El secadero de iguanas (2018) - full transcript

"The nothingness lives behind

the big and little things,

behind each object and

each blade of grass;

hidden, ashamed for loving what it is,

what exists at the other side of it."

♪ The ships go through the sea,

the clouds go through the sky. ♪

♪ The gypsies are walking,

they're singing because they're good. ♪

♪ I love you, I love you, I love you,

I love you. ♪

♪ I'm not interested in money.

Oh, I'm not interested in money. ♪

♪ I love you and I always will,

even when I have no food left to eat. ♪

♪ Women are like balloons.

Like balloons. ♪

♪ They fill themselves with air

whenever they want. ♪

♪ Women are like balloons. ♪

♪ I have a boat, I have a sailboat. ♪

♪ I love you, I always will,

even when I have no food left to eat. ♪

♪ Even when I have no food left to eat. ♪

♪ I love you and I always will,

even when I have no food left to eat. ♪

♪ The kitty is scratching me,

take it away... ♪

Go take a look.

I don't trust those damn Gypsies.

Edgardo, we need to talk.

What is it now?

I think I'm pregnant.

Come on...

You're shitting me, Magdalena.

Cut the crap.

You're as dry as this filthy place.

You know I always wanted kids...

But you're barren, dammit.

Edgardo, it's been three months

since my last period.

Three months.

It must be menopause.

Pregnant you say... at your age?

What the fuck...

Edgardo!

What happened?!

Gypsies...

Shitty thieves...

Damn sons of bitches.

Calm down.

The doctor said you must rest.

They will soon catch the bastard.

I hope he rots in jail.

Thanks for calling, Sergeant.

Give that bastard what he deserves.

Blood of my blood.

They'll pay for this.

Ma'am... my husband is lying down.

Come back later, please.

You killed my grandson.

Your grandson's death wasn't our fault...

He shouldn't have come to burgle.

It was bad luck.

I wish I could see your head on a platter.

Bad luck on you, whitey.

Bad luck on your children

and grandchildren...

What did that bitch want, Magdalena?

It looks like you've seen the devil.

Calm down. I'm here. Easy...

Those bastards are leaving,

I hope they get lost in hell.

"It has always been like this,

since immemorial time,

Gypsies, when they have had enough,

they would gather their things together

and get lost in the void."

BAR

"THE BARRENS"

We inform you that,

as every year around this time,

sandstorms will arrive

between tonight and tomorrow morning.

We advise you to brace doors and windows

to prevent further damage.

Did you hear?

Sandstorms will come soon from the south.

Let's hope this year they won't cause

much damage to the bar.

No line.

There hasn't been line for hours.

The light again.

Could you stop, please?

You're making me nervous.

Stop walking around, dammit!

You calm down as well.

There are still two weeks left

before you're due...

Would you stop now?

You know, I'm not sleeping much either,

with all the squeaking, shaking...

You're not the only one

not sleeping a wink.

Push! It's coming out! It's coming out!

"Life and death might be equally absurd,

lacking explanation and meaning.

But it didn ́t matter, that very thing

made them beautiful, unique, and sacred."

THE TWINS

Where's your sister?

Alberto, where is Martina?

In mum's room.

Dammit, Alberto!

How many times have I told you...

I don't want you to go into

your mother's room.

Go and wash your hands, it's lunch time...

and set the table.

Martina, come on, stand up.

I've told you to move your ass,

and stop singing that fucking song!

Mum likes this "fucking song",

as you call it.

She taught it to me.

Your mother is six feet under.

You're grounded, child.

Good afternoon, Mr. Edgardo.

How's everything going?

Ramon, I didn't expect you to visit.

Mr. Edgardo, bussiness season

will soon be over in town,

I'll be unemployed in a few days...

Do you have anything I could do?

I'm afraid not.

There's only enough work for me.

I know, but...

How old are you? Sixty?

The bar... the cellar.

I'm sure it would be useful

to have some help, look...

I could start by working for free,

a bed and food would be enough.

Let me think about it.

Great, thanks.

Good luck, Ramon.

Martina, I can't keep an eye

on you all day long.

I can't always let you do

whatever you want.

