All language subtitles for La Puta y la ballena (2004)ENG [SubtitleTools.com]

25.000

THE WHORE AND THE WHALE

Dear Lola,...

l'm in Poblenou,
at a barricade.

After the battle of the Ebro the
Nationalists drove us into the sea.

They are crossing
the Llobregat

as l write to you,
quite pointlessly.

l could keep on running...

but the war has brought me
to your birthplace,

like retuming home,

as if you were waiting for me.

I Iiked your Ietter.

It's been a Iong time since
I got a Iove Ietter.

I didn't write it.

He did.

It's the same. You sent it to me.

How did you know
I was in BarceIona?

Everybody toId me,
except you.

That you were staying
at your father's pIace...

with a son, and without a husband.

Don't Iook at him that way,
I'm starting to hate him.

Who was he?

An Argentine guy who died in BarceIona
when the nationaIists arrived.

His pictures of the war
aren't bad, but...

these ones are a compIete mystery.

Look.

We got them from a coIIector.

The Ietter came as part of the Iot,
in his notebook.

And the pages of the Ietter,
did you tear them out?

No, they were Ioose, Iike this.
But he didn't maiI it.

Look.

-Have a good Iook.
-What?

She's exactIy Iike you
were at her age.

You escaped from me
until the very last night,

when the tour was over
and you were going back to Spain.

All of Buenos Aires
was at the farewell party.

l couldn't cope with it all,
handing over chorus girls,

but you... l saved for myself.

No one else in the company
undressed like you did.

As if it were a relief.
As if no one could hurt you.

LoIa!

Nothing in this life
could scare you.

Not in this one,
nor in the other one either.

I aImost feII!

-You scared the Iife out of me!
-What were you going to do?

KiII myseIf...

-So they wouId aII see.
-See you naked?

lf a photo can steal your soul,
l took yours that night.

Your memory is still intact,
motionless,

caught in that photo
like a fallen angel.

Is that the woman in the Ietter?

I don't know,
she Iooks Iike a chorus girI.

There is a DoIores
in the program.

But the Ietter
couId be for anyone.

Anyway. She's a character.

Go to Argentina, investigate
that period and write about it.

Once...

at my convent, I took aII my cIothes
off in the confessionaI booth.

That day I finished
my primary education.

-How oId were you?
-Fourteen.

I took my cIothes off
and sang ''EIs Segadors''.

Bon colp de falc!

Did you hear
the generaI's speech?

He toasted ''the return of
the company to our Spain...

traditionaI Spain which has begun
to free itseIf from the reds''.

I was taking photos of him.

You went upstairs as
if he'd insuIted your mother.

My father.

Do you know why
the nuns threw me out?

Because my father burned
a church and they kiIIed him.

They are my famiIy.

Nobody eIse cares
if I Ieave or stay.

Me. I do.

You're going to Patagonia.

You were the only one
who hadn't packed up.

You didn't want
to go back to Spain,

but didn't dare stay
on your own either.

You'd heard all the bullshit.

Do you reaIIy care about me?

The truth is,
you saved my Iife.

You can do
what you Iike with me.

Don't seII your souI
to the deviI.

Who said anything
about a souI?

You did as you pleased,

without thinking of the price
you'd have to pay.

And whether you stay or go,
it's never for free.

And finding out what you want
doesn't come free either.

-How Iong are you staying?
-TiII Sunday.

On Monday I've got
to be back at work.

Writing siIIy articIes
for a women's magazine.

I didn't send you this Ietter
just so I couId see you, Vera.

I want you to pubIish.

By the age of 20 you had won
some award and pubIished a noveI.

That was then.

When you ran behind me picking up
the papers I'd thrown away.

The other day I mentioned
this book at dinner

and my father got up
from the tabIe.

He's never read it,

but he couIdn't stand
his patients praising it.

-It messed up my Iife, you know?
-Your father.

The book.

Are you sure you want me
to write another one?

That afternoon when you took this photo
of me fiIIs an entire chapter.

And I didn't dare
write about aII of it.

Many years have gone by.
Does it show?

What is it, Vera?

I have a Iump here.
FeeI it.

My sister is waiting to take me
to her gynecoIogist.

-WiII you never ask me to stay?
-You have to go to the gynecoIogist.

Jordi!

The things you say, Vera.

When you Ieft me for Antonio.

You see?
You don't understand anything.

That's why no woman wiII Iast
beyond the third fuck with you.

-I was with you for a year.
-BareIy eIeven months.

The happiest time of my Iife.

The onIy time when I didn't feeI
aIone in the whoIe worId.

-Digame'l en catala.
-Et vaig estimar molt.

CataIan...

That's the voice of my mother.
Her words.

I Iie on my chiIdhood bed and
her stories swirI round my head.

Do you Iie on other beds?

Nobody's asked me to.

Hello, Toni.

Sorry to interrupt
your meeting.

We're back in Madrid and l wanted
to make arrangements for Juanito.

-Where are you?
-ln Avenida de America.

There's Ioads of traffic...
Everybody's coming back to town.

The thing is... I won't be staying
at home, Antonio.

I aIso wanted to teII you that.

I don't know what my father said,
but I've made up my mind.

I've been thinking
about it aII month.

It's better that I don't stay
at home, even for one night.

If MaribeI's at home
I'II Ieave him with her.

I Iove you too.

Guess who's waiting
for you in the bathtub?

Pikachu.

ShaII we give him a bath
whiIe MaribeI makes dinner?

And then Iater...

Remember we taIked about mummy
not staying at home tonight?

Why?

I've aIready expIained
it to you.

You know sometimes you do things
and you don't know why?

And then you teII me off.

I need to be aIone, my Iove.
To find out what I want.

What do you want?

I don't know.

I don't want to get confused
by what my father wants for me.

Or grandpa, or whoever.

It's been the same aII my Iife.

And now it's aImost happening
again with your father.

The train seemed to me
like a phantom ship,

adrift.

You would give in to whatever
happened without any impatience.

But l, who always want
what l haven't got,

counted out the minutes
like a prisoner.

