"The Last Supper" "In memeory of Sara Gomez" "The events seen here took place in a Havanna sugar mill during Holy Week at the end of the last century." "Ash Wednesday" "Shitty niggers!" "I'll show you who Don Manuel is." "You helped, Sebastian!" "No, I didn't." "Who did?" "No one." "Nobody." "Sebastian always works alone." "Where'd he sleep?" "Here." "These rags?" "Yes." "The count has arrived." "He picked a bad time." "Come on, start working!" "Good morning to all." "Good morning." "Hello, Father." "Good morning." "You're well?" "God is generous, Father." "Comment allez-vouz?" "Very, well, thank you." "My respects." "Thank you." "Don Manuel?" "Work, work!" "Good day." "I was looking for you." "A slave escaped." "Let me by, Don Manuel." "Monsieur Ducle," "I have important business with you." "Of course." "In my office at noon." "I'm tired." "The trip seemed endless." "I didn't want to spend the night on the road." "How's everything here?" "Not very well." "I can't stand the smell, but it does me good." "And your work, Father?" "Precarious." "The blacks don't understand Christian doctrine." "Cheer up!" "You know why I'm here." "You haven't had any problems about..." "No, everything's ready." "Not everyone fears God." "The abuses of the overseer?" "Perhaps we're being unfair to Don Manuel." "It's hard sailing these days." "The sea is stormy." "Trust more in God, go to Church, spend less time drinking, with the woman slave woman." "But, Father." "I can't find peace." "I'm uneasy and everyday" "I wake up in a maze of darkness." "Where can I find peace, Father?" "In God, and only in God." "And the slave who escaped this morning?" "He was undermining the whole crew, despite what they told you." "The slaves weren't allowed to go to Church on Sunday." "There was work..." "But it was Sunday." "And Palm Sunday." "The Father is right..." "I worry about production." "You must respect holy week!" "God's due..." "And 11000 qunitals of cane?" "I'll have to whip them more, put them in the stocks." "Well, that's your business." "You're the overseer, but respect the Church." "With this new plan, a single fire heats all the cauldrons." "The heat is low." "More bagasse, more fire!" "Bagasse for fuel?" "The forests have been cut down." "I marvel at your initiative." "Go ahead!" "Excuse me..." "You could have limited yourself to just your work, but these new ideas are magnificient." "How about it?" "Very good." "Tres bien." "Merci." "I also have new plans." "I want to replace the press with a new model:" "3 horizontal beams in a triangle." "It's from England." "The time is right." "Pump!" "Quickly, take it out;" "it's ready!" "Excuse me, but the operation couldn't wait." "These things have their right moment." "Their technique." "Technique?" "No." "A maestro is born, not made." "The skill comes from the cradle, from Nature." "Nature gives man the secret." "Witchcraft?" "The Church also has rites like witchcraft." "But it's not witchcraft." "The Sacraments have a very clear purpose." "The powder's purpose is to produce sugar." "The secret's in the bag?" "No, it's here." "This is necessary for the change." "The green juice turns dark because what will be white, must fire be black." "What's in those bags?" "No secret." "Caca de poulet." "What?" "Chicken shit." "The sugar is here:" "black, brown and then pristine white." "It was purged by fire like souls in Purgatory." "Not all souls grow white in Purgatory." "Not all cane juice turns into sugar." "By the way, will the new press increase production?" "Yes, the horizontal press is the thing." "But... it will need more cane." "It will get more cane." "You invented something else, besides slaves to cut cane?" "What do you mean?" "We need more slaves." "We'll bring in more slaves." "Yes." "Then you'll have more blacks than whites." "Don't worry, we can control the blacks." "Don Manuel!" "Don Manuel!" "Here he is!" "I have him." "You won't escape again." "Here he is." "Maundy Thursday." "Now sing for your bread and butter." "Come." "Edmundo!" "Edmundo!" "You called?" "Yes." "Take a message to Manuel." "I'll go." "The slaves are too stupid." "Tell him to round up all the slaves." "Me, too, Count?" "No, you're my slave, my servant." "Thank you." "Get along now." "Where do you want them?" "At the mill." "OK." "Come on walk, nigger." "You'll get the same thing Sebastian got." "Walk." "Get the machetes." "Don Manuel, pick out 12 slaves." "What for?" "Do as I say." "I only wanted to know..." "At random, one from every group." "You..." "You, too." "You..." "You..." "You!" "Come