Would you like to inspect the original subtitles? These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated:
1
00:01:16,327 --> 00:01:21,207
Dear Mama, dear Papa,
the fevers have returned.
2
00:01:24,169 --> 00:01:28,298
Uncle sent for the doctor from Vila Real
who brought the medicine.
3
00:01:28,506 --> 00:01:30,300
I disliked him,
4
00:01:30,467 --> 00:01:32,635
he was not sociable
and didn't offer me sweets
5
00:01:32,844 --> 00:01:36,806
like dad sometimes did for
the children sick with malaria.
6
00:01:37,724 --> 00:01:41,186
The good thing was not having
to go to school for the last few days
7
00:01:41,436 --> 00:01:44,272
(but don't you worry
because I have arranged for a colleague
8
00:01:44,522 --> 00:01:47,650
to pass me the notes
of the missed lessons).
9
00:01:50,195 --> 00:01:53,490
I have a new teacher
who came from Lisbon.
10
00:01:54,407 --> 00:01:57,869
She is a hippie,
she's called Ms. Minda.
11
00:02:01,915 --> 00:02:02,957
She smokes many cigarettes
12
00:02:03,166 --> 00:02:07,545
and my eyes sting if I look
at the board for too long.
13
00:02:08,379 --> 00:02:10,256
Therefore I rather
look out of the window
14
00:02:10,465 --> 00:02:15,386
and watch the sawmill in the distance
with its roofs white with snow.
15
00:02:18,765 --> 00:02:23,353
But snow is after all not as great
as I told you in the last letter.
16
00:02:24,104 --> 00:02:27,899
It never snows quite enough
to cover the mud of the tracks.
17
00:02:29,234 --> 00:02:32,862
The cold is so harsh that it freezes
the slope outside the school
18
00:02:33,029 --> 00:02:36,491
and I have to tread really
carefully in order not to slip.
19
00:02:41,287 --> 00:02:42,997
There are kids who laugh at me,
20
00:02:43,206 --> 00:02:45,542
the same kids that called me
those ugly names
21
00:02:45,750 --> 00:02:48,419
that Uncle forbade me to repeat.
22
00:02:52,048 --> 00:02:54,884
I know that they are dumb and poor,
that it's not their fault,
23
00:02:55,093 --> 00:02:57,470
because their parents
are even worse than them,
24
00:02:57,679 --> 00:02:59,681
they drink and hit them.
25
00:02:59,973 --> 00:03:04,894
But I feel no sorrow for them,
I think they deserve each other.
26
00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:22,579
I miss you both very much.
27
00:03:28,334 --> 00:03:31,337
I know that it won't be long
before mama comes over
28
00:03:31,546 --> 00:03:35,258
and that will be good but
I miss being there very much,
29
00:03:35,466 --> 00:03:38,178
I miss our home very much.
30
00:03:40,388 --> 00:03:44,642
I also miss Bolinhas,
Ms. Judite and the twins,
31
00:03:44,851 --> 00:03:47,520
and I even miss Cuca...
32
00:03:48,521 --> 00:03:50,356
I think that if he saw me now
33
00:03:50,565 --> 00:03:53,193
he would be reminded of
how good he had it with us,
34
00:03:53,359 --> 00:03:55,320
and would stop hanging around
with those evil people
35
00:03:55,528 --> 00:03:57,530
who want to kick us out of there,
36
00:03:58,489 --> 00:03:59,741
maybe he would even cry
37
00:03:59,949 --> 00:04:03,411
and call me
'sweet little boy' again.
38
00:04:08,458 --> 00:04:12,378
lam sure there are still plenty
of people there who are friends of ours
39
00:04:12,670 --> 00:04:15,173
and don't care for revolutions,
40
00:04:15,423 --> 00:04:19,802
people who one can climb trees
and have picnics with.
41
00:04:34,651 --> 00:04:35,902
Papa and Mama,
42
00:04:36,110 --> 00:04:39,822
I know we must leave that place
solely because we are Portuguese
43
00:04:40,031 --> 00:04:42,242
and that it is no longer Portugal.