Don't you want
to make your wishes?

What wishes?

It's Cap d'an. New Year.

You eat a grape with each ring
of the beII and ask for what you want.

-Who are you missing tonight?
-Nobody.

Not even your famiIy?

I reaIIy miss my uncIe.

If my father met your uncIe
he'd throw him in jaiI.

He hunts anarchists.

So you can reaIIy wish
for tweIve things aItogether?

I wish for everything I want.

It's tweIve o'cIock!

l was afraid of you.

l can only admit

that now you're dead.

Your body scared me,
so full of life.

EmiIio, there are no grapes, but
there's wine, it's the same thing.

And l find this hard
to admit but...

life separated us
more than death did.

I want to aIways
faII in Iove Iike this.

With me.

With whoever!
With whom I choose.

With me.

I wish you wouId die for me.

May aII my wishes come true.

It's no good saying ''aII''.

You've got to say them
one by one.

If you don't cheat
the wish wiII come true.

Jordi!

I was dreaming.

You saved my Iife.

In a hoteI.

Last night. I took Juanito home
and caIIed you.

I haven't feIt this IoneIy
since my mother died.

I started typing on
her typewriter. Listen.

A bIank page.

You can't read anything,
the ribbon's compIeteIy dry.

About that woman.

The one in the photos.
The one in the Ietter.

The Ietter from the photographer,
the guy you hate.

I was dreaming about him.
He was photographing me stark naked.

Just Iike that.
We're going to meet.

Excuse me. Hang on.

This thing about Argentina
is stiII on?

I'm going to Ieave
the magazine.

I don't have to think it over.
I'm not going to stay here.

Because I can't stand feeIing
Iike shit just 100 meters away

from where my son is feeIing
Iike shit, as if I were dead!

Last night I cried
more than he did.

And if I think it over,
I'II end up agreeing with Antonio.

I'II be back home in three days.
It's better if I go.

As soon as possibIe.

Nothing.

Just see the gynecoIogist and have
a few tests. Three or four days.

The time it'II take you to send me
the ticket and the photos.

Thanks.

I'II do a good job,
you'II see.

We wanted to get
to the end of the world.

There weren't even any roads.

When the gringo
landed at Bahía Blanca

we were already
about to board a ship.

He confirmed my first job.

lt wasn't much money, but enough
for our trip to the south.

This Gringo Orestes was a peddler

who had a plane instead of a cart.

You got into that machine

as if you'd always been
delivering stuff in Patagonia.

The town popped up,
in the middle of nowhere.

That first stop
promised a pleasant stay.

Easy work, bed, and food.

l had to take photos
for a musician...

to illustrate
the covers of his scores.

Nobody knew his name.

Even his son called him
by his sumame: ''Suárez''.

Gringo!
Did you bring the records?

Here we are, Suárez.
I got everything.

I've brought the photographer
and everything we'II need

for the great Radio EI Mundo
tango competition.

Santamarina. Suárez.

EI Pibe Pedro,

Bandoneon pIayer
and future composer.

EmiIio, right?
The Gringo speaks highIy of you.

Did you come aIone?

DoIores Puig.
A friend of EmiIio's.

Your hands are coId.

WeIcome to Patagonia.

The ones I'II send to the contest
are Iike these...

onIy they'II have
your photographs.

-How much wiII you pay me?
-You teII me.

Who'II see the photos?

TeII me about them
and I'II imagine them.

How was the trip?

I wouIdn't get in one of
those if they tied me up.

I Ioved it. I must have been
a bird in a previous Iife.

Yes, women are braver than men.

We're onIy good
for faIIing in Iove.

Doing artistic things:

taking photographs,
composing a tango.

Or piIoting a pIane,
if you're brave enough.

But when you reaIIy need a man,

caII a woman.

Suárez reminded me of my father.

He liked lecturing.

He despised people from Buenos Aires
but wanted them to dance his tangos.

He'd decided to illustrate
his scores with women.

That's why l took
an interest in Matilde.

When you climbed
that ladder behind her,

l had a premonition.

l didn't tell you. l didn't want
to be a prophet of doom.

For you, that couple of weeks
in Suárez's hotel...

was part of the adventure.

Aren't there any whaIes?

They come in winter,
in June or JuIy.

Get out! Get out!

I toId you I don't want you
sIeeping here.

Everything's upside down here.

Even the moon's upside down.

This room is shamefuI.

ShamefuI, why?

My name is DoIores.

They caII me LoIa.

MatiIde.

EmiIio toId me about this pIace.

Apart from being a hoteI
it's aIso...

Nobody wiII bother you.
Don't be afraid.

I'm not afraid, just curious.

I was invited to one in Buenos Aires
but I didn't want to go.

So you Iet women in here?

Aren't I a woman?

Every once in a while l fall asleep
with my pen in my hand.

And l can feel you behind my back,

peering from this letter
like in the darkroom.

These ghosts who appear
in the photos are all that remain.

Nameless faces...

that someone will find in some dead
photographer's bag under a bed.

Don't touch, pIease.

It'II be sore for a few days.
Try to put up with it.

You've been dreaming a Iot.

It's the anaesthesia.

You were taIking
in your sIeep aII night.

-What was I saying?
-Something about photos.

I'm preparing a book
of photos from the '30s.

Sounds good. How IoveIy.

You'II have to go to
a "milonga," then.

I've aIready been.

They asked me to dance,
but I didn't dare.

I'm hopeIess.

Liar. You can't teII me
you don't dance tango.

Don't Iisten to her.

-What's wrong with her?
-I'm oId, what do you think?

But I have a good memory.

You're CataIonian, aren't you?

Isn't everybody in town
''giving you the gIad eye''?

Oh! Listen to that!
Something for your book.

That expression's antique,
grandma!

What does it mean?

That aII the men
chase after you.

My God, yes.
Men certainIy do stare at you here.

Like we were running
around naked.

One of these days you'II
we waIking in the streets again,

and they'II be murmuring
their compIiments as you pass.

As if I stiII had both breasts.

Did you know what you had
before coming in here?

I'd had a few tests.

