperoned?
Doctor, you don't think I'm still
a virgin at my age, do you?
[Chuckles]
What happened?
Please tell me.
He took her.
- Who did?
- The commander.
And my son Pradelio
is locked up.
Faustino Rivera
had tears in his eyes.
Who?
Faustino Rivera,
the sergeant.
I've known him
since he was a child.
[Crying]
He held the dogs...
- while Ramirez dragged her to the jeep.
- My God!
We can't...
We can't find her anywhere.
We're poor.
We don't know what to do.
[Sobbing]
We'll find her.
I will help you.
IRENE NARRATING:
Four words that changed my life forever.
And so my journey started.
Evangelina Ranquileo.
She was held for questioning in
Los Riscos and never seen again.
Go to the Ministry of Defense.
They have the new list there.
Next.
CLERK:
Come back next week at the same time.
Don't waste time.
Go straight to the morgue.
Irene, you'd better
wait for us here.
Why?
Have you ever seen a dead body?
A mutilated, tortured body?
- No.
- You don't have to go in.
I'm going in.
Anival, we're
going downstairs.
[Sniffs, Groans]
Irene.
[Groans]
[Irene Gasping]
Irene. Irene.
Francisco, take her out.
It wasn't her.
Irene, it may not be her.
Don't look anymore.
She's not here.
We should go back
to the office.
I suppose we should.
Gustavo has waited for me
all his life.
I'm going to marry him.
I know.
I am.
[Woman Sniffling]
[Children Crying]
We will never
return to Spain...
without you, Javier Leal.
ALL:
Javier Leal.
I have lived so much
that someday...
they will have to forget me,
forcibly.
Rubbing me off the blackboard,
[Crying]
my heart was inexhaustible.
Javier Leal.
ALL:
Javier Leal.
What you saw the other night
wasn't my brother.
They destroyed him.
They killed him by killing
everything... everything he valued.
They took away his work,
his union,
his friends, his income,
his pride,
his potency!
I'm going back
to Los Riscos.
I have my mother's car.
It's decided.
Be very careful.
Very careful what you say,
even to your mother.
IRENE NARRATING: Digna told me
where to find Cmdr. Ramirez...
and Faustino Rivera, the sergeant.
To face them it was best
to assume the arrogance of my class.
She was detained for
a brief routine questioning.
She spent the night here and was
released early the next morning.
We have the report.
Did you put her in the street
without any clothes?
Citizen Ranquileo was
wearing shoes and a poncho.
She's a minor! Why wasn't
she returned to her parents?
I don't have to discuss
police procedures with you.
Would you discuss them with my fiance,
army captain Gustavo Morante?
He's assigned
to the general staff in Panama.
Sergeant?
Sergeant, bring me the log!
Come here.
Look. Here it is...
stated in black and white.
She was going to the capital
to look for work.
Without money and half-naked.
- She was crazy.
- May I speak with her brother Pradelio?
I'm sorry.
He's been transferred.
Where?
That is confidential
information.
We are in a declared
state of emergency.
[Siren Wailing]
[Tires Skidding]
[People Chattering]
[Man Whistles]
Ohh.
[Man Speaking In Spanish]
- Sergeant Rivera?
- At your service, ma'am.
- I'm Irene Beltr...
- I know who you are.
- May I get you another beer?
- Sure. Why not?
MAN:
Whoa, nice.
Beer, please.
[Opens Refrigerator]
MAN:
Excuse me. Don't go so quick.
- Ooh.
- [Men At Bar Chuckling]
- Look at that.
- Oh,yes.
Beautiful!
I had noticed
how authoritative...
and levelheaded you had been
the other day at Evangelina's.
You're nothing like Ramirez.
I know him like
the palm of my hand.
Is your commander
always so reckless?
I mean... [Chuckles]
that shooting scared me to death.
He didn't used to be like that.
He isn't a bad man, I swear it.
[Pouring Beer]
- To women like you.
- [Glasses Clink]
- What is your commander like now?
- I know why you're here.
You think I'm stupid?
- [Chuckles Softly]
- [Chuckles]
[Spanish Music]
Open them.
[Laughs]
- What are we celebrating?
- Independence Day.
Being alive...
my friend.
[Inhales]
Come.
You are very sad too...
my friend.
I've lived in a dream.
I'm afraid to wake up.
[Footsteps Approaching]
Fruit of the sea.
You need to eat.
You both look, uh...
What's the word?
- Beat. [Chuckles]
- [Both Laugh]
Yeah.
Thank you, Rosa.
Mm-hmm.
Rivera and Evangelina
were cousins.
They all played together,
with Pradelio too.
He put his hand
under the table...
on my thigh.
And I told him,
next time, maybe.
You are a journalist.
[Sighs]
I could never publish this story.
It would never
get past the censors.
Why are you doing it?
I want to understand...
what turns
these peasant sons...
into criminals.
Listen.
RIVERA ON TAPE: Caught her little white
petticoat in the doorway when he slammed it.
Shit! I told him to go easy,
but he jumped down my throat.
- [Knocks Over Bottle On Tape]
- Oh, shit! Excuse me.
You're a fine woman.
You're a fine looking woman.
[Fast Forwarding Tape]
She was moaning.
She was still alive.
He was sick that way.
IRENE ON TAPE:
Are you sure it was Evangelina?
RIVERA:
Yeah. Lights work all night.
- He came back with a pick and shovel.
- [Shuts Tape Off]
He has a greasy notebook
with everything in it, he says.
What they did to her;
Where Ramirez took her.
He says I have to go with him
and he'll let me have it.
What should I do with it?
The tape.
- Give it to me.
- Mm-mm.
I don't want to compromise you,
Francisco. [Sniffles]
No. Give it to me.
My brother works with a cardinal's
human rights commission.
They are gathering evidence.
Are you cold?
I'm... afraid.
That we'll disappear,
like Evangelina?
- Like your father?
- [Exhales]
That charming son of a bitch.
He disappeared
because of Mother.
- [Knocking]
- Come.
- IRENE: Digna. Evangelina's mother.
- Come.
Sit down.
- Some tea?
- Sit down.
Sit down.
[Clears Throat]
Have you heard something
about Evangelina?
My son Pradelio...
ran away from the army.
He deserted.
Digna, he knows
about Evangelina.
[Inhales Deeply]
Faustino Rivera came
to see me, in secret.
He told me...
He told me the military
were going to hunt for my son...
until they found him.
I have to get Pradelio
out of the country.
Well...
[Clears Throat]
The church can help him,
but they will insist
on knowing... what happened.
[Irene Panting]
[Horse Whinnies]
[Horse Whinnying]
Ah! It's freezing.
Pradelio is
around somewhere.
- MAN: Don't move!
- [Gun Cocks]
Mama sent them!
[Gun Clicks]
- [Coughs]
- Why have you come?
Why were you locked up?
Everything's fucked.
You deserted
because of your sister?
- Because of Evangelina?
- Vengeance is a man's business.
They're looking
for you everywhere.
I'll pay for doing
what I must do.
I know when I come down from
this mountain I'm a dead man.
Pradelio, if you want our help,
you'll have to tell us.
- I'll never tell. - Because you
told Ramirez about your sister?
Because you asked
for his help?
Because you looked up to him?
He treated me like a son.
"You'll go far because you know how
to keep your mouth shut," he said.
"I like for my men
to tell me their worries."
And you told him
about Evangelina.
The way she dusted him
across the patio.
Never thought
she was so strong.
Never thought
he would take armed men.
That's it?
Let's go.
Wait.
I know where
he hid her body.
That abandoned mine
at Los Riscos.
[Footfalls]
I'm scared.
So am I.
[Gasping]
- You all right?
