""INSPIRED IN THE LEGEND OF SALAMANCA DO JARAU"" "I" " THE LEGEND" "It's beautiful!" "What you see is the beginning of the legend." "Do you remember the way your grandmother told it?" " Yes!" ""Hiding in a ship... after they were expelled from Spain by the Christians... the Moors came to America, bringing with them a princess... a princess-sorcerer, who had a magic wand... with the power to turn things into gold..." "Yes, I remember as if it were today." "The most terrifying part for Martim and Benin... was when Anhanga Pita, the demon for (he Guarani Indians... threw a curse that turned the Moor girl into a lizard... with an incandescent stone head, the..." "Teiniagué." "Teiniagué... the cursed lizard... went to live in the $50 Tame' lagoon... over the border, in Argentina." "ll" " CHILDHOOD" "Beam!" "Beam." "I spent my childhood at the loot of a hill haunted by an evil spirit." "Bento, wake up, Bento." "Wake up, Bento." "Bento, wake up, Bento." "Please!" "It was near the border with Uruguay and Argentina." "A desolate place, with its legends and secrets... where I experienced the greatest pleasures of my childhood... and also my greatest fears." " Rebeca!" " Wait, Rebeca!" "Rebeca, come here, where are you going?" "We were three cousins who met every year in the winter vacations... and spent our time making up crazy games." "The first to arrive in the cave will marry a priest!" "It's Rebeca... it's Rebeca... lam that boy, wrapped in a scan'... sweating, in that cold July day." "Behind me is Martim, with his innocent smile." "And the girl is Rebeca." "Look how lovely she is." "Lovely, lovely word." "Look haw dazzling she is..." "Oh, and that's Taco, the son of our farm caretaker... who knew every trail like no one else." "Those were our last vacations there." "The land was sold a while later." "I remember it very well because that was the year Rebeca... brought us face to face with our greatest fear." "We played any game our imagination came up with... but our greatest pleasure, naturally, was tormenting Rebeca." "Priest's wife, priest's wife." "Priest's wife..." "Now we'll see who the priest's wife is." "I'm going into this cave..." "are you coming along?" "So?" "Who's coming in with me?" "or are you scared of witches?" "No, Rebeca, grandma told us never to enter that cave." "Leave it, Martim, let her go... then at least she'll stop bugging us, if she actually goes in." "Grandmother said that there is a hidden treasure in there." "I'll count to seven... and if you don't come with me you're sissies." " One..." " No, Rebeca, no!" "There's a horrible thing in there, grandma warned." " Two..." " No, Rebeca!" "Don't go in!" " Three..." " Don't go in!" "Four, five, six..." "SEVEN..." "III" " LECHIGUANA CLUB" "But that was a long time ago... we left our childhood lost in the Pampa... and now we were looking for a new direction in our lives..." " And Correntino?" " Hi, Rebeca." "Hi, Bento." " Do you think he's in the office?" " He'll be here soon." "I can't wait to get out of here." "I can't stand it anymore." " Rebeca." " Bento, I've been thinking we can use this money to travel." " Rebeca." "Spain, I could go to graduate school in Spain." " Rebeca, I've something important..." " Listen, you concentrate... finish your book, then we'll have it published by a good publisher's and do a big launch." " Rebeca..." "I have something important to tell you." "What is it, Bento?" "You know that I like you very much, don't you?" "Yes." " My dears!" " Correntino." "Sorry to interrupt you!" "Please sit down." "Our Queen will be here soon." "What would you like to drink?" " Water." " I'm drinking already." " Bandiolo" " Yes, boss." "Bring some water, a bottle of champagne and four glasses." "What bottle of champagne?" "Any bottle!" "The most expensive one!" "What a moron!" "He can't learn." "It's hard to find good people nowadays." "You explain and they don't get it." "Shit." "Today we'll drink to the Lechiguana Club under new management." "Isn't Lola drinking with us?" "Our Queen will be here in a minute." "Now let's drink to this... excellent deal." "Excellent for both sides, of course." "For us, it will only be good when you pay." "Cool it, Rebeca, cool it." "You know I have the money, don't you?" "My Queen!" "Sit here, my love... my life, my entertainment." "MY temptress!" "A meeting!" "Great!" "It makes me feel like a business woman." "I protest, Lolita, I protest:" "you