"THE LIGHTHOUSE OF THE ORCAS" "WE MISS YOU" " 'Morning." " 'Morning, buddy." "Another complaint?" "No, it's straight from the Governor's office." "Look at her." "It's Shaka, I saw her this morning." "Look." "What's that in the air?" "A sea lion." "They like to play with them before killing them." "A bit cruel, aren't they?" "Everything OK, Beto?" "Bonetti!" "Bonetti!" "For fuck's sake, Bubas!" "Do you know what time it is?" "What the hell is this?" "We've been warning you." "Do you know the complaints we've had?" "If any of these photos got out my head would roll." "Have you forgotten who agreed to live in that wilderness?" "I know all you've done for the reserve, but I don't want problems." "I'm thinking of transferring you." "Good morning, ma'am." "Good morning..." "I'm sorry we've invaded you like this." "And I'm sorry about this mess." "We were waiting for you." "Bring me a basin of water, please." "Excuse me?" "Bring me a basin of water, please." "Take the cloth and wet it." "Put it here, please." "Take those middle scissors, bring them here." "Cut there, farther down." "Listen to me, please." "We came because my son has a problem and I think you can help us." "If you'll let me explain..." "If I don't get him into the water now, he'll die." "I'm sorry." "We hardly slept last night." "Who are you?" "Didn't they tell you?" "No." "How did you get here?" "A woman brought us." "I think her name was Marcela." "She's pregnant." "We've come from Spain." "My son has autism." "It was diagnosed when he was two." "Tristán has never felt emotion about anything but... when he saw you on television with the orcas, he reacted in a..." "What's your name?" "Lola." "Does your son eat fish?" "There's no coverage here." "Sorry." "He likes your necklace." "Have you been living here long?" "What's your plan?" "I have no plan." "How could you come here with a sick child and no plan?" "It isn't a sickness, it's a brain disorder." "For your information, water is precious here." "I'm sorry." "It's the only thing that calms him." "When he saw the images, he placed his hands on the screen as if he was stroking the orcas, and he smiled." "He'd never shown empathy for anything before." "I'd like to see what would happen if you took him to..." "An experiment." "A therapy." "You can't do either of them." "Since two years ago, it's forbidden to touch the orcas." " For you too?" " For everyone." "Then the National Geographic documentary was before..." "I see." "It's logical that I can't go near them, but that someone like you can't..." "Some people are annoyed by what they don't understand and others don't want to understand what annoys them." "Could you tell him to...?" "Thank you." "I understand, but we can't just leave without trying." "You're our last hope." "Where are you going to stay?" "There's no room here." "Tristán, please don't touch that." "I imagine that here every year must feel like ten." "Have you been here for many years?" "Ninety, according to your criterion." "OK, OK, Tris, it's all right." "Come on." "It's all over, come on." "It's all over, relax." "Fucking great." "This is no place for your son." "Let me do it, don't bother." "Come on, Rigel." "You haven't come to visit me in a long time." "Come on, stand up." "What are you doing here?" "It seems there's no room in the cabin." "And where will you go?" "I'll try to change our tickets." "Come to my place, I'll take you into town tomorrow." "Inti, get the case." " Do you know what it is?" " The old ladies say it's a girl." "But here, until it's born, you don't know." "Thank you for helping us yesterday." "I couldn't leave you in the middle of the road." "Beto didn't appear till the next morning." "He had an injured seal." "A sea lion, there are no seals here." "Well, whatever, it doesn't matter." "You cross half the world thinking you're going to find a sensitive man... because of his love for orcas, for nature." "And it was a huge disappointment." "I know he won't help us." "And I don't know what to do." "Well, tonight you stay with us and tomorrow..." " What a fright!" " Inti, make it dance!" "Hang on." "Hang on." "Faster!" "Faster, Inti!" "Stop, Inti, stop." "Stop, the child's getting scared." "Look, a guanaco." "It's easy to see them here." "That's great..." "We live here." "Hello, pa!" "That's Manolo, my husband." "He and Beto are good friends." "A cell phone?" "Forget it!" "That doesn't work here." "Do you want to come fishing?" "No, he doesn't like fishing, love." "All right." " You always use it!" " Stop!" "You always take it, it's mine!" "It's lovely today, but when the wind blows it's terrible." "At times I think all of Patagonia is going to fly away." "I can't remember the last time I wore an overskirt." "We just call it a skirt." "Thank you." "Very bitter." "Do you want to learn how to fly it?" ""Autism."" ""Early infant disorder characterized by the congenital inability to establish verbal and affective contact with people and the need to maintain