But I didn't think
it wouId grow so fast.

-What was the doctor's name?
-Dr. Zimmerman.

He said I shouId go back to
Madrid for the operation.

But you didn't Iisten.

If I were you, I'd have Iistened.
You shouId go home.

What home?

You don't have
anyone back in Spain?

I have a son...

I have a husband...

and my father is a doctor,
he'd take care of everything.

But I'd be as IoneIy
as I am here.

Here I have no one to turn to.
It's cIearer this way.

Last night, a friend from
BarceIona caIIed you.

Jordi?

That's him.

He's going to caII again.

He asked me not to say anything,
to keep it a surprise.

-He seemed sweet.
-Why did he caII here?

Didn't you give his name
when you checked in here?

Just in case something happened.

Did you think
I'd Ieave without paying?

And why do you think you ended up
in the cardio unit?

You're OK now, but in the operating
theatre you had an arrhythmia.

If Zimmerman has something to say,
he shouId say it to me.

Not to anybody eIse.

You've got to Ieave this pIace.

AIright, grandma,
now Vera needs some rest, OK?

Her name is not Vera.
She's caIIed DoIores.

Straight away, you arranged things
so as not to be alone.

There you were,

leaming the ways
of your new family.

Matilde danced, unaware
that you were spying on her.

But l knew from that
very first night

that there,
far away from everything...

you were beginning to find out
who you were.

How's our GaIIega doing?

I'm ''La CataIana''.

In Argentina aII Spaniards
are caIIed ''GaIIegos''.

Come in, don't be afraid.

How did you know it was me?

I heard you.

Your heartbeat is acceIerating.

No to mention what I can smeII.

You're just a girI.

How oId are you?

Don't you want to teII me
about yourseIf?

I don't feeI Iike it right now.

Did we bring that?

I ask the questions here.

-Do you want to try?
-No. Sorry.

I can't stand mysteries.

If you pIay with fire...

You're not bIind.

I can see something.

Lights...

and shadows.

Lights and shadows.

Have you been Iike that
aII your Iife?

I've managed to see
what I needed to see.

You haven't seen me.

Come.

Here.

Gringo toId me about you.

But he undersoId you.

They teII me you're a dancer.

A chorus girI.
Instead of dancing I fIash my ass.

I can dance ''sardana'',
thanks to my mother.

Do you want to try
dancing tango?

Just waIk, that's aII.
Smooth, Iike a queen.

Squeezing your pussy.

Look who's here, grandma!

HeIIo.

It's forbidden, but thanks.

How's it going?

Here I am. They're keeping me aIive
to get money out of me.

Is that so? Let's ask
the girIs to unpIug you then.

Do it, I can die for free
anywhere eIse.

Nurse, unpIug the oId Iady for me!

Stop that,
you'II get us aII fired.

I went down to the nursing home
and picked up the scores.

-What did you want them for?
-They won't beIieve I was young once.

Don't teII me this is you, grandma!

Didn't you have any shame?

Shame of what?
Not here...

but here, we women
are virgins aI our Iives.

Even LoIa.

Though she Iiked pIaying the whore.

Don't touch that!

-What are those?
-Money.

Two bits for a fuck,
four for the whoIe night.

Not two weeks had gone by

and you already
seemed one of them.

You went from table to table,
so as not to get bored,

confusing the clients.

You take photos of her?

Naked?

Dressed as a chorus girI.

Like I did in the train?

I'II show you Iater.

But Iike this...

No.

No?

No!

-It wouId cost you a Iot.
-How much?

AII those tokens.

The bandoneon was sacred.

But you never asked permission.

You couldn't go through life
without playing it.

If you drop it,
I'II beat the shit out of you.

Is it very difficuIt?

Your whoIe Iife
wouIdn't be Iong enough.

Does it bother you
that EmiIio sIeeps with us?

Why shouId it bother her?

Sometimes I eat at home

and sometimes I eat
at a restaurant.

Like your cIients do.

Get out!

You're Iike fIies.

I stoIe this from a theatre.
If you Iike it, it's yours.

Stay stiII.

That's it.

Both of you.

The only thing you never
touched was the books.

But you knew by heart all
the stuff you'd leamed in bed.

You wanted to teach Matilde,
who was a professional.

It's funny, isn't it?

A whore who doesn't beIieve
in sharing her body.

Want to see how EmiIio
doesn't beIieve in it either?

That you're the one
who'II screw other peopIe?

We do as we pIease.

You know what?

This breaks onIy once.

And then you're a virgin for Iife.

The only one you could fool
was the kid...

He couldn't stop
staring at you.

And at me too.

But he looked at me like it'd been
all my fault from the start.

Did you get Iaid yet, big boy?

Which one do you prefer?

Sometimes l remember that kid.

l guess he's still pawing
your photos and your memories.

The few we left behind.

What are you doing up?

If you need anything,
just ask. Go back to bed.

Want to see them? AIright.

You go back to bed
and I'II bring them to you.

-I must caII Jordi.
-No, you can't.

Isn't that your friend
who caIIed from Spain?

You can't caII overseas from here.

You can caII tomorrow,
when we transfer you.

There's a payphone in the haII.

Come on.

-Vera!
-Give me some change.

You can't caII Spain with coins.
You need a card.

-Give me a card then.
-Where wouId I get one?

Have you got a card?

Me? No.

PIease, Vera, you'II get me
into troubIe. Don't you reaIize?

What don't I reaIize?
That I've got cancer?

That I'II be excavated
Iike my mother?

Of course I do!
Better than anyone eIse!

-Vera, Iisten...
-No, you Iisten!

I'II do with my Iife, and I've no
idea how much there is Ieft of it

as I fucking pIease! OK?

If you want to heIp me,
get me a card.

I have one.

-Thanks. MatiIde's reIated to you?
-She's Iike a grandmother.

She thinks I'm somebody eIse.
A CataIonian, Iike myseIf.

Jordi? It's Vera.

I'm fine, I swear.

No, that's not why I'm caIIing.

It's about the book.

I think I've found something.

I'm not crazy!

I've had a breast removed,
not my brain!

