Original subtitles

That will cost you money.

Ladies and gentlemen,

you'll have to pay up

if you want me to sing the ballad of Francisco Manoel,

the bandit Cobra Verde,

the poorest of the poor,

the master of the slaves.

lt was he who became Viceroy.

lt was he who was the Alonest of the Alone.

Francisco Manoel's mother moans, Francisco, I ache down to my bones.

Francisco Manoel's mother cries, Francisco, leave me, for l must die.

The rocks are sick through years ofdrought,

The earth's dried up, evil's won out.

All that surrounds me breaks down in melancholy.

The earth has grown fragile, Francisco, be still.

God cannot be fathomed, for chance is His Will.

Now travelling, he reads a line in the sky "Don't set your eyes on the shore.

"Don't reason. Don't argue. Let fate alone guide you

"to find love and friendships once more."

Based on motifs from the novel The ViceroyofOuidahby Bruce Chatwin

His Royal Highness Nana Agyefi Kwame ll von Nsein

and with the girls of the Zigi Cultural Troupe Ho Ziavi

Where's my money?

Where are my partners? Where's my money?

Keep moving!

Next!

What are you doing here? There's no money for you!

- What? That's not possible! - You won't get any wages this week.

The bank kept it all!

Get lost!

- You're just a blood sucker. - You bastard!

You've been cheating me!

l want you to be awake when you die!

lt's Cobra Verde, the bandit! Get the children in a safe place!

Go on, get it into the church!

That rifle stays outside!

Now, get that thing out of here, or l'll throw you out!

Tell your father...

Cobra Verde is here!

l have no father!

This is my bar, and you don't frighten me!

My name is Francisco Manoel.

And my name is Euclides.

Euclides Alves da Silva Pernambucano Wandereley.

l'm a da Silva too.

lt's just that my chest is crooked.

At night l always dream l have to carry a whole mountain range on my back.

You stand straighter than the whole town!

l'm hungry.

l'll bring you some food.

How do you know all these things?

From our priest.

And he learned them from our Bishop.

And where does the snow come from?

You'll see it out there!

There's always snow on the moon!

That's why it's always white... and cold!

You have to look very carefully.

Why is that?

The moon, the moon... takes the salt out of the ocean.

And when night falls, the tips of the mountains

attract the snowflakes.

But only as much salt as we have in our tears.

- And here on earth? - lt's very far away.

You must keep going west.

Four years on horseback, and ten years on foot.

And after that, there are high mountains.

They rise higher and higher - right over the clouds.

And then above the clouds, then you find the snow.

lt only falls at night time.

Just like feathers.

But it only falls from above the clouds.

Then the whole world turns light...

and white!

All the animals turn white,

the snow lions, the rabbits and the eagles

turn into white snowflakes.

And when you're walking through the snow

your feet don't weigh anything at all.

And the little snowflakes, go flying up in the air

just like feathers.

ln a few years, l will sell this bar,

grab a horse, go west, and climb up the mountains.

l'm going east to the sea.

The Sertão dries our hearts, and kills the cattle.

You'd better be very careful when you go to the sea.

lt's where the tempests are born and the snowflakes have their cradle.

That's what the reverend father said!

l never had a friend in all my life.

Farewell.

lt's your money or your life!

My life.

Every day you walk forty miles through the thorns?

And why are you barefoot?

Don't you have any shoes?

l don't trust shoes.

And why don't you have a horse?

l'd never trust a horse.

And l don't trust people either.

But l long to go forth from here to another world.

Stop him!

Don't run away. lt'll only be worse for you.

Let him go!

He can find the post by himself!

Hey, you with the bare feet. What's your name?

Da Silva.

Francisco Manoel da Silva.

l'm Colonel Octavio Cotinho.

l need a man like you.

l have six hundred slaves in my sugar fields,

but my overseer is an idiot.

No one grows more sugar than l do.

Let us know if that's not enough.

l've never had as many clothes before.

lt drives me crazy to think

that there are still some fields not planted with my sugar cane.

lt sickens me to think of countries where my cattle aren't grazing!

And when l think of all the mulatto girls l haven't made pregnant yet -

that's quite beyond endurance.

Beware of the ladies, Da Silva!

And when do l start work?

Oh, there's no hurry. l'll show you everything.

You'll be the overseer here.

We harvest twice a year, it's that fertile.

l've got another forty sugar plantations just like this one.

l alone produce more sugar than the whole state of Pernambuco.

A hundred thousand tons per year.