- [Gasps]
- [Gasping, Panting]
- Irene! Irene!
[Panting, Gasping]
I know. I know. I know.
I know. I know. I know. I know.
Breathe, breathe, breathe.
- Listen, listen, listen to me.
- Yes.
- Listen.
- Yes.
I'm gonna go back in.
Just a few more minutes.
- Can you manage it?
- Yes.
All right.
[Bird Squawking]
[Lumber Clattering]
[Coughs]
[Gagging, Panting]
[Gagging, Coughing]
There were... There were...
There were more bodies.
A lot of them.
[Panting]
A lot of them.
[Gagging]
[Coughing]
[Panting]
I love you.
I love you.
I love you.
Hmph. Hmph.
- I have photographs.
- MOTHER: Blessed Virgin.
Mother of God.
Whatever made you
go into that mine?
They did the right thing.
Will the Cardinal help us?
We must publish them.
They will kill you
at the first street corner.
- [Car Horn Beeps]
- What's that?
- It's Mario.
- My Mario? You know him?
Yeah, he knows him.
Let's go.
Son, be careful.
- Hello, Countess.
- Mario.
[Engine Starts]
Drop Irene off first.
- Why?
- We are going to develop the film.
- Someone has to tell Digna. We have to...
- I'll take care of that. Pradelio, too.
You need some rest.
Is Mario?
[Clocking Ticking, Siren
Wailing In The Distance]
[Pen Scratching On Paper]
[Buzzer Buzzes]
[Door Opens, Footfalls]
Please, I want to see the people
on this list... today.
[Footfalls Depart,
Door Closes]
Father Leal, how did
you learn of this story?
A secret of the confessional,
Your Eminence.
And there are other lists,
other names.
Why are you collecting
so many lists, Father?
Someday, Your Eminence,
will there not be an accounting?
Nations hold an accounting
every day, Father.
And they continue to exist
on the basis of great rememberings...
and of great forgettings.
If the police decide
to interrogate you,
they will not accept
that answer.
- It's a risk I must take.
- You've already been arrested twice.
Yes, Your Eminence.
You should not
call attention to yourself.
I would prefer
that for the present...
you do not go back
to that mine.
With all due respect,
Your Eminence,
with your permission, I would
like to see it through to the end.
Be cautious, Father Leal.
Not only for your sake,
but for the sake
of the church.
CARDINAL: We want no war
with the government.
You understand?
Perfectly, Your Eminence.
[Crying]
[Sobbing]
[Sobbing Continues]
MAN:
I want some men to cover the road.
The rest of you, I want you
to cover the mine's entrance.
Keep those civilians away!
MAN2: This proves the military
has been lying all along.
[Chattering]
MAN:
The church is taking a risk.
- WOMAN: This is very dangerous.
- I wish I could have covered this story.
What is thought to be
the remains of 14 bodies...
have been removed in the
early hours of the morning...
by the Department of
Criminal Investigation...
under instructions
from the Supreme Court.
[People Screaming]
- What are you doing?
- Shh.
REPORTER:
Now they're bringing out more bodies.
Las madres, relatives
and friends...
have been gathering here since
the early hours of the morning.
The Cardinal is coming forward
to meet the families.
- MOTHER: Oh, my God.
- ROSA: God bless.
- I don't want to hear about this in my house.
- [TVClicks Off]
People were bound to die in the fight
against the cancer of communism!
There are casualties
in every war.
This is a dirty war, a... a
civil war against terrorism.
What are you doing here?
Why aren't you at work?
Rosa, bring me
a chamomile tea.
- Yes, ma'am.
- How dare you stare at me like that.
Mrs. Beltran, please.
I have nothing to say to you.
- Have you mixed up my daughter in
this subversion? - Mother.
Shut your mouth!
And you journalists are to blame.
You don't let people forget
the past and make a clean start.
You won't let us live with your talk
about the Disappeared.
Why not give them up for dead
and go on with life?
- Why don't you do that with Papa?
- [Tea Kettle Whistling]
You're to blame.
And I'm going to...
I'm going to tell
Gustavo everything.
Gustavo telephoned.
- Oh.
- He'll be here tomorrow.
Thank God.
When's the wedding?
Never.
IRENE NARRATING:
I needed to inform Gustavo...
of my decision
in the traditional way.
He would have expected
nothing less.
I'm sorry.
I can't marry you,
because I love someone else.
Is that your final word?
Yes.
- You know about the bodies in Los
Riscos mine. - Affirmative, miss.
They say one is
Evangelina Ranquileo.
Who makes trouble gets it in the ass.
Excuse me, miss.
That's our mission,
and we are proud of it.
Civilians get out of hand.
Ramirez says you can't trust them.
You must use a heavy hand. Killing
should be legal, or it is slaughter.
So the mine was not
slaughter, Sergeant?
That's what a traitor says.
A few bodies in a mine doesn't mean
that every man in uniform is a murderer.
What would happen the minute
the General fell from power?
The Marxists would slit the throats of
every soldier, their wives and children.
We are marked men
for doing our duty.
But the nation was not in danger.
Sergeant.
Why did you call me?
Because...
Because we should not...
Evangelina deserves justice.
She was like family.
Pradelio too.
[Zipper Unzipping]
Everything is there.
Spelled out.
Even our conversation.
Will you testify?
I'll go to court.
Swear it on the flag and the Bible.
Thank you, Sergeant.
Thank you.
Aah!
IRENE NARRATING: I hid
the sergeant's notebook with Josefina.
I told her they were the love letters
I had never sent.
[Tires Screeching, Horn Honking]
MAN:
Come on! Get out of the way!
[Woman Screaming]
- [Man, Indistinct]
- PERSON: Run!
[Tires Screeching]
- MAN: Sponge.
- WOMAN: Sponge.
- Clamp.
- Clamp.
- Respiration unstable.
- Another one. We have a bleeder.
- Get me a number four.
- Number four.
WOMAN:
I'm so sorry about the Beltran woman.
Such a clever girl.
Oh, what's she
gotten into now?
Oh, imagine.
They shot her down in the street.
The terrorists.
Such a lovely girl.
Captain Morante will be wild.
Of course,
the mother is such a bitch.
[P.A. System]
Dr. Hernandez, report to surgery.
Dr. Hernandez,
report to surgery.
[P.A. Continues]
Dr. Marino, line one.
Dr. Marino, line one.
We don't know yet.
She may or may not live...
Doctor! Doctor!
Quickly!
[Flat Line Humming]
- [Doctor] Go!
- [Electricity Crackling]
[P.A. Continues, Indistinct]
My God, you love her,
don't you?
Yeah.
[Woman Screams]
- [Man Shouting, Dog Barking]
- MAN2: Shoot that dog.
[Automatic Gunfire,
Glass Shattering]
[Gasps]
- What happened?
- Madame, luckily, it's just four stitches.
- They search your home.
- Who did?
They told Rosa that they
were the Security Police.
The police came and went.
They gave my head this dent.
Sir.
[Steam Hissing, Water Dripping]
Commander?
She's under
surveillance, sir.
[Chuckles]
Surveillance.
The notebook, sir.
Uh, what shall we do, General, sir?
What we always do, Commander.
[Steam Continues Hissing]
[Footfalls]
- Leal?
- [Murmurs]
I want to talk to you.
I need to know exactly
what's happened here.
Why ask me?
Because you are responsible.
- What about you?
- What do you mean?
I mean, your people
are responsible.
- Is she going to live?
- I don't know.
Ask the doctors.
Or are you afraid?
Afraid to be marked?
Is she conscious?
Answer me!
I'm not sure.
I could have you, Leal.
I know.
I need to know, Leal.