don't need to be a business woman." "You're our Queen." "Marilene, don't forget to clean the toilets during the show." "Rebeca, you're no longer the owner of Lechiguana." "Bento, this house will always be yours." "Respect and trust is what connects us." " We're like family." " Cut it out!" "What connects is the hope that you will pay us." "Excuse me." " Aren't you drinking, dear?" " I don't drink Champagne." " You don't drink champagne?" " Only spirits." " I didn't know." " Yes, you did." " No, I didn't!" " Yes, you did!" "I did not!" "OK." "Bandiolo!" " Yes, sir?" "Did you know Lola doesn't drink champagne?" " No, sir." " You should, you moron!" "Bring her a Jack Daniel's." "What an idiot..." " While we wait for Bandiolo..." " We were talking about money." "That tedious subject..." "Listen to me, tomorrow I'll give you the money." "Tomorrow, Correntino?" "Now let's drink to the Lechiguana Club... and our Queen's career." "Do you remember our talk yesterday?" "What talk?" "Bento, open this for me..." "The one about fear..." "Fear of writing?" "What about it?" "Listen to this:" ""Last night, in the extreme vulnerability of the night... in the hallucinating clarity of the night... rolling around on my bed, I understood exactly... what it means to stop writing for fear." "It's for fear of everything that you do not say when you start writing;" "for fear of materializing the idea, of imprisoning it... corroding it, mutilating it." "While in the scintillating limbo of the imagination... while they are only ideas and projects... our books are absolutely marvelous." "The best books ever written." "Only later, when we start pinning down reality... word for word, as Nabokov pinned the butterflies on the cork... do we turn them into things, inevitably dead... crucified insects, even if they are covered... with a sad dust of gold."" "That's so good, Bento." "Did you write it?" "No, it was someone else." " Who?" " Rosa Monteiro." "Oh, yes." " The Spanish author." "I wrote a poem." "Do you want to hear it?" " Of course." "It's goes:" "I love you, you love you... he loves you, they love you and I... love you, love you..." "I'm very flattered... but isn't it kind of modernist?" "A little?" "Maybe..." "Modernist, in a school-girlish way..." "I love school girls!" "Knee-high socks, pleated skirts..." "Pretty things..." "Hello!" "Bento, where are you?" "I've been waiting for over an hour!" "I'm sorry." "Hi!" "Were you in Lola's dressing room?" "Jealousy!" "The best jealousy scene I've ever seen was in..." "So, did she read the book or just looked at the pictures?" ""Sunset Boulevard"." "Gloria Swanson, William Holding." "She almost tried to kill herself because of him." "You're beginning to lose me, Bento." "I only hope he'll pay us tonight." "My clears!" "Why the long faces?" "Quit the bullshit." "One week messing us around is enough." "La plata, hermano." " I've just had a call..." " The money, Correntino!" "My dears, you know my business is diversified..." " Correntino is a bastard." " Rebeca." "It's the third time he does it to us." " Rebeca..." " If he doesn't pay tomorrow..." "I don't know what I'm capable of." "Rebeca, I have something important to tell you." "What, Bento?" "I owe big money." "Again?" "To whom?" "Divina." "Divina?" "Are you crazy, Bento?" "How much?" "Enough to land me in deep trouble." "This is ridiculous." "Will we have to go through this 300 times?" "What use is it talking about it now?" "Is it any use?" "It's crazy!" "Crazy!" "It's useless to talk about it now!" "Go, Bento." "Shit!" "Have you seen Bento?" "Someone wants to see you..." " Get off!" " Hold it, man!" "Where do you think you're going?" " Darling!" " Darling my ass!" "Pay me tomorrow or I'll go to the police!" "I know your business very well, I'll make sure your life is over!" "The night has eyes and ears." "It': a hell of a cliche... it I wrote it in a text, Rebeca would laugh at me." "But I know the night." "It has eyes, it has ears... but it does not speak." "As the poet said... the night doesn't care." "Leave him." "I really like you, you know." "I'm crazy about you." "I know." "You're an artist." "I read your book, you know." "Yes, I know." "I'm anxious to read your next book." "It should come out soon, Divina." "I'm the one who understood your sensitivity." "I gave you money, strength... coke." "Yes, you did." "I saved you from the cops, remember?" "Sure I remember." "But