The Names of the Flowers (2019) - full transcript
As Bolivia stages the 50th anniversary of Ernesto "Che" Guevara's death, Julia, an old countryside teacher, is invited to share her historical story with the world: Giving a bowl of soup to the captured guerrilla in her classroom,...
Once upon a time there was a school teacher
who one day made a soup
for a great man
like Che Guevara
Who was a prisoner in her classroom.
In return for her favour, he recited
the poem
The Names Of The Flowers
Our Father who art in heaven
Hallowed by the name
Thy kingdom come
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this daily our daily bread;
And forgive us our trespasses,As we forgive those who trespass
against us;
And lead us not into temptation
And deliver us from evil
Amen
The Names Of The Flowers
For many years the teacher
went to the school everyday
to share her story
about the soup and the flower
but when the 50th anniversary
of death of the great man arrived,
everything began to change for her
We put aside the International Monetary Fund
And now we are doing better...
Without International Monetary Fund
Because we haven't allowed their blackmail
Our programs and policies
Aren't being imported from outside nor from the top
They originate at the bottom and go up, brothers and sisters
This is the profound difference
Where is the house of the teacher who gave the soup to Che Guevara ?
-In what year was Che Guevara killed in our school ?
- 1967
-On the day of anniversary we...
...put our best manners
-Last one
-How many days are left before the anniversary ?
- Five days
She won't take any order from us
Tomorrow I will come back with Sanjines
As the preparation for the anniversary progressed,
and each scene was carefully rehearsed
the organizers mistrusted the stories
they heard from the villagers
Many of the villagers
were forbidden from returning to the school
and many others were sent to prison
for falsification and illegal tourism
Among them; the only son of the teacher
It's not a typical prison as you know.
There are women, children
There's a hospital
there are doctors, nurses
and they are all informed of your son's illness
because they have his medical history.
Also, I was informed that he
wants to give a clarinet concert to all the prisoners
which means he must be feeling better. Don't you think ?
On the other hand
because of the recent frauds and falsifications at the time
of this important anniversary
We are investigating to see what is true and what is false.
Therefore today I'm here
to ask you not to return to the school
until we verify your story of the soup and the flower.
Once verified, you can return.
Do you agree ?
Long live my homeland Bolivia
A great nation
For her I would give my life
And also my heart
With her son in prison for sometime already
And due to the tension in the village
The teacher felt more helpless than ever
In the end she had no option
but to let hucksters in her house
The clarinet you have is nice
Your son plays it nice
The price is a bit high
If you lower it let me know
Hi, nice to meet you
How old are you ?
Sixteen
At sixteen a man knows what he wants
Do you think I can shake his hand again ?
Everything depends on tomorrow
Disobeying the colonel's orders
The teacher decided to return to the school the next day
Not knowing that her life would forever change
The Names Of The Flowers
-Don't worry colonel
I'm sure this woman is not the real teacher who...
Met Che Guevara in the classroom
The woman we brought is not the one who gave the soup to Che Guevara
I found out that there are many other women telling the same story
They all say the same thing, they use the same words,
That they gave a soup to Che , that...
That after eating the soup he started to recite a poem about
flowers,
The same, the same
-And was this woman a teacher of the school at the time of Che ?
- Yes, she was,
but she is not the teacher who gave the soup to Che Guevara.
We are looking for her.
The rout of Che Guevara has been established here
to bolster the tourism industry in our country
and in our region.
To help the people
to create more jobs for the locals.
We are not here to take away jobs from locals
nor to exclude them from tourism
However
it's important to note
that while the government invites all your parents
and families
to participate in a clean and healthy Che Guevara tourism,
there is zero tolerance for any illegal tourism activity.
Tell me how it goes
The rumors about
other women with the same story
of the soup and the flower had been heard for some time
Hoping to find the truth
before the day of anniversary
the authorities expanded their search
to a nearby lake.
Where is the house of the teacher...
- Hi
- Hi
- How much is your water ?
- 50 Bolivians
-It's sacred water
- It's expensive, isn't it ?
- Yes
- Why is it sacred ?
- It's...
it makes...
...miracles,
this sacred water,
for people...
miracles...
it also cures
those who are sick...
-What miracles does it do ?
- It gives happiness...
the sacred water...
It also heals.
- Right
- That's what...
it does...
and for women
to marry
good people
-Where is your grandmother ?
-My grandmother...
at my house....
by the river,
that's where she is
There by the river....
that's where my house is.
Over there
That's my home
-Do you know how to read ?
-Yes
-Let's see
-I've read, I know how.
I've read at my house.
At my house....
Where is
the house of
the teacher
who gave
the soup to Che
.. Gue....Gueva... Guevara
and then he recited
the poe...poem
about...
about the...
flowers to her ?