Morante.
You want the truth about the army?
I'll tell you.
She's a little stronger.
And she called out
for Francisco...
and Gustavo.
Go.
[Clears Throat]
[Respirator Hissing,
Machine Beeping, Footfalls]
Irene.
Irene.
You didn't have to, um,
riddle yourself full of bullets
to open my eyes, you know.
Because if you'd
given me a chance,
I would have opened that tomb
with my bare hands.
I...
Um...
I have to go.
[Clears Throat]
Um, I can't protect her
anymore.
You must get her out of here
as soon as you can.
Right.
Francisco!
- Is she...
- Still fighting. Still fighting. Still fighting.
Mario. Mario,
it was my fault.
- Yeah, I should have stopped her.
I could have... - No.
- Francisco, no.
- I didn't.
No, Francisco.
They are here.
An official?
All right. All right.
If she makes it,
we have to get her out of here.
Go to Jose
and tell him that, please.
- He knows what to do, huh?
- Okay.
- Okay.
- I'll call you later.
Okay.
[Hissing, Beeping Continue]
[Beeping Continues]
[Door Opens]
The General's appearance today at the
monument to the saviors of the nation...
is clear and ringing proof...
...that the international
communist conspiracy has failed...
in its disinformation campaign
to implicate the armed forces...
in the affair
of the Riscos mine.
The General's staff announced
today that the bodies in the mine...
were victims
of terrorist atrocities.
MALE REPORTER: Today in San Fernando,
the General inaugurated...
the St. Francis school
for orphaned children.
[Orchestra]
[Orchestra Continues]
- [Groans]
- Is it bad?
Any news?
They've dropped the charges
on Ramirez.
No!
Rest, rest, rest.
Rest now.
The tapes?
Irene, your voice is on them.
- The tapes.
- We can't use them...
'til we get you somewhere
safe, you understand?
You must give
the Cardinal the tapes.
Something else.
No, easy, please.
This? Easy.
Here?
Josefina, at the manor.
Give her this.
I don't want
to leave you alone.
[Sighs]
What is it?
Bathroom.
[Sobbing]
It's all right.
It's all right.
I go. I go.
All right, little girl, eh?
I'll go. I'll bring
my father in, and I go.
You're keeping something
for her?
Who are you?
I'm her... love.
Here are the love letters then.
[Orchestra On Phonograph Continues]
[Whispers]
Come here.
- [Music Continues]
- Good night.
[Music Continues]
[Crickets Chirping]
[Music Continues]
Hey, you!
Got a match?
Thank you.
[Siren Wailing]
[Siren Continues]
[Engine Starts]
MAN: It's that priest
who was here the other day.
- [Indistinct Clicking]
- How many days do they need it?
A week and a day,
Your Eminence.
In a week and a day I shall distribute
copies of the tapes...
and the notebooks to the members
of the press and to the prosecutor.
By the time they try to destroy
the evidence, it will be too late.
The northern pass,
where we sent Pradelio.
South, the Pino Hachado pass.
It's less traveled.
No.
The Inca pass
we use for Quintana.
It's the most dangerous.
It's the fastest.
She needs one day's rest at the Agua
Caliento spa, otherwise she won't make it.
It's your decision.
[Music Continues, Record Skipping]
[Gasps]
Cleo?
Hey, hey, I'm here.
Cleo's dead, isn't he?
The tapes?
Faustino's notebook?
The Cardinal has them.
And we have the original
to take with us.
We're leaving?
- Where can we go?
- Spain.
- [Murmurs]
- Spain.
- My mother? - Mario told her
we've left on our honeymoon.
- She believed him?
- She didn't.
[Chuckles]
Rosa knows.
She sent you this.
Earth, from your garden.
[Sighs]
I want to make love to you.
Oh, Countess,
you can hardly walk.
Irene.
Oh!
Careful.
[Liquid Pouring]
[Liquid Pouring]
[Liquid Pouring]
Struggle against nostalgia.
It is the vice of the expatriate.
Put down roots, son.
Make the world your home.
It won't help to
calculate life, but...
Oh.
Mom, Mom.
Oh. Oh.
Mama. The curfew.
- [Sobbing]
- It's all right, Mom. It's all right.
Mama.
I'll be back, Father.
Francisco, it's time.
[Sighs]
Here.
All right?
That's our baby.
That's your job.
Can you stand up?
- Yeah.
- Yes.
Yeah. Come on. Up.
- Can you stand up?
- Yeah.
- Yeah?
- [Sighs]
Oh, I know, I... I know.
I know, baby. Jesus Christ!
I know. I know, honey.
Listen. Stay with me. Listen.
We will edit that poor man's nightmares.
Interpret them. Read them on the radio.
Dramatize them on the stage.
Anything! So that every
Sergeant Faustino Rivera in Chile...
or anywhere else can understand
that he is a victim too.
But, we can't do that here.
We have to go.
Notebooks.
Right.
- Here.
- Yeah.
Hold it.
Yes.
[Truck Engine Idling, Revving]
GUSTAVO: Gentlemen, you are
about to witness the destruction...
of the evidence on
direct order of the General.
MAN:
Everybody, out! Clear!
All clear! Fire!
[Footfalls Marching In Cadence]
MAN:
But these photographs are evidence.
MAN2: This is awful.
These aren't terrorists.
- They're innocent people.
- MAN3: I'm with Gustavo.
- MAN4: We must...
- [Gasping]
We were just married.
On our honeymoon.
[Heart Beating]
He's alive.
MAN:
Continue.
[Rain Falling]
[Car Engine Idling]
Get out!
MAN:
Aim!
Fire!
- Shit!
- [Pistol Cocks]
[Pistol Fires]
Go ahead, but be careful.
This area is full
of terrorists.
IRENE NARRATING: Francisco taught me
the meaning of love...
between a man and a woman,
for a family,...
...for a country.
Like his parents, Francisco
and I had to go into exile.
Like them we felt that whatever
the pain or suffering...
...we could not allow the truth
to be buried.
Francisco had arranged our stay
at the Aguas Calientes Spa,...
...where I could regain
my strength.
The last part of our escape
to the border...
...was to be on horseback.
- How do you feel?
- Better.
After ten days we were warned that
the military had picked up our trail.
RAMIREZ: They're here!
Get them! Go! Go! Go! Go!
Hyah!
- [Tires Screeching]
- [Chattering]
- MAN: Who is that?
- WOMAN: Oh, no.
IRENE NARRATING: Francisco had told
Gustavo the truth about Evangelina...
...and the hundreds
of innocent victims.
It wasn't until later that we heard
of Gustavo's ill-fated attempt...
...to arouse the indignation of
the officers of his generation,...
...to overthrow the dictatorship.
Gustavo never breathed a word
about Francisco and me...
...or our escape.
Francisco and I now planned
how best to tell the story...
...of the lives entrusted
to our memory.
Good night, Chile.
The border is over there.
Francisco and I lived in exile
in Spain for 15 years.
As a result of our work and
that of hundreds of others...
...fighting in the shadows to
expose the military dictatorship,...
...democracy was restored to Chile
peacefully in 1989.
Francisco and I were then able
to return to our homeland...
...and to our families and friends.
Our first visit was
to lay flowers on the grave...
...of Captain Gustavo Morante,
my gallant cousin.
In 1973, my country, Chile,
was taken over
by a military dictatorship...
which declared a permanent
state of emergency.
A curfew was imposed,
and for most,
especially the privileged,
there was also a self-imposed
rule of silence.
A rule of see no, speak no,
hear no evil...
so life could go on as before.
My mother took this to heart.
I was brought up in the safety of
innocence at the "Will of God Manor";
our family home
turned old age home...
in order to survive financially
after my father left many years ago.