44
00:04:43,076 --> 00:04:45,119
But what does Portugal matter
45
00:04:45,411 --> 00:04:47,455
if Portugal is just
an ugly bunch of people
46
00:04:47,705 --> 00:04:52,210
taking scrawny oxen for a walk,
without being able to feed themselves?
47
00:04:57,507 --> 00:05:02,095
Maybe papa and mama have forgotten
what Portugal is really like,
48
00:05:02,345 --> 00:05:06,015
just like the primary school teacher
over there had also forgotten
49
00:05:06,224 --> 00:05:12,397
and would name the train stations,
the rivers, the provinces and its customs
50
00:05:12,563 --> 00:05:17,485
without mentioning the cold,
the poverty and the sadness.
51
00:05:18,695 --> 00:05:22,490
Portugal is very sad
and it will always be so.
52
00:06:01,154 --> 00:06:03,364
You may all rummage
through my biography
53
00:06:03,573 --> 00:06:07,618
- journalists, inspectors,
policemen and altri buffoni!
54
00:06:08,953 --> 00:06:10,872
But you are destined to fail,
55
00:06:11,039 --> 00:06:13,166
you foolish
and presumptuous men,
56
00:06:13,499 --> 00:06:16,377
because the deep truth of matters
is not found
57
00:06:16,627 --> 00:06:20,006
in journalistic research
or judicial processes
58
00:06:20,214 --> 00:06:23,009
supported by false
and biased testimonies
59
00:06:23,217 --> 00:06:25,762
of those who know nothing.
60
00:06:27,972 --> 00:06:29,474
How could they know
61
00:06:29,682 --> 00:06:36,022
if there was no one else there that day,
except for three or four other classmates?
62
00:06:37,065 --> 00:06:38,858
It was eleven o'clock in the evening,
63
00:06:39,067 --> 00:06:42,153
at a barren plot of land
in the outskirts of Milan.
64
00:06:42,362 --> 00:06:45,365
I was opposite the factory
and my legs were trembling.
65
00:06:45,615 --> 00:06:49,327
I was ten years old and
had three stones in my hand.
66
00:06:50,495 --> 00:06:53,790
My idiot friends inveighing against me
67
00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:58,086
as they thought my legs trembled
because I didn't have the balls to do it.
68
00:06:58,336 --> 00:06:59,837
But I believe nowadays that,
69
00:07:00,004 --> 00:07:05,218
none would doubt that few Italians
have them in their place as much as I do.
70
00:07:06,469 --> 00:07:08,012
I was not afraid of the police
71
00:07:08,221 --> 00:07:11,849
or of the fat drunken watchman
who snoozed off on duty.
72
00:07:13,518 --> 00:07:18,314
I threw the stones and shouted:
Fuori fascisti!
73
00:07:21,692 --> 00:07:25,279
A week later, the owner put the factory
up for sale for next-to-nothing
74
00:07:25,530 --> 00:07:28,324
and left Milan
for an undisclosed destination,
75
00:07:28,574 --> 00:07:34,247
taking with him his wife and daughter
- Alessandra, my love.
76
00:07:39,127 --> 00:07:41,337
I am an old man.
77
00:07:42,255 --> 00:07:43,673
I had a full life
78
00:07:43,840 --> 00:07:48,010
and was therefore subject
to infamous lies and the envy of others.
79
00:07:48,719 --> 00:07:51,889
I made many friends
and just as many enemies.
80
00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:54,809
I loved more than
one thousand women
81
00:07:55,059 --> 00:07:58,896
and I assume some of them
have also loved me back.
82
00:07:59,564 --> 00:08:01,399
Those are public facts.
83
00:08:03,860 --> 00:08:08,948
But those who think they know my story
ignore - and always will -
84
00:08:09,198 --> 00:08:14,954
the countless nights I woke up in tears
calling out her name.
85
00:08:17,248 --> 00:08:19,917
Alessandra, where are you?
86
00:08:25,339 --> 00:08:28,509
Have you ever imagined
how much I loved you?
87
00:08:29,969 --> 00:08:31,888
Would I ever have had
the courage to tell you
88
00:08:32,096 --> 00:08:34,056
if I had not thrown those stones
89
00:08:34,307 --> 00:08:38,811
that drove you and your
fascist parents out of the city?