the one thing I can't take, what hurts..." "Bento, is ingratitude." "I will pay you." "Correntino owes me money." " We sold the Lechiguana." " What you owe me is peanuts." "I could just let it pass." "It's the ingratitude that I can't take, Bentinho." "It's not about gratitude." "It's about ethics." "Do you know what ethics is?" "Of course I know, Divina." "Ethics is something you don't need to explain." "You feel important when you say "ethics"." "Look here, my little poet... ethics is the price of our lives." "When you don't have it, you're in danger." "If you lose your ethics you become vulnerable... extremely vulnerable..." "You know me, you're my fan... you've read my book." "You know that I will pay you, don't you?" "You've been a bad boy, really bad." "And you're old enough to have ethics, ethics." "I'll give you one last deadline." "Tomorrow at dawn." "Ethics..." "I need the money..." "I've told you today I don't have the money today." "You don't know what I'm going through." "I do, and you knew what you were getting into." "This money is mine, I'll pay Divina and I'll be fine." "I said I don't have the money today." "I'll pay you tomorrow." "You've been saying tomorrow for a week." "I can't wait that long." "We all have our problems." "You know that I can take this money by force." "Yes, I do." "Then your life will be in real danger." "I have nothing else to lose, can't you understand that?" "Son of a bitch, open that safe and give me my money now." "Open the fucking safe!" "Man!" "You're digging your own grave." "Don't make me laugh, my lips are cracked." "Open it." "You're digging your own grave." "Bento, he has a fortune in that safe." "Shut up and stay out of this." "Shoot, you shitty little writer." " Get the money from the safe." " Shoot, you piece of shit." "Prove you're a man!" " Rebeca!" " Rebeca, look... what your Bento is up to." "Robbing me!" " Me!" "I'm like a brother to him." " I want our money." " And me?" " Shut up." "Go to the safe, Correntino." "And if that fucking gorilla shows up, I'll blow your brains out." "I don't give a shit." "If he shows up, I'll kill you." "Bandiolo is far, taking care of other business." "How low have you got... such a fine lady being so rude!" "Shut up and open the safe." " Easy, Rebeca, easy!" " Fuck you!" "Open that safe, Correntino." "Now, Correntino, give us our money." "Cool it, Rebeca, I'll open the safe." "MY hand!" "Shut!" "My hand!" " Are you OK?" " Shit!" "I get shot and you worry about a cut?" "Shut up, bitch, or I'll shoot you in the face." "My hand!" "Shut up!" "There's no need for this." "I was going to pay you." "Go!" "Into the safe." "Into the safe, Correntino." "Bento, put the money in the backpack." "Go into the safe, Lola." "Go, Bento, go in the safe, go with your bitch." "At that moment, I couldn't recognize Rebeca." "Why?" "IV" " THE TEINIAGUA" "I spent my life waiting for Rebeca to do something extraordinary." "When she went into that cave 20 years ago... something fantastic must have happened." "Actually, Rebeca wanted to cross the border... and start a new life in a new place... but first, she had an unavoidable encounter with her past." "Bandiolo!" "Bandiolo!" "Here, you moron!" "Where's that idiot?" "Don Correntino!" "Is that you, Correntino?" "Of course it's me, you asshole." "Open this safe!" "But I don't know the secret." "Write it down, you idiot." "Blood!" " Are you hurt, Don Correntino?" " I'm hurt!" "Open this safe right now, Lola is bleeding." "What are you doing in there?" "Trying to get out, you moron!" "Write down this password." "Say it, boss." "Er... twenty..." "Shit, I forgot." " What?" " I had a blank!" "Queen of whores, when's your birthday?" "That bitch has nothing on me, right?" "I found nothing in her apartment." "Of course, she even left the gun here." "She can't have taken anything..." "The notebook!" " That cow took the notebook." " What notebook?" "The one with all the names, numbers, amounts..." "Bento, you know where Rebeca has gone... and you will tell me exactly... or do you want Bandiolo to help you remember?" "I'd be happy to help." "I can't get out of here, Correntino." "By now Divina's men will already be after me." "That's no problem." "Watch it, man!" "From the curves, we should be crossing the Guaíba bridge... with Porto Alegre behind us." "Our destination is the Brazilian border with Uruguay and Argentina... where, it I'm still