- Rosa, my dog Cleo... and the old people;
- Ahh, my little girl.
Don Quixote, the colonel,
a man we call death himself,
and an old actress,
Madame Josefina...
were my real family.
I was engaged to my cousin, Gustavo,
a captain in the army.
I worked at a fashion magazine.
My life was carefully guided
by my mother...
who was determined to assure us
a place in society...
which was either with the rich
or with the military.
My life was safe...
- Come on!
- until I began to wake up.
Come!
Look!
Belgium laces,
French silk,
Irish linen...
just arrived from Brazil.
- Brazil?
- I've asked Rosa to put all these in your room.
It's time for you
to take care of him.
I'm never going
to iron those things.
Uh, where are you going,
may I ask?
Out with some friends.
- And if Gustavo calls?
- He won't.
GIRL:
Captain Gustavo Morante.
[Chuckles]
- At your orders, sir.
- About face.
Halt!
Present arms.
Wait.
[Soldier, Rifle Cocking]
Stop the car, sir.
He's from the Cardinal's human rights
commission. It's all right.
WOMAN:
There they are.
Maria Elena.
My brother.
WOMAN: Poor thing.
She couldn't even live with herself.
With those military men,
nobody's safe.
- Well? - Thank you so much for
coming, Doctor. I just...
I just can't.
Come on.
Tell me.
Go ahead.
They took us and threw us
under the bottom of a car.
You and...
My husband, Juan.
They drove around for hours.
Kicked us,
threatened us.
I could only think
of my little Gabrielle...
at home... by himself.
I just want to die.
- Why didn't I die?
- No, no.
No, you must live.
Be strong.
You have to fight.
We were separated, and he said
if I didn't cooperate,
my husband would pay.
In the next cell,
he put his hands...
all over me.
I could only think
of my husband's life.
I didn't want...
him to hear.
When he came back,
another voice.
More hands all over me...
[Opens Lighter, Ignites Lighter]
inside me.
I wanted to scream.
I didn't want my husband to hear.
They did it again and again.
Hey, let it go.
Let it go.
I'll see you next week.
God bless you.
[People Chattering]
- [Elevator Bell Rings]
- RECEPTIONIST: Hi. May I help you?
[People Chattering]
- May I speak with Irene?
- Excuse me?
- Irene Beltran.
- Irene?
- Yeah.
- This way. Poo-poo-poo-poo.
Blondes are the vogue this year.
I'm going to transfer
to the social pages. It's safer.
WOMAN1:
Who's that?
- Irene.
- WOMAN2: I'd fuck him.
WOMAN1:
Shh. Be quiet.
- Francisco Leal?
- Miss Beltran.
Irene.
Uh, I've read
your articles and...
- You're the photographer.
- Uh-huh.
I'm sorry I have to ask.
- Are you on any lists?
- No. I'm not on the blacklist.
- [Laughs] Good. Then we can talk.
- Sure.
Let me show you... my work.
- You hungry?
- Hungry?
- Yeah. Come.
- [Stammering]
So, Francisco...
which of my pieces
did you like the best?
Well, uh...
"Super Hormones
that Prevent Pregnancy."
- You said something interesting in that.
- I did?
You said,
"Conception is an act of rebellion."
Since '73, the magazine has to cover
naked breasts with black patches,
and certain words
are forbidden.
Such as?
[Laughs]
It's childish.
Abortion. Ass.
Freedom?
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
So, you're a psychologist?
- Freudian?
- Freud.
Jung. Marx.
Marx?
Did he write about psychology too?
False consciousness.
He said that... "Shame is the only
revolutionary emotion."
Are you sure you're
not on the blacklist?
[Chuckles]
My father is an anarchist,
retired in Spain.
Maybe... my brother
Jose, the priest?
Maybe... my oldest
brother, Javier,
who's a teacher?
Not me.
- What made you... - Well, after '73,
my kind of psychology also became taboo.
And unaffordable.
Listen...
I'm looking for
a respectable job.
I don't want to end up photographing
weddings and birthdays.
Pick me up at the "Will of God Manor'
tomorrow. I'll give you an assignment.
Thank you.
- No, no, no. You're out of work. Let me pay.
- Please.
My father taught us that courtesy
never stood in the way of anarchy.
- So.
- [Chuckles]
- [Doorbell Chiming]
- [Woman1 Complaining]
IRENE:
I'll get it.
Francisco. Rosa?
This is Rosa.
- Come in. Come in.
- What is this? A madhouse?
Well, it is
the "Will of God Manor'.
- Mother, this is Doctor...
- Hello.
- [Grunts, Sighs]
- [Dog Barking]
Francisco, this is my mother.
Mother, this is my colleague, Dr. Leal.
- Pleasure.
- Colleague? Hmm. Doctor?
Yes, but Francisco's a photographer
now and we're on an assignment.
Mm-hmm.
Irene.
- You have a little something from Gustavo.
- [Humming]
He'll be here for the weekend. I didn't
open it. There was a note for me as well.
Captain Morante and Irene
are engaged to be married quite soon.
- [Humming Continues]
- Rosa!
A cricket born sings
'til its last morn.
[Laughing] She always speaks
in that maddening way.
Now, she'll watch
her soap operas all day and eat.
Pleasingly stout
is what beauty's about.
[Chuckling]
Oh, where are you going today?
- We're going to Los Riscos to
interview a saint. - Uh-huh.
- They say she works miracles.
- Ah. And what kind of, uh, miracles?
She cures insomnia and hiccups,...
...comforts brokenhearted,
makes it rain and restores youth.
Hmm. When live saints
do their best,
dead saints can rest.
[Groans]
[Horn Honking]
I love it!
It's like a flying horse.
- Who is Gustavo?
- What?
Your fiance.
My cousin. We've been engaged
since childhood.
It doesn't sound serious.
My captain is very serious.
He's going to be
a general someday.
When he grows up.
He's a man's man.
- What's that?
- I'll teach you his song.
- No thanks.
- "I am the bridegroom of death;"
"I have felt her cold breath,"
"...but I hold her high
as my banner."
It's a fascist song.
- No.
- Yeah.
How do you know?
My father.
Franco's fascists
chased him out of Spain.
"Long live Death."
It was their motto.
- Well, Gustavo's not a fascist.
- He's not the bridegroom of death?
- No.
- No.
[Shuts Engine Off]
Is this where
Evangelina Ranquileo lives?
Yes, but the miracles
are at noon.
- That's the one.
- Hello.
- WOMAN: That's the saint!
- BOY: She doesn't look like a saint, Mother.
IRENE NARRATING:
Saints were commonplace in the villages.
Not much of a story,
but it would pass the censors.
WOMAN: She's the one who can
solve your family's problem.
- Look at the city girl.
- The girl is crazy, pure and simple!
- And the miracles?
- What miracles are you talking about?
Don't believe that
propaganda.
- What the girl needs is a man!
- GIRL: There she is. Look.
- [Laughing]
- GIRL: Is that what a saint looks like?
- WOMAN: It's almost time.
- [Watch Ticking] Twelve o'clock.
[Villagers Singing]
# Alleluia #
# Alleluia #
- # Alleluia #
- [Sighs]
- # Alleluia #
- WOMAN: She's so pale. Look at her.
# Alleluia #
[People Chattering Softly]
MAN:
It's okay.
- # Alleluia #
- WOMAN: She's started.
- # Alleluia #
- There she goes.
# Alleluia #
All right, Maria, just watch.
- She will comfort us, I know she will.
- Shh!
[Groaning]
[Rattling]
- [Train Passing By]
- [Gasping]
[Explosions]
[Groaning Continues]
Cure my legs, santita!