And all of it goes to England, our enemy.

They've abolished the slave trade, and they seize our ships,

but without us they wouldn't have any sugar.

They eat so much sugar that we have to grow more and more of it.

Grotesque!

You'll be in charge here, too.

We squeeze out the sugar cane and this is where the juice is thickened.

We heat the molasses up to 120 degrees.

lt has to agitated, otherwise it gets sticky.

At this stage it's still a thin syrup.

ln a couple of hours the molasses will start to crystallise.

This is no easy task -

every now and then one of the workers collapses from the fumes.

But we've got enough of them.

As you see here we're ladling it from one tub to another.

Don't run away!

Get a machete. Hurry!

Stop the machine!

We're going to have to hack another arm off!

- ls there nothing we can do? - This sort of thing happens all the time.

How very strange. l haven't fathered a child yet today.

Come. Come on!

Hey, Francisco Manoel, do your shoes fit?

Tell me, did you ever learn how to use a knife and fork?

The man from the Sertão doesn't talk to just anyone!

How many cows did you own?

l've got nothing to lose.

l don't have to talk to anybody!

l'll kill the lot of you!

My daughters are all whores. Rutting with a barefoot cowherd!

Bonita, you whore!

Bonita! Bonita! You! Pregnant!

Pregnant! You...

You whore!

And you, Wandeleide!

Pregnant at fifteen!

Valkyria! Valkyria! Valkyria!

Valkyria, are you pregnant, too? Tell me!

- Are you pregnant too? Well? - No, l mean yes. Daddy, l don't know!

Cowherd! Bastard! You!

What have you got to say for yourseIf?

Sugarcane planter.

l'm the bandit Cobra Verde.

An outlaw in my own house!

A thief, a bandit, a criminal!

Let's put him on trial.

- l'll kill him. - The man's too dangerous.

We'd have three or four dead before we finished him off.

Why not marry him off to your daughter?

He's the best man on your plantation, isn't he?

l would do that...

but the swine made all three of them pregnant.

Send him to Africa to buy slaves.

What do you mean, "buy slaves"?

We haven't had any slaves in Brazil for ten years.

That's just the point.

We send him to a certain death.

The King of Dahomey is mad.

Anyone who sets foot on his territory is killed on the spot!

ln the last ten years,

not one single white man has come back alive from there.

And what if... and what if the scum does manage it!

He'll never make it. l know Africa. l know the Bight of Benin.

And if he does make it, he'll bring back so many slaves

you can extend your plantations all the way to Sergipe.

Why don't you give him your oldest daughter to marry?

Yes! Use him any way you can.

And as for the other two girls,

well, with your money and your name, l'm sure you can find a husband for them.

lf that doesn't appeal to you send them to the Carmelite Sisters.

lf only l could kill him!

l'll arrange everything with the governor.

Da Silva!

We have a special assignment

which we can entrust only to a capable man.

This is an official certificate entitling you to engage in the slave trade.

As you know, this trade has fallen into stagnation.

The King of Dahomey has cut off our supplies,

but we know he needs weapons and money.

So, we propose the following...

We will send you to Dahomey, to our Fort Elmina.

You will have rank as a lieutenant.

Your wages will be held for you here in a special bank account in Bahia.

ln five months' time, a ship with a cargo of munitions will arrive.

You can pay the king with that.

We've also thought about Angola,

but the English Navy have it blockaded.

Sailing around the Cape to the east coast of Africa is impossible,

because the Arabs monopolise the slave trade from Zanzibar on down.

The situation looks very promising at this time,

because the King of Dahomey is involved in a war with the Egbas.

And that means that he needs us just as much as we need him.

When did you last receive information?

lt's been a while.

We can't trust the reports that we get.

We need a man we can trust in Africa.

Will you accept our offer?

Yes.

Congratulations.

Here's your commission.

Congratulations! lsn't that great?

Come. We'll prepare a ship for him.

Elmina, West Africa

Brazilian slave fortress

in the country of the sinister, demented King of Dahomey

Put me ashore - and give me ten rifles to take along.

None of my crew would dare take you.

l can't force them.

Let's wait and see if they're going to come and fetch you.

There's nobody there.

What's going on?

Here, take the telescope. lt's as if the fort were dead.

Usually they send out one of their fetish priests,

praying for us to capsize in the surf.

All flotsam is the property of the king.

l've even seen them strip a half-drowned sailor naked.

- Let's see what happens. - So far, Africa's been a disappointment.

- Hallelujah! - Hallelujah!

