Original subtitles

Hostage of an Illusion

Christ is born in Argentina, but instead of crucifying him, they bribe him.

How much longer? You promised that you would kill me. Why don't you kill me?

This has been killing me for months. I can't stand this any longer.

I'll kill myself, Pablo. I swear you that I'll kill myself.

A donation for all those poor people. Yes?

The people have to earn, Pablo. You have to write for the people to earn.

Like myself! Like myself, Pablo!

He almost dies, but he manages to save himself.

That's the story that needs to be told.

A man is driven insane by his lover.

It's a story to win competitions with.

For the first time they had breakfast together.

That afternoon I overwrote a few words.

Useless words that didn't seem to be the beginning of anything.

Should I serve for him?

Pablo Dafonte received the award...

Stop!

Stop, father! Rewind it!

...having determined the prestigious writer...

Leave it for a moment!

...the list of fiction sales with that novel...

That guy has been my professor.

Go figure, who would have thought of that.

The professor is a succesful writer.

Haven't you seen him for a long while?

I didn't see him since I left the faculty.

Editorial department. Yes?

Hello, Laura! How are you?

Fine.

No, I still didn't find anything.

Look, I may need photographers by the end of the month.

I'll notify you.

I need to ask a favor of you.

Can you obtain the phone number of a writer for me.

Of whom?

Yes, I'll obtain it for you.

To make an interview?

Look, I'll consult the department office.

A fake interview?

Hello?

In the study.

And do you remember where you were 25 years ago?

Damn it!

Happy anniversary!

Where did you buy the meat?

It wasn't me who bought it, Betty did. Why?

It's a bit chewy, isn't it?

It doesn't seem chewy to me.

But once again the potatoes fell through.

She let them elapse.

I explained it to her, but she doesn't understand.

Mister! A phone call!

Who is it?

I didn't understand well, they said something about an interview.

And they believe you that?

- What? - What you just told me.

That the life time you have left seems to you

as pleasurable as the life time that has already passed till now.

And do I have to be sincere?

No. Not necessarily. You're a writer.

- That's an advantage. - Yes.

What's sinister is to die before the physical death.

Many people and their illusions, their dreams

and resignations are eaten from inside

before they're eaten from the outside.

One day you said that you can't imagine life without women.

That one has to call women, to bear them,

and to transform the into literature as quickly as possible.

I think D�rrenmatt said that,

but I completely agree with it.

I think the only alternative to pain

is to convert them into literature.

The pain makes us conscious of the fact that

sooner or later we're going to be abandoned.

In the majority of your stories it seems like

the only true loves are the impossible loves. Is that so?

I don't know if they're the only ones, but they're the most intense ones.

Do they suffice to resist death?

Nothing suffices.

But one has to admit that death does its job.

Death also works for life,

even if it got such a bad reputation.

Is there anything you are afraid of, Dafonte.

To stop loving.

- Do you live here? - No, this is my study.

- Here you write. - Whenever I can.

Dafonte, thank you very much. It has been a pleasure.

I wait for you.

Do you know that ten years ago you were

my professor of philosophy and literature?

Don't tell me! And what's your name?

Laura. Laura Quiroga.

And did you finish the studies?

Lamentably not.

In the beginning I didn't pay attention to her.

Neither did I notice traits of a seductive intelligence in her.

Nothing made me suspect what would happen.

Thank you! I owe you.

- Bye! See you! - Bye! Take care!

Can I put this inside the fridge?

Why are you looking at me like that?

What? Can't I look at you?

Do you want to take it off?

Professor!

What I'm telling you is that I can

lend you one of my shirts while we let this one dry.

Does it make you nervious to drink champagne with an alumna?

You haven't been my alumna for a while.

Right?

- What's that? - What?

That visit of yours.

I was very much in love with you when I was your alumna.

But many years have passed.

So I can't kiss you? Now I felt like it.

Ten years later. Go figure.

Who would have thought that?

For days I crossed your path. Or you crossed mine.

If it doesn't frighten you, I would ask you to embrace me.

I want an embrace because I freeze.

Stronger.

Stronger.

How nice!

Don't you want to stay for diner?

- We could order something. - I can't.

They wait for me. Another day.

Yes. Thanks for the champagne.