Don't let them take
my Juan to the army!
God bless you,
Evangelina.
Heal my husband!
Oh, please! I beg you!
SOLDIER:
Go! Go! Go! Move it!
Up against the wall!
Face the wall!
- [Villagers Chattering]
- [Shouting]
Your identification?
I'm a journalist
and he's my photographer.
Name?
- Francisco Leal.
- What is your shit here?
- What did you say?
- I'm not talking to you!
- But I'm talking to you, Commander.
- Irene, please.
- [Moaning]
- Pradelio!
- Sir?
- Is this your sister?
- Affirmative, sir.
- [Explosions]
- [Bottles Shattering]
- [Rifle Blasts]
- [Irene Gasps]
- [Villagers Gasping]
[Rifle Blasts Continue]
- Animals!
- Irene!
It's a miracle you
didn't kill everybody.
- Why are you so nervous, honey? We were
just firing in the air. - Don't call me, honey.
- Why are you here?
- Well, Pradelio here told me about his sister...
and how the doctors and priests
couldn't do nothing about it.
Then I said,
"This is a job for the armed forces."
- [Moaning Continues]
- WOMAN: Evangelina!
Don't touch her!
Come here.
- [Screaming]
- WOMAN: Oh, my God!
[Snorting]
[Moaning]
[Screaming]
[Villagers Chattering Quietly]
[Groaning]
[Panting]
Fall in, assholes!
Sergeant Faustino Rivera!
The camera!
[Grunts]
Evangelina.
WOMAN:
It's a miracle they didn't kill us.
Excuse me, Reverend.
Would you like some more lemonade?
- God save us.
- And keep us.
It was only some bullets fired
in the air and a mangled hen.
We'll get more pictures.
[Kisses Cheek]
[Patriotic]
[Man Chattering]
That's good.
No, that's much better. Perfect.
- What are we doing here?
- Camp.
Kitsch.
Surrealism.
The society
of the spectacle.
- Is that Marx or Freud, Doctor?
- Where have you been since Thursday?
Where do you think?
- The bridegroom of death.
- So bitter.
- [Horn Honking]
- I'm sorry.
I'm sorry. I just wanted
to invite you to have dinner, and then...
Thursday?
I'll be free Thursday.
Will you? Really?
What?
Be free?
[Music Continues]
Gustavo.
Leaving for Panama now?
Yes.
But I'll be back soon.
Um, Captain Morante,
this is Dr. Leal.
Countess! The light is leaving us.
Everything's melting! We must...
- Oh. Excuse me. - Mario, have you
been introduced to Francisco Leal?
- He's working with me now.
- How do you do?
- How do you do?
- And this is my fiance Captain Morante.
The notorious Mario.
I'm sorry. I don't shake hands
with... degenerates.
Why don't you want to
touch him, Captain?
Maybe all the rough camaraderie
at the barracks is...
...just a cover for your homosexual panic?
I'll see you all
in the morning.
[Music Stops]
Fascist!
Love?
I'm cooking italiano tonight.
Pasta marinara.
I guess you're free.
- I guess I am, yeah.
- [Chuckles]
Veuve Clicquot Ronsardin.
Le Grande Dame, 1969.
Booty, plunder.
From the wives and mistresses
of the generals...
whom I paint and primp and brush,
groom and hypnotize...
into being the
most beautiful women in the world,
because I reflect them...
as they want to be.
To illusion.
Hmm?
To reality.
It was a prostitute
who saved my life, not the church.
[Chuckles]
Your story...
and a little bit more
of your "Admiral's Concubine."
My brother took me
to a "house"for my...
rite of passage.
[Chuckles]
I panicked completely, truly,
when they left me alone with her.
She sat on the bed
next to me and...
held my hand.
She told me...
"This isn't something
you can be forced to do."
I was weeping in terror.
"Go away. Far away, boy.
Because if you stay,
they'll end up killing you."
I understand.
She saved my life.
"If you don't fall in love,
you'll go far," she said.
Well...
how far did you go?
Well, you see...
the military despise my kind,
but I keep my face smiling and servile.
[Chuckles]
I see.
One day, I could be pulled
from my salon at the palace...
and thrown into
one of their torture chambers.
[Sighs]
Can I tell you something,
in confidence?
Please.
I was trained as
a psychologist, right?
Irene told me.
Working as a photojournalist now.
- Yes.
- I'm something else, altogether.
What are you?
I work in the shadows.
Know what it means?
MOTHER:
Come, children,your uncle has a guest.
[Doorbell Ringing]
Hello. Come in.
- Smell.
- Oh.
It's coffee from Venezuela.
Uh... thank you.
Mm-hmm.
Irene Beltran, my family.
And Javier.
Javier!
BOY WHISPERING:
Uncle wants to see Papa.
FATHER:
Pretty. Pretty, huh?
Go ahead.
At midnight, she wakes me
to recite Neruda to her.
We once were young,
back in Spain,
in the middle of the civil war.
When I went off
to the battlefront,
she closed our house
and followed me.
I wanted to be with him
in victory, death or defeat.
Yes, true love that ended.
- Jose, don't start. - That ended in
a cracked head and a lost memory.
And a son, Javier,
born in the ruins of a convent.
He should have been
the priest, not you.
That's enough.
I'll get dinner.
I read your articles.
They make me laugh.
[Chuckling]
Marry her, Francisco!
- She already has a fiance, Mama.
- Ah!
All governments are corrupt.
They must be eliminated.
Power is perverse,
and always falls into the hands...
Be a man,
not a psychologist, my son.
Let's hurry before
he scares her away.
FATHER:
Irene,you see the slide rule?
It's the only thing
I carried into exile.
It was my father's.
He used it to reconstruct
buildings and build trenches.
- IRENE: What do you use it for?
- To measure perversity and corruption.
- Hmm.
- For someone who fled one dictatorship...
and lives in another,
hatred of authority...
TOGETHER:
can be a serious handicap.
Ah, I'm a little old to go around
with my tail tucked between my legs!
We had to remove his printing press
from the kitchen.
A little difficult to explain
during a police raid.
If anything happened to you,
- I would stick my head in the oven and die.
- Well, that's why I'm careful.
TOGETHER: That's why we removed
the printing press, Pop!
- [Children Giggle]
- LITTLE GIRL: Grandpa is showing off.
But we will soon go back
to Spain, right, Javier?
LITTLE BOY:
Papa.
Franco has died, Papa.
You can go now.
- To Spain.
- ALL: To Spain!
But the mothering earth
is dark,
and deep inside me,
I am dark.
I am a well...
and in the water the night
leaves stars behind...
and goes on alone
across the fields.
I don't wanna go to bed.
It's a question of having
lived so much...
that I wish to live
that much more.
FRANCISCO:
I never felt my voice so clear.
Never have been so rich
in kisses.
[Soldier Chattering, Cocks Rifle]
Try to get the names
of the torturer, Francisco.
I must have fainted.
Then I saw Juan...
next to me.
Hanging from a pole...
and so was I.
They were torturing
both of us.
Juan was worse off than I.
But...
- I can't. - No, no, no, no, don't
stop. Maria Elena, don't stop.
- Tell me, come on. Come on.
- [Sniffles]
[Inhales]
Gabrielle was there.
My son,
there in the torture room.
My little son.
[Sobbing]
They had him by his arms,
making him watch.
"If you don't tell us the names,
we will do him too..."
"...We will do him too."
I had no names.
[Sniffles]
I never had.
I invented names
I never knew.
[Sighs]
I can't stand it anymore.
No more, please.
Father Leal can't find them.
Father Leal
will keep trying.
Huh? We all will.
It's all right.
Now... you must
take care of yourself.
