"THE PASSING OF THE NIGHT" "A film by" "Production" "Screenplay and direction" "According to Gadelhas, this story begins with the spring, on the 21st of March." "A day Gadelhas would never forget." "The girl confirmed she remembered everything she did that day, as it was the day of the funeral of her drug addict colleague and was her father's birthday." "But the truth is that the girl didn't remember that day just because of these two events." "As for me," "I only came into the story the next day, with the professional patience I usually face up to routine and without me ever imagining this story would not only change Gadelhas's life and the girl's life, but it would also change my own." "I don't know whether the girl believed in God or whether, like me, she had good reasons not to believe." "But I imagine her standing over her colleague's grave, motionless and pensive, as if her stillness could still prevent what was about to come." "Death is often unfair, and the death of a 17-year-old kid is one of the most unfair." "But the most unfair of all is the death of a child." "It opens up a wound in the parents that will never close." "Gadelhas probably woke up at the time of the funeral." "According to him, his aunt always woke him about that time, when she sat down in front of the TV to watch all the soap operas there were to see." "On that day she perhaps woke him a little earlier." "But he wasn't sure." "Gadelhas didn't pay much attention to the time." "He had never worn a watch, but he remembered that the first soap opera hadn't started yet." "Salvador!" "Come and eat..." "Gadelhas was called Salvador." "(Saviour)" "A twist of fate, of dubious taste, for someone who in a few hours' time would do what he did." "Guys, any cigarettes?" " Someone get buried?" " A colleague of ours." "Drugs?" "God is great and likes new angels." "There's no more this month." " Fine..." "I'll manage." " You've got no choice." "While the girl accompanied her friend," "Gadelhas went out to his daily party with his friends." "An irresistible, invisible thread pulled them both, as if a patient fisherman dragged them towards the beach..." " You okay?" " Yeah..." " How long are you going to stay?" " Until Teresa feels better." "Don't you want me to come and get you?" "No." "Just one more..." "I adore you..." "Before the beach," "Gadelhas went to the local market to stock up." "According to him, it was in and out." "He set off in the company of two partners, in the urgency of the hangover..." "Later on, when I looked for the two others, they had vanished." "But Gadelhas behaved well, and in a demonstration of character he never revealed their names." "It's horrible." "It's like waking up from a nightmare..." "I'm sad, I'm angry, but deep down what I feel most is relief." " Were you in love with him?" " No." "Are you in love with Luis?" "Was he?" "Only when I used to get him money for heroin..." "Why didn't you leave him?" "I thought I could get him off that shit." " Did you do drugs with him?" " A joint now and then." " Were you with him when he died?" " No." "I couldn't take that shit any more!" "Sometimes he would cry for me to get him money..." "Other times he would beat me..." "It was no good..." "The girl always maintained that she went straight home from her friend's house, to her father's birthday party, she didn't set foot on the beach." "And, for me, this story really begins with that lie." "Gadelhas and the others liked to do drugs in the beach tunnel and afterwards, as they said, "dig the beach scene"." "Occasionally, in order to get higher, they would mix coke with the heroin." "That day, to the girl's bad luck, they mixed them." "Death is white..." "It has no smell." "It comes without warning..." "and it loves fresh meat." "Death fucks us up." "Were you waiting for me?" "No." "Are you a virgin?" "Yes..." "Do you want to fuck with me?" "No." "That's a shame..." "I'd like it better if I fucked you with your consent..." "A kilo one hundred..." "Okay, a kilo!" " Anything else?" " No." "It's for my son." "He loves liver." "One kilo of liver." "Two ninety-five please." "There you go..." "Thank you very much." "You take credit, don't you?" "Only for our regular customers." "I see..." "Okay... that's fine..." "One of these days, I'll be a regular." " Thank you." " Good evening..." "Look out." "Sooner or later we're going to have to give her credit." "I reckon so..." "Shame and a senseless guilt feeling