Where is the barge full of silk?

And the coach and the horses?

What about the trumpets?

And what about the silver hunting rifles?

There will be no gifts.

Not even greyhounds?

Not even greyhounds.

There will be no gifts

until your king resumes the slave trade and turns over the fort to me.

Give me one of those rifles!

l'll make payment with rifles.

The powder we have here takes a long time to speak.

- Yours speaks at once. - Keep it then.

Death to the white men! Death to the white men!

You can live here if you like.

The west wing's in reasonable condition.

And... you can help yourseIf to one of my daughters.

She could... She could live in the castle with you.

- Are you running a brothel, or what? - No.

l mean... you've got to pay for it.

l need something to live on after all,

but l only do this for white men.

And you're the first one who's come here... for a long time.

Mother of Jesus Christ and all the saints be praised!

l am Taparica, the drum major,

the only survivor of the garrison.

l'm a free Yoruba

and l served in the First Regiment of the Black Militia.

Shall l show you where l live?

This is my home.

And these are my brothers and sisters.

What happened here?

lt all started very strangely.

They say the king in Abomey is a little soft in the head.

He found slavery to be a bad idea.

lnstead of sending us slaves he sent us a horse one day.

lt only had one ear.

Then they attacked us.

The governor was killed outright in a skirmish on the coast.

Then they overran the fort and plundered everything.

The Black Militia ran away, and the whites were murdered.

The skulls of the prisoners

are now decorating the walls of the Palace in Abomey.

They looted everything

and poked the eyes out of all the portraits in the main building.

Then they broke open the rum barrels one by one

and drank the lot!

They raped one of the cadets in the courtyard.

They put ants on my chest - pepper under my eyelids.

They burnt my tongue because they claimed we were hiding a treasure.

Just as they were about to kill me,

someone exploded the powder magazine with a lighted torch.

They pulled out seven corpses from the wreckage,

and after that they left me in peace.

We do not know who is buried where...

but l think this grave here is the Governor's.

Why did you come?

All alone... without any soldiers?

Aren't you afraid? Aren't you afraid of dying?

l've never tried it.

What do we do now?

We wait.

Careful with that! Keep it up.

l've never seen a white man work before!

Get out of my way! l've got to hold up the front!

Spiritus sanctus...

- Sanctus... - Let me through here!

You filthy pig! l don't want to see you here anymore.

Get lost, you pig!

300 slaves doesn't make full use of the hold capacity,

but it's better than nothing.

Our friends in Brazil will be surprised.

Twenty per cent of the sales price will be paid into your bank account.

- How many rifles do you have? - 140 plus ammunition.

- Silk? - Five bales.

lt isn't the best quality, but no one's gonna notice here.

- Rum? - Ten barrels.

How about tobacco?

Unfortunately it got damp and we had to throw it overboard.

Next time you'll have to bring more firearms.

Has that war with the Egbas flared up again?

The information that gets here is incomplete.

We have to rely on guess-work.

- May l make a personal remark? - Go ahead.

We tried to - if l might say so -

consider all the possibilities when we sent you down here.

But we never expected to see you again.

Why do you suppose they're sending you slaves?

l suppose they need me.

You can best guess their age from their teeth.

Actually they're lucky. We're saving their lives.

During their annual ceremonies, their customs would have them sacrificed

to the king's ancestors as messengers.

They'd be dispatched to the other world.

But now we are sending them to a wonderful land

where everyone dances and the cigars grow on trees.

Find out what's going on!

lt is Bossa. Bossa Gelele. He's the king's older brother.

All men and children with the first name Bossa are to be killed.

The king can't stand to have anyone else in his kingdom

with his first name, Bossa.

His name is Bossa, Bossa Ahadee.

He knows customs won't allow him to kill his own brother

on the solid soil of his kingdom.

That's why he's being taken out to the sea to be drowned.

When the king is looking for someone, no one can hide.

Even if they flee beneath the earth,

the ground will talk!

The leopard has begotten a son with a female human.

The leopard's mighty claw has left an indelible mark on the child's temples.

Now the holy Leopard's son declares that he loves the white man.

ls the white man in good health?

The new white man comes from across the sea.

He has seen many things.

The king has prepared a king's road for him.

The king wishes to see the stranger.

The king has dictated this message for you to his royal scribe.

l am Portuguese,

held captive by this horrible king these last sixteen years.

He doesn't know l'm writing this.

Beware! lf you come here, you're a dead man.

Tell his majesty l must always have one foot in the sea.

l cannot come.