And fight and be strong.
And remember.
Don't forget.
We need the names too,
so this will never
happen again.
Never again.
We need the names because
we are fighting quietly against them.
We must get names.
[Writing On Paper]
How did you get free
on a Sunday?
My fiance can't
come in this weekend.
Oh, he comes in
every weekend?
No, not every weekend.
And your mother will let you go to...
Where is he?
- Panama.
- Panama, unchaperoned?
Doctor, you don't think I'm still
a virgin at my age, do you?
[Chuckles]
What happened?
Please tell me.
He took her.
- Who did?
- The commander.
And my son Pradelio
is locked up.
Faustino Rivera
had tears in his eyes.
Who?
Faustino Rivera,
the sergeant.
I've known him
since he was a child.
[Crying]
He held the dogs...
- while Ramirez dragged her to the jeep.
- My God!
We can't...
We can't find her anywhere.
We're poor.
We don't know what to do.
[Sobbing]
We'll find her.
I will help you.
IRENE NARRATING:
Four words that changed my life forever.
And so my journey started.
Evangelina Ranquileo.
She was held for questioning in
Los Riscos and never seen again.
Go to the Ministry of Defense.
They have the new list there.
Next.
CLERK:
Come back next week at the same time.
Don't waste time.
Go straight to the morgue.
Irene, you'd better
wait for us here.
Why?
Have you ever seen a dead body?
A mutilated, tortured body?
- No.
- You don't have to go in.
I'm going in.
Anival, we're
going downstairs.
[Sniffs, Groans]
Irene.
[Groans]
[Irene Gasping]
Irene. Irene.
Francisco, take her out.
It wasn't her.
Irene, it may not be her.
Don't look anymore.
She's not here.
We should go back
to the office.
I suppose we should.
Gustavo has waited for me
all his life.
I'm going to marry him.
I know.
I am.
[Woman Sniffling]
[Children Crying]
We will never
return to Spain...
without you, Javier Leal.
ALL:
Javier Leal.
I have lived so much
that someday...
they will have to forget me,
forcibly.
Rubbing me off the blackboard,
[Crying]
my heart was inexhaustible.
Javier Leal.
ALL:
Javier Leal.
What you saw the other night
wasn't my brother.
They destroyed him.
They killed him by killing
everything... everything he valued.
They took away his work,
his union,
his friends, his income,
his pride,
his potency!
I'm going back
to Los Riscos.
I have my mother's car.
It's decided.
Be very careful.
Very careful what you say,
even to your mother.
IRENE NARRATING: Digna told me
where to find Cmdr. Ramirez...
and Faustino Rivera, the sergeant.
To face them it was best
to assume the arrogance of my class.
She was detained for
a brief routine questioning.
She spent the night here and was
released early the next morning.
We have the report.
Did you put her in the street
without any clothes?
Citizen Ranquileo was
wearing shoes and a poncho.
She's a minor! Why wasn't
she returned to her parents?
I don't have to discuss
police procedures with you.
Would you discuss them with my fiance,
army captain Gustavo Morante?
He's assigned
to the general staff in Panama.
Sergeant?
Sergeant, bring me the log!
Come here.
Look. Here it is...
stated in black and white.
She was going to the capital
to look for work.
Without money and half-naked.
- She was crazy.
- May I speak with her brother Pradelio?
I'm sorry.
He's been transferred.
Where?
That is confidential
information.
We are in a declared
state of emergency.
[Siren Wailing]
[Tires Skidding]
[People Chattering]
[Man Whistles]
Ohh.
[Man Speaking In Spanish]
- Sergeant Rivera?
- At your service, ma'am.
- I'm Irene Beltr...
- I know who you are.
- May I get you another beer?
- Sure. Why not?
MAN:
Whoa, nice.
Beer, please.
[Opens Refrigerator]
MAN:
Excuse me. Don't go so quick.
- Ooh.
- [Men At Bar Chuckling]
- Look at that.
- Oh,yes.
Beautiful!
I had noticed
how authoritative...
and levelheaded you had been
the other day at Evangelina's.
You're nothing like Ramirez.
I know him like
the palm of my hand.
Is your commander
always so reckless?
I mean... [Chuckles]
that shooting scared me to death.
He didn't used to be like that.
He isn't a bad man, I swear it.
[Pouring Beer]
- To women like you.
- [Glasses Clink]
- What is your commander like now?
- I know why you're here.
You think I'm stupid?
- [Chuckles Softly]
- [Chuckles]
[Spanish Music]
Open them.
[Laughs]
- What are we celebrating?
- Independence Day.
Being alive...
my friend.
[Inhales]
Come.
You are very sad too...
my friend.
I've lived in a dream.
I'm afraid to wake up.
[Footsteps Approaching]
Fruit of the sea.
You need to eat.
You both look, uh...
What's the word?
- Beat. [Chuckles]
- [Both Laugh]
Yeah.
Thank you, Rosa.
Mm-hmm.
Rivera and Evangelina
were cousins.
They all played together,
with Pradelio too.
He put his hand
under the table...
on my thigh.
And I told him,
next time, maybe.
You are a journalist.
[Sighs]
I could never publish this story.
It would never
get past the censors.
Why are you doing it?
I want to understand...
what turns
these peasant sons...
into criminals.
Listen.
RIVERA ON TAPE: Caught her little white
petticoat in the doorway when he slammed it.
Shit! I told him to go easy,
but he jumped down my throat.
- [Knocks Over Bottle On Tape]
- Oh, shit! Excuse me.
You're a fine woman.
You're a fine looking woman.
[Fast Forwarding Tape]
She was moaning.
She was still alive.
He was sick that way.
IRENE ON TAPE:
Are you sure it was Evangelina?
RIVERA:
Yeah. Lights work all night.
- He came back with a pick and shovel.
- [Shuts Tape Off]
He has a greasy notebook
with everything in it, he says.
What they did to her;
Where Ramirez took her.
He says I have to go with him
and he'll let me have it.
What should I do with it?
The tape.
- Give it to me.
- Mm-mm.
I don't want to compromise you,
Francisco. [Sniffles]
No. Give it to me.
My brother works with a cardinal's
human rights commission.
They are gathering evidence.
Are you cold?
I'm... afraid.
That we'll disappear,
like Evangelina?
- Like your father?
- [Exhales]
That charming son of a bitch.
He disappeared
because of Mother.
- [Knocking]
- Come.
- IRENE: Digna. Evangelina's mother.
- Come.
Sit down.
- Some tea?
- Sit down.
Sit down.
[Clears Throat]
Have you heard something
about Evangelina?
My son Pradelio...
ran away from the army.
He deserted.
Digna, he knows
about Evangelina.
[Inhales Deeply]
Faustino Rivera came
to see me, in secret.
He told me...
He told me the military
were going to hunt for my son...
until they found him.
I have to get Pradelio
out of the country.
Well...
[Clears Throat]
The church can help him,
but they will insist
on knowing... what happened.
[Irene Panting]
[Horse Whinnies]
[Horse Whinnying]
Ah! It's freezing.
Pradelio is
around somewhere.
- MAN: Don't move!
- [Gun Cocks]
Mama sent them!
[Gun Clicks]
- [Coughs]
- Why have you come?
Why were you locked up?
Everything's fucked.
You deserted
because of your sister?
- Because of Evangelina?
- Vengeance is a man's business.
They're looking
for you everywhere.
I'll pay for doing
what I must do.
I know when I come down from
this mountain I'm a dead man.
Pradelio, if you want our help,
you'll have to tell us.
- I'll never tell. - Because you
told Ramirez about your sister?
Because you asked
for his help?
Because you looked up to him?
He treated me like a son.