And for the kiss.

- I love you. - Ok.

Everything went fine with the patterns for the catalogue.

I made some changes.

But they are fine.

You will like them.

I start with the Columbian era, I intermingled the epochs.

The paper is very opaque.

You will like it. I assure you.

Hello, professor. Rush your desire till the last farewell drink.

Nobody looks back. Just look here. Rumi.

How does it begin? Why does it begin?

I had already forgotten it. It's almost painful.

One of the first alterations is the perception of time.

The time, that emptiness which passes

while the other person isn't there.

These are my secret islands,

to which I get when I can't stand this reality.

That means if you should disappear one day, I have to

look for you on one of these islands. - Yes.

It's great that you got the glasses.

Didn't she bother you because they were missing?

What will you say if she notices it?

I don't think she will notice. She got more important things to take care of.

- This place is safe? - Yes.

- She got no key? - No.

And you? Do you live alone?

- I live with a guy. - He's your boyfriend.

He's not exactly my boyfriend.

I got to know him when I had to work in San Luis.

He told me that he wanted to come to Buenos Aires to study.

Thus I offered him my apartment.

Because the truth is that I liked him a bit.

But now I think of talking to him

and asking him to leave.

And how old is he?

23.

You're into children.

23 years. He's not a child.

- He's divine, but in truth he tires me. - Why?

Because at that age they're horny all day long.

Did you lock the door with the key?

Because I didn't see you locking it with the key.

And that can be dangerous.

I want more champagne.

Not in the glass.

You can't do this to me.

I'm an older man.

- Older than what? - My God.

A 23-year-old man doesn't know everything a man your age knows.

- No? - No. They only want to penetrate.

What does he do to you? Tell me.

I don't even think of telling you.

Does he play with you like I do?

- He doesn't know how to play. - No?

He always has a hard-on.

But I touch him if he gets a hard-on.

And this can take the whole day.

It tires me.

You are worried?

You should go to Luj�n and thank the Holy Virgin.

This girl is a gift that God sends you.

I can't believe a thing like this happens to me at my age.

At your age?

Sexual energy never disappears.

The old men have a desire to fuck that makes them die.

And you still got a lot of time before you're a old man.

If I told you that men of 70 or 75 years come to consult me

because of some venereal disease.

With regards to Viagra, these guys take a pill and begin.

A new battle of body against body.

Their wives don't want a war.

Because the 60-year-old women only want to be grandmothers.

And what do the men do? They go to whores.

And they don't protect themselves.

Because a 70-year-old man doesn't know how to fuck with a condom.

And furthermore he thinks: "What can happen to me?"

"What can happen to me?

Gonorrhea, siphilis, Aids."

Of course they don't go there to get infected.

But they kind of pride themselves with it,

because they caught a disease that active males get.

These guys are pathetic.

I can't stand how envious you make me.

Look at her.

She's good.

This morning he packed all his things.

From now on we can meet at my apartment.

It seems like we have to say farewell to my study.

No. No, it's fine.

Within the week I can at least pay you for a month.

I just ask you for some more time, a few more days.

In the past I also paid that way.

Fine. It's all right, I'll call you.

Welcome to Laura's world, professor.

I still couldn't finish unpacking some things.

I got things at my parent's house which I don't know where to put them.

And some things of my ex-boyfriend which he still hasn't picked up.

I bought this at the supermarket next door. It's cold.

They are my favorite topic.

The storms.

One of them might become the end of the world.

And I want to registrate it.

Why did you stop studying literature?

Problems.

My father didn't want me to study that.

And then my mother got sick.

Therefore I had to look for a job.

And what does your father do?

He works for a surveillance company.

The diskjockey must be my father.

What a joy to live in front of the barracks.

I can't stand the militaries with their marches.

Do you want to?

It's not possible like this. It's not possible like this.

It's not possible with this music.

Then you will have to wait till tonight.

Because that's the only time they won't play.

Teach the militaries how to push forward.

And thrust the flag in the enemy's territory.

And you are the enemy's territory?

Do you have a gun in your house?

For what?

To quiet the militaries.

You're crazy.

- In the legs. - You're crazy.

What?

I can't believe you're here.

Professor Dafonte in my bed!

I had to wait for ten years.