- You know what ? I'm going to give you two hundreds Bolivians
but I need you to give me the teacher's address.
- Ok.
- I want you to ask your grandmother for the address.
I'll come back on Thursday.
I'll come get the address. Find it out for me, ok ?
- Ok, I can come back.
- Write it down on the paper I gave you.
- Ok, I can come back.
- Alright
- I'll come back Thursday
- Yes, I'll come back.
- Bye.
- Bye.
- You have to understand me...
I can't let my son go with you anymore
they already arrested my other son a month ago...
what am I going to do if I loose this one too ?
- They have arrested everyone
They already took your sick son, right ?
They told you many times not to go there.
They don't want us to talk to visitors.
You are going to cause problems for yourself.
In my situation, I can't take that risk anymore.
Today is the last time I'll allow him to come with you.
Fearing the consequences, the teacher's friends abandoned her
even the one who used to bring her visitors for many years.
Ever since the opera was born , it has always been considered Sui
generis.
There are some very interesting letters from Monteverdi to his
brother
before Monteverdi composed L’Orfeo and he's seeing the first operas
that debut in Florence and that he sees in Mantua.
He says to his brother that there is a very strange thing now
that's like a play but all the characters sing
and they sing all the time...
-Stop, stop !
-My brother is suffering in prison!
- It's the truth, we want justice
- Ma'am please
- They took everyone, please !
- Ma'am please wait !
- I want freedom for my brother !
Please! Free them !
- Please ! They will die in there !
- He's sick !
- Please , listen to us !
- Free my brother !
- Freedom for our brothers !
- Please !, Please !
- Listen to us !
- Let them go !
- Do something !
Please ! Please !
- Let them go !
- Please !
- Wait !
- Freedom for my brother !
- He's sick !
- Please open the window !
- Please listen to us !
- Please !
- Ma'am leave them alone !
- Free our sons please !
- Justice
-Hi
-Hi
-Are you still selling bottles of water ?
- Yes
-You have more now, how many did you fill ?
- I have...
- Ok
-Did you find the address ?
- I don't have the address
-I don't have it
-What do you mean you don't have it ?
-Give me the address, I need it !
-I don't have it
-Look...!
-Without that address you'r going to be in trouble.
-So, I need that damn address
-Yes
-Tell me the address
-I don't have it
-Give me the address you little shit
-I don't have it
-I gave you money, where is my money ?
-I don't have it
-I don't have it
-Shit
-Shit
-I don't have it
-Fuck
As the clock was ticking towards the anniversary
finding the real woman with the story of the soup and the flower
had become a challenge for the organizers.
A few days later
they found new clues that could lead them quickly
to the truth
For god's sake, look at our country.
One sells water from the lake saying it's blessed by Che
that it works miracle, that it heals people.
The other one selling her fake story of the soup and flower to
tourists for fifty years.
Long live, my homeland Bolivia
For her I would give my life
and also my heart
When I left my house to go to work,
I was surprised to see smoke in the air
helicopters flying
I could hear explosions.
I got to the school and it was surrounded by police.
I asked one of them what had happened.
He told me they had captured Che
and they had him in my classroom.
I asked the officer to let me speak with him,
and he told me that it wasn't allowed.
That I couldn't go in.
But I pleaded and insisted and he let me in.
We spoke for a while and he told me he was very hungry.
I told him that...
I would go home and make him a soup.
I went home and made the soup and came back with it in a clay bowl.
I gave him the bowl...
He grabbed it and he drank the soup with both hands,
because he was handcuffed.
He finished the soup and he gave me back the bowl.
As I was going back home, I heard gunshots.
I went back...
and I found Che already dead with his eyes open.
-So, Che Guevara didn't recite you a poem about a flower or anything
like that ?
You only brought him the soup ?
-No, he didn't recite any poetry, and there wasn't a flower in the
classroom.
That's false, it's a lie.
He didn't recite any poem.
He just drank the soup and that was it.
Days passed
And no one heard from the teacher
Until one afternoon she was seen heading back towards the school
Bring her here
I'm very sad about your son’s current situation,
that he can't play his instrument due to his health is a shame.
I'm sorry.
I have a son and a daughter at home.
However I came today to talk to you ....
to tell you that you shouldn't go back to that school anymore,
because it's a lie.
It's a lie that you met Che Guevara,
that you made him a bowl of soup,
and that he recited a poem about a flower.
We are being very considerate with you.
Because of your age and your health...
because of your son's condition...
and we're not going to take any legal action,
but I want to make this very clear...
if you go back to the school ever again,
I'll be forced to send you next to your son.
We need to respect history
History is like this house you live in
and we're destroying it with falsehoods..
with fake stories.
Would you destroy your own home ?
Would you take a hammer and destroy the walls of this house with
your own hand ?