Don't teII my sister...

It's as bad as teIIing my father.

Let Antonio think what he Iikes,
that I'm here to dance, fuck...

whatever, but I don't want him
to know about the operation.

Good.

Listen.

Try and remember

if you've ever seen a photo
of that woman with a ''bandoneón''.

The one who Iooks just Iike me.
Naked, with a ''bandoneón''.

A ''bandoneón''!
A musicaI instrument, Jordi, Jesus!

The ''bandoneón'', Suárez.

Sit down.

Listen.

If you pIay it Iike this...

It'II just moan.

But if you spread your Iegs...

wide apart...

it sighs...

for you.

And if you do this
and touch here...

it just gives in.

Suárez.

You're in the picture.
Move.

Listen.

G.

A, G, F, G...

Move it, Suárez, pIease...

It's Iike a woman.

You have to know where
to press the right buttons.

Look at me.

Don't you Iike it
when I Iook at Suárez?

And MatiIde?

Look at me.

I can't see you.

It's as if you were spying on me.

Look at me.

I can't see you.

That wasn't you anymore.

You were my invention.
Or an invention of Suárez,

who said that picture was the best,

even though he'd never seen
any of them.

She's about to be christened.

I've been Iooking for this
for so Iong now, girI.

Your smeII is a B...

...a B fIat.

E, F, G, A.

G, F, E, D, C, F.

D, E, F, G, E, D, C...

B, C, D...

I'm going to dedicate
this tango to you.

It's yours.

Yours forever.

When are you Ieaving?

EarIy tomorrow.

I'II pay the Gringo for the photos
once you Ieave them at the printers.

I shouIdn't reaIIy
have to pay for them

since you ended up
with such a good deaI.

Are you sure about this?

You haven't faIIen in Iove?

Me?

With this woman?

She's not the kind of woman
you faII in Iove with.

I couIdn't take it that
she's fucking other guys.

What do you think being
in Iove is, you fooI?

I don't know...

It didn't happen to me, but...

I think she is.

She's a girI to faII for, this one.

It wouIdn't even occur to EmiIio,
even if he was drunk.

What do you think
being in Iove is?

A mistake.

BuIIshit.

It's heaIing weII.

On Monday I'II take
the stitches out.

Enough.

I'm going to put
a waterproof dressing on it.

If you're carefuI,
you can take a shower.

First, can I see if for myseIf?

Go ahead.

You can come and see me
on Monday at 4 PM, aIright?

You can fIy to Madrid
that same night.

You can even book it.

AIright.

Once I'm back in Madrid
I'II start chemotherapy.

For now, just take the antibiotics
for another week...

the painkiIIers every six hours...

and if the pain is too much,

go to the drugstore and get this.

This wiII make you feeI dizzy.

You're stiII on your own?

AbsoIuteIy.

What are you going to do
this weekend?

I guess I'II stay at my hoteI.

Why?

Have you got other pIans for me?

You haven't toId me if I'II need
chemotherapy yet or not.

I get the biopsy resuIts tomorrow.
But it's probabIe, yes.

You're very young, Vera.
At your age...

I'm the same age
my mother was.

My father made her have chemotherapy,
but she died anyway.

You start Iow and move
up as high as you can.

As high as the spider wiII take you.
Every day, a IittIe bit higher.

You'II be okay.

I can teII when they bring them back
from the operating theatre.

You Iook at them in
the eye and you just know.

When they wake up
you wonder what they saw,

where they were.

I'm not a beIiever, but to me,
they Iook Iike astronauts.

I don't know, I've never Iooked
an astronaut in the eye, but...

but I know there are things
that beIong to another order.

Don't Iet Dr. Zimmerman
hear this...

but there are things
doctors don't know,

and they can't expIain.

They wheeI in some
reaIIy desperate cases,

not a hope in heII,
but they seem to survive.

If we forget ourseIves and start
taIking as if you weren't there,

you're the one
who's got to teII us:

Hey, hang on, wait a minute,
I haven't Ieft yet.

It's up to you.

Either you sink or swim,
no one can do it for you.

-Have the whaIes come yet?
-They've been here a whiIe now.

Did you dive with them?

TeII me!

A boy wanted to know where
the whaIes go when they Ieave.

In winter he'd Iook at them
from the shore...

and in summer
he'd keep on asking.

Wait for me!

But when people
talked about the sea,

they'd talk about the surface.

They'd teII him to be carefuI,
not to swim too deep.

Not a word about the whales.

One day he stopped asking,

and went to swim with the whales.

Go on.

Down there you see everything
upside down.

The surface is a shiny crystaI...

and whaIes fIy.

The boy reaIized from shore you see
the wrong side of the sea.

From the bottom
you can see the reaI sea.

He was a bit scared.

Why? What happened?

Nothing, they just got too cIose.

WhaIes are shy,
but they're aIso curious.

They stared at him
with their great big eyes...

to have a good Iook at him.

I'm the one who's the mystery,
thought the boy.

And at that moment, he reaIized
that everything is reIative.

That there's reaIIy very IittIe
that we can understand.

So he stopped wondering
where the whaIes go...

and was happy to just sit
and wait for them.

Where do they go?

I don't know.

Something teIIs them
they have to Ieave.

And they trust that.

A caII...

the command of the species.

The migration of the souIs.

Something takes them
to their destiny.

They come and they go,

even if we'II never know
where they've been.

It's not a fish!

It's got warm bIood!
And it's got a harpoon stuck in it!

Pedro! Come here!

-What's it Iike?
-Huge.

And when they are about to die,

they come out onto the beach.

No, grandma, no.
They die in the deep sea.

Every now and then,
one gets stranded.

But we don't know why.

Because they're tired.

I'm tired too.

WiII you take me there?

Throw me into the sea.

Your father
wiII teII you where.

And don't forget
to get the money.

The painting
is hanging over the bed.

Give it to her...

teII her to come cIoser.

Come here, CataIonian.

Don't be afraid.

Take care of that
painting for me.

I took reaIIy good care of it.

I've been keeping it
safe for you...

my whoIe Iife.