90
00:08:42,857 --> 00:08:48,321
The only thing I feared in life
was your silence, grave and mysterious,
91
00:08:48,488 --> 00:08:50,948
even when you did less noble things
92
00:08:51,157 --> 00:08:56,287
such as picking your nose when queuing
next to me in the rations line.
93
00:08:56,496 --> 00:08:59,749
I whistled the latest hits
of the Italian song to you,
94
00:08:59,916 --> 00:09:03,461
while my hands in my pockets
tried to push down my petite shorts
95
00:09:03,669 --> 00:09:06,339
that made me look slightly ridiculous.
96
00:09:08,090 --> 00:09:12,386
Did you get married, Alessandra?
Did you have children?
97
00:09:14,138 --> 00:09:16,933
Did you vote for me, Alessandra?
98
00:09:17,892 --> 00:09:18,976
Or, as in my dreams,
99
00:09:19,227 --> 00:09:21,604
did you continue to levitate
two feet above the ground
100
00:09:21,771 --> 00:09:24,774
with the theatrical arrogance
of a trapeze artist?
101
00:09:24,941 --> 00:09:27,193
Do you remember the circus,
Alessandra?
102
00:09:28,945 --> 00:09:31,822
You, a blonde silent angel,
103
00:09:32,031 --> 00:09:35,243
much higher than two feet
above the rest of us,
104
00:09:35,451 --> 00:09:38,538
walking in slow motion
up the street, down the street,
105
00:09:38,746 --> 00:09:40,706
indifferent to the crumbled
facades of the buildings
106
00:09:40,957 --> 00:09:43,709
and the agitation
of the carabinieri's dogs.
107
00:09:44,835 --> 00:09:47,713
Did you descend to earth,
I wonder, Alessandra?
108
00:09:49,882 --> 00:09:52,552
Did you look down,
in shame and resentment
109
00:09:52,760 --> 00:09:55,263
of your father before you left,
I wonder?
110
00:09:55,471 --> 00:09:56,973
Did you become bitter
111
00:09:57,181 --> 00:10:00,560
and now fall asleep
alone in front of the television?
112
00:10:01,143 --> 00:10:03,187
Have you been happy?
113
00:10:03,563 --> 00:10:07,942
Has someone else whistled to you again,
Alessandra?
114
00:11:17,011 --> 00:11:20,014
My dear baby girl,
115
00:11:22,099 --> 00:11:24,101
whatever you become in the future,
116
00:11:24,352 --> 00:11:26,687
a ballet dancer,
general attorney of the republic,
117
00:11:27,104 --> 00:11:32,193
equestrian Olympic champion, astronaut
or detective - how would I know -
118
00:11:32,818 --> 00:11:37,573
I fear that you are most likely
not to have a real dad.
119
00:11:46,374 --> 00:11:50,044
And if one day you confront me
with these words
120
00:11:50,503 --> 00:11:52,505
I will surely deny it.
121
00:11:57,176 --> 00:11:59,428
Even if then, as today,
you may very well notice
122
00:11:59,679 --> 00:12:02,640
how absolutely visible
my lack of skills are.
123
00:12:02,890 --> 00:12:04,225
Like today, on that day
124
00:12:04,392 --> 00:12:10,606
I will postpone changing that bulb
in the larder that I promised to do,
125
00:12:10,773 --> 00:12:13,734
how many years has that bulb
been gone now?
126
00:12:15,403 --> 00:12:19,573
On that day, I will allow the servants
to decide what I will have for dinner
127
00:12:19,990 --> 00:12:23,452
and I will brush my teeth
with one of dozens of brushes
128
00:12:23,703 --> 00:12:26,330
that I never bothered to throw away.
129
00:12:32,461 --> 00:12:36,382
My daughter,
France decides its future today.
130
00:12:36,799 --> 00:12:41,679
Tomorrow I will abandon my post,
the polls are relatively reliable.
131
00:12:44,140 --> 00:12:47,893
But tomorrow, like today,
I will continue to be your father.