"You'll go far because you know how
to keep your mouth shut," he said.
"I like for my men
to tell me their worries."
And you told him
about Evangelina.
The way she dusted him
across the patio.
Never thought
she was so strong.
Never thought
he would take armed men.
That's it?
Let's go.
Wait.
I know where
he hid her body.
That abandoned mine
at Los Riscos.
[Footfalls]
I'm scared.
So am I.
[Gasping]
- You all right?
- [Gasps]
- [Gasping, Panting]
- Irene! Irene!
[Panting, Gasping]
I know. I know. I know.
I know. I know. I know. I know.
Breathe, breathe, breathe.
- Listen, listen, listen to me.
- Yes.
- Listen.
- Yes.
I'm gonna go back in.
Just a few more minutes.
- Can you manage it?
- Yes.
All right.
[Bird Squawking]
[Lumber Clattering]
[Coughs]
[Gagging, Panting]
[Gagging, Coughing]
There were... There were...
There were more bodies.
A lot of them.
[Panting]
A lot of them.
[Gagging]
[Coughing]
[Panting]
I love you.
I love you.
I love you.
Hmph. Hmph.
- I have photographs.
- MOTHER: Blessed Virgin.
Mother of God.
Whatever made you
go into that mine?
They did the right thing.
Will the Cardinal help us?
We must publish them.
They will kill you
at the first street corner.
- [Car Horn Beeps]
- What's that?
- It's Mario.
- My Mario? You know him?
Yeah, he knows him.
Let's go.
Son, be careful.
- Hello, Countess.
- Mario.
[Engine Starts]
Drop Irene off first.
- Why?
- We are going to develop the film.
- Someone has to tell Digna. We have to...
- I'll take care of that. Pradelio, too.
You need some rest.
Is Mario?
[Clocking Ticking, Siren
Wailing In The Distance]
[Pen Scratching On Paper]
[Buzzer Buzzes]
[Door Opens, Footfalls]
Please, I want to see the people
on this list... today.
[Footfalls Depart,
Door Closes]
Father Leal, how did
you learn of this story?
A secret of the confessional,
Your Eminence.
And there are other lists,
other names.
Why are you collecting
so many lists, Father?
Someday, Your Eminence,
will there not be an accounting?
Nations hold an accounting
every day, Father.
And they continue to exist
on the basis of great rememberings...
and of great forgettings.
If the police decide
to interrogate you,
they will not accept
that answer.
- It's a risk I must take.
- You've already been arrested twice.
Yes, Your Eminence.
You should not
call attention to yourself.
I would prefer
that for the present...
you do not go back
to that mine.
With all due respect,
Your Eminence,
with your permission, I would
like to see it through to the end.
Be cautious, Father Leal.
Not only for your sake,
but for the sake
of the church.
CARDINAL: We want no war
with the government.
You understand?
Perfectly, Your Eminence.
[Crying]
[Sobbing]
[Sobbing Continues]
MAN:
I want some men to cover the road.
The rest of you, I want you
to cover the mine's entrance.
Keep those civilians away!
MAN2: This proves the military
has been lying all along.
[Chattering]
MAN:
The church is taking a risk.
- WOMAN: This is very dangerous.
- I wish I could have covered this story.
What is thought to be
the remains of 14 bodies...
have been removed in the
early hours of the morning...
by the Department of
Criminal Investigation...
under instructions
from the Supreme Court.
[People Screaming]
- What are you doing?
- Shh.
REPORTER:
Now they're bringing out more bodies.
Las madres, relatives
and friends...
have been gathering here since
the early hours of the morning.
The Cardinal is coming forward
to meet the families.
- MOTHER: Oh, my God.
- ROSA: God bless.
- I don't want to hear about this in my house.
- [TVClicks Off]
People were bound to die in the fight
against the cancer of communism!
There are casualties
in every war.
This is a dirty war, a... a
civil war against terrorism.
What are you doing here?
Why aren't you at work?
Rosa, bring me
a chamomile tea.
- Yes, ma'am.
- How dare you stare at me like that.
Mrs. Beltran, please.
I have nothing to say to you.
- Have you mixed up my daughter in
this subversion? - Mother.
Shut your mouth!
And you journalists are to blame.
You don't let people forget
the past and make a clean start.
You won't let us live with your talk
about the Disappeared.
Why not give them up for dead
and go on with life?
- Why don't you do that with Papa?
- [Tea Kettle Whistling]
You're to blame.
And I'm going to...
I'm going to tell
Gustavo everything.
Gustavo telephoned.
- Oh.
- He'll be here tomorrow.
Thank God.
When's the wedding?
Never.
IRENE NARRATING:
I needed to inform Gustavo...
of my decision
in the traditional way.
He would have expected
nothing less.
I'm sorry.
I can't marry you,
because I love someone else.
Is that your final word?
Yes.
- You know about the bodies in Los
Riscos mine. - Affirmative, miss.
They say one is
Evangelina Ranquileo.
Who makes trouble gets it in the ass.
Excuse me, miss.
That's our mission,
and we are proud of it.
Civilians get out of hand.
Ramirez says you can't trust them.
You must use a heavy hand. Killing
should be legal, or it is slaughter.
So the mine was not
slaughter, Sergeant?
That's what a traitor says.
A few bodies in a mine doesn't mean
that every man in uniform is a murderer.
What would happen the minute
the General fell from power?
The Marxists would slit the throats of
every soldier, their wives and children.
We are marked men
for doing our duty.
But the nation was not in danger.
Sergeant.
Why did you call me?
Because...
Because we should not...
Evangelina deserves justice.
She was like family.
Pradelio too.
[Zipper Unzipping]
Everything is there.
Spelled out.
Even our conversation.
Will you testify?
I'll go to court.
Swear it on the flag and the Bible.
Thank you, Sergeant.
Thank you.
Aah!
IRENE NARRATING: I hid
the sergeant's notebook with Josefina.
I told her they were the love letters
I had never sent.
[Tires Screeching, Horn Honking]
MAN:
Come on! Get out of the way!
[Woman Screaming]
- [Man, Indistinct]
- PERSON: Run!
[Tires Screeching]
- MAN: Sponge.
- WOMAN: Sponge.
- Clamp.
- Clamp.
- Respiration unstable.
- Another one. We have a bleeder.
- Get me a number four.
- Number four.
WOMAN:
I'm so sorry about the Beltran woman.
Such a clever girl.
Oh, what's she
gotten into now?
Oh, imagine.
They shot her down in the street.
The terrorists.
Such a lovely girl.
Captain Morante will be wild.
Of course,
the mother is such a bitch.
[P.A. System]
Dr. Hernandez, report to surgery.
Dr. Hernandez,
report to surgery.
[P.A. Continues]
Dr. Marino, line one.
Dr. Marino, line one.
We don't know yet.
She may or may not live...
Doctor! Doctor!
Quickly!
[Flat Line Humming]
- [Doctor] Go!
- [Electricity Crackling]
[P.A. Continues, Indistinct]
My God, you love her,
don't you?
Yeah.
[Woman Screams]
- [Man Shouting, Dog Barking]
- MAN2: Shoot that dog.
[Automatic Gunfire,
Glass Shattering]
[Gasps]
- What happened?
- Madame, luckily, it's just four stitches.
- They search your home.
- Who did?
They told Rosa that they
were the Security Police.
The police came and went.
They gave my head this dent.
Sir.
[Steam Hissing, Water Dripping]
Commander?
She's under
surveillance, sir.
[Chuckles]
Surveillance.
The notebook, sir.
Uh, what shall we do, General, sir?
What we always do, Commander.
[Steam Continues Hissing]
[Footfalls]
- Leal?