You waited for me?

All that time you were thinking of me?

No.

But it has been an unfinished business.

Why?

Because you made me very horny when I was a student.

- Why? - Why?

Why? Is there ever an explanation for it?

I knew that Laura wasn't a delusion of mine.

The smell of her genital remained on my hands for hours.

Laura was real.

And I wished that a lot of time would pass

before I would have to transform her into literature.

I had regained the possibility to have sex

without having to take any pill.

With Laura I just needed a good dry wine.

- Who is it? - Pablo.

Come up!

Laura had made me rewind twenty years.

For some mysterious reason

she permitted me to return to paradise.

Splendid, right?

- You like them? - Yes.

- When will you launch it? - On the 27th.

Do you want to write something for the catalogue?

Yes. Why not? Yes.

- On the exhibition. - Thanks.

- Do I know him? - Whom?

Your lover.

What lover? You're crazy.

Recently you rarely observe me.

You no longer call me to know if I'm in the study.

And if you call and I'm not there, you don't ask where I've been,

as you used to do before.

- Are we negociating? - Negociating what?

You go astray and I go astray.

Then you're the one who has a lover.

Please, Magdalena.

I'm already retired.

No, Pablo. Please!

I'm tired!

And I have to get up early tomorrow, you know.

We do it another day.

Go! Go inside! Come on! Quickly!

- What's the matter? - She's crazy!

How does it seem to you? One goes through the hallway

every day and it smells of marijuana.

And she didn't open you?

Listen how loud she turned the music.

What can she hear?

Hello, Sir.

It's Bertr�n. How are you?

It's again about the same. Yes.

The same as always.

It's wonderful.

- He invests a lot. - Yes, I saw it a while ago.

Right, Pablo?

Of course.

Can I give you a cheque from a bank in New York?

Yes, of course.

We all know that it's changing.

- What are you doing here? - What a face you make!

As if you've seen a demon.

Give me a drink!

I don't find this funny, Laura.

What is my guilt if the agency asks me to cover the inauguration

of an exhibition in the gallery of your wife.

Have you ever imagined that your wife may face your lover

and would nevertheless smile at her?

Go figure!

Hello! How are you?

The next time you do something like that to me, I'm going to strangle you.

Fine.

But wile you strangle me, you should fuck me.

Something weird is happening to me.

I think that I need to go to the oculist.

What's the matter with you?

I once read that reality, the things we see,

consists of vibrations of light which reproduce with such a celerity

that the humans regard it as something continuous.

Well, that's what happens with cinema.

What happens to me is that I'm beginning to see...

- Are you listening to me? - Yes.

What happens to me is that I'm beginning to see

the intervals between the vibrations.

It's like seeing the black bars that separate the photograms of a film.

Do you understand?

But how long do these interruptions last?

A millisecond.

But I can see them.

It doesn't happen to me all the time.

But each time it happens more frequently.

And thus reality stops being reality.

And it starts being another thing which I don't understand.

A thing that frightens me.

Through concrete gestures and demanours

we should overcome a difficult stage of the past

in order to fully utilise our potential

and prepare for a communal path.

The defiance has been formulated.

It's good to specify that defiance.

It implicates the effort to actively envisage,

conceiving and planning the necessary training,

integrating the conjugal action, and...

Occasionally, for the community...

How are you, Pablo? It's Laura.

Well, I'm calling on your cellphone. You know that I'm calling late,

because I didn't have my cellphone around.

And I'm...

A while ago you asked me

what I'm doing and it was a question you needed to ask me.

That's why I'm answering you now.

I'm going to vanish for a few days.

I just did something very extreme and I have to

flee from my house.

I call you when I know everything.

I love you so much.

How are you, Pablo? It's Laura.

I just made something very extreme and

have to flee from my house.

I call you when I know everything.

I love you so much.

I just did something very extreme and

have to flee from my house.

I knew how this pain was called.

Far from rejecting it,

I thanked God for letting me experience it once more.

- Hello. - Pablo.

- Where are you? - At my house.

All night I've been at a party in Tigre.

- You didn't sleep? - Yes, a bit. On a city square.

I met some nice people, they gave me a cigarette and more.

But what's the matter with you?

I tell you later. Will you come?