As you don't listen to me, I'll have to

impose some discipline on you.

Whoever doesn't obey my rules,

will spend the night in the cellar.

Perhaps that way you will learn.

Martina...

Martina, what?

I'm fed up with this place,

there's nothing to do here.

You never took us to school because

you said

reading and adding up is more than enough

and that you can teach us without

taking us to town every day.

Look, sweetheart.

I don't want to get angry, it's very easy.

These are the rules,

and you know the punishment.

One: stop playing games

about talking to dead people.

Two: mom is dead

and you mustn't play with that either.

Three: no crossing the road.

Four: you're done with humming

that song from before.

Five: you and your brother will begin

to help me in the bar at lunchtime.

Six: no more drinking liquor

in this house.

Seven: no hitting your children.

Eight: no...

You've broken my rules, dad.

Good night, Martina.

You ́re grounded.

I'll bring you some supper later.

"Man is a useless passion."

Good night, little guy.

I'm sorry, my little girl.

I'm sorry about this afternoon.

I don't know what's wrong with me.

I've become old and rude.

I just miss your mother.

What can I get you for breakfast, sir?

Another coffee.

Would you like anything else, sir?

Yes, another shot of black coffee

with liquor.

You're a woman now.

How old are you?

You know I knew your mother?

She was so beautiful.

She was a hottie.

Go to hell!

I'll tell you something...

If you want, we can go to

the cab of my truck.

I'll give you two fifty-dollar bills

and we can feed the kitty, alright?

I'd rather die.

Martina, to the kitchen! Now!

Martina! Martina!

Edgardo, we thought you could let us go

to the fair at Jabalí Nuevo.

We'll be very careful...

We are not children anymore.

I've told you a thousand times,

it's dangerous to leave The Barrens.

Come on, father, let us go.

We'll be back by dinner time.

Okay... you can go.

But you must be home by six.

♪ They fill themselves with air

whenever they want. ♪

♪ Women are like balloons.

Like balloons. ♪

♪ A sign with your eyes.

Give me a sign with your eyes. ♪

♪ Sometimes, the eyes work as a tongue. ♪

♪ Oh, sometimes, the eyes work

as a tongue. ♪

♪ Ay, ay, ay... ♪

♪ Let ́s go to Cádiz. ♪

♪ Let ́s go to Cádiz. ♪

While the gypsies are around here,

it is forbidden to get close to them.

♪ Ay, ay, ay. ♪

♪ Let ́s go to Cádiz. ♪

♪ My god, it will be...

My god, it will be... ♪

"Gypsies love the freedom

of sleeping under the stars,

free as the wind, like wild dogs."

♪ The clouds go through the sky. ♪

♪ The gypsies walk. ♪

♪ Singing because they're good. ♪

♪ I love you, I love you,

I love you... ♪

Stinking damned gypsies,

they won't get liquor from here.

They're not welcome here, those bastards.

These are shady people...

They bring bad luck.

They bring curses, these rats!

Yes, they do.

Come on, Alberto, hurry up,

before he wakes up and sees us.

Where the fuck are we going, Martina...

those gypsies are bad people.

Mother doesn't think like you.

She says she'll go with them

when they leave here.

Mother is dead, dammit!

You're wrong, Alberto, mother is with us.

Bullshit!

You're crazy, Martina.

The closest thing to a mother

I ever had was you...

until that damned Ramon came.

Every night, I listen

how you get in his bed...

I can't stand it anymore...

You must be the twins from

El Secadero, am I right?

Look at you.

You're as pretty as your mother...

Did you know her?

Poor woman...

You'll be very lucky guys.

You're going to be very happy.

What did you see in their hands?

Misfortunes.

Too many misfortunes...

I lied to them.

It's better this way.

Your mother is coming with us.

She says she's tired of this place.

We'll help her.

Calm down.

Those rats are finally leaving.

This afternoon,

we're going to study history.

But first, we're going to continue reading

Insurgency's Handbook by Jacob Saldivar.

It's an unknown novel here,

although the author is well known abroad.

So, Martina,

can you sum up what we have read so far?

It's the story of an imaginary planet

with three suns...

inhabited by...

ordinary people...