paralysed the girl, and she was unable to tell her parents about the rape." "She was left on her own, with a secret that grew each day and would push her into a path with no return." "A story I knew well." "Happy birthday to you," "Happy birthday to you," "Happy birthday dear José," "Happy birthday to you." "That day" "Gadelhas didn't come back to his aunt's house in the morning, as he usually did." "When he left the beach he felt tired and went to eat something and sleep." "When he got home he didn't like what he saw..." "Fuck!" "Fuck!" "Fuck!" "Yeah?" "Is that the police?" "It's to say someone's been killed..." "Gadelhas wasn't stupid, and he realised he was in it pretty deep." "He only had one alibi in order to get off a murder charge:" "The rape." "Were there a lot of people at Pedro's funeral?" "No." "Did you give his parents our condolences?" "Yeah." "Did you know he was on drugs?" " Yes." " And you were still close to him?" "He was my colleague since 5th grade." "Did Teresa do drugs too?" "No." "So why was she going out with a drug addict?" "You all blame Pedro's parents, but they weren't the ones who forced him to take drugs!" "What can parents do when their children go on drugs and won't come off it?" "When everything they have done and built over years goes down the tube?" "Sometimes death is better than a life of misery!" "How can the death of a son be better for the parents?" "When his wretched life has no way out, and when his parents can't take any more suffering!" "Unlike Gadelhas, the girl didn't work out the mess she was in straight away." "When the day finally came to an end and she turned out the light, she didn't sense the night that was starting would not lead to day." "It was a night that would last months, the night of a painful journey." "Morning." "The first time I questioned Gadelhas, as was to be expected, he denied it, but the story seemed like a classic to me:" "The ungrateful lad had killed the old lady and made the burglary up." "I just had to be patient and give him a little rope." "How long had you been living in your aunt's house?" "Since I left my folks' house." " How many years ago?" " About ten..." " Did you steal money from her?" " What money?" "Her pension wasn't enough to live on!" " Did you used to hit her?" " What for?" " Did you used to hit her?" " No." "I never hit her!" "Fuck this!" "What do you want me to say?" "Where were you Wednesday afternoon?" "In Carcavelos." " Doing what?" " Hanging out with some guys..." " Names?" " What for?" "What for?" "I don't know." " Did you shoot up?" " No." "That day we just smoked." " Heroin?" " With coke..." " And what did you do after that?" " They fucked off." " I stayed, enjoying the sea scene." " Names!" "I don't know, man!" ""The guilty man, like the unjust," ""is unhappy in any case," ""but he is particularly so if he does not pay for his failings" ""and does not suffer the respective punishment;" ""on the contrary," ""if he pays for them and is punished by the gods and by men," ""he will be less unhappy." ""That's a strange theory, Socrates." ""However, my dear sir," ""I will attempt to make you share it with me," ""because I consider you as a friend." ""At this moment, the point over which we disagree is this:" ""Check if this is correct:" ""During our conversation," ""I said that to commit an injustice was worse than to suffer one." ""Correct." ""And you said that it was worse to suffer one." ""Yes." ""I also said that the guilty were unhappy," ""and you refuted my statement." " Correct, by Zeus"." "Very good..." "In the next class we will see how Socrates, starting from the statement that only those who ignore what is good can do evil, argues that he who commits injustice is unhappier than he who suffers it." "You may go." "Mariana..." "Did you like the dialogue?" "No." "I thought so..." "How can a criminal be unhappier than his victim?" "Because Socrates considers that unhappiness comes from ignorance and not from evil." "Only knowledge and learning make men good." "See you next week." "Two days after being raped, the girl went back to classes." "The world around her hadn't changed." "But to her everything was different." "Gadelhas took the first round well." "He never broke down and swore for two days that he hadn't killed the old woman and didn't know who could have done it." "A second night without heroin would only do him good." "Tomorrow we go to the judge." "He's less patient than I