- I think there's no danger now. - Yes, I'll come.

It's all right. Calm down.

It seems that right now they're not aiming at this place.

Who is aiming?

The militaries.

This morning they tried to burst me.

- What? - Sit down and I tell you.

Thus I foiled it.

In truth it was an action for which all neighbours should thank me,

because we were already all worn out by the military marches

that these sons o bitches were playing every day.

I put the amplifier outside, on the balcony.

I put on music during their act.

These are barracks.

Yes, but they don't have the right.

Strange things happen there.

Which things?

Trucks come and go all day long.

They are occulted with plate glass.

And?

Do you know what they bring and fetch there?

Soldiers, munition, food.

No. We don't know what these truck carry.

But what can they bring there?

We don't know.

In this country many people disappeared.

But that was a long time ago, Laura.

And Julio L�pez?

And the guy they killed because he testified against the police?

The one they poisoned?

As far as I know all this is happening right now.

They want to kill me.

The militaries and the janitor want to kill me.

This morning I saw the janitor with some guys.

I'm sure they were cops.

They want to kill me.

Why should they want to kill you? Because you put on loud music?

I foiled their act with the music. I foiled their act.

You put on some loud music.

It was a prank. Noone is going to kill you for that.

It's just that I know of many things.

Come here. It's all right.

At 12 o'clock they want to see me with the therapist.

Go back to your house calmly and keep writing.

Here everything is fine.

Can you give me the mail adress and phone number of your father?

What for?

For anything.

Yes, it's all right.

I also want to give you this.

These are some pictures.

I ask you to make some copies.

Leave one in your house and another in the study.

Hello! How are you?

I'm a friend of the lady from 5D. Laura.

I want to ask you a question.

You don't know about anything they threw from the barracks.

No, I didn't see anything.

Hasn't there been anything weird?

Something strange that attracted your attention

with regards to Laura's apartment, during the last couple of days?

Many things.

Various neighbours complained.

Why?

Immoral and indecent activities.

What activities?

You know.

Receiving messages.

You haven't received any new messages.

I'm not there. Leave me your message.

- Good afternoon! Mr. Quiroga? - You're talking to him.

A pleasure, Mr. Quiroga. I'm Pablo Dafonte.

I've been Laura's philosophy and literature professor.

We're friends. I was with her. The truth is that I'm worried.

Because I call her and she doesn't answer.

I don't know if you are aware that she has been

anxious about some issues.

- She felt persecuted. - I'm aware of all this.

And is she with you?

She's in good care.

Tell me. I could...

I'm not there. Leave me your message.

I got to know the endless well of that sadness in which I began to drown.

My only possible salvation was to write.

In the course of one of her dances Laura suddenly got company.

Those monsters which had always been suspected to hide in some corner

of her apartment finally appeared.

Mr. Quiroga! Dafonte is speaking.

- Yes? - How are you?

- How is Laura? - She's all right.

- Taken care of. - I'd like to visit her

and give her a book if possible.

Don't bother. She's being medicated and can't see you.

That's all very strange, Pablo. Forget about her!

With a girl like that you never know.

And how is a girl like that?

Stop teasing, Pablo. I don't know her personally, Pablo.

But based on your description she got a psychosis.

And if she doesn't have a psychosis?

What if she's really in danger because of something she has seen or knows?

You're taken up by that girl.

You're in danger.

Sometimes I think that my love could save her.

Whether she gets saved or not depends on her. On her alone.

In the meantime: Are you ready to destroy your marriage?

Is it worth it?

Don't you have a picture of Laura?

No.

Pablo.

Shouldn't you get back to therapy?

Or talk to Mart�n.

He may check up on you.

He already talked to me.

And?

He says that one of the characters that I write about

must have an illness and is infecting me.

It's just madness. And I've been worrying.

I suffer from remorse and guilt.

Guilt? Because of what?

Because I see your body age while I get younger with each day.

You're such an idiot.

What?

Pablo. What's the matter with you?

Pablo.

What's the matter?

Stronger!

My God! How I needed that embrace!

What happened to you?

It seems like I had a breakdown on the street.

They brought me to a hospital and tied me up.

Did they keep you by force?

No. I think they tied me up so that I would neither hurt myself nor others.

I don't know. I don't remember.