on." "Come on." "Where's the one that ran away?" "He's in the stocks." "Here they are." "Clean him up and bring him to the chapel." "But." "Do as I say, Don Manuel." "What's heaven like?" "That's where you can be with God." "Live in His house, not in the kitchen." "Eat at God's table, with the Virgin Mary, our Mother, and all the angels and saints." "That's heaven." "There nobody gives orders;" "nobody is bad;" "nobody fights or gets mad." "Nobody says this is mine or this is yours, because everybody's got enough." "Isn't that a grand thing?" "You want to go?" "Well, to go, you have to be pure and keep all the" "Commandements." "The slave has to be good and serve his master, because God says so." "God says to love your master very much." "Not like that, my son, all the body" "You washed your hands enough" "Wash your face!" "What are you doing here?" "Washing clothes." "You don't have to be naked to wash clothes." "Cover yourselves." "That's better, even if the devil, is a devil." "This is not a place to bath in." "Daughters of Satan!" "That's enough." "Get out!" "More water!" "Coming." "Like in Church." "Yeah." "Who you scaring?" "You should have gone to Church." "You'd have seen the Count wash his slave's feet." "But really, it's not amusing." "The Count indulges in his fantasies" "He's purging himself." "Something strange is going on" "One of the slaves was Sebastian, the runaway we caught." "The Count kissed his feet!" "Where" "will this end?" "It's not the first time Sebastian has escaped or the first time he's been beaten." "Nothing stops him." "He must have magical powers" "That's not magic." "Then what is it?" "He's a strong man, he can take more than the others." "You saw him?" "Anybody else would be full of worms." "100 leashes, but as soon as he's well, they'll have to send the dogs after him again." "Drink, drink while you can." "When the slaves rise up..." "In Santo Domingo..." "I don't want to hear!" "There." "I know it." "There were more than whites and mulattos" "Only blacks now." "The niggers aren't going to get my head" "This is for you." "This isn't just any day." "It's special, written in the Book of God." "On a day like this Christ called in his friends, his disciples, who were his slaves, to depart" "from them." "He was going to die." "My master can't die!" "He's good!" "I'm talking of Christ." "He went to heaven." "His Father called Him." "Somebody has to be sacrificied for mankind." "A lamb to take God's punishment in silence." "To pay for all the evil of men." "Eat now." "Eat and drink." "Master," "you gonna send me back to these dirty slaves?" "What's wrong?" "I'm not from here." "I'm from the Count's house." "Why you here?" "To fix up the Count's room." "Overseer's angry." "He says I don't work." "I say my work's finished." "He asks me where I go." "I say to Church to thank Christ for the good master I have." "And then?" "He sent me to cut cane!" "Don't cry any more." "I'll take you back to the house." "I'll fix it up." "Thank you!" "My master's good." "What are you doing?" "To the master's right, eh?" "There was no other empty seat." "What are you?" "Lucumi." "Your name?" "Bangoche, name of king." "A king's name yet you're a slave." "Kings win or lose wars." "You lost." "I was sold in Guinea." "I came in a ship but not like everybody else." "Captain was my friend." "As king I used to sell him plenty slaves." "How much they sell you for?" "Plenty money." "On the ship I was the only one with no chains." "I could go anywhere." "I even ate at the captain's table." "The master and the captain are alike." "Which do you prefer Africa or the mill?" "I'm a slave." "Where do you work?" "At the mill." "With Don Gaspar?" "Yes." "He beat you?" "Gaspar isn't Manuel." "He talks much with the slaves?" "Not any." "He just says:" ""More fire!" "More fire!"" "Bring him here!" "I want him near." "Let's see now." "Sit down." "You see wher pride has taken you?" "You're stubborn, you don't learn." "When you get an order be quiet and obey." "You're stupid, so the overseer gets mad." "He'll catch you, if you run away and punish you hard so you won't do it again." "Drink." "This will make you feel better." "Sebastian, who am I?" "Come on, answer." "Who am I?" "Answer me, come on!" "In the name of God, who am I?" "I'll look for the overseer." "No, Don't." "One day." "Christ humbled himself before his disciples" "so a master can humble himself to his slaves." "Come on, drink!" "Drink!" "More wine!" "Drink some." "I've washed all." "Perhaps some haven't been clean