132
00:13:06,912 --> 00:13:09,957
I will pay for your ballet lessons
and law degree fees,
133
00:13:10,416 --> 00:13:11,709
I will order
134
00:13:11,917 --> 00:13:14,587
the most docile of horses at your
request and the wisest instructors.
135
00:13:15,880 --> 00:13:17,965
In due course will introduce you
136
00:13:18,257 --> 00:13:21,802
to that helpful director
of the European space program.
137
00:13:22,511 --> 00:13:24,180
I will guide you
through the door of the library
138
00:13:24,388 --> 00:13:27,767
that leads to
the classics of crime novels.
139
00:13:30,019 --> 00:13:35,191
You will miss nothing.
These will be future proofs of my love.
140
00:13:38,152 --> 00:13:39,779
But when you search in vain
141
00:13:39,987 --> 00:13:42,198
for photos of me
in your past birthday parties,
142
00:13:43,073 --> 00:13:48,621
when you are unable to remember me
at your side one earlier day in the park,
143
00:13:49,455 --> 00:13:51,749
when you realize
I have been a stranger
144
00:13:51,957 --> 00:13:55,503
because you never knew my favorite
color and my favorite animal,
145
00:13:55,711 --> 00:13:58,255
please don't get angry.
146
00:14:00,007 --> 00:14:02,343
Remember that
you never lacked anything,
147
00:14:02,551 --> 00:14:06,639
that one suffers less when realizing
that they lost what they never had.
148
00:14:07,014 --> 00:14:12,394
That for you the end began
before you were even aware of it.
149
00:14:13,938 --> 00:14:15,981
That it was for your own good,
my daughter,
150
00:14:16,816 --> 00:14:21,987
because it is much sadder
to lose what one once had,
151
00:14:22,363 --> 00:14:24,949
it makes us live
in an eternal present
152
00:14:25,157 --> 00:14:28,285
in which it matters not whether
there is a new bulb in the larder,
153
00:14:29,161 --> 00:14:32,122
and it matters not
if you throw away useless objects
154
00:14:32,331 --> 00:14:35,709
and it matters little
what is served for dinner
155
00:14:35,918 --> 00:14:39,380
as long as one doesn't go hungry.
156
00:14:48,973 --> 00:14:52,852
In honest truth, I don't have
a favorite color or animal,
157
00:14:53,602 --> 00:14:58,023
neither do I remember the times
when I did and then stopped having them.
158
00:15:01,986 --> 00:15:09,702
I also don't remember when I stopped
wishing upon a star as my dad taught me.
159
00:15:20,087 --> 00:15:22,673
For me, the end started so long ago
160
00:15:22,882 --> 00:15:26,844
that I no longer remember
such specific details.
161
00:16:11,847 --> 00:16:14,767
Today is the happiest day of my life.
162
00:16:15,726 --> 00:16:17,603
I love my husband.
163
00:16:18,187 --> 00:16:23,692
All the VIP's from Leipzig's University
came to the wedding.
164
00:16:25,569 --> 00:16:29,949
The party made its presence felt
through members of its highest ranks.
165
00:16:31,075 --> 00:16:34,536
The Regional Secretary confided in us
166
00:16:34,787 --> 00:16:38,457
his high hopes in the union
of such prominent scientists.
167
00:16:50,177 --> 00:16:53,472
Mother seems touched
and apparently so does father,
168
00:16:53,722 --> 00:16:57,309
as he conducts the ceremony
with extreme rigor.
169
00:17:29,091 --> 00:17:33,595
However, in whom can I confide about
this discomfort I struggle against,
170
00:17:33,804 --> 00:17:39,351
this damned opera that of its own accord
imposes itself over waltzes and polkas...?
171
00:17:39,601 --> 00:17:42,521
Overwhelming...
Unbending...
172
00:17:42,771 --> 00:17:47,943
Stemming from the memory
of other surely less happy days...!
173
00:17:49,528 --> 00:17:52,114
For example,
when I watched Parsifal
174
00:17:52,322 --> 00:17:54,533
with my auntie and cousins
ten years ago.
175
00:17:54,908 --> 00:17:57,619
A good day, indeed very good.