And are you better now?

I'm a bit slower.

I'm on medication.

My arms hurt for not having embraced you.

My mouth hurts for not having kissed you.

My ears hurt for not having heard you.

Who's that woman?

She's my supervising therapist.

Well, in truth she's my aunt Kata.

The doctors told my father that I need to be accompanyed at all times.

I told my aunt that I wanted to be alone with you and she understood.

Laura negociated with her supervising therapist

to ask allowance for our meetings.

I reminded me of an exchange of hostages.

Let alone that there was only one hostage

which the captors let free once a week to allow her to see me.

I'm writing.

You've been my muse.

Why?

Because I'm writing a story that has to do with us.

Before sunset I had to hand over the hostage.

But I never returned her the same.

The one I gave back was covered with kisses and moisture

till the last pore of her body.

I began to wonder how much Laura enjoyed those walks to my place.

I wondered at which point she would step by step simply let herself float.

Caring with each step less about why she was walking.

Don't you mind that it doesn't rain?

It always rains when we meet.

Or the other way round. Each time it rains we meet.

Don't you mind?

Strong!

Stronger!

How nice!

Even though we didn't talk about it, we both knew that the embraces

and the kisses of any of these afternoons could be the farewell.

Is the novel making progress?

Are you writing about what happened to me?

I'm writing the story of two characters

who go through the same as you and me.

Are you going to leave me as soon as you finish converting me into literature?

It will take a long while until it's finished.

I won't stand you disappearing again.

Don't worry!

I will always love you.

Wherever I may be.

I know that some day you won't see me for long.

Look for me in the intervals in between the vibrations.

In those black bars that separate each photogram

of a film. There!

That's where I'll be.

Loving you forever.

For a week now I haven't heard of her.

I need you to give me a sedative.

Pablo! You already found out that you haven't retired.

The world is full of girls with which you could have wonderful affairs.

Yes.

But none of them is her.

You can find one alike whenever you want.

Accordng to witnesses the woman was between 30 and 35 years old.

SUICIDE IN THE DISTRICT OF NUNEZ

She fell down the building. On the face of it this seems to be a suicide.

- What was that regarding the suicide? - No idea.

Let's now continue with the results of the national lottery.

Who is it?

Ah, professor. You're talking to Valent�n Quiroga, Laura's father.

- How is Laura? - Fine.

Taken care of.

As far as I've understood you're writing a book. A novel, I think.

Yes.

And that novel is about Laura?

What do you mean by it being about Laura?

Yes, because it's about your relation with my daughter.

Well, it's a fictional character.

I probably took some elements from reality.

Excuse me, Mr. Quiroga.

But I don't understand why I should tell you details about what I'm writing.

In fact I want to know what you've already written. Up to this moment.

Because you have to understand that as Laura's father I can't allow you

to invade my daughter's privacy.

To let you expose her in front of people she knows.

He hang up.

Leave her in peace.

You won't like what I'm going to tell you.

That I should forget her.

You can forget about someone who exists.

I could forget her if she had met another guy,

sending me postcards from some place on earth.

But she disappeared.

There's no one to forget about.

It's a constant pain.

She might have returned to her boyfriend.

And she decided to disappear for a while in order to not cause you trouble.

I have a patient who works in the interior ministry.

I did research regarding Laura's father.

He's a retired military officer.

He retired in 1983.

After Malvinas.

Why?

He asked for retirement.

Laura was registred on the 13th of October, 1976.

She's his only daughter.

Listen! What are you doing?

Don't be scared, professor!

I'm tired, but I'm not a thief.

I was a military and I'm tarnished.

I'm Laura's father.

Valent�n Quiroga. A pleasure.

Where is Laura?

Should we have a coffee?

Where is Laura, Mr. Quiroga?

Laura is interned.

Laura has had problems since she was a young girl.

She has been interned various times.

She has relapses.

It's a burden.

What happens is that I would do anything to make sure nothing happens to her.

Believe me, professor. I won't let anything happen to her.

And I will go to church each week until she got peace.

And why doesn't she have peace, Mr. Quiroga?

I can explain.

Because of you. You got a wife and go out with a 30-year old girl.

What do you want?

No, don't think that I want to disturb you.

I don't care what you do with your life.