It describes the routines

of the cities on that world...

Until something unexpected happens

that changes everything.

Very good. Go on.

One morning people wake up and discover

that the planet has been

taken over by fog.

It's so dense that seems as if

all people have been blinded.

And the fog doesn't disappear

although days and weeks pass.

Anarchy reigns.

Everything is ruled by sex.

They all have sex with each other,

without caring about anything.

Okay. Well summarized.

Well, come on,

keep on reading where we left it, please.

The fog was freedom:

An ocean of gas, where there were

no black or white people...

old or young, rich or poor.

But then, one morning of February,

just as it had come, the fog disappeared.

The cold... the shame... returned.

People dressed again.

They returned to their previous routines...

police acted again as police,

thieves as thieves...

the ugly were ugly again,

the obese felt fat again...

the skinny were skinnier than ever.

It was as if an epidemy of sadness

and dizziness had suddenly

struck the planet...

Come on, Alberto, it's really late.

You know?

I have never liked reading.

But it's different when you read to me...

It's the best time of the day...

having you here by my side.

They had decided they wanted the fog,

they could not live without it any longer.

They did the only thing possible

to get it back...

they gouged out each others' eyeballs

and fed them to the dogs.

So they could always have the fog,

and never return to the light.

What an ending, isn ́t it?

I wish Edgardo had never hired Ramon.

So I would have you all for myself.

We're together,

don't be silly, you're not alone.

I listen to you fucking with Ramon

every night...

Stop, Alberto! Stop!

That's not the point.

I don't like when you talk like that...

You're not like that.

I'll always be with you...

Always!

I have to go.

Stop, Alberto! Stop, stop!

Alberto, let me go!!

It wouldn't be right...

What happened the other day was

children's play, it meant nothing.

Come on, silly!

Get a girlfriend from the village.

You're very handsome.

You won't be short of girls.

Fuck!

But you can be with him every night!

Fuck off!

Your urine stinks.

Yes, I know. It stinks.

What the fuck?

Son of a bitch!

She is only a child.

Son of a bitch!

Edgardo! What are you doing?

Edgardo! What are you doing? Stop! Stop!

Son of a bitch, she's only a child!

Out of my sight! Out of my house, now!

Okay, okay.

Stop! Edgardo! You're going to kill her!

This couldn't end well...

Alberto, I'm so scared.

Calm down.

No one will touch you again.

I'm here to always take care of you.

Alberto, don't ever leave me.

Promise me.

I promise.

It would be better to hide it.

Leave her. She'll get over it.

It often happens.

Martina, Martina!

You're crazy!

I wish nobody laid a hand

on me ever again...

That Edgardo died.

I wish you would never leave my side.

This morning,

while I was feeding the hens,

he beat me again.

Why didn't you tell me before?

Well, I'm telling you now.

The bruises on my back still hurt.

Bastard...

He was very drunk.

He pushed me.

I asked him to leave me alone.

He became mad.

He has lost his mind...

He's become old and crazy,

every time he's drinking more and more.

He scares me.

Don't worry, Martina.

I've been thinking a lot,

if we don ́t do something,

he'll end up killing you.

I've been thinking about it for weeks.

I'll finish it once and for all.

Fuck you, father.

CLOSED

Alberto! Alberto!

Alberto! Help me! It hurts!

Alberto, please!

Help me! Son of a bitch!

Help me!

Alberto, help me!

Help me, please!

Son of a bitch!

Alberto!

Alberto, we can't leave him there

like a pig.

Yes, we can.

Come on, calm down.

Make something to eat,

and I'll go for a bottle.

We'll need a drink after this.

Have a drink, you will feel better.

Pour me another.

Will he ever die?

Here, Alberto.

Go and finish what we have started.

Nobody deserves so much suffering,

not even him.

He's been like that for too many hours.

I'll fucking end this once and for all.

End this, son.

I can't.

Bitch.

I'm going to give myself up to the police.

I'll say that I killed him myself.

But, Alberto...

Shut up.

There's nothing else to do.

I pulled the trigger.

Martina.

I'm scared.

Don't think about it.

Don't do it...