and complatory." "What can I do?" "Some of you are good, very good;" "but others are traitors, bad." "Traitors like Judas who sold his master for 30 coins:" "the price of a master then." "Judas thought he was deceiving his master, but Christ knew, who the traitor was." "He knew he would carry the heavy cross, that the evil would spit in his face and beat him!" "He was stoned and crowned with thorns." "He drank vinegar and gall." "He knew it, but he couldn't prevent it." "He accepted his fate." "Come on!" "Before he died, he called in his disciples, his saints." "He gave them to eat and to drink, and said," ""This is my body, and this is my blood."" "Did they eat?" "Of course!" "They ate Christ?" "No, the wine and the bread." "Master," "Carabali men eat people." "I thought..." "Master, that's what the Carabalis are like." "Understand well that the friends of Christ did not eat him." "I don't understand." "Do they or don't they eat?" "They eat..." "See, Christ wouldn't tell a lie." "You don't understand me." "Sit down here." "Be patient." "The disciples didn't understand our Lord, either." "It took time." "When they saw" "Him suffering, then they understood." "Come on, now, eat and drink." "You know something?" "What, Master?" "I feel good here, with my slaves." "Who're you?" "I'm from the mill," "Encarnacion's son." "Your father?" "Encarnacion say she don't remember." "You happy?" "In the mill, yes;" "not in the barracks." "Why don't you like it?" "It's too big." "I like huts." "The barracks is all closed in, no air." "Manuel shuts the door early, everything gets a quiet, not even the dog barks." "At least you can sleep." "When I come here the dogs and crickets keep me awake." "A hut is better," "But there must be some good things in the mill." "What do you like?" "Freedom!" "Holidays, food, cock fights and "ndoko."" "What?" "Cock over the hen." "The slave is cursed by God, born to suffer." "When you see a black laugh ask him, "Who's crying?"" "If a slave's singing," "Brymba is crying..." "In Africa black man hungry for many days," "his whole family hungry." "One father, good father had nothing to feed his family." "He called his best son, the one he loved the most, and said, "Tomorrow we will get food."" "Early..." "Morning star, we travel far." "The father felt like crying" "He walked and cried, and when he came to the sand and water..." "The beach!" "The son asked the father," ""Why you walk and cry?"" "The father said he cried because he sold the son for food, and the son walked and cried." "When they got to the place of business, the son spoke first and" "sold his father." "Then he bought food for the family." "But the story's not finished yet!" "When the familiy saw the son and not the father, they asked," "Where's your father?" He answered," ""He's the food."" "For sellng his father, the family took him to the authorities." "The son was tried and sold to a white man" "So the family ate twice." "Morning star!" "The blacks are crying, don't know why." "Only a black slave knows." "Master!" "Yes?" "A favor, please." "Favor?" "Yes." "How much it cost?" "Not much." "Pascual's an old man who's going to die soon," "He can't work to buy his freedom from Master." "One of them, eh?" "Yes." "He wants to buy freedom." "How much time you got left?" "A little." "How much is "a little"?" "I counted and counted and counted;" "only a year left." "You're free." "Thank you, Master!" "Things are looking good now." "Things are looking good now." "Pascual, sit down here." "How do you feel?" "Happy?" "Yes, Master" "What'll you do now?" "Don't know." "He's got his freedom and doesn't know what to do." "I'm old." "Will you stay at the mill?" "Do you like the mill?" "No." "Then why stay?" "No place to go." "You can go back to Africa." "You're free." "No place to go." "you're not happy then." "See what I mean?" "Freedom can't bring you happiness." "You know why?" "True happiness is something else, not just beeing free." "I'll tell you a story." "You know of St. Francis?" "Yes, the priest who's in the church." "Orula!" "A long time ago, St. Francis and his disciple," "Brother Leon went on a long trip." "It was the middle of winter and very cold." "Not like here, but a real cold winter, with ice and snow." "As they were walking and walking, like you say," "St. Francis said to Brother Leon," ""Brother, if you could heal the blind," "the deaf and the lame, and raise men from the dead," "even this would not be perfect happiness."" "They went on." "Later St. Francis called him again:" ""Brother, if you