an absolutely stable environment."" "Inti!" "Is your mother here?" "She's in the house." "Good morning." "Hello." "If you're ready we'll go now." "Beto?" " Did you come to say goodbye?" " Where are you going?" "Back to Spain." "Well..." "I wanted you to come with me." "With you?" "Where?" "It doesn't matter, forget it." "Ciao, Marcela." "What?" "Put this on, it's very cold there." "Where's there?" "Go with him." "Here they come." "Look." "Shaka is going to attack." "Calm down, sweetheart." "Let's go." "You can sleep here with your son." "How could you show us something so cruel?" "Didn't you want to see orcas?" "Then why did you come?" "You're very privileged." "You saw something unique today." "Millions of people would pay anything to see what you saw." "And all you can say is that it was cruel." "Nature is like that at times." "With that attitude, you won't help your son." "Excuse me?" " With what attitude?" " Stop acting for him." "You don't let him breathe." "You obviously don't have children." "Don't play the victim." "Why do you want to help us now?" "Why is there suddenly room here?" "Don't touch that." "The bathroom?" "I couldn't find it before." "Outside." "Outside where?" "Come with me." "Tris, keep tidying up, I won't be long." "You see that flickering light?" "That's Punta Delgada." "And the one twinkling out there..." "That's Punta Norte." "Thank you, but I'd like to know where the bathroom is, not the lighthouses." "Here." "The bathroom is between the two lighthouses." "Watch out for the cliff." "And the scorpions too." "Don't squat down too much." "I'm going to show you the things I work with." "With this I see the orcas." "You'll definitely like this." "This is a Russian gadget." "It's for night vision." "Look." "No, no." "Look." "That's it." "GENEALOGY" "You want to play?" "That child has autism." "I think the orcas can help him." "For fuck's sake, Bubas, now you're an expert in autism too." "Apparently contact with dolphins helps them." "They emit an ultrasound that the hypothalamus picks up and it gives them a sense of well-being, of emotional balance." "If I could show that it works with orcas too, wouldn't that change things?" "What are you getting at?" "I want to see how he reacts when they're near him." " With killer orcas?" " Just from the shore." "With how they destroy sea lions?" "There's no record of orcas in freedom attacking humans." "Forget it." "If I see you near the orcas with that boy, I'll expel you from the Rangers." "Have a nice day." "It could be a good business." "Look at it like that." "MY FAVOURITE TOYS" "We're going out in the boat." "You want to come?" "Tris, come on." "I'll take him." " It's all right." " Calm down." "Are you all right, my love?" "We have to wait." "It's Shaka." "She doesn't have her calf." "Come on, girl." "Come on, come here." "Hello, Shaka." "Here..." "No, let him do it." "Throw it to her." "There." "That's it, very good." " Look." " Hey, girl." "My love!" "He only does that when he's really happy." "He did it when he saw you on TV." "Very bitter." "The mate or me?" "This is Shaka." "Her calf is probably dead." "She's a fascinating animal." "How do you recognize them?" "From the shape of the dorsal fin and from the saddle." "You see that white patch there?" "Yes." "It's different on every animal." "It's their fault we're here." "I never thought an animal could give me such hope." "They're very intelligent." "Of the 60,000 orcas in the world, only five developed that hunting technique" "and they all live here." "Why don't they do it anywhere else?" "I've been trying for 15 years to find that out." "You have your obsessions too." "They're my family in the sea, and I'm... their friend on the coast." "It would do him good to see them again." "Hi, pal." "Ma'am, they rang the office from Spain, asking for you." "It seems urgent." "Thank you." "Thanks, pal." "Listen..." "Listen, Susana, you know he doesn't listen to me." "All right..." "So you'll talk to him." "Thank you, really." "Hello?" "Hello?" "Can you hear me?" "Everything OK?" "More or less." "He's fallen asleep." "I'm going inside to read for a while." "Thanks for supper, Roberto." "Call me Beto." "Tomorrow it's the shearing festival." "Do you want to come?" "It's great fun." "Will there be many people?" "Yes, it's the big festival of the year." "There's a band, dancing..." "I think you'll like it." "I don't think it's a good idea." "Very loud music and crowds make Tristán very nervous." "There'll be lots of children playing." "It might do him good." "Yes, but he doesn't like playing with other children." "Ciao." "How was your first encounter with orcas?" "It was with a male," "Mel." "A merciless hunter." "That day, he'd been hunting at Punta Cormoranes." "He'd stayed near the reef." "He knew that I was watching him." "I went down to the water's edge, very slowly, and we looked at each other for a good while." "I picked up some seaweed and threw it at him." "Then Mel pushed it