No...I don't believe so
After colonel left
the teacher remained in the kitchen
for three days.
Only at dawn on the forth day
did she leave her place.
For my mother
The Names Of The Flowers
who one day made a soup
for a great man
like Che Guevara
Who was a prisoner in her classroom.
In return for her favour, he recited
the poem
The Names Of The Flowers
Our Father who art in heaven
Hallowed by the name
Thy kingdom come
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this daily our daily bread;
And forgive us our trespasses,As we forgive those who trespass
against us;
And lead us not into temptation
And deliver us from evil
Amen
The Names Of The Flowers
For many years the teacher
went to the school everyday
to share her story
about the soup and the flower
but when the 50th anniversary
of death of the great man arrived,
everything began to change for her
We put aside the International Monetary Fund
And now we are doing better...
Without International Monetary Fund
Because we haven't allowed their blackmail
Our programs and policies
Aren't being imported from outside nor from the top
They originate at the bottom and go up, brothers and sisters
This is the profound difference
Where is the house of the teacher who gave the soup to Che Guevara ?
-In what year was Che Guevara killed in our school ?
- 1967
-On the day of anniversary we...
...put our best manners
-Last one
-How many days are left before the anniversary ?
- Five days
She won't take any order from us
Tomorrow I will come back with Sanjines
As the preparation for the anniversary progressed,
and each scene was carefully rehearsed
the organizers mistrusted the stories
they heard from the villagers
Many of the villagers
were forbidden from returning to the school
and many others were sent to prison
for falsification and illegal tourism
Among them; the only son of the teacher
It's not a typical prison as you know.
There are women, children
There's a hospital
there are doctors, nurses
and they are all informed of your son's illness
because they have his medical history.
Also, I was informed that he
wants to give a clarinet concert to all the prisoners
which means he must be feeling better. Don't you think ?
On the other hand
because of the recent frauds and falsifications at the time
of this important anniversary
We are investigating to see what is true and what is false.
Therefore today I'm here
to ask you not to return to the school
until we verify your story of the soup and the flower.
Once verified, you can return.
Do you agree ?
Long live my homeland Bolivia
A great nation
For her I would give my life
And also my heart
With her son in prison for sometime already
And due to the tension in the village
The teacher felt more helpless than ever
In the end she had no option
but to let hucksters in her house
The clarinet you have is nice
Your son plays it nice
The price is a bit high
If you lower it let me know
Hi, nice to meet you
How old are you ?
Sixteen
At sixteen a man knows what he wants
Do you think I can shake his hand again ?
Everything depends on tomorrow
Disobeying the colonel's orders
The teacher decided to return to the school the next day
Not knowing that her life would forever change
The Names Of The Flowers
-Don't worry colonel
I'm sure this woman is not the real teacher who...
Met Che Guevara in the classroom
The woman we brought is not the one who gave the soup to Che Guevara
I found out that there are many other women telling the same story
They all say the same thing, they use the same words,
That they gave a soup to Che , that...
That after eating the soup he started to recite a poem about
flowers,
The same, the same
-And was this woman a teacher of the school at the time of Che ?
- Yes, she was,
but she is not the teacher who gave the soup to Che Guevara.
We are looking for her.
The rout of Che Guevara has been established here
to bolster the tourism industry in our country
and in our region.
To help the people
to create more jobs for the locals.
We are not here to take away jobs from locals
nor to exclude them from tourism
However
it's important to note
that while the government invites all your parents
and families
to participate in a clean and healthy Che Guevara tourism,
there is zero tolerance for any illegal tourism activity.
Tell me how it goes
The rumors about
other women with the same story
of the soup and the flower had been heard for some time
Hoping to find the truth
before the day of anniversary
the authorities expanded their search
to a nearby lake.
Where is the house of the teacher...
- Hi
- Hi
- How much is your water ?
- 50 Bolivians
-It's sacred water
- It's expensive, isn't it ?
- Yes
- Why is it sacred ?
- It's...
it makes...
...miracles,
this sacred water,
for people...
miracles...
it also cures
those who are sick...
-What miracles does it do ?
- It gives happiness...
the sacred water...
It also heals.
- Right
- That's what...
it does...
and for women
to marry
good people
-Where is your grandmother ?
-My grandmother...
at my house....
by the river,
that's where she is
There by the river....
that's where my house is.
Over there
That's my home
-Do you know how to read ?
-Yes
-Let's see
-I've read, I know how.
I've read at my house.
At my house....
Where is
the house of
the teacher
who gave
the soup to Che
.. Gue....Gueva... Guevara
and then he recited
the poe...poem
about...
about the...
flowers to her ?
- You know what ? I'm going to give you two hundreds Bolivians
but I need you to give me the teacher's address.
- Ok.
- I want you to ask your grandmother for the address.
I'll come back on Thursday.