- [Murmurs]
I want to talk to you.
I need to know exactly
what's happened here.
Why ask me?
Because you are responsible.
- What about you?
- What do you mean?
I mean, your people
are responsible.
- Is she going to live?
- I don't know.
Ask the doctors.
Or are you afraid?
Afraid to be marked?
Is she conscious?
Answer me!
I'm not sure.
I could have you, Leal.
I know.
I need to know, Leal.
Morante.
You want the truth about the army?
I'll tell you.
She's a little stronger.
And she called out
for Francisco...
and Gustavo.
Go.
[Clears Throat]
[Respirator Hissing,
Machine Beeping, Footfalls]
Irene.
Irene.
You didn't have to, um,
riddle yourself full of bullets
to open my eyes, you know.
Because if you'd
given me a chance,
I would have opened that tomb
with my bare hands.
I...
Um...
I have to go.
[Clears Throat]
Um, I can't protect her
anymore.
You must get her out of here
as soon as you can.
Right.
Francisco!
- Is she...
- Still fighting. Still fighting. Still fighting.
Mario. Mario,
it was my fault.
- Yeah, I should have stopped her.
I could have... - No.
- Francisco, no.
- I didn't.
No, Francisco.
They are here.
An official?
All right. All right.
If she makes it,
we have to get her out of here.
Go to Jose
and tell him that, please.
- He knows what to do, huh?
- Okay.
- Okay.
- I'll call you later.
Okay.
[Hissing, Beeping Continue]
[Beeping Continues]
[Door Opens]
The General's appearance today at the
monument to the saviors of the nation...
is clear and ringing proof...
...that the international
communist conspiracy has failed...
in its disinformation campaign
to implicate the armed forces...
in the affair
of the Riscos mine.
The General's staff announced
today that the bodies in the mine...
were victims
of terrorist atrocities.
MALE REPORTER: Today in San Fernando,
the General inaugurated...
the St. Francis school
for orphaned children.
[Orchestra]
[Orchestra Continues]
- [Groans]
- Is it bad?
Any news?
They've dropped the charges
on Ramirez.
No!
Rest, rest, rest.
Rest now.
The tapes?
Irene, your voice is on them.
- The tapes.
- We can't use them...
'til we get you somewhere
safe, you understand?
You must give
the Cardinal the tapes.
Something else.
No, easy, please.
This? Easy.
Here?
Josefina, at the manor.
Give her this.
I don't want
to leave you alone.
[Sighs]
What is it?
Bathroom.
[Sobbing]
It's all right.
It's all right.
I go. I go.
All right, little girl, eh?
I'll go. I'll bring
my father in, and I go.
You're keeping something
for her?
Who are you?
I'm her... love.
Here are the love letters then.
[Orchestra On Phonograph Continues]
[Whispers]
Come here.
- [Music Continues]
- Good night.
[Music Continues]
[Crickets Chirping]
[Music Continues]
Hey, you!
Got a match?
Thank you.
[Siren Wailing]
[Siren Continues]
[Engine Starts]
MAN: It's that priest
who was here the other day.
- [Indistinct Clicking]
- How many days do they need it?
A week and a day,
Your Eminence.
In a week and a day I shall distribute
copies of the tapes...
and the notebooks to the members
of the press and to the prosecutor.
By the time they try to destroy
the evidence, it will be too late.
The northern pass,
where we sent Pradelio.
South, the Pino Hachado pass.
It's less traveled.
No.
The Inca pass
we use for Quintana.
It's the most dangerous.
It's the fastest.
She needs one day's rest at the Agua
Caliento spa, otherwise she won't make it.
It's your decision.
[Music Continues, Record Skipping]
[Gasps]
Cleo?
Hey, hey, I'm here.
Cleo's dead, isn't he?
The tapes?
Faustino's notebook?
The Cardinal has them.
And we have the original
to take with us.
We're leaving?
- Where can we go?
- Spain.
- [Murmurs]
- Spain.
- My mother? - Mario told her
we've left on our honeymoon.
- She believed him?
- She didn't.
[Chuckles]
Rosa knows.
She sent you this.
Earth, from your garden.
[Sighs]
I want to make love to you.
Oh, Countess,
you can hardly walk.
Irene.
Oh!
Careful.
[Liquid Pouring]
[Liquid Pouring]
[Liquid Pouring]
Struggle against nostalgia.
It is the vice of the expatriate.
Put down roots, son.
Make the world your home.
It won't help to
calculate life, but...
Oh.
Mom, Mom.
Oh. Oh.
Mama. The curfew.
- [Sobbing]
- It's all right, Mom. It's all right.
Mama.
I'll be back, Father.
Francisco, it's time.
[Sighs]
Here.
All right?
That's our baby.
That's your job.
Can you stand up?
- Yeah.
- Yes.
Yeah. Come on. Up.
- Can you stand up?
- Yeah.
- Yeah?
- [Sighs]
Oh, I know, I... I know.
I know, baby. Jesus Christ!
I know. I know, honey.
Listen. Stay with me. Listen.
We will edit that poor man's nightmares.
Interpret them. Read them on the radio.
Dramatize them on the stage.
Anything! So that every
Sergeant Faustino Rivera in Chile...
or anywhere else can understand
that he is a victim too.
But, we can't do that here.
We have to go.
Notebooks.
Right.
- Here.
- Yeah.
Hold it.
Yes.
[Truck Engine Idling, Revving]
GUSTAVO: Gentlemen, you are
about to witness the destruction...
of the evidence on
direct order of the General.
MAN:
Everybody, out! Clear!
All clear! Fire!
[Footfalls Marching In Cadence]
MAN:
But these photographs are evidence.
MAN2: This is awful.
These aren't terrorists.
- They're innocent people.
- MAN3: I'm with Gustavo.
- MAN4: We must...
- [Gasping]
We were just married.
On our honeymoon.
[Heart Beating]
He's alive.
MAN:
Continue.
[Rain Falling]
[Car Engine Idling]
Get out!
MAN:
Aim!
Fire!
- Shit!
- [Pistol Cocks]
[Pistol Fires]
Go ahead, but be careful.
This area is full
of terrorists.
IRENE NARRATING: Francisco taught me
the meaning of love...
between a man and a woman,
for a family,...
...for a country.
Like his parents, Francisco
and I had to go into exile.
Like them we felt that whatever
the pain or suffering...
...we could not allow the truth
to be buried.
Francisco had arranged our stay
at the Aguas Calientes Spa,...
...where I could regain
my strength.
The last part of our escape
to the border...
...was to be on horseback.
- How do you feel?
- Better.
After ten days we were warned that
the military had picked up our trail.
RAMIREZ: They're here!
Get them! Go! Go! Go! Go!
Hyah!
- [Tires Screeching]
- [Chattering]
- MAN: Who is that?
- WOMAN: Oh, no.
IRENE NARRATING: Francisco had told
Gustavo the truth about Evangelina...
...and the hundreds
of innocent victims.
It wasn't until later that we heard
of Gustavo's ill-fated attempt...
...to arouse the indignation of
the officers of his generation,...
...to overthrow the dictatorship.
Gustavo never breathed a word
about Francisco and me...
...or our escape.
Francisco and I now planned
how best to tell the story...
...of the lives entrusted
to our memory.
Good night, Chile.
The border is over there.
Francisco and I lived in exile
in Spain for 15 years.
As a result of our work and
that of hundreds of others...
...fighting in the shadows to
expose the military dictatorship,...
...democracy was restored to Chile
peacefully in 1989.
Francisco and I were then able
to return to our homeland...
...and to our families and friends.
Our first visit was
to lay flowers on the grave...
...of Captain Gustavo Morante,
my gallant cousin.