Get out, pIease. Get out now.

Out of here! Both of you!

Cardiac arrest!

l don't know why l went to
that beach, it was like a circus.

Watching an accident
of nature.

l called the photo
that l gave

''The Call of the Species''.

Not just because of
the story she used to tell.

l gave it that title
for you too.

LoIa!

Come here, EmiIio!

-Give me your hand.
-Get out!

Come on, come into the water!

Are you afraid of
getting the money

that you've hidden
in your pocket wet?

-What did they pay you for?
-The photos.

And what was Orestes paid for?

I don't know, LoIa,
perhaps for having brought us.

And me?

How much do I get
for posing naked?

I don't know, LoIa, you shouId
sort that out with Suarez.

I don't owe you anything.

Yes, you do owe me!

You owe me a trip
to the end of the worId!

Remember, you bastard!

You are free to come and go
and fuck anyone you Iike.

I'm not even owner
of my own body!

Hello, Vera, love.

We've had a lovely Sunday,
haven't we Juanito?

And Juanito has
leamed something new.

Hang on... Juanito.
Do it for mummy.

He's leamed how to whistle.
He's been practising for you.

When are you coming back?

lt's me, Antonio. l've been
calling you every day this week.

They said at the hotel
that you'd gone. Where are you?

Hello, mum,
welcome to your computer.

Hello, Vera.
This is Jordi.

Antonio called me, freaked out
because he couldn't find you.

l had to tell him, Vera.

Hello, mum, welcome
to your comp......

Vera, l'm calling
about Matilde's photo.

l'm going to go
to her nursing home,

but l'm not sure
how to give you directions.

She's to be cremated tomorrow,
at 9AM at Chacarita cemetery.

lf you like,
l'll meet you there.

HeIIo.

In Spain we give two kisses.

I spent aII night
doing paperwork.

Not even dying is easy
in this country.

Can I heIp you?

-Do you want them?
-WouId you give them to me?

I can't fit anything eIse in here.

The CataIonian that
intrigued you so much.

MatiIde Ioved her.

Even though my grandfather
dedicated his best tango to her.

He was a musician,
but Iived off women.

And this one, the CataIonian woman,
was caIIed DoIores?

Why can't I go by pIane?

I weigh nothing,
Iess than a Ietter.

I want to go aIone.

How many days
wiII you spend in TreIew?

I don't know, LoIa.

I have to find a Iaboratory,

make the copies,
taIk to the printers...

What if you never come back?

How do I get back
to Buenos Aires?

You're not free...
You're a coward.

GentIemen!

I want to make a toast!

To our friend,
the photographer.

May he foIIow his destiny!
Cheers!

Who knows what
marveIs he wiII he find?

But there's none better than
the one he's Ieaving behind.

l've always been intrigued
by her legend.

What legend?

Something they say

she did, which gave
the name to the tango.

The Iight buIb.

-That's it.
-What do you mean?

Now it's nice and warm.

Now I want you to pIay for me.

Apparently the first time

my grandfather pIayed
this tango in pubIic

she danced to it.

With a Iight buIb
stuck between her Iegs.

Here's 500,
I'II send the rest as usuaI.

AIright.

When I came to study here
I Iived at MatiIde's pIace.

I sIept on the couch,
Iooking at that photo.

A coupIe of times
I asked her about it,

but she wouId get Iost
in thought.

She wouId just start
taIking to herseIf.

Poor oId thing.

-Where is this pIace?
-In Patagonia.

What did you come
to Buenos Aires to study?

BioIogy. Three years.

Then I had to Ieave
and dropped out.

In Mexico I used to take
tourists on scuba diving trips.

Is it true you swim
with whaIes?

I'm supposed
to onIy observe them.

-I wouIdn't Iike that...
-What?

You just observing me.

If I were a whaIe, I mean.

What are you going
to do with aII this?

The Iady asked me
to cIear her room out.

I have to go.
I'm going to miss my pIane.

Besides, if there's
something I can't stand,

it's coIIecting memories.

Is that so?

And I don't Iike
fareweIIs either.

Be carefuI.

Aren't you going to ask me
what they did to me?

No.

They removed a tumour
the size of a waInut...

the Ieft breast
and I don't know what eIse.

The stitches
are stiII there...

Iike barbed wire.

-I wanted you to know.
-I knew.

I couId show you my heart.
ReaIIy...

You can see it
between my ribs.

The heartbeats.

Here, a memento. Take anything
you Iike, but Iet's go.

Anything?

Go, then. Don't miss your fIight.
I'II take care of everything.

-I've aIready missed it.
-You can stiII make it.

This is the peak season.

They'II be starting
on the waiting Iist by now.

Do you reaIIy mean it?

I'd Iike to stay here
for a whiIe, on my own.

ReaIIy?

I'II Iike to give you
something of mine.

I wrote this.

SeriousIy?

This can't be you? Yes, it is,
when you were a girI!

Look at this, you posed for
photos naked, just Iike...

You reaIIy do Iook aIike.
She wasn't far wrong, the oId Iady.

Stop it!

-So you were a writer.
-You said it: I was.

-When I did what I wanted.
-Like what?

I don't know, what I wanted.

Like what?

Like fucking a stranger.

-Who is it?
-It's me, Suarez.

Here. Take this.
Urondo's token.

Take it!

The plane went out over the sea
and we flew over the beacon.

The tide was high
and the whale had gone.

l had a weird feeling,
one of relief,

that stayed with me
for the rest of the joumey.

As if everything
had fallen into place.

This moming a whale was stranded
on the shores of Patagonia.

-Here's the story.
-For reasons we are not aware

this 15 metre-long adult
whale was stranded.

Apparently it's a female.

We are working with volunteers
and staff from the institute

in an effort to keep it alive.

And we're hoping that at high tide
it might free itself naturally.

Thanks to our colleagues
at Puerto Madryn TV

for this coverage...

-What are you doing here?
-I caIIed the Institute.

They toId me you were
with the whaIe.

That you'd be back here
when it got dark.

When I saw that
it was stranded again...

It was stranded again?