am, and busier." "This shit'll get you twenty years." "Think about it." "What's the matter?" "Nothing." "Nothing?" "What do you mean, nothing?" "You disappeared yesterday, you haven't said a word today, and you say nothing's the matter!" "Tell me what happened to you." "What it is?" "Some shit with the old folks?" "So what then?" "Something to do with me?" " No." "It's nothing to do with you." " So what is it, Mariana?" "Nothing." "I'm sorry..." "I'm sorry..." "Early next day, as I had foreseen" "Gadelhas was a mess in withdrawal, and asked to speak to me." "There's some stuff I didn't tell you." "It's important shit." "When we were on the beach a girl was there, a cute chick." "She was sitting over there, and I think she walked past us when we were in the beach tunnel." "I sat down, man, and talked to her." "She seemed okay, man, and, well, I felt like a good time." "And that's when I dragged her into a hut..." "Gadelhas was a wreck, and I felt like beating him up." "I looked him in the eyes and held back, because now the story was getting interesting for me." "Vieira was not very concerned about the verity of the geocentric theory." "He didn't care whether the sun went round or we did, whether the sun set or we set in relation to the sun." "What mattered was that the result of all this was always the same:" "Our individual death and the end of the world is one and the same thing, because it doesn't matter whether I die to the world or it ends for us." "For each of us our death is the end of the world." " Can I go to the bathroom, miss?" " Yes..." "And so, if the sentence and the words should be interpreted as containing mysterious essences, beings and movements are also no more than appearances behind which essences are hidden..." "My first meeting with the girl was brief but very enlightening." "She was tough, and wasn't going to make things easy for me." " That's her..." " Who?" "The one in the red sweater with black trousers." "Excuse me!" "Excuse me!" "Good morning..." " Do you mind coming over to the car?" " What for?" " To see someone." " Who are you?" "Would you?" "Do you know this gentleman?" "No." " I've never seen him before." " You never saw me before?" "I fucked you on the beach and you never saw me before!" "Are you crazy?" "Don't fuck about with me, girl!" "Don't fuck with me!" "I don't want a row here." " What's your name?" " Mariana Alves." "Where do you live?" "Rua Adelino Amaro da Costa, number 13, third floor B." "Are you sure you don't know Gadelhas?" "Sure..." "Do you live with your parents?" "Yes..." " You have any brothers or sisters?" " No." "When she told me she was an only child, a little needle began to scratch at my chest, bringing things to life that I didn't want to remember..." " Shit!" "Was that the cops?" " Yeah." "What did they want?" "They wanted to know if I recognised the guy in the car." " Did you?" " No." "Gadelhas had told the truth:" "He didn't kill the old woman and he had raped the girl." "I wanted to beat the shit out of him anyway." "But I was worried about the girl, what she was hiding, and what she was capable of doing." "Are you sure you love me?" "Yes." "Could you live without me?" " Luis, that's a stupid question!" " Stupid why?" "I couldn't live without you!" "Won't you ever want to make love with me?" "Jose, come to eat." "Isn't your period late?" "No." " When did it come?" " I don't know!" "On the normal date!" "I didn't see your panty liners in the rubbish bin." "You go through the rubbish!" "I don't go looking through the rubbish!" "I just don't like having dirty panty liners in the house." " That's why I usually check." " Is it my fault you didn't see them?" "Let's eat." "Do you remember me?" "I remember you." "You don't seem to." "I'm sorry..." "Can I help you?" "A friend of mine asked me to buy her something, but I can't find it..." " What?" "A pregnancy test..." "Come." "I'll show you." "Here." "Could you pay for it and give it to me outside in the bathroom?" "It isn't necessary." "The box is no use." " You know how to do the test?" " It's not for me." "Take it..." "Perhaps your friend doesn't know." " Thank you." " Goodbye." " Have you got the panty liners?" " Yes." "Luis's mother is very nice to us now." "Do you get on with her?" "No." "Your mother and I are worried." "She asked us for credit." "If we don't give it to her it might look bad." "But if we do and she doesn't pay it's a real nasty situation." "If I wasn't going