knew all languages and sciences and could read the future and the secrets of men's souls," "even this would not be perfect happiness."" "They went on." "Later St. Francis called him again:" ""If you knew the language of the angels, and the course ot the stars, the secrets of herbs, the treasures of the earth, the secrets of birds, fish, beasts and men, of trees, stones, deep roots," "and the water you would have all, know all," "it would be more than freedom itself;" "but, even so, you would not have perfect happiness."" "They walked on and spoke thus for many miles, until" "Brother Leon stopped him and said," ""Father, tell me what perfect happiness is."" "Then," "St. Francis stopped in that cold and replied," ""Imagine we have arrived at our destination." "We knock on the door, but the porter, aroused from his sleep," "asks us who we are." "We say, "We are two of your brothers."" "He says, "You're a pair of bandits who steal aims from the poor." "Go away!"" "He leaves us standing there, hungry and cold, all night long." "If we patiently bear that cruelty and see it as God's divine will," "then, Brother, we will have perfect happiness." "Moreover, if the porter returns, carrying a stick, and beats us on the wet ground, in the mud," "and if we suffer it patiently, with joy thinking of Christ and his wounds," "Brother Leon, that would be perfect happiness."" "The moral of the story is, of all the good things Christ gives," "the best is to suffer pain and injury for his divine love." "The other things aren't ours, they belong to god." "Sorrow is the only thing that is really ours, the only thing we can give to god with joy." "You understood the moral?" "Let me see if I understood:" "When the overseer beats me," "I should be happy?" "Yes, that's it." "If you understand this, you will be happy, happier than whites." "Listen to me." "Nature has made the black man more resistant to pain." "No white man sings when he cuts sugar cane." "The black man always sings." "And, by singing, he forgets what he's doing." "He becomes joyful." "The white man suffers more than the black." "Now, then, god arranged it for the black man" "to have innate qualities for cutting cane." "The black was practically born for the field." "Master, the black sings and cuts cane, but he likes singing better." "That's why the overseer is there." "His job is to make the lazy ones work." "Many of the black are lazy and get blown for it." "Why should the black man bear many blows and not the overseer, too?" "It is god's will, god's punishment." "God is merciful, but not to the disobedient." "God rewards those who suffer more, who make more sacrifices." "who work more." "For those who obey god's law, there is a paradise in heaven, equal to the one that men destroyed by sin." "Then, men, didn't have to work." "When he was hungry he just took what he wanted." "There were no blacks, no slaves." "They came later with god's punishment." "Somebody did something bad." "Who did?" "The first man, Adam, but his wife was to blame." "Eve was to blame." "He shouldn't have paid attention to her." "God told them they could eat of everything except a tree that had big, juicy apples." "Like apples in Spain." "Eva did it." "She took an apple and said to Adam" ""Take a bite."" "Adam didn't want to." ""No, God said we couldn't eat that." "But Eve insisted:" ""Just a little bite." "Nothing's going to happen."" "Who doesn't like apples?" "Adam couldn't resist, and ate it." "They both sinned, tempted by Satan." "disgusted as a serpent in the tree." "God became angry." "He sent a storm with thunder and lightning." "Paradise was finished." "Man had to work." "No more good living, if you want to eat, you must sweat blood." "Listen, Pascual." "That was Paradise" "I'll take it:" "things were better there." "No master there?" "No masters or slaves." "Overseers?" "No overseers, either." "Then paradise was mighty good." "Why didn't paradise have overseers?" "The priest says overseers are like jesus." "The overseer is a bastard!" "So Jesus Christ..." "I don't know what the father said, but Don Manuel, the overseer," "is not like Jesus at all..." "Don Manuel is a great sinner." "He beats you hard and even steals from me when I'm not looking." "Ingrate!" "Ingrate!" "The overseer in paradise?" "No, there's room only for us, only us." "The Lord..." "and his disciples..." "Judas." "Judas." "There is no Judas here" "God didn't want Judas at his table." "He must be outside, full of remorse eating out his liver," "because he'll never understand this "concord"" "between master and slaves." "The wall of hatred will fall if you understand the role" "each of us must play in this life, the character we must play" "until the end of our days, with pride," "with...joy." "Count," "I think it's time to sleep." "How dare you give me orders?" "Are you forgetting your place?" "But, Count..." "I'm your master, understand?" "Your master!" "Everybody out." "Get out of here." "Be happy." "May no one interrupt our happiness." "That is what paradise is." "Olofi created the world." "He made day and night, the pretty and ugly things," "good and bad." "He also made Truth and a Lie." "He made Truth very, very pretty, and the Lie, ugly, skinny, as if it were sick." "Olofi felt sorry for the Lie and gave it a machete." "In time, everybody loved Truth and scorned the Lie." "One day Truth and the Lie met and started to fight." "Truth was stronger, but the Lie had a machete." "And, when Truth wasn't looking, the Lie cut its head off." "So Truth had no eyes, no head." "With its hand it looked, for its head and touched the head of the Lie," "so it wrenched off the Lie's head and put it on its own neck." "Ever since." "Truth has been tricking people:" "the body of Truth but the head of the Lie" "You get the moral?" "Why you talking now and not before?" "Sebastian, Ambrosio's not afraid." "I'm not Antonio." "The master never lies!" "Which head he used?" "His own." "You'll see the Truth early tomorrow." "One day's happy;" "another's not." "We got no faith." "Look, we were born to take a beating." "Master's not bad." "No master is like our Count." "No master shares things with slaves." "When did slaves eat and drink with a master?" "This is the first I heard of it." "Pascual, why are you quiet?" "He's speaking bad of Master." "Can't you talk?" "Ask Master why he quiet," "Pascual's free." "We work all our lives and, when we're old and good for nothing, we're freed." "That's not freedom." "You believe what the master said?" "Well, he sure does a lot of wine" "He's not that bad." "He's a good christian who believes in Jesus," "Priest say tomorrow Good Friday, no work." "When bell rings tomorrow, you'll see." "The church bell rings tomorrow, not the mill bell." "No cane cutting tomorrow." "Devil will roam!" "That's right." "Tomorrow the bell will ring, tomorrow the bell will call, tomorrow is Good Friday, the slaves will rest, christ will die... christ will be crucified." "I don't work." "No work." "Master's sleeping" "and praying." "I don't work." "I'm African." "I don't work." "Devil will roam." "I don't work." "Don't hear the bell." "Shh!" "Some things you sing;" "others you do." "Stop talking." "No work tomorrow for me." "Or for me!" "Stop talking like that, Sebastian." "You been caught 3 times." "The hills ain't paradise, you go hungry there." "Full of snakes, wild dogs!" "Next time Master won't forgive you." "Next time I'll defend myself." "I have powers." "I'll turn into a tree, a fish in the river, a stone, a bird and fly away..." "Nobody will ever get me." "They can't kill me!" "Edmundo!" "Edmundo!" "Here I am." "Get me out of here!" "Shall I wake the slaves?" "No, leave them." "Hope they never wake." "Good Friday." "Goddammit, shitty niggers!" "Get up, or else!" "Don't make me go in!" "Lazy bastards!" "Master say no work." "What does this say?" "It says yes." "Don Manuel!" "Master said..." "No, he didn't say it." "Who the hell do you think you are?" "I'll have to go in." "Who stopped the bell?" "Why you're here?" "What are you doing here?" "It's Good friday." "The Count forbade all work today." "But the Count told me not to lose a day." "The mill can't wait." "Ring that bell!" "Respect Holy Week." "Please stop interrupting my work." "Will you take the responsibility?" "Aren't you also responsible for events here?" "I see I can't reason with you." "I have nothing more to say." "Back to work!" "What are you waiting for?" "You?" "The Count gave me something." "What?" "Freedom!" "They all saw it." "Yes, sir." "the Count was drunk and said things he didn't mean." "Back to work." "Master did not lie." "Who said he lied?" "So you'll understand better!" "Even Master changed heads." "What'd you say?" "Remember, I'm a Bangache..." "This'll tame you." "Stop that!" "The Count." "Count, excuse me, but..." "What's the matter?" "I'm asking you to leave immediately." "What's wrong?" "The overseer is making the slaves work with no respect for Good Friday." "That's too much!" "He is violating the christian peace you've created here." "It was my duty." "Look, Father, I'm