176
00:17:57,995 --> 00:18:01,582
The lights of the opera in West Berlin,
the red curtain,
177
00:18:01,790 --> 00:18:05,127
very imperialistic yet so splendid.
178
00:18:05,711 --> 00:18:08,547
A night that gave me goose pimples!
179
00:18:09,173 --> 00:18:11,341
The lights and the curtain...
180
00:18:12,217 --> 00:18:14,762
The singers were astonishing!
181
00:18:15,929 --> 00:18:18,265
Yet in the end, it was an
anonymous day if compared
182
00:18:18,474 --> 00:18:21,393
to the importance of a day
such as today,
183
00:18:21,810 --> 00:18:28,150
so important to me, to my parents,
to the Lutheran Church, to the University,
184
00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:31,361
to the German Democratic Republic...
185
00:18:40,245 --> 00:18:42,706
Unless Wagner
stops playing loudly in my head
186
00:18:42,956 --> 00:18:46,752
he will end up making my dear husband
ask me for a divorce.
187
00:18:48,212 --> 00:18:50,506
If this fascist Wagner doesn't shut up
188
00:18:50,714 --> 00:18:54,968
I'll end up being accused
of betraying the socialist revolution.
189
00:18:59,264 --> 00:19:03,435
If today is not the happiest day of my life
- how disgraceful -
190
00:19:03,602 --> 00:19:06,396
then what constitutes
a day of happiness?
191
00:19:08,482 --> 00:19:10,275
Why do I remember today
- from all days -
192
00:19:10,484 --> 00:19:13,237
the futile joy of taking advantage
193
00:19:13,487 --> 00:19:16,615
of my father's special visa
on my return to the homeland
194
00:19:16,824 --> 00:19:20,119
from the other Germany
carrying my recently bought jeans?
195
00:19:24,665 --> 00:19:25,916
It's not the revolution I betray
196
00:19:26,125 --> 00:19:30,462
with these stupid memories,
with these small vanities.
197
00:19:31,922 --> 00:19:33,590
The revolution is betrayed daily
198
00:19:33,799 --> 00:19:38,262
by the weaknesses and prepotency
of the leaders of this sad country.
199
00:19:46,478 --> 00:19:50,607
I don't even betray
the husband I love and always will.
200
00:19:51,400 --> 00:19:54,570
But I know I offend God
with these forced grins,
201
00:19:54,736 --> 00:19:58,240
with these inglorious efforts
to seem so happy
202
00:19:58,448 --> 00:20:01,160
when, in truth, I'm drifting off.
203
00:20:08,458 --> 00:20:10,502
lam on the other side of the wall,
204
00:20:10,711 --> 00:20:17,092
happy, free, amazed,
with no one to be accountable to,
205
00:20:17,301 --> 00:20:21,555
with no parents,
country nor God.
206
00:21:38,632 --> 00:21:40,968
If I shut my eyes firmly
207
00:21:41,134 --> 00:21:44,846
(quickly, so nobody notices, but hard)
208
00:21:45,180 --> 00:21:49,643
I wonder if this music will go away
and all will go back to normal?
209
00:23:13,268 --> 00:23:16,146
On 21st January 1975, in Vale de Nogueiras:
210
00:23:24,905 --> 00:23:27,824
On 13th July 2011, in Milan:
211
00:23:35,415 --> 00:23:38,293
On 6th May 2012, in Paris:
212
00:23:45,842 --> 00:23:48,720
On 3rd September 1977, in Leipzig
213
00:24:08,740 --> 00:24:13,370
A film by
214
00:24:18,750 --> 00:24:20,419
TEXTS
215
00:24:21,461 --> 00:24:26,633
All texts are the product
of the authors' imaginations
216
00:24:27,801 --> 00:24:29,553
EDITING
217
00:24:30,595 --> 00:24:35,350
With the participation
of the students of Le Fresnoy
218
00:24:36,601 --> 00:24:41,773
SOUND & MIX
219
00:25:51,635 --> 00:25:56,806
PRODUCERS
18847
Can't find what you're looking for?
Get subtitles in any language from opensubtitles.com, and translate them here.