But the woman who lives upstairs is quite bothered.

In fact I want you to help us.

To help Laura.

How much do you want?

We would need a guarantee to open a kiosk.

So that my wife can look after it.

My wife doesn't talk.

She had cancer of the throat and they removed everything.

One misfortune doesn't come alone.

I'm a private watchman. And with that...

and the military pension we more or less manage, but

with a kiosk we could also sell hod dogs and Milanese sandwiches.

We could make a difference.

And we could send Laura to a good clinic.

Because as long as Laura doesn't go to a private clinic,

she won't cure.

She comes out just to be interned again shortly afterwards.

She told me she had been in a clinic.

What do you want me to tell you?

Within a few days I will answer you, Mr. Quiroga.

Everything was great.

No, it was really great.

I liked the food and the delivery. It was all wonderful.

I think the next time we should do the same.

But there should just be little appetizers which one eats and that's it.

As always.

Fine. I send you a kiss.

Thank you. Bye!

- Yes. Who is it? - Mr. Dafonte?

- Who's talking? - In two hours I will be at Escribano 39.

A BMW with reflective windows.

Who's talking? Hello?

Hello?

Fucking idiot!

- Thanks, Betty! - You're welcome!

How was your day?

A bad day for fishing.

I thought that I had written something important,

but those seven pages were worthless.

- And yours? - Fine.

It was all quiet. I think that I sold a panting.

- For Irena? - Yes.

By handshake.

The one with the couple. You remember? The one you really liked?

And to whom did you sell it?

To a manager of a publicity agency.

- I see. - A sophisticated guy.

Very good. An art collector.

Does he have a BMW?

I don't know. How should I know?

A BMW with reflective windows.

I don't know. How should I know?

How should I know what you look for?

Pablo! Pablo! What's the matter with you?

Professor!

What a coincidence to meet you here!

Laura!

This is developing in a way that I don't like.

I don't want this kind of complications.

Are you tired of me?

No, that's not it.

Did you finish writing the novel?

No.

No.

Your father has been disturbing me.

I think he spies on me.

And he also observes my wife.

What a son of a bitch!

Don't be afraid! It will be taken care of.

You never talked to me about your father.

I didn't want to ruin our encounters.

He always interfered with everything I wanted.

He didn't let me study because he said that

philosophy and literature were a sinistral cluster.

If he found out that I liked someone,

he thought of something to scare him.

My friends were all whores or Lesbians.

- He hates you. - He's afraid of me.

Why?

I don't now.

But this time he won't be able to.

Please don't leave me.

I want to escape.

I don't want to return to my apartment.

The lodger is certainly waiting there to notify my father.

He only wants to see me interned.

And doped.

Can I remain in your study?

Just for today?

If your wife comes, I can tell her that I'm one of your characters.

Is that all right? Yes?

I will get back to work.

Let me know if you're cold.

I will come to wrap you up.

I'd like to have one with butter.

Two biscuits.

No, not these.

Those with cream.

It's you!

I woke up and didn't see you.

I bought pastry.

At 3 AM?

I couldn't sleep.

And I went out to take a walk.

I'm going to fulfill an old dream.

To have breakfast with you.

There was a white dove sitting on a green lemon tree.

With the snout it sliced the branch.

With the branch it sliced the flower.

- Yes? - Pablo.

- It's Mart�n. Did you hear about it? - About what?

They killed a retired military with the surname Quiroga.

I just heard it on television.

- Did you hear, Pablo? - Did they rob him?

It seems like it wasn't a robbery.

They shot him five times.

- What have you heard of Laura? - Nothing.

I don't know anything. I haven't heard from her for weeks.

Thanks for letting me know.

- A hug, my friend. - Take care.

Give me a kiss on the mouth.

I'm turning halfway round. I'm turning all the way round.

Going one step back. Bowing once.

But no, but no, but no. Why does it make me feel ashamed?

But yes, but yes, but yes. Because I love you.

Give me one hand. Give me the other.

Give me a kiss on the mouth.

I'm turning halfway round.

I'm turning all the way round.

But no, but no, but no.

- Why does it make me feel ashamed? - Why does it make me feel ashamed?

- But yes, but yes, but yes. - But yes, but yes, but yes.

Because I love you.