I'll come get the address. Find it out for me, ok ?
- Ok, I can come back.
- Write it down on the paper I gave you.
- Ok, I can come back.
- Alright
- I'll come back Thursday
- Yes, I'll come back.
- Bye.
- Bye.
- You have to understand me...
I can't let my son go with you anymore
they already arrested my other son a month ago...
what am I going to do if I loose this one too ?
- They have arrested everyone
They already took your sick son, right ?
They told you many times not to go there.
They don't want us to talk to visitors.
You are going to cause problems for yourself.
In my situation, I can't take that risk anymore.
Today is the last time I'll allow him to come with you.
Fearing the consequences, the teacher's friends abandoned her
even the one who used to bring her visitors for many years.
Ever since the opera was born , it has always been considered Sui
generis.
There are some very interesting letters from Monteverdi to his
brother
before Monteverdi composed L’Orfeo and he's seeing the first operas
that debut in Florence and that he sees in Mantua.
He says to his brother that there is a very strange thing now
that's like a play but all the characters sing
and they sing all the time...
-Stop, stop !
-My brother is suffering in prison!
- It's the truth, we want justice
- Ma'am please
- They took everyone, please !
- Ma'am please wait !
- I want freedom for my brother !
Please! Free them !
- Please ! They will die in there !
- He's sick !
- Please , listen to us !
- Free my brother !
- Freedom for our brothers !
- Please !, Please !
- Listen to us !
- Let them go !
- Do something !
Please ! Please !
- Let them go !
- Please !
- Wait !
- Freedom for my brother !
- He's sick !
- Please open the window !
- Please listen to us !
- Please !
- Ma'am leave them alone !
- Free our sons please !
- Justice
-Hi
-Hi
-Are you still selling bottles of water ?
- Yes
-You have more now, how many did you fill ?
- I have...
- Ok
-Did you find the address ?
- I don't have the address
-I don't have it
-What do you mean you don't have it ?
-Give me the address, I need it !
-I don't have it
-Look...!
-Without that address you'r going to be in trouble.
-So, I need that damn address
-Yes
-Tell me the address
-I don't have it
-Give me the address you little shit
-I don't have it
-I gave you money, where is my money ?
-I don't have it
-I don't have it
-Shit
-Shit
-I don't have it
-Fuck
As the clock was ticking towards the anniversary
finding the real woman with the story of the soup and the flower
had become a challenge for the organizers.
A few days later
they found new clues that could lead them quickly
to the truth
For god's sake, look at our country.
One sells water from the lake saying it's blessed by Che
that it works miracle, that it heals people.
The other one selling her fake story of the soup and flower to
tourists for fifty years.
Long live, my homeland Bolivia
For her I would give my life
and also my heart
When I left my house to go to work,
I was surprised to see smoke in the air
helicopters flying
I could hear explosions.
I got to the school and it was surrounded by police.
I asked one of them what had happened.
He told me they had captured Che
and they had him in my classroom.
I asked the officer to let me speak with him,
and he told me that it wasn't allowed.
That I couldn't go in.
But I pleaded and insisted and he let me in.
We spoke for a while and he told me he was very hungry.
I told him that...
I would go home and make him a soup.
I went home and made the soup and came back with it in a clay bowl.
I gave him the bowl...
He grabbed it and he drank the soup with both hands,
because he was handcuffed.
He finished the soup and he gave me back the bowl.
As I was going back home, I heard gunshots.
I went back...
and I found Che already dead with his eyes open.
-So, Che Guevara didn't recite you a poem about a flower or anything
like that ?
You only brought him the soup ?
-No, he didn't recite any poetry, and there wasn't a flower in the
classroom.
That's false, it's a lie.
He didn't recite any poem.
He just drank the soup and that was it.
Days passed
And no one heard from the teacher
Until one afternoon she was seen heading back towards the school
Bring her here
I'm very sad about your son’s current situation,
that he can't play his instrument due to his health is a shame.
I'm sorry.
I have a son and a daughter at home.
However I came today to talk to you ....
to tell you that you shouldn't go back to that school anymore,
because it's a lie.
It's a lie that you met Che Guevara,
that you made him a bowl of soup,
and that he recited a poem about a flower.
We are being very considerate with you.
Because of your age and your health...
because of your son's condition...
and we're not going to take any legal action,
but I want to make this very clear...
if you go back to the school ever again,
I'll be forced to send you next to your son.
We need to respect history
History is like this house you live in
and we're destroying it with falsehoods..
with fake stories.
Would you destroy your own home ?
Would you take a hammer and destroy the walls of this house with
your own hand ?
No...I don't believe so
After colonel left
the teacher remained in the kitchen
for three days.
Only at dawn on the forth day
did she leave her place.
For my mother
The Names Of The Flowers