tired." "I think I've more than fulfilled my obligations." "That's why..." "That's why I don't think we should meddle with the overseer." "He does his job." "He manages things." "But, Count, no one should work on Good Friday." "Yes, I agree with you," "You know what the overseer's like:" "a violent man, who commits necessary sins." "It won't be his last." "So, then, what can we do?" "What can we do?" "He will be punished by someone higher than I." "I'm weary." "Of course, Count." "I thought it my duty," "I know, but better not tell me these things." "The mill and the overseer are one thing, and our affairs are an other." "The slaves don't want to work." "That's the overseer's concern." "After what happened yesterday..." "Yesterday they learned humility and resignation." "They also learned to sit at the master's table." "What are you saying, father?" "Those who sat with me saw they had an understanding master." "They also saw something else." "I don't understand." "What else?" "More than you would like." "They're the ones who don't want to work now." "A disaster, Count!" "What is it?" "The slaves at the mill have rebelled!" "Rebelled!" "Manuel's a hostage." "They want justice!" "So they want justice!" "Well, they'll get it." "Get Martin and round up an armed band." "Hurry, or it'll be too late." "It's Manuel's fault." "Enough, father." "Now we have to crush the revolt and save Manuel." "Justice!" "Justice!" "Come on!" "Let's find Don Manuel." "This is justice." "Burn down the mill." "Fire, fire!" "Enough, enough, dammit." "Black man can't go crazy!" "He has to think with his head." "Sebastian, somebody's got to talk to the Count." "Look, Bangoche." "The Count listens to Antonio." "He'll listen." "Wait till he finds out." "He said no work, and there'll be no work." "I'll go!" "Me, too." "No, leave everything to me." "I'll go, too, to tell Master everything." "Take the woman and tell him that if he doesn't do justice we'll kill Manuel." "And burn the mill." "First, let's talk with master." "You watch things here." "Come on." "Manuel!" "Go on." "Tell the Count what they plan to do." "Listen." "Horses!" "Let's go to the mill." "Ambrosio!" "Now you've done it." "Stop, I say!" "He went that way" "Get him." "We have to continue." "Take her to the mill." "Take her." "Come on." "Master's coming up the road." "We have to go." "Master's coming like the devil himself." "Killing all the blacks." "He'll be here soon." "We've got to go." "First we'll burn all this." "Bangoche, wait;" "I'll handle it." "You get the ones over there." "Put out the fire." "Round up all the slaves." "Father, what time did christ die?" "This very hour." "Don Gaspar!" "You saw how everything began, they say." "I was here to the very end." "The Count wants a report on the damage." "I'll come down and do it later." "How come they didn't burn the church?" "How did you escape?" "I hid." "Scared?" "You bet I was." "So long, Gaspar." "What about him?" "He's dead." "Get him out of here!" "This is a church." "And in death we are all..." "Go on." "Equal?" "You've spent your lives devouring each other." "and now you want to devour us." "This is not Santo Domingo." "No, it's not." "Martin!" "Here's one of the 12 that ate at the table." "Here's another!" "Show no mercy." "Make them examples." "I want them dead." "Holy Sunday." "Come on, walk!" "You there, we here." "The dogs can't catch me." "Birico!" "I'm sprouting feathers, Birico, and wings!" "Get him." "Didn't you eat with the Count that night?" "Yes, sir, master is very good." "He hugged me." "He's the best there is." "What were you doing there?" "When the trouble began I hid out here." "I'm a good man." "What's this?" "Your rifle." "Nice, isn't it?" "Take it." "Be careful;" "it's loaded." "No, I can't." "I want to see master." "Take it!" "What for?" "To use it, naturally." "I`ll show you how." "Your hand here." "Like this." "Press down here, very gently, like this." "Easter Sunday." "Thinking to obey the Commandments of god," "I saw them and took pity on them," "I seated them at the lord's table, but they were not satisfied." "They wanted more." "Then god chastised me and showed me that I was walking in darkness." "I shall have no peace until the temple is cleansed of those who defieled it, until the mill is built up from its ashes." "So that" "God may help me in my work, I will build a new church on this spot to honour our memory of Don Manuel." "It will stand as witness to the sorrow of these days and also too the victory of christianity over bestiality and savagery." "Amen."