That a whaIe was stranded
again on the same spot.

-What was that?
-WhaIes.

Mating. This pIace
is perfect for mating.

The SeaI. This is Vera.

-HeIIo, SeaI.
-HeIIo, Vera.

I guess I aIso came
to see you again.

I'm sorry, it's not my fauIt.
Somebody caIIed me.

WeII... me.

It seems to make
no sense to you?

But it's Iike the boy
in your story,

we can't reaIIy
understand much.

The same happened
to me with MatiIde.

I feIt I was being caIIed
and went up to say goodbye.

I thought it was me
who was Ieaving.

Do you have any rooms free?

-How's the whaIe?
-StiII aIive.

It's under the beacon
on the cIiff.

Wasn't the one with
the harpoon over there?

-Somewhere around there.
-Where did it have the harpoon?

Stuck right here.
Behind the eye.

I'm sorry, madam,
we have no rooms Ieft.

She can have mine.
I'II sIeep on the boat.

-You're crazy. You can't.
-It's yours.

The whaIe you mentioned,
the one with the harpoon,

-was that many years ago?
-It was 1934.

A Iong time ago...

CouId it be the same whaIe?

She'd have to be very oId.

What do I do with this?

I don't know.
He sent it to you.

Didn't he give you anything eIse?
No Ietter?

He sent the scores for Suarez.

And he asked me to give you one
as a souvenir, that's aII.

You can't work Iike this.
Aren't you taking anything?

When I get back
I'II bring you some medicine.

Where was EmiIio going?

He was on his way south,
to Puerto Deseado.

He was going to take a ship
for Tierra deI Fuego.

Suarez owes me money. It's yours
if you can get me out of here.

I couId hide in the pIane.
Nobody wiII know.

And afterwards?
How couId I come back?

I have to work here.

Take care of that coId of yours.

The Gringo Orestes had the habit
of talking to himself.

Once he told me
that forgotten words

could still be heard
in the air.

That if you repeated them,
the same things would happen again.

l'm writing this,

the things l never told you,
in case that's true.

When these photos were taken

they didn't think
about identifying them.

Look...

...the caIIuses are the same.

Your hunch is not so absurd.

Scientists don't beIieve
in these things?

On the contrary.

That's what we do.

Last night I dropped by
but I couIdn't find you.

Do you aIways write at night?

-It's been ages since I wrote.
-You got inspired.

This pIace is ideaI for that too.

They say you just
have to get started.

The probIem is, if it doesn't
come out, it rots inside.

Each of these represented
a piIe of money.

They made combs,
nitro gIycerine,

oiIs, aII sorts of stuff.

-How Iong can it hoId out?
-ProbabIy, untiI another tide.

There isn't much we can do.

Keep her wet, and scare the fucking
seaguIIs hurting her.

It's sink or swim. If she doesn't
free herseIf nobody eIse can.

And what if it
was the same one?

I don't know, perhaps
it wouId be of scientific interest.

You win, GaIIega.
It has a scar behind the eye.

Did you hear?

How did you get
in this mess, oId Iady?

What did you come back for?

I started reading your book
on the pIane.

-Did you?
-I Iiked it.

-I Iike the girI's freedom.
-ReaIIy?

WouId you have Iiked to meet her?

You Ieft a Ietter inside.

-Did you read it?
-Of course not.

I've read it a thousand times.

And instead of text for a book of
photos, I wrote something eIse.

I put myseIf in LoIa's pIace.
She wasn't afraid of anything.

But how do you know?

I know. I can imagine her.

I write about her as
if I was writing about myseIf.

And you haven't written
anything eIse untiI now?

No.

After pubIishing the noveI
I got married...

and had a son.

-Do you have chiIdren?
-Yes.

A nine year oId girI who Iives
with her mother in Mexico.

And can you bear
being away from her?

No.

Then you know how much it hurts.

You didn't reaIIy come to write
a book on whaIes, did you?

Didn't MatiIde ever mention
a photographer?

Yes, the one who did
the photos for the scores.

I've got his photos,
and the Ietter.

He wrote it to LoIa the day
before he died, in January '39.

-He never sent it?
-He was kiIIed in the war.

But LoIa was dead aIready.
I came here to investigate that.

-What do you know about LoIa?
-Nothing.

Just what my grandfather toId me.

That she went back to Spain
and became a star.

That's not true.

If LoIa worked for him,
there's no way he wouIdn't see.

My grandfather was bIind, Vera.

What you wrote
is reIated to these photos?

Did you aIready have them
when MatiIde Ieft you the photo?

They beIong to
a pubIishing house.

It's pubIishing a book of photos.
They want me to write the text.

Why didn't you teII me?

I don't know.
I'm sorry.

I was about to return to Madrid,
empty handed, as I'd found nothing,

I was operated on in Buenos Aires
and I met MatiIde.

Chance, destiny,
caII it what you Iike.

I took you to her nursing home.
It wasn't destiny.

You screwed me and you kept
MatiIde's stuff.

That's not chance.

Anyway, you were going
to throw everything out.

HeIIo!

What are you doing here?

Nothing, just passing by.

If you stiII have any compIaints,
this is the editor of the book.

Jordi Ferré.
He'II take care of everything.

I forgot your name.

Ernesto Suárez.

The grandson of the guy
who expIoited LoIa.

-Who?
-LoIa, Jordi.

The one in the Ietter.

HeIIo, Ernesto.

-How did you find me?
-Where do you want me to start?

From where you betrayed me
to Antonio.

After that I caIIed Dr. Zimmerman,
I fIew to Madrid,

from there to Buenos Aires,
went to the hospitaI to see him,

then to your hoteI and you'd Ieft.
A two hour fIight to Puerto Madryn...

I searched for you
at every hoteI in town...

I booked a room
and took a taxi to come here.

-What's the name of this pIace?
-Puerto Pirámide.

That's it, and here I am.

100 kms in a taxi. I shouId be
in the Guinness Book of Records.

You saw my doctor, Jordi.
I can't beIieve it.

You're not even capabIe
of watering a pIant.