out with Luis, what would you do, Dad?" "We wouldn't give her credit." "We know her husband never sends any money!" "Mariana!" "Mariana!" "How long have you been in there?" "Don't you feel well?" " Yes." "I'm just coming out..." " You've been in there for ages!" "Get a move on and let's out of here." "Fuck these spots!" "All those adverts, and the cream's no fucking good!" "Come on, Luis is outside waiting." "So, are you coming or not?" "I don't feel well." "Tell Luis to go away!" "Okay, you know best..." "Just watch what you're getting into." "No!" "Let me go!" "Let me go!" "Let me go!" "No!" "Mariana!" "Mariana!" "Let me go!" "Wake up!" "It's over..." "It's all right..." "Calm down..." "It's all right..." "It's all right..." "What were you dreaming about?" "I don't know..." "It was a nightmare..." "Someone was hurting me." "A man?" "Do you want me to stay with you?" "No, mum." " Thanks." " Shall I get you a glass of milk?" "No." "I'm fine now." "Then lie down and try to sleep." "Hello." "Hello." "It's me..." "What are you doing?" " Studying philosophy." " On a Sunday?" " Do you want to come for a coffee?" " No, I don't feel like it." "Are your parents at home?" "No." "They went for lunch with my grandparents." " Can I come over?" " I want to study, Luis." "So do I. I promise I'll just study." "Don't insist, okay?" "This afternoon, if I feel like it, we'll go for a coffee." "What if you don't feel like it?" "I go a whole day without seeing you?" "If you leave me alone it'll be easier for me to feel like it..." "Okay..." "See you later." "Luis, stop this!" "Sorry, but my name isn't Luis." "My name's Vitor," "Vitor Esteves..." "I'm the police inspector who spoke to you the other day, Mariana..." "We're going to have to talk again." "For now we can speak privately, but if I need to I can get a summons." " Are your parents at home?" " No." " So we can have a meeting, right?" " Right..." "Do you know the Carcavelos tunnel?" "Yes..." "We'll meet there in an hour." "See you soon." "Hi." "Do you come here often?" "Occasionally." "Do you remember where you were on the 21st of March?" "Yes." "Why?" "It's my father's birthday." "And I went to the funeral of a colleague of mine." "What time was the funeral?" "Four o'clock." "What did you do after the funeral?" "I went to the house of the girlfriend of the colleague who died and then I went home for my dad's birthday party." "Gadelhas says he was doing drugs here that day, with two others, and then he "fucked" you in that hut." "He confessed he particularly enjoyed it because you said you were a virgin." "I told you I never saw him before." "If you were raped, I can't promise you absolute secrecy, but I can fix it so not many people know, and your parents don't need to know." "Gadelhas has been charged with killing an aunt he lived with, but he swears he was here with you and when he got home she was dead." "If it is true that he was here with you that day then he couldn't have killed the old lady," "and it's not fair for him to be convicted of murder." "He'll get about 20 years." "Over twice what he would get for rape." "Is that everything?" " For now." " Can I go?" "Yes." "Mariana!" "Gadelhas has got Aids." "Mariana!" "Mariana!" "What is it?" "Have you eaten anything?" "I've brought rissoles from grandmother's." " You can't sleep without eating." " I don't want anything." "I'm tired." "Do you want me to bring you something here to the bed?" "No, mum." "Please." "I'm very tired." "Just let me sleep." "What's the matter?" " I want us to end it." " You want what?" " I want to end it." " Why?" "I can't tell you." "You can't!" "What the hell's this?" "You want us to end and you won't tell me why?" "No." "Have you met someone else?" "Some important shit?" "Yes." "So that's it?" "You call me here to the café and send me away forever?" "In one minute I become a stranger for you, Mariana?" "Nothing we felt before counts now?" "Don't make a scene, Luis." "It's no use." "I want to end it." "Okay." "If that's what you want." "Ciao." "The girl's sadness was so intense that one could feel it around her, like it was oozing out." "I felt like sitting down next to her and saying:" "Let me help you." "What do you want?" "Gadelhas keeps on talking about you." "You'll almost certainly be summoned to appear in front of a judge." "Do you insist you never saw him?" "I told you twice I don't know him!" "You'll have to say it three times." "But the third will be to