towards me with his snout." "He wanted to play." "It's wonderful." "Look." "See that star?" "It's the brightest one in the whole sky." "It's called Sirius." "If you go to there, to there, to there and there, there are four stars that form a cross." "See it?" "It's the Southern Cross." "Sailor used to navigate by it." "He brought you the seaweed..." "Then what happened?" "I threw it to him again and he brought it back, but he left it farther away." "So I went into the sea and he came up to me." "I stretched out my hand and stroked him." "And he stayed there, for a little while." "Then he turned and went out to sea." "Is that the seaweed you have framed?" "The next day I went back." "Mel was there, waiting for me." "I went into the sea and he came up beside me." "Then I held on to his dorsal fin and he carried me along." "We dived together..." "It was one of the most magical moments of my life." "Let's go." "I don't want Tristán to wake and see I'm not there." "He might get scared." "Can I help you tidy up?" "Shall we go out in the boat and maybe see some orcas?" "Just you and me." "Come on." "Come on." "I'm going to see the orcas." "If you don't want to come..." "Beto!" "Beto!" "I'll take the seaweed." "Good." "Do you want to row?" "Come here." "Lean back, with your two arms like this..." "Now..." "That's it." "Very good." "Want to taste this?" "Careful, it's hot." "Now you're a real gaucho." "What are you doing?" "Isn't today the shearing festival?" "GRAND SHEARING FESTIVAL" "Silence, please, silence!" "With our skin hardened by the sun, we face winds and rain, across the solitude of our land always seeking better pastures." "And this is harvest time." "Ladies and gentlemen, let the shearing begin!" "Come on!" "Bravo!" "Come on!" "Join in!" "Take her out to dance." " Now?" " Now." "Turn?" "That way." "Now we turn." "This is the first time in ages that I feel calm." "I got used to living with sadness and I forgot what it was to feel this." "Thank you, Beto, thank you." "OK, I'm going!" "It's your turn." "Look, Inti." "Look at this." "It's great fun." "Don't you want to come?" "Tristán, what are you doing there?" "Come and play!" "Come and play with us." "Leave him alone." "Calm down, my love." "Stop, stop." "It's all right." " Calm down." " Help me, we have to get him out." "A faucet!" "Where is there a faucet?" " Come on." " Take it easy." "It must have been very difficult for you." "When his father left us, Tristán started hurting himself." "He went deeper into his own world." "And the glove?" "It's the only reminder of his father." "He forgot it when he moved out." "The last two years have been a real hell." "You were very brave to come here." "You'd be a wonderful father, Beto." "They all said it was my fault, that I'd protected him too much when he was a baby." "By the time he was diagnosed, I'd fought with the whole family." "Tristán has wonderful glasses with which he sees the world." "Only he has them." "You're the loveliest thing to happen to me in a long time." "Beto..." "I can't." "I can't suffer any more, Beto, I'm sorry." "I'm sorry." "I like sitting there too, and watching the dawn." "It's like seeing a documentary on Discovery Channel." "From here you can see half the world." "Look, if we take the boat and row towards the east, for days, weeks and months, do you know where we'd land?" "Southern Australia." "From here to there there's only water." "6,000 miles of water." "Isn't it incredible?" "How can anyone shower like this every day?" "It's good for the circulation." "Circulation?" "I fix mine with herbal tea and things like that." "I'm going to the attack channel." "I'll be back by night." "I'll get dressed and fix some supper!" "You know what, love?" "Believe it or not, I'm starting to like this place." "Tris?" "Tris?" "Tristán!" "Tristán!" "Tristán!" "Tristán!" "Tristán!" "Tristán!" "Tristán!" "Tristán!" "Tristán!" " Beto, Beto..." " What's wrong?" "Tristán has disappeared, I've looked everywhere." "Calm down." "Where did you last see him?" "Sitting like always in his place on the cliff." "I don't know where else I can look." "Calm down." "Stay here." "Follow the light, my love." "Tristán!" "Tristán!" "Can anyone hear me?" "Please, this is an emergency." "No!" "Come on, Rigel!" "I'm here." "I made it." "I'm here." "My love, my love, my love." "Come on." "Where was he?" "I found him on the beach." "My love." "Come on." "Thank you, my friend." "Punta Lobos, do you read me?" "Is anyone there?" "Over." "His fever's worse." "Punta Lobos, is anyone there?" "Do you read me?" "Over." "Punta Lobos, do you read me?" "Over." "I'll get Manolo and we bring the truck." "Beto!" "I'm sorry." "Lighthouse of the Orcas." "This is Punta Lobos." "Do you read me?" "Over." "Lighthouse of the Orcas." "Lighthouse of the Orcas." "Beto!" "Beto!" "You didn't hear me." "I had to stop you." "Someone's on the radio." " Are you crazy?" " I'm sorry." "Good morning, ma'am." "Excuse me." "My son needs a doctor, he's