alive..." "I will once again face the mysteries... of Cerro do Jarau." "And it you still haven't guessed, I'm actually inside this coffin." "of course it's annoying, but..." "I could consider it a tribute to the horror films of my teenage years." "What happened?" "How's our patient doing?" "Let's see." " Easy." " How is it?" "Fortunately, the injury isn't serious." "With this solution it will heal quickly..." " If that bitch hadn't hit me..." " Please, Rebeca!" " It's the way I talk." " I know." "Your life is your own choice, but not here, OK?" "OK." "I'm sorry." "You don't need to apologize." "Excuse me." "Undo the bra." " Do you need help?" " No, it's OK." "Wait." "Done." "Martim!" "Martim!" "Martim." "No, Rebeca." "I can't..." "I can't." "My dream was to play with my band in London... became famous... do shows all over the world..." "Paris, Berlin..." "Rome, Madrid, New York..." "Los Angeles, make money." "I could send some money to my mom... here in Santana do Livramento." "H I lived here, I think I'd have a family." "Good evening, what's going on?" "Good evening." "We're patrolling the area." " What's happening?" " There's an outlaw on the lose." " An outlaw?" " Yes, he cuts sheeps' throats." "Oh, a cutthroat..." " That's what's going on." " Well, if you see anything..." "Yes, of course." "I hope he doesn't cut our throats first, right, Bandiolo?" "I can't believe I'm here, by myself... and Bento is stuck in that coffin." "I hope he's not dead." "Thank you very much." "Nice meeting you." "Come, Lolita, let's go." "Rebeca!" "Rebeca!" " Excuse us!" " Who are you?" " It's not your business." " Respect the House of the Lord." "Father, we're not disrespecting anyone... much less the House of the Lord." "But you will tell me right now... where that bitch is, or you will meet your god sooner that you think." " You don't scare me!" " Where is she?" " Who?" "Where is she and what's her car doing outside?" " What car?" " Very funny." "OK, no stress." "I swear I won't get stressed out." "Bandiolo, show the holy man we're not playing games." " Show him." " Yes, boss." "Make him remember where the bitch went." "And, by the way, Queen of Whores... go find a kitchen to make us some coffee, go!" "Go!" "Little slut." "The day is only beginning... and I want a day of peace, light... joy, brotherhood..." "My little brother!" "He's all yours, Bandiolito." "Lola will be complaining that her hand hurts... that she forgot her black nail varnish." "Correntino will be complaining... that the roads are getting worse and worse." "Bandiolo will be diligently setting up a device... to give poor Martim electric shocks... and talking about his professional expertise." "He's a sadist psychopath... whose father was a torturer for the secret police... during the dictatorship." "First, father, they whipped the guys who... refused to carry stones..." "Then they invented a more sophisticated technique... which persuaded them to cooperate." "You know those coffins... that they used to put the mummies in?" "It was something like that... but it was full of big, sharp nails." "They put the guy... who refused to cooperate in the coffin... and closed it." "You can just imagine..." "Blood poured out of every chink in the coffin." "After seeing that so many times, no one refused... to carry stones anymore." "It was a God send, father." "That's how they built the pyramids." "I saw it in a movie, "The Mummy"." "Have you seen it?" "I guess priests don't go to the movies." "I wonder how our holy father is doing." "So far, nothing's happening..." "Listen." "Rebeca knew someone with obsessions like ours... who was marked also by the mystery of the Cerro do Jarau." "Taco became an expert an the legend." "He has perhaps the largest private library an the subject." "He spent years traveling around the world... then he returned home, started his museum... and got closer to Rebeca's deepest obsessions." "V" " LECHIGUANA HONEY" "Among many other things, Taco cultivated... a type of insect that only exists in that region... the Lechiguana." "It produces a honey with very special properties." "I ask myself how it survives in this world." "The Lechiguana has no sting... but its honey makes people lose their minds." "Like Saint-Hilaire, the French botanist." "When he was in this region... he took two spoonfuls of this honey... and hallucinated for 24 hours... thinking he was going to die." "He went to paradise and