the judge, in front of the District Attorney, Gadelhas's defence lawyer and Gadelhas himself." "Don't you want to do a blood test?" "What for?" "To find out if he contaminated you." "Here." "It's the number of a doctor friend of mine who won't tell anyone, and won't charge anything." "You're wrong to want to do it all on your own." "How did you find me here in the library?" "I've been following you since you left home." "Don't you believe me?" "No." "How old is your friend?" "She's my age..." "She studies with me..." " How did she get pregnant?" " With her boyfriend..." "Why didn't she come to talk to me?" "She was ashamed..." " Was this your idea?" " What idea?" "To come to ask a whore for help." "What's your name?" "Don't worry; we'll never see each other again." "Mariana..." " Where will you get the money?" " It's not me..." "It's my friend." "Where will your friend get the money?" " How much is needed?" " Eighty." " Do you live with your parents?" " Yes..." " You can get the cash off them." " I told you." "It's not me." "I'll give you the address of a girl in Paco de Arcos." "," "Ask for Celeste and say Cláudia from Trajouce sent you." "I don't know when my friend can get the money." "She won't give you credit, and the more time goes by, the worse it is." "If you can't get the money, go to the Maternity Hospital." "They'll deal with it and no one will know." "And if you have to, they also arrange adoptions." " Have you got a pen and paper?" " Yes." "Write down Celeste's address." "And mine as well." "Your friend might need something." "One of my favourite poets said that the world becomes hell when one tries to set up paradise." "The 20th century was the scene of several hells, all created with the pretext and excuse of trying to set up paradise." "Will the 21st century be different?" "We end your Twelfth Grade subject with this question." "I wish you all the best of luck for your exams and a good holiday." "You may go." "Mariana!" "Mariana!" "What is it?" " OK?" "You want to go to hospital?" " No, miss." "I'm fine." "Sure?" "I'll take you to the hospital." "No." "I just felt dizzy when I got up, but I'm fine now." " Mariana, you're not well." " Yes, I am." "You could you have said you had finished with Luis." "His mother went to the shop and your dad and I made fools of ourselves." "Was he bad to you?" "If you ask me, I'm glad you finished with that lad." "Now you've got the credit problem solved, right?" "What is it?" " Is Celeste in?" " Who sent you?" "Claudia from Trajouce..." " Come in." " It's not worth it..." "I just wanted to see if it was here." "And find out the price." "Come in!" "Didn't Claudia tell you the price?" "She knows how much it is!" "She said eighty thousand." "That was two years ago." "Now it's 500 Euros." " Is it for you?" " Yes." " You've never done one before?" " No." "Don't be afraid, it won't hurt." "How far gone are you?" "About three months." "Oh, girl, you have to hurry up then." "I don't like it after three months!" "Why didn't you come earlier?" "Don't you know that these things have to be as early as possible?" "Here." "There's my phone number." "What's your name?" "Mariana." "Okay." "Let's go." "Don't forget to book the day and time." "We do things properly here." "What if I can't get all the money?" "This isn't a grocer's." "We don't give credit and we don't do instalments!" "All the money, and in cash, or I don't do anything!" "Go on, off!" "Thank you." "Hello." "You still trying to do it all on your own?" "What did you go to see Celeste for?" "Did you get pregnant from Gadelhas?" "You think I can get pregnant from someone I've never seen?" "Excuse me..." "Four years ago a girl your age was raped by an animal like Gadelhas." "She decided to hide it from everyone and have an abortion." "As she did it all on her own, she was unlucky and died." "An only child, like you, and she never gave her parents the chance to help her." "What's that got to do with me?" "Let me help you, Mariana." "The police have arrested a woman they believe abandoned a newborn baby in a bathroom in a coffee shop in Marco de Canaveses." "The woman, who is 23 years old, did not..." "How can such a thing be news on TV?" "The more shocking it is, the better news it is." "And a scandalous story at dinnertime is always good..." "How can anyone let things go so far?" "She has the baby in a café bathroom!" "She wanted to get rid of it!" "If she wanted to get rid of it she would