Don't turn yourself in.

Don't leave.

"She breathed in,

aware of the heaviness of the atmosphere,

"of her fragility in the middle of that

blind and insensitive universe."

Hello girl, it's been a long time...

We're passing through,

we need some water and some hens.

We also came to pick up your father.

It's not good for dead people

to stay shut in at home.

Death is very weird, too weird.

Many don't even realize

that they are no longer alive.

We are going now, girl.

Be careful with the wind, girl.

Sandstorms can knock up females.

Be careful with the wind.

Hello! Hello!

Is anyone there?

Hello!

Hi! Sorry, my car has just broken down.

I need to make a phone call.

Thank you.

I'm Santiago, and you are?

I see you don't like to chat.

My car broke down two kilometres

to the south,

I am heading north for luck.

I got fired months ago

but I haven't found anything yet.

I wasn't just fired...

My girlfriend ran off with another man.

I needed a change of scene.

I've been here for three days

and you haven't said a word, mousey.

I don't know what to call you

but you look like your name is Carmen...

No?

Lourdes...

Teresa... do you like Tere?

I know... Alicia.

It suits you...

Alice in Wonderland...

you can't refuse that name.

Martina has died.

Now I'm someone else: Alicia.

The past is gone,

so much horror, so much madness...

Santiago has given me back my strength.

It's the only thing that stops me

from blowing my brains out...

with the shotgun that killed my father.

For the first time in my life I'm happy.

Revoltingly happy.

I feel so good I don't even care

that the phone doesn't work.

As long as Santiago is here...

I don't care about anything else.

I don't care if the world burns out

with everyone in it.

Two years since I arrived, mousey,

and no sign of anyone.

I can't complain...

You're the best thing

that happened in my life...

But I don't even know your real name

or if you were born mute,

or who is buried under the crosses.

If we could at least communicate

by writing.

I've seen you use that

notebook of yours...

so I don't understand why you refuse

to talk with me in writing.

This silence will drive me crazy.

I don't know how much I can stand.

I don't know either

why I don't want to write to Santiago.

Maybe it's better this way.

Words spoil everything.

Words remind me of Martina.

And I hate her.

I don't want him to know who I was.

The horrible things that Martina

was able to do...

Sometimes I'm afraid of Martina's return,

her epileptic seizures...

I dread the past.

Living with Santiago is wonderful.

I don't ever want to know the torment

of being alive

amidst the infinite nothingness.

I want to remain Alicia

for the rest of my days.

What I was before

doesn't exist any longer.

It has never existed.

THE EPIDEMIC

Some bastard had broken the oil sleeve.

I think I've fixed it now.

Luckily I know a little about mechanics.

I'm going to the nearest city

or town, Alicia.

I've got to know

what's happening out there...

Should I go south, mousey?

North?

I'll have to prepare some stuff.

Water, fuel, some food...

No, not you.

If I leave at dawn,

I'll be back before you go to bed.

Alicia, fuck!

Alicia, don't be angry!

I love you.

That dawn, Alicia had a disturbing dream.

She dreamt that Santiago walked

on endless avenues...

through mountains of ruined

and abandoned houses,

tumbling down beneath

the relentless sun.

She saw Santiago walking into the city.

Where he encountered the

unbearable stench of thousands of

putrefying bodies of

men and women.

Santiago!

She dreamt that Santiago got ill

and died bloated.

Santiago!

His body covered with pustules.

Saying her name to save himself

from loneliness.

Come back soon, Santiago.

We need you.

"Alicia in the middle of nowhere.

Alicia in an abandoned house

facing the barrens.

Loneliness was a merciless sun

burning the sand.

Without even the strength to cry,

she sat at any old table in the bar.

She was sure something

horrible had happened

but she didn ́t know what."

You know, Lucas,

you were born under this tower.

I remember it like it happened yesterday.

That's why in your birthday

we hang colourful painted bottles.

To remember that life is

a celebration and a miracle.

But mom, when the sandstorms come...

they'll all break.

Yes, that happened the first time,

but now we'll be more careful.

When the gales arrive, we'll take them

down until the sandstorm passes.

Ramon?

Ramon, is it you?