got a fever." "Get in the truck." "Thank you." "This time you've gone too far." "I've got the authorization." " You're finished here." " He's just trying to help my son." "No, he isn't helping your son." "He's helping himself." "This man was forbidden to go near the orcas." "I don't understand why." "If tourists see him playing with orcas, they'll want to do it too, and we're talking about wild animals, killers." "Did you not think about that?" "How on earth could you endanger a child's life?" "Tell her I'm waiting in the truck." "Ma'am... please..." "This man is using you for his own ends." "The other day he offered me a deal." "He wants to make money from your son's illness." "MY FAVORITE TOYS" "He's in hospital, we can't leave." "He has to hang on a bit longer." "I don't know..." "Please, give me a few more days." "I don't know how you could do it." "I didn't choose to live alone." "Ever since I was little, I've wanted to live in nature, but not in solitude." "Another of my passions was flying." "I had an old plane, just a little one." "We travelled the peninsula in it." "One day when we were heading north, a storm broke out." "We were hit by lightning and we started to lose height." "I tried to land on the beach, but a gust of wind blew us onto the sea." "They were never found." "My son was Tristán's age." "I suggested to Bonetti about working with Tristán and Shaka..." "If it worked," "I could maybe work with other kids who had the same problem." "Only money could convince him, that's why I suggested a business." "Lola," "the orcas are my life, it's all I've got left." "It's..." "It's my link to the seabed." "And they want to separate me from them." "You understand?" "Hello, Beto." "You want to brush him?" "Come here." "Don't be afraid." "I know..." "Rigel..." "Give him this, he loves them." "That's it." "Look..." "Put your hand there." "Hold it tight." "Now..." "You go... from top to bottom." "Wax on, wax off." "Wax on, wax off." "You're too young to know "The Karate Kid"." "Look, there." "On his chest." "He likes it there." "Go on." "Go on." "Shall we have a ride on Rigel?" "Come on." "One arm here, another arm here..." "That's it." "Sorry." "All ready." "Today you're Beto." "I'll lift you up." "That's it." "Hello." "Hello, Marcela." "How are you?" "On my own, they went out on Rigel." " Fancy that." " Coffee?" " I've got mate but I'll join you." " Come on." "We'll go inside." "It was terrible." "How did he survive?" "Some fishermen found him unconscious on the beach." "There's a legend in town..." "They say Shaka pushed him to the coast." "That explains his connection with her." "And what about you and Beto?" "Look, you hold the reins here, both of them, and you go one way or the other." "That's very good." "My son loved orcas too." "He always asked me to take him to the attack channel." "I never did..." "I'm not from here, I'm from Buenos Aires." "A nice city girl." "I never thought that I'd find happiness here, in this remote part of the world, inhospitable, isolated..." "That I'd start painting again, rear my children, without fear, without interference..." "I forgot, I was at the Post Office and they gave me this for you." "I have to go." "The kids are expecting me." " Thank you, Marcela." " Don't mention it." "Ciao." "Thank you." " Here!" " Thank you!" "They love that melody." "It keeps us united." "I don't think they're coming." "We should go back." "I don't want to worry your mom." "Hang on..." "That's it." "Did you see?" "Some have an excellent memory for what interests them." "It's very good." "What are you doing?" "We have to go back to Madrid." "My lawyer sent it." "We'll try to find a solution." "There isn't one." "You've known this for a while." "We tried to get his father to withdraw the complaint but... it's impossible." "Don't go." "I have to." "If I don't, they'll take him away." "Why does this happen just when things are going well?" "I don't want to go." "This is the first time I've seen my son happy." "All I want is to stay with you." "Then stay." " No." " Yes." "Look, I can open a door there and make a bedroom for Tristán." "And I can make a proper bathroom there." "I can't risk losing him." "Then go back, talk to his father." "I'll be here waiting for you." "He'll never let me." "I won't be able to do anything until Tristán turns 18." "That's how it is." "Why don't you come to Spain?" "We have orcas in the Straits of Gibraltar." "I'm joking." "You needn't say anything." "I know your place is here." "My God..." "Tristán!" "Beto!" "Tristán...!" " Calm down." " Tristán!" "I know where he's going." " What?" " Trust me." "He knows where he's going." "Don't worry." "Shaka." "IN MEMORY OF FONCHO" "In 2009, Beto was transferred to the Playa del Doradillo, a breeding area for whales, never visited by orcas." "Since his arrival, orcas have been sighted in the area and, even though there is still a ban on contact with them, it is said that Beto and the orcas meet in secret."