have done so before." "In a café bathroom!" "Not even a bitch would have its pups there!" "It's very cruel!" "Have you got nothing to say?" "About what?" "About the news." "Each person looks after himself, and it's only their business." "Why is it only their business?" "Because no one knows what goes on inside anyone else." "So everyone can do what they want and everyone else has to accept it!" "I didn't say that." "So what did you say?" "It's always easy to judge people if we don't know why they do things." "You think there's a reason to have a baby in a café and dump it?" "Sometimes people don't do things better because they can't." "You've got an excuse for it all:" "Drugs, filth, robbery, everything!" "When do your exams start?" "In a month." " Are you worried?" " No." "Do you know what the first one is?" "It must be Portuguese..." " That's one you like, isn't it?" " Yes." "Well, you'll do well." "Good evening, Inspector." "How are you?" "This afternoon a girl called Mariana was here." " Is she pregnant?" " Yes." " And is she going to abort?" " Not yet, inspector." "And I doubt she will, because she's got no money." "If she gets it let me know." "I don't want anything to go wrong." "Don't worry." "Good night, Inspector." "Besides being stubborn, the girl had guts." "She was alone, probably desperate, but she wouldn't give up." "I couldn't help her because she wouldn't let me." "A Month Later" "I would like no talking or copying." "You may start." "Good luck." "Come on, you have to finish." "Come on." "That's it." "Hand them in." "Excuse me." "Time's up." "Did it go well?" "Yes." "What about the other exams?" "Not so bad." "Have a good holiday." "Thanks, miss." "The last day of exams coincided with the court decision to call her." "I had to spoil her celebrations." "The judge is going to call you to confront Gadelhas." "I managed to get them to call you by phone, but you can't miss it or they'll send the police to your house." "Be ready, and don't let your parents answer the phone." "What do you mean, "confront"?" "You both appear together in order to see who's lying." "Did your exams go well?" "Yes." "Good." "I'll be off." " Come to meet me we'll go shopping." " I don't feel like buying clothes." "Your dad said he'd buy you whatever you want." "Take advantage of it." "I need panty liners." "You've got no more?" "Do you need one now?" " No, there's two or three left." " Then I'll get them later." "Bye." " Has your friend done the job?" " No." " She couldn't get the money." " Are you going to ask me for it?" "No." "Come in." "Sit down..." "Do you want something to drink?" "No, thank you." "So what's the matter?" "Do you have children?" "No." "Do you want to?" "Not right now." "Have you ever had abortions?" "Yes." "Why don't you want to have children?" " I have to look after my father." " Do you live with him?" " Yes." "Do you want to see him?" " No." "Have you ever given a baby up for adoption?" "No." "But I think it's better to do that than to keep an unwanted child." "In the Maternity Hospital do they really keep it secret?" "Yes." "I told you." "Can't your friend keep the baby?" "She doesn't want to." "She knows best, right?" " I'll take this jacket..." " So big?" "I like it." "But isn't it a man's jacket?" "So what?" "Here's the file you asked for." " What do your parents do?" " They have a butcher's shop." " Are you an only child?" " Yes." "Do you get on with your parents?" "Yes." "You think they wouldn't understand and accept your situation?" " I don't accept it." "I didn't have an abortion because I couldn't get the money." "Do you know the formalities for giving the baby up for adoption?" "No." "It's a court process, because the child will be given to a family." "Don't worry." "Going to court is only a way of legalizing your situation and of protecting yourself and the child." "The whole process is secret, and you will have our full support." "And no one will ever know I am the mother." "No." "And you will never know who the baby's parents are." "What else do I have to do?" "Nothing." "For now." "I only want to come back here for the birth." "It's best if you come regularly, so we can accompany your pregnancy." "If I need to I'll come here." "We're always available." "Take my card." "Call me whenever you want." "How long do I have to stay here after the birth?" "If all goes well and there are no problems, you can be discharged after six hours." "But it's best to stay at