back." "When, Taco'!" "?" "About two hundred years ago." "When did we last see each other?" "That return to her childhood': farm made Rebeca deeply nostalgic... but for me time was precious, and every second inside that coffin... was like an eternity." "In a little while I' ll start having palpitations... it I get palpitations, I can have a heart attack... it I have a heart attack in here, I'll die!" "I wonder what they' ll do to me when they get me out." "I only hope they don't start calling me Dracula." "Time to get out of the coffin, Dracula." "He's here, boss:" "Dracula." "Take a seat, Count." " I'll get you a coffee." " No." "No food or drink for this traitor." "I just wanted my share of the money." "You're fucked, Bento." "If your girlfriend gets the police onto me or keeps my documents..." "I'll hand you over to Divina." "What's that moaning?" "I'd forgotten, Toco..." "Your house is small on the outside, but huge inside." "We all are." "I know you, Rebeca." "What happened?" "It's a long story." "Long stories." " I spoke to father Martim..." " Father?" "Since when do you call him father?" "What happened?" "I there no intimacy between you anymore?" "We were never intimate." "Still?" "Martim is a good man." "I like him." "He's a priest." " A Catholic priest." " A Roman Catholic..." "And have you drunk holy wine with him?" "OK, let's stop there..." " What happened?" " A cut on the my back, here..." " So?" " He doesn't know." "If he did, he'd have spoken." "Leave it." "I think I know where she is." "I know the borderland." "I also have my contacts here." "Toco, who's this girl?" "Let me show you something interesting." "Have you heard of the Lumiere brothers' cinematography?" "This is an even older contraption... based on the persistence of image." "Look how wonderful it is." "I found one in Buenos Aires and I am reassembling one just like it." "It's a..." "legendoscope." "Legendoscope?" "I'm doing an animated version of the "Salamanca do Jarau" legend." " Do you want to see it?" " Yes." " Look through there." " Where?" "Here?" "It's beautiful!" "What you see is the beginning of the story." "Do you remember the way your grandmother used to tell it?" "Don Correntino, can I change the CD?" " What?" " Can I change the CD?" " What?" " Can I change the CD?" "This roll shows the altar boy finding the Teiniagué... in the $50 Tome' lagoon." "He catches the lizard and secretly takes it to the church." " Are you crazy?" " I'm driving." "So what?" "It distracts me, I can't stand listening to this anymore..." "You moron!" "Next time you stop my music..." "I'll hit you in the head with my gun." " But..." " Shut up!" "I've told you that music is a divine thing." "If you don't want to listen... stuff your ears with cotton wool." "You moron!" "In this version, in the sacristy... after the lizard had been fed Lechiguana honey... it turns into a moor princess again." "They drink holy wine, and surrender to each other passionately." "It all ends the following morning... when the priests discover what had happened." "I stopped there, when they start punishing the altar boy." "And then?" "The final part of the legend is the story of the journey... to Cerro do Jarau." "I still have to do that." "What is it, Rebeca?" "Has something happened?" "Good evening." "Jose Hernandez de La Cerna, the third." "Toco, the first." " Correntino." " Nice to meet you." " Aren't the others coming in?" " No." "It's a short visit." "Excuse me." "I want to be with you, Bento." "First, I must settle accounts with Rebeca." " Where is she?" " Who?" "This is serious, much more serious than you think." "Correntino, you weren't born yesterday." "Do you really think she'd be here waiting for you?" " Where the fuck is she?" " I don't know!" "That bitch pulled one on me... she ran off with a backpack, a dirty old backpack..." " Who is she?" " She's dumb." " You let nothing pass, eh?" " She's not for you." "I've heard they're the best..." "Would you like something to eat?" "I can get you something." "A coffee." "I need to stay awake." "But it would be nice to have a bite to eat." "OK." "I'm starving." "I haven't eaten anything since we left Porto Alegre." "This honey is delicious." "It tastes funny, I don't like it." " Of course..." " Isn't he having a taste?" "Are you crazy?" "!" "He's diabetic!" "Do you want to kill him?" "Correntino, you remember the legend of the "Salamanca do Jarau"... that I told