Mom, who is this man?

An old friend, Lucas.

Your mom and I were great friends

many years ago...

Before the epidemy...

The epidemy?

Can it be true?

You haven't heard anything?

I knew something horrible had happened,

but I didn't know what.

There's no one left!

I thought that I was the only one left

in this damned country.

If you want, you can have dinner with us.

Thank you for the hospitality.

You're welcome, Ramon.

When we finish dinner, I'll cut your hair.

I don't know how you can see anything.

How do you get electricity?

From a generator.

We charge car batteries with it.

We ration the fuel.

Take off your shirt,

so it doesn't get messed up with hair.

Are you ready, Ramon?

I can't wait...

I was arrested for drunk-driving

and running over two people.

Manslaughter.

It's not something one's proud of,

but don't be afraid.

I'll believe you, just this time.

Tell me...

Why did you lie to the child?

Ramon, we should get your car.

Lucas would like to have a ride.

I was thinking of getting the car now.

You both stay here.

We could go to the beach.

I would like to go to the beach, mum.

The harvest will get ruined

if we are away for too many days.

Someone has to water the orchard

and feed the hens,

or we'll end up with nothing.

You need a holiday.

How long has it been since

you left this place?

There's a truck!

There's a truck parked on the road!

Wait! Wait! Fuck!

Don't go out, it could be dangerous.

Wait!

I'll go, it's for the best Alicia.

Wait for me in the car.

Take Lucas with you.

Is anybody there?

- Nothing.

- Nothing?

I looked inside the pick-up... nothing.

And the road is empty.

We're leaving,

that truck will only bring us problems.

No way! Anybody there?

Is anybody there?

This smells fishy.

They're hidden, Alicia!

Don't say stupid things.

You'll scare the child.

Go! Go to the car!

Go to the car, to the fucking car now!

Release my son right now, asshole!

Let go of her, now!

I've told you to stop.

No woman has an owner.

If you put a hand on her again,

I swear I'll fill your chest with lead.

Is he your husband?

Is this the first time he has hit you?

Yes. He has been with us

for a short while.

He arrived a few months ago.

It seems I have no luck with men...

One night like this is enough.

I'll untie you.

Nothing personal,

but if you put a finger on her...

I won't spare a tooth in your damn mouth,

you hear me?

Sorry.

The only man who ever treated me

like you did

is buried under one of the crosses

out back.

Nobody tells me what I have to do.

Alicia, sorry.

I don't know what happened.

Shit.

What's going on with that man?

Well... this place makes all of us mad.

He has apologized,

but I think it ́s because

he's scared of you.

And the boy, is he okay?

In his room.

Still sleeping.

Did you have a family?

What do you want me to tell you?

That I was a writer?

That the words were infected too...

That they died, like everyone else,

like my wife, my children,

my grandchildren?

All that happened.

It's better to forget it.

Ten years already.

Jacobo, tell us some of yours old stories,

come on, please...

He must be tired, Lucas, don't be a pest.

It's okay,

not every day it's your birthday.

Life was a cursed thing.

Life made us laugh

about this tragedy without remedy.

Repeated from generation to generation,

from the first man to the last.

Life shone frenetic and hostile

with neither feeling nor hope,

but, above all, it shone.

It stunk of death!

You've made up the whole story, Jacobo!

I know you're a writer, mom told me.

What a story to tell the child...

Time to go to bed, say goodnight.

Jacobo, will you tell me

another of your stories tomorrow?

I will, Lucas.

Not about dead people... Unbelievable...

Good night, boy.

I was worried, where have you been?

We're exhausted and thirsty.

It's getting more and more difficult

to find anything useful...

in that dammed abandoned town.

We've already eaten.

I'll heat up your food.

I think I saw a djinn yesterday.

You read too many books, kid,

like your mother.

Djinns don't exist.

It's just a tale to scare children...

I tell you I saw one of them.

Nonsense, kiddo, too many books!

Are you sure of what you're saying, Lucas?

Did you see her eyes?

They're different than ours.

Not the eyes.

I followed her for hours through the scree

and then the crags of the canyon...

When it got dark, I lost her track.