least one night." "I fully understand your decision to give the baby up for adoption, but if you change your mind you will still have our support." "Hello?" " Is it the home of Mariana Alves?" " Yes." " Is she in?" " It's me." "I'm speaking from Cascais Court." "I would appreciate your appearance at a hearing for a criminal case next Friday at three o'clock." " Are you listening?" " Yes." "If you don't appear you will be fined and then you will be summoned in writing by registered post." "Okay." "Don't forget." "Next Friday." "You haven't been to the beach this year." "I haven't felt like it yet..." "You must be ill!" "Aren't your friends here?" "Yes." " Haven't you been seeing them?" " It just hasn't happened." "I thought we might go for a few days to the Algarve." "We could go on Friday morning and come back on Sunday night." "I can't go on Friday." "I'm going to Lisbon to deal with some stuff for University." "Can't you do it next week?" "No." "The people who will help me are going on holiday and they're away until September." "Why don't you two go?" "Do you want to?" "And you'll stay here on your own?" "Are you afraid someone might eat me?" "Okay." "Do you need money?" "No, dad." "I've still got some." "Haven't you seen Luis?" "No." "His mother never came to the shop again." "Don't move again, please..." "No one knows you're in there." "Don't give me any trouble, and don't try to win me over, because it's no use." "Let's go." "Mr. Salvador, please tell us what you did on the afternoon of the 21st of March." "I was in the beach tunnel getting high with some friends and then I went to the beach to chill out..." "She was sitting there and I sat down next to her." "And as no one was around" "I took her off to a hut and had sexual relations with her." "With her consent?" "No." "You raped her?" " Did you beat her?" " She didn't want to open her legs." "So you penetrated her with violence." "Yes..." "Did she say anything to you?" "She told me she was a virgin and started sobbing." " Did you know this young lady?" " No." "I'd never seen her before." "What did you do after you raped her?" "I think I stayed on the beach a bit, and when it got dark I went home." "What about her?" "Do you remember what she did after you raped her?" "I don't remember." "I think she cried some more and then she went away." "I just remember lying on the beach looking at the sky, enjoying the sea." "I never saw her again." "Did you threaten her with anything, not to tell anyone what you did?" "No." "I didn't threaten her." "Fine." "Would you like to ask any questions, counsellor?" "No, Judge." "Thank you." " Counsellor..." " No questions, Judge." "Thank you." "Miss Mariana Alves, do you confirm the story this gentleman has just told us?" "No." "Were you on the beach on the afternoon of the 21st of March?" "No." "Do you remember what you did that afternoon?" "Yes." "I went to the funeral of a school friend of mine." "Then I went to his girlfriend's to keep her company." "At the end of the day I went home for my father's birthday party." "We went out for dinner with my grandparents and with some of my parents' friends." "Have you ever met this gentleman?" "No." "I've never seen him." "The first time I saw him was at the gates to my school, with the police." "Everything he has told us is a lie?" "Yes." "Tell me something:" "If you had been raped, what do you think you would do?" "I would go to the police!" "Would you tell your parents?" "Yes." "Even if you knew it would be a cause of suffering for them?" "They might suffer more knowing I hadn't told them about it." "Counsellor..." "Thank you, Judge." "I would like to ask the young lady if she knows what this gentleman is accused of." "You may answer..." "The police told me he has been charged with killing his aunt." "I only know what the police told me." " Are you pregnant, by any chance?" " Counsellor..." "I'm sorry, Judge." "I know that this girl is not obliged to answer such a question, which apparently has nothing to do with the rape, but even so, I have to ask it because I am sure there is a link" "between what I asked and the facts that led to this confrontation." "You don't have to answer if you don't wish to." "The D.A. Cannot ask you a question about your intimate details." "So feel at ease if you do not wish to satisfy his curiosity." "I can answer." "I'm not pregnant." "And if I were," "I could never be pregnant by a man I have never seen!" "Good." "No