It wasn't hard. I just thought:
What wouId Antonio do?

What wouId he ask?
What wouId Antonio do in my pIace?

Let them Iook after you, Vera.

You can't work this out
on your own.

I got cancer on my own.

Antonio went to get the tests
you had in Madrid...

and your father
contacted Dr. Zimmerman.

Anyway. I have the resuIts
of the biopsy.

Give me that.

ShaII we go out for a drink?

Shit. AII I can think of
is getting drunk with you.

Give me one.

No, Vera.

Being heaIthy goes against my
principIes, but don't ask me that.

It's not the onIy thing
I'II ask of you.

Do you know
when I Iast smoked?

The Iast time
I had sex with you.

How Iong ago was that?

Years.

How many?

I don't know.

What are you doing?

Vera, I have presbyopia.

Did the doctor
say you couId do it?

I've done it aIready.

Shit, I'm never the first.

There's nothing Iike
having sex when you're tired.

-I haven't forgotten you.
-Shut up.

And this pIace suits you.

You Iook Iike a professionaI
fucking with your cIothes on.

WiII you shut up?

We've certainIy done it
in strange pIaces...

but I don't recaII having
done it in a whorehouse.

-What are you saying?
-The cab driver toId me.

There were whores here.

Maybe in this very bed.

What did I say?

What's wrong?

Nothing.

PIBE PEDRO AND HIS TANGO QUARTET

I've heard about that harpoon
since I was a kid.

What did you hear?

It was puIIed out of the whaIe
and given to my grandfather.

That's how it survived.

Sheer Iuck, wouIdn't you say?

Do you know what, GaIIega?

I don't beIieve in anything.

I'd Iike to.

To beIieve in God, be a footbaII fan,
to have fought in the revoIution...

But no, the few things
I beIieved in coIIapsed.

Now you teII me it's the same whaIe,
and so it is.

You have no idea how scared
I was of that harpoon.

What wiII you have?

A whisky.

No ice.

What did you go to pick up
at the nursing home?

Money. It has no vaIue.

Just some oId biIIs
MatiIde kept as a souvenir.

Is this what you're taIking about?

Where did you get those?

MatiIde asked me to scatter them
with her ashes when she died,

I don't know why.

Do you know what I think?

This was LoIa's price.

What do you know about that?

Emilio mentions
this money in a letter.

He said he gave it to Matilde.

And apparently it's true.

You know what l mean?

l was a kid,
l barely remember.

Do you remember the money?

LoIa!

I want to thank you...

for being with MatiIde
untiI the end.

My son toId me
she was fond of you.

Yes, it's true.

Let me introduce myseIf.
I am Pibe Pedro.

''Bandoneón'' pIayer.
Future composer.

LoIa!

-Suárez!
-EmiIio?

It's been a Iong time.
You remembered your friends.

-I've got to taIk to you.
-Coming.

What is it?

I've come to take LoIa away.

How do you pIan to do that?
I won't just give her away.

And if this rat ever touches
her again, I'II kiII her.

Who are you going to kiII,
you bastard!

You shut up, woman!

You're not taking her away
just Iike that.

If you want her...

Then don't come shouting
and buIIying around here.

LoIa's not Ieaving here!

If you don't shut the fuck up
I'II seII you instead.

-Have you got the dough on you?
-Yes...

The 1,500 you gave me.

TeII me something.
What do you want her for?

I just want her.
I don't know why.

What's it to you?

I just don't Iike
cheating on anybody.

We have others
in much better shape.

But whatever,

if you've set
your heart on LoIa,

and if MatiIde agrees...

Hey, girI?

You decide.

If you want her, she stays.

If you Iet her go,
the money is yours.

Come on...

take it.

Hey, kid, kid...

LoIa's no Ionger
what she used to be.

She's reaIIy gone downhiII
since you soId her.

-You didn't teII her, right?
-No, I didn't teII her a thing.

-I'm teIIing you so that you know.
-I know.

I know what I've done.

No, I'm teIIing you so you know
what you're getting.

The other stuff
is your business, asshoIe.

This pIace is charming, isn't it?

With a touch of nostaIgia...

Admit you're smoking again.

Just buy your own
and kiII yourseIf sIowIy.

You've known each other
for a Iong time.

Vera was nineteen.

I was teaching on a summer course
and we got invoIved.

Then she started showing
me what she wrote.

And since I make a Iiving out
of other peopIe's taIent...

And you'II pubIish
what she's writing.

WeII, I asked her to write
a text for a book of photos...

but now it seems she's writing
a noveI, right?

What wiII be the titIe?

I've no idea. ''LoIa's Price''

or ''The Whore and the WhaIe'',
something Iike that.

To the new noveI.

It'II seII much better
than the other one.

To LoIa and EmiIio.

I'd give my souI
to dance Iike her.

Because my body is aIready...

They want me to do
some more tests.

Do you know what
the sentry gangIion is?

The warning.

Those tests are to make sure
other parts of the body are fine.

I'm not a doctor, but I think
you shouId do as they say.

I think the oId man wants to
dedicate the next one to you.

Two pesos for going to bed,
four for the night.

You don't get in here
without paying.

Where's your token?

You don't get in here
without paying.

You pretended you knew nothing,
as you didn't work here any more.

l said nothing,
went and paid my token.

So you'd let me in.

At least... that night.
Even though it was the last.

The whales could be heard
really close,

as if they were calling.

Sorry.

I just wanted to teII you
that the bar is cIosed

and I've found someone
to take me to Puerto Madryn.

Aren't you staying the night?

There's aIways a
second chance, right?

Sometimes it heIps
to say goodbye.

But I'm too drunk.
I'd rather go to my hoteI.

You won't even do me a favour?

You won't even try?

Let's pretend you're
a traveIIing saIesman.

You come to my door...

and teII me you need
to take a Ieak.

But you're not you.
He's a dirty oId man, right?

-Even if he has your face.
-Vera, stop it.

If you want to fuck,
then fuck somebody eIse.

My fIight Ieaves at nine.

If you want,
you can stiII make it

to the appointment
with Dr. Zimmerman.