Seize him.

Abomey Residence of the King

l wish l had your skin.

Black people believe the Devil is white.

The leopard has risen.

The leopard takes his seat.

- Dada, breathe for me! - Dada...

The bush king takes his seat.

What does that mean?

That is the bush king. He doesn't exist.

That is, he only exists in the king's imagination.

But the two kings rule together.

The leopard speaks!

For the annual ceremony, the preceding night at the Gate of Tears,

all dogs must be slaughtered.

The dogs assemble in the streets, and try to talk like humans.

But if they succeed, it will bring a plague upon the people.

We must conquer the Egbas!

We shall break Abeokuta!

My house needs thatching!

l'll thatch my roof with the skulls of my enemies.

How are my brethren?

Answer, white man, before l kill you!

How is the health of the King of Prussia?

How is my brother, the Tsar of Russia?

And how is Queen Victoria,

whose heart is a big calabash

overflowing with palm wine for the thirsty man?

l can't hear what you're saying for the thunder that you are.

l can't hear you.

Prepare for your death, stranger.

Time doesn't occur to the king.

The Devil is white. Death is white! All whites are haIf dead.

That's what they always do before they behead a white man.

They have painted your face black...

because they are not allowed to kill a white man.

l'm not afraid of you.

ln this place, the dead are more alive than the living.

The leopard's drinking.

No one may see the leopard while he's drinking.

Hey, white man.

One day l will drink from your skull!

This was the King of the Mahis.

The dead eat so?

The dead drink so.

l have sworn, in my swearing house to conquer the Egbas.

l fear nobody.

l have only one fear.

And that is that one day

there may be anyone left to be conquered.

But tell me, white man...

Why have the Portuguese

brought 335,000 warships to my shore?

And why did you poison my greyhound?

The snow... the... snow.

Quickly! Quickly! Kill the guards!

l am Bakoko, the confidant of Prince Kankpe.

He's waiting for you. Quickly, come with me!

Where is Taparica! You must take Taparica along!

Why did you free us?

Prince Kankpe has decided to revolt against his mad uncle.

He is the rightful heir to the throne.

Yesterday, King Bossa Ahadee went up north with his entire army.

Out there live many hills.

We must overcome Bossa Ahadee.

But we'll need your help to do it.

Our rebel warriors are good for nothing. The women are much braver.

My father.

The traitor must die.

He has opened up the graves of our ancestors!

We will go down to the fortress on the coast

where we will establish an army of Amazons.

The prince would like to make a pact of blood brotherhood with you.

Blood brothers do not kill each other.

lf the new king will turn over the slave trade to me,

then l am his man.

Does he have the vaguest notion what we're talking about?

He is in agreement. He has no choice.

He says yes to anything. You see, he is quite insane.

What a wretched mess!

Hey, you! Over there! Go on!

Listen to me! l said over there!

You'll have to get up quicker, if you don't want to get killed.

- l've got 400 new recruits. - Take them down to the shore.

- They all want to fight! - Don't bother me now.

l've got to get this wretched mess organised first.

- Shields up! - Watch what you do with that spear!

All right! Now, fight!

You've got it all wrong! Give me your spear, l'll show you.

You've got to hold it like this, and keep your feet moving, like this!

Like this!

Like this. Take it.

Attack!

Let's have that cutlass!

Attack! Don't retreat!

Keep your spear up! Cover your body with the shield!

Mind what's going on!

lf you trip and fall, it's the end of you!

With all your might...

Come on! Get a move on!

One!

Two!

Three!

Four!

And take the enemy!

Not bad. Now get back in your starting positions.

Everyone!

Come on, quicker, keep moving!

And now... ready!

Attack position. Everyone together!

The whole thing again, but faster!

Attention!

One!

Two!

Three!

Four!

Five! And take the enemy!

Don't they want to continue?

What's up? Get up! On your feet now, come on.

We want to continue. Get up, everyone!

Get up!

We don't want to practise anymore. We want to fight!

lf we have to go through a burning fire, we'll do it!

l swear l will bring back Bossa Ahadee's head!

No, you're not yet ready.

You've got to keep on practising. You're going to fast.

You've got to obey my orders.

l don't want to hear any more from you. We'll attack the palace shortly.

l'm in charge here. l'll decide when we attack.

Now get back in your starting positions. You must practise a lot more!

Only that way can we succeed.

l don't want to hear another word. Leave me alone.

l've made my decision! We're gonna attack!

We march out tomorrow.