further questions, Judge." "Counsellor..." "Thank you, Judge." "I would like to know whether you are aware of the fact that this man may be convicted of a very serious crime, which he says he did not commit, because he says he was with you on the beach." "That is not what your client says." "He doesn't say he was with her on the beach, he says he raped her on the beach." "Indeed, indeed he does." "And what I would like to know is whether you know that the crime of which my client is accused is much more serious than the rape he says he committed and which you deny ever happened." "Did you understand what counsel asked you?" "I don't know anything about laws or crimes." "I just know I've never seen him and he never raped me." "Miss Alves, excuse the question, but I must ask it." "Are you a virgin?" "Counsel!" "For God's sake!" "You have no right to ask such a question!" "You are not obliged to answer." "If I'm not obliged, then I won't answer." " No further questions, Judge." " Good." "There being no further questions," "I will dictate the statements by the two parties for the record..." "On the 9th of August, 2002, in Cascais Criminal Court..." "Fuck this!" "That cunt is lying!" "Whore!" "The cunt is a whore!" "Fuck!" "The fucking cunt is lying!" "On the 9th of August, 2002, in Cascais Criminal Court, testimony was heard from Mariana Alves, 17 years old, resident at..." "Was the girl who died your daughter?" "Yes." " What was her name?" " Margarida." "Why do you think she didn't tell you?" "I don't know." "Maybe she was afraid, or worried about disappointing us." "Maybe we hadn't been able to build a relationship of trust with her." "She didn't want to tell you because she was ashamed and felt guilty." "She was angry at being raped." "Haven't you ever wanted to have another child?" "No." "The death of a child is a wound that won't heal." "My wife has never been the same." "Are you going home?" "Yes." "Can I give you a lift?" "Yes." "Four Months Later" "Oh my God, it's coming." "Mariana!" "Where are you going at this time of day?" "I arranged to go early to the University, to see some things." "Have you eaten?" "I'll eat something there." "I'm late." "Here's your little girl." "All fine and perfect." "I said I didn't want the baby near me." "Oh, girl." "How can you not want such a beautiful baby?" "Look at her." "Your daughter and she will never know how much you suffered for her?" "Are you going to take the baby away, or do I have to call the doctors?" "She's your daughter." "She'll always be your daughter." "Here, take her." "When you hold her in your arms and feel her holding on to your breast you'll forget you are upset and you won't think of what you suffered." "Get out of here!" "Hello!" "About time!" "Where are you?" "And it's really just to study?" "Okay." "But you don't have to be so nasty." "What was it?" "Your daughter saying she's staying over at a colleague's house." " To study." " What's the problem?" "None, none." "She stays at a colleague's house, someone we don't know, but there's no problem!" " She's at University now!" "So what?" "She can stay out for the night and we don't know who she's with?" "Do you know what it means to give the child for adoption?" "The social worker told me." "When I fill out the register" "I have to say that I don't know who the father is, and accept I can never see the baby again." "Exactly." "Is that what you want?" "For nine months all I felt with this child inside me was sadness and hatred." "She has the right to be happy and I could never make her happy." " Don't you want to keep her?" " Me!" "Yes, you and your wife." "Why don't you try?" "Here." "It's my medical file." "He didn't infect me and the child is fine." "Don't worry." "I'll never turn up to cause you problems." "I lied to you, Mariana." "Gadelhas wasn't infected." "I lied to put pressure on you to speak." "What I felt like was to go after her and tell her that what I wanted to do was to keep her, to keep her and the baby." "Sometimes death does have a cure, when life is so intense as it was being at that moment." "At police headquarters they didn't like this story very much because I never found out who killed the old lady." "So not only wasn't I promoted, but they gave the case to a younger colleague of mine who very efficiently charged Gadelhas." "Tough..." "Life is always more urgent than work." "Translation David Alan Prescott" "Subtitles Joana Taborda / CRISTBET Lda."