Why didn't you tell me before?

I don't know.

It isn't that weird... is it?

I didn't think you'd put

so much importance on it...

If you ever bump into one of them,

don't get close.

They're infected.

Grandpa.

Sorry, I didn't know who you were.

Who else could it be but me?

Sure...

Sit! Sit down here with me.

Let's have a man-to-man talk, okay?

I want you to know about what happened

on my farm eighteen fucking years ago.

It's all in here.

Is it a tale?

Read, please, it's more than a tale,

it ́s a confession.

The djinn appeared on any given afternoon.

We found her among the tall corn grass

at end of summer.

Read to yourself.

I already know the story,

it hurts me to remember it.

There's a djinn back there!

Move away!

No, it's not a djinn,

but she looks deranged.

Lucas, bring some water for the girl.

Dirty, dirty.

Yes, very dirty.

You, you...

Look Negra, you see?

You have to put the sticks like this.

Stop, don't be stupid.

Look, do as I do.

Like this.

I think I now understand

how Jacobo could fall in love...

with someone as different as a djinn.

Beauty has a reputation

that it sometimes does not deserve.

It has the power

to devastate everything...

and to make us not worry

about the horror that could beat us.

Beauty kills.

Wait, I'll go for another game.

Bastard.

"Love is as blind as a lizard that had

its eyes pulled out."

What are you gonna do, Ramon?

What do you mean?

La Negra hasn't menstruated for months.

Alicia, that baby could be your son's,

are you blind?

Each week they go out together.

I'll give you some advice:

leave La Negra alone.

Stay out of my business, old man.

You taught me that a woman has no owner.

Have you already forgotten?

That fucking Ramon has left with my truck.

I should have cut that son of a bitch's

throat when I had the chance.

That motherfucker!

La Negra?

Where's La Negra?

Also gone.

They must have left together.

Give me the car keys.

What are you doing?!

Have you gone crazy?!

Where are the keys?!

Give me the keys, mum!

- Calm down, Lucas.

- Give me the car keys!

Lucas, listen to me,

I love you like my own grandchild.

You're not my grandfather!

You're not my grandfather!

You can't leave like that.

You have to calm down.

Dear, don't go!

I'm not a child anymore!

Alicia!

THE MANUSCRIPT

You must take care of the boy

when he returns.

Lucas won't ever come back, Jacobo!

And you didn't stop him!

"Alicia felt the void of the World

with such intensity she was unable to cry.

Once more,

alone in the middle of the desert.

Abandoned to the silence of the rocks."

What's that cross?

It's just the two of us again.

Did you find them?

Jacobo left this for us.

Iguanas' Cemetery

We're in the book.

And La Negra.

And Jacobo himself.

He was a writer,

he never stopped being one.

I know.

He dedicated the novel to me...

For Lucas, my best friend, my grandson.

It's not finished.

Someday I'll finish it for him.

I've read Jacobo's manuscript again.

Well... Jacob Saldivar,

which was his literary signature.

Shit!

What's wrong?

Wait a moment.

Mum.

Lucas!

Lucas!

Your uncle Alberto buried this book

when we were kids.

I'd forgotten about it...

It was my favorite story...

Can you guess who wrote it?

Our Jacobo!

We lived for seven years with the writer

I admired the most when I was a girl.

And I never figured it out.

I'm an idiot...

Read it, please.

"They had decided they wanted the fog,

they could not live without it.

They did the only thing

possible to get it back,

they gouged out each others' eyeballs

and fed them to the dogs."

I miss him a lot.

Me too.

"The freedom of death was as black

as I now remembered,

with remoteness, that sex had been."

You can't leave me alone.

Mother...

Everything comes and goes by the road.

We're iguanas, lizards.

All of us.

Lost iguanas in this stony ground.

Iguanas who have come

to let themselves die under the sun.

All of this is not much more than

an arid iguanas' cemetery.

Everything stinks of death.

It is impossible to live here.

"Alicia realized everything was fine,

it was beautiful.

She moved under the sunlight like a

necessary illusion

in order to finally be free

from everything.

The one feeling now captivating her was

a touching sense of wild freedom."

Iguanas' Cemetery