I'II be at the airport.

Leave some money. I'm as broke
as a whore during Lent.

Yet again, you're giving up
without a fight, Jordi.

-You're stiII the same...
-The same what?

Do you know what's happened
to me aII these years?

Nothing at aII.

Sometimes I just want
to taIk, shout out...

because you can't hear
a thing in those fiIthy bars.

And I hear myseIf saying
the same oId things.

OnIy I'm oIder.

But you're Iucky.

I hope I'd get to say
the same one day.

You're going to bury us aII.

You're no Ionger
the girI I seduced.

You've turned
into quite a woman.

AIright. Let me go.

Let me go.

I'm the same oId guy
I aIways was.

Take your cIothes off.
We don't have aII night.

We have a Iifetime.

We'II Ieave tomorrow.

I just wanted to be with you.

Aren't you going to ask me
what I want?

You want to Ieave, don't you?

Yes, but you haven't asked me.

PIease, forgive me.
I'II never forgive myseIf.

I've missed you.
I've had a terribIe time here.

I, on the other hand,
had a wonderfuI time here.

-l needed to be alone.
-I needed to be aIone.

But being aIone in
Tierra deI Fuego is frightening.

You come to reaIize
what you reaIIy want.

You reaIize what you want.

And I want you,
I want to be with you.

What do l care what happens to you
when you're far away from here?

What the heII do I care
what happens to you

when you're far away
from here?

You just want
what you don't have.

And you don't have the baIIs
to Iook after what you have.

And you don't have the balls
to look after what you have.

Look at yourseIf.

Now you're here and you don't
even want to do it.

What do you expect, when you
treat me the way a whore wouId.

That's what I am!

Thanks to you!

-l want to see them.
-What?

The 1,500 pesos I cost you.
I want to see them!

MatiIde's got them.

l don't know what's worse,
buying me or selling me.

I don't know what's worse,
buying me or seIIing me.

You're stiII the same.

The same, what?

You're not a man...

You're not a man...

You don't know what you want.
At Ieast I do as I pIease.

Sure, you do as you pIease.

Are we taIking about my pIeasure
or Suarez' pIeasure?

You don't know who you are
unIess someone is stroking you.

Shut up.

And with just a bit of stroking,
you spread your Iegs.

You think you do
as you pIease

but you're just here
for other peopIe's pIeasure.

And that's being
a whore, right?

And that's being
a whore, right?

I'm not a whore
because you soId me.

You soId me as a whore.

-I didn't say that.
-Don't you touch me!

Do you know what I wondered
when I was far away?

Who are you

when nobody's Iooking at you?

We're going to take
MatiIde out to sea.

Ernesto's asking
if you want to come with us.

-I got you out of bed.
-No way.

I was writing.
I think I found it.

-Your noveI?
-Yes.

And when your father
caIIed at my door...

I thought he was going to teII me
the whaIe had gone.

Another hunch?

Or better stiII,
that she'd gone again.

-ShaII we go and see?
-Why not? We're going that way.

You slept a while,

and l stayed looking at you
for the rest of the night.

When Pibe Pedro knocked on
he door to take us to the plane,

you opened your eyes and looked
at me as if l were a stranger.

As dawn was breaking
and we took off,

l could see the whale
near the sandbar.

With the sure instinct of animals,
as if time didn't exist,

it headed for a specific spot
in the middle of the sea.

I'm worth more
than 1,500 pesos.

Listen, you. Don't be stupid!

Don't mistake vaIue for price.

I'm not free because
they Iet me go.

I'm free because
I was born that way.

Even though
I've onIy been here

for other peopIe's pIeasure.
Isn't that right Suarez?

You reaIIy saw through me...

even if you're a bIind bastard.

Beat it, girI.

-And now what?
-I toId SeaI to foIIow the whaIe.

You teII me where to stop...

And we'II throw the ashes
into the water,

aIright?

I'II throw you in,
if you don't teII me the story.

I didn't even teII Suarez.

You're Suarez now.

You're no Ionger a boy, pops.
And me neither.

My oId man never teIIs.

He's been Iike that aII his Iife.

When my grandfather
toId his stories...

my dad wouId Ieave so
as not to have Iisten to them.

Do you feeI okay, GaIIega?

You shouIdn't be doing this.

Take your cIothes off,
so you don't get...

I can do as I pIease!
Don't treat me Iike I was iII.

But you are iII. I forget too
at times, but you're iII.

I'm okay.

I'm just a IittIe dizzy.

It's not my fauIt.
Some things just happen.

Forgive me.
I don't know what I'm saying.

Say whatever you Iike...

but don't say you're sorry.

Today your father
reminded me of mine.

AII the things
we never said to each other.

AII my Iife I've bIamed him
for everything.

What you say is true.

Of course I'm iII.

It's a reIief
to hear you say it.

I don't know what you were
Iike before. But you're beautifuI.

So you're Ieaving
tomorrow morning.

I do as I pIease.

Like LoIa, she finaIIy
finds out what she wants.

One day I'II find
your noveI in a bookstore,

and I'II know you're okay.

-WiII you buy it?
-Yes.

-And wiII you read it?
-Yes.

Then I'II write it.

Is it here?

The airstrip was over there.

They came this way...

and circIed over the whaIes.

We stayed over there.

WhaIes!

LoIa!

Give me your hand.

Give me your hand!

Gringo! LeveI the pIane!

Gringo!

LeveI it, God damn it!
LoIa!

Take a photo of me!
Take a photo of me!

And then the plane
went on with its joumey.

And the Gringo...

never came back.

-Can you stiII see them?
-Yes...

They're making circIes
above the whaIes.

After some time MatiIde
started teIIing me...

that I'd made aII this up.

And that if I ever toId Suarez...

She'd say I'm a Iiar.

And Suarez...

never found out.

l can hardly see
what l'm writing.

Bullets are falling
like shooting stars.

And l make the same wishes
as l always did.

Here, at war, while l wait
for my tum to come

l take pictures of death
every day.

She's playing hard to get because
she knows l'm waiting for her.

Be patient.

l won't be long.