you about?" "Come, take a look." "This is the roll where the Anhangá Pita":" "shows the way to the cave... where the treasures of the Caluias are hidden... which only the Zaoris can see." " The Zaoris!" " Zaoris..." "I miss our childhood, when we were kids... playing at the loot of the Hill." "Bento was always playing tricks on us." "Yes, and Toco was his favorite." "Bento is still playing his tricks." "There's a music box in your pocket." "Hello?" "It's Rebeca." "Rebequita!" " It's time to negotiate." " Yes, it sounds good, very wise." "I'm going to meet you where you are." "I don't want any surprises." "If anything happens to me... a friend will give your stuff to the police." " Are you suspicious?" " I want to talk, negotiate." " Me too." " I want an end to this story." "OK." "This story is fascinating and it will never end." " It's fantastic!" " There's more stuff in there." "What stuff?" " Stuff." " How much is it worth?" " Do you really want to know?" " Yes, of course." "I think we can reach an agreement." "Is it worth so much?" "Even more." "But I don't always have the opportunity to do business." "You are a villain, aren't you?" "I think it's crazy, Rebeca." "I know, but it's the only way." "Do you know what you have to do?" "Let's go." "First condition:" "Bandiolo stays outside, in the car." "Bandiolo, go to the car, go." "This is certainly no family reunion." "You have my notebook, Rebeca!" "Of course I don't have it on me, it's somewhere safe." " What do you propose?" " A deal: short and sweet." " How?" " The notebook for Bento." "The money is mine, for the sale of the Lechiguana." "OK." "Done." "We'll wait until dawn and go somewhere safe, really safe... everything will be alright, Bento." "Who was it that never believed in happy endings?" "You." "Unhappy endings are the story of your life." "But you're the one who always said that the greatest ending of all time... was "Sunset Boulevard's"." "Gloria Swanson going down the staircase, saying:" ""I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille"." "No." "You find this ending sad, not me." "Yes, Rebeca, you always liked to make up your endings." "WE", my poets!" "Now is the time for our happy ending." "Let's go, I want to..." "You stay." "From now on, Toco will be taking care of you... my Queen." "I had no doubt about where we were going... but only Rebeca knew the true reason why we were going there." "Sometimes I wonder... if we are really so clever." "That woman is dragging us to a trap." "It's obvious." "I'm sick of being a bossed around." "It's obvious that this job is for professionals." "I'm the only sober person in this car." "I'm not a nut like you." "You bastards." "Don Correntino, I'll take care of business now." "You behave, OK?" "Come, let's go." "Listen, I'm warning you:" "this is for everyone's sake." "I'm giving the orders now." "And if you don't give this gun to me now..." "I swear to God... that I will blow your boyfriend's brains out." "Don't mess with me." "Give me the gun." "Come on!" "Go on." "Go on!" "The money." "Where's the money?" "It's up there, in the cave." "Let's go, then." "OK, priests, poets and madmen, where is the money?" "The money is not here." "What?" "The money is not here." "If the money doesn't appear, I'll kill you, bitch." "The money is not here." "I'll count to seven and if the money doesn't appear..." "I'll blow your brains out..." "One, two, three... four, five, six..." " No!" " Rebeca!" "Martim!" "Son of a bitch!" "No!" "No!" "Bitch!" "Reality crushes our dreams... and although I've never been saner... they call me the "madman of the harbor"." "It does not tit in with the happy endings I imagine." "But, in all honesty, I don't mind it either... because after all, in spite of everything... my life became a romantic melodrama." "And I even think we almost had a happy ending." "About Rebeca, we can say... that she actually did write her own ending." "She married an Oxford PhD... who teaches at the University of Salamanca, Spain." "She goes to international conferences on literature, write poems... and she devotes her weekends to the gentle pleasures of gardening." "Now, everything is OK." "That thing you asked me." "Very well, you're a lucky man!" "I'm always here... to serve you." "Now, you'll pay $10 and take three CDs!" "Three CDs for $10!" "I can't make it cheaper." "Three for $5!" "This is marvelous!" "What a..." "ADAPTED BY VIDEOLAR"