Follow me! Off to Abomey!

They have taken the sacred python from the temple.

We must turn back - nobody gets past it alive!

Why? ln my country, l was a snake myself! Follow me!

Attack!

The dead kings have deposed you.

So, now l will go and sleep.

Wall up the doors to the women's quarters.

No! No! Don't let him get away!

Stay back. His wives will strangle him now.

The new king takes his seat!

Shall l ask him to approach?

He has given you the name Adjinakou -

that means "green snake".

He has appointed you Viceroy of Dahomey.

Our King Kankpe gives you Fort Elmina as your official residence.

We have to remove the glass windows from the main house.

The servants sprinkled them with water

because they thought the rising sun had set them on fire.

Make sure the ventilation in the slave quarters is improved.

- Too many are dying. - Yes, Adjinakou.

We'll have to get them shipped faster.

The captain of the Flor de Bahia has the best quarters in town -

l gave him the east wing.

And the relays are all prepared.

Tomorrow they will all be in position.

The distance is twenty-three thousand five hundred bamboo poles.

That will be a great surprise for our king.

They're offering you a place in the syndicate back in Bahia.

l don't need it!

And why haven't l received any ships of my own?

l don't know, Don Francisco.

l will bring it to the governor's attention as soon as l return.

This is an outrage!

This is the second shipment of slaves you've received without payment.

And all l have is your word.

Sometimes l get a bit tired.

Tonight l won't take any of them.

Which one would you like to have?

That one.

You there - come on up!

Yes, you!

lf they get pregnant, they aren't taken aboard.

Then they get their own hut out here.

We've already got a whole village full of them.

Who are these women?

Our future murderers.

Send the signals!

l want to write a letter for you to take back to my partners.

lt's going to take about an hour and a haIf before l get an answering signal anyway.

l cannot begin to describe this cretinous existence of mine.

Nor how lonely it is to be without family or friends.

The only white man in this country, perhaps on this whole continent.

MeanWhile l have become the father of sixty-teo children,

but this gives me no satisfaction.

Perhaps next year l shall come back and marry.

l Would live in the lands of ice and snow,

anywhere to be away from here.

The heat here is mean and inescapable.

lt courses through the bodies of the people like a fever -

and yet my heart grows colder and colder.

Adjinakou there's an answer coming back.

The king sends his brother the Royal Leopard Salute.

This one's about nineteen - looks strong and healthy.

He must be about twenty-five - he's strong.

This one's about the same age. He can become a good worker.

- Did you like my nuns' choir? - Nun's choir? Not bad.

Do you know Pedro Vincente, the captain of the Flor de Bahia?

Yes, l know him.

How much would some interesting news be worth to you?

lt depends.

Pedro Vincente took a large consignment of slaves off your hands.

He never paid.

Then let me tell you what l saw with my own eyes.

The Flor de Bahia was brimming over with cargo.

Pedro Vincente has cheated you.

He's gone and dumped all his weapons and goods to the British -

he made a double profit on the deal.

And guess what happened to the Flor de Bahia!

She's drifting off shore near Lagos... unseaworthy.

And on top of that, the crew has mutinied. You've got him trapped now!

You take a cutter to Lagos and deliver a message from me.

"Come here. l'll re-equip you. Nobody cheats me twice."

Get all the furniture, the rifles, the money.

Hey! What is the meaning of this?

Our King Kankpe was never insane.

He only pretended to be.

He thanks his brother, who was once the viceroy.

The blood brother of the king was a big tree

and that's what he wants you to know.

Why does the king speak of me only in the past tense?

Adjinakou, things look very bad,

but as long as Kankpe is king, you're fairly safe.

He would never kill a blood brother.

There are still some rifles in there. Where's his money?

Hurry up! Take everything!

You really want to help me?

l keep my word.

That won't help me anymore. And neither will it help you!

Brazil's joined the rest of the world and abolished the slave trade.

Any shipments currently under way will be seized on the high seas.

ln the eyes of the law, Fort Elmina and our lives have ceased to exist.

And while l'm at it, there's something else.

l know that for at least one year

you've been slandered and cheated by your partners in Bahia.

Your assets have all been confiscated by the state bank.

And in addition, the English have put a price on your head.

Finally something's happened.

This was my contract with the syndicate of Bahia.

To slavery,

the greatest misunderstanding in the history of mankind!

lt was no misunderstanding.

lt was a crime.

Slavery is an element of the human heart.

To our ruin!

The slaves will sell their masters and grow wings.