All language subtitles for Orozco el Embalsamador.en

This is a documentary...

... about the monotonously ever repeating
abnormal daily life of an old embalmer...

... Who is the busiest in the world, working in
the most dangerous area in Colombia...

... one of the most dangerous
countries in the world...

... Which has been gnawed away
and ruled by violence for many years.

It's too simple
and minimal.

In the area of El Cartucho
there's nothing but corpses.

Nothing exists there
but a wreck of violence and prayer.

| intend to depict the love and dignity
still left in human beings...

... after being robbed of everything.
— Tsurisaki Kiyotaka

He was a fruit vendor.

- He was?
- Yep.

At least
he was only stabbed.

This stab
is the most lethal.

- Were you close by?
- Very close.

What a pity, stiff.

- Shall we cover it up?
- Wait a moment. Just a second.

Take the girl away.
She's afraid of him, of course.

He was only a boy.

The boy
was a fruit vendor.

Can you spare
some change?

Some spare change!

Some spare change!

We're asking
for some change!

Why are you
taking pictures?

INSTITUTE OF LEGAL MEDICINE

JUNE 1996

The liver.

- Are they being reused or thrown away?
- They'll be put back in there.

| take them out because
they hinder the work.

He suffered an infarction.

The blood
turned into this.

At least 5 litres of blood
came out.

It always
remains in the joints.

There.

The less the weight,
the less the peso.

- Will you leave the rags inside?
- Yes.

| charge the lowest price for this job:
50,000 pesos (50 US dollars).

Really?

50,000 pesos?

At Gaviria, this job would cost
400,000 pesos (400 US dollars).

That's the charge
for embalming.

- Who is it?
- {t's me.

Did you paint it
in cream?

Look, why should |
open this little shit?

- It's a pity.
- Will you do me a favor?

Why not, bitch?

- Huh?
- Why not, bitch?

- What?
- | mean yes.

Good.

Done.

You are watching me
dressing a corpse.

| love dressing a corpse.
This is my way to dress it.

Let's get some lunch
at the restaurant.

Get some lunch
or what?

No.

No?

Damn it.

- What did she die of?
- Infarction.

This is a woman
who has never made herself up.

Why should I paint her face
like a clown now?

Good.

These are very rusty.

They are for those
who don't even have a scalpel.

They think
that these are real instruments.

- For surgery or something?
- Yes.

These junk scalpels are good for nothing
but cutting yourself.

You are the only one left
to photograph this job.

- I'm hiding the stuff here.
- Alright, alright.

Good.

DOWNTOWN

| don't have anything.
Just frisk me.

| don't have anything.

Son of a bitch!

- | swear | don't have anything!
- Be quiet, man!

Don't do that!
| behaved myself!

Don't do that!
| don't have anything at all.

You son of a bitch!

| gave him 1,000 pesos (1 US dollar).
But | didn't bring anything to sell.

THE SOUTH

These are the viscera.

Done.

This is
one son of a bitch.

This isn't
a fine pantyhose.

It works.

This job you see here is being done in
whatever funeral parlor, wherever it is.

Well, not in a
country funeral parlor.

- These belts belong to my assistant.
- Yes, | know.

OCTOBER 1996

OROZCO WASN'T HERE
BECAUSE HE WAS HOSPITALIZED.

How was it fucked?

A car ran it over and fractured its hind legs.
JUNE 1997

CHE LIVES IN OUR HEARTS

GAVIRIA MURDERER

Take it.

He was hit hard.

Of course, brother.

He was catapulted out of a dumper
and crashed against a cliff.

It's an easy job.

The blood is scandalous.

For those from there
it's not necessary to open the head.

- No?
- For him, opened on the street...

- It's not necessary to open it?
- No.

It's a pity.

But everything taken out
is in here.

Son of a bitch,
this is a sterile thread for surgery.

The brains are here.
So his head is empty.

Inside there
is the cerebral mass.

- Froilito!
- Sir?

- Take the coffin.
- Open the door.

- A shooting?
- Yes.

How are you, sir?

He is super fine
thanks to the kid.

ls he angry?

No.
Go back to the funeral parlor!

This autopsy is shoddy.
Nothing was done.

Nothing?

It's half-finished.

The viscera
weren't taken out.

Damn!

- He's heavy!
- You don't have much strength.

- Who?
- You.

After the surgery,
you must take care of yourself.

After the surgery...
yes, | have to.

- What? Water?
- Yes.

My illness
is in the curvature.

- Inflammation of the stomach.
- Yes.

- Anyway.
- Better take care of yourself.

- | better take care of the dead.
- You've lifted them for many years.

Here | have
an assistant.

In case of need,
he helps me.

Here's shit.

Here's shit.
Let's wash his arm.

- It isn't there. It's down there.
- Oh, yes.

| was looking for it.

How much do you pour
into a corpse?

Half a bottle is enough
because it scalds heavily.

About half.

It's enough.
He's almost cooked already.

It's strong.

- What does it do to the body?
- Without it, they putrefy rapidly.

Damn it.

He was catapulted
out of a dumper.

Was he catapulted out or did he bump
against the windshield?

- Catapulted out.
- Did it open?

No, the bump opened the dumper,
and catapulted him out.

It bumped
and catapulted him out.

The dumper catapulted him out,
turned over and fell on its back.

Son of a bitch!

- Good.
- lt was his turn.

He was mature.

He must be hard
to restore.

- It's restored now.
- But is it the same?

The price isn't the same.
But it's restored now.

How much does it cost?

Depends. 30,000 (30 US dollars)
to 40,000 (40 US dollars).

It also depends on
the funeral parlor's fuckin’ archives.

This job costs
10,000 pesos (10 US dollars).

He was suffering from
prostate trouble.

- What's this?
- Semen.

Now you know how to restore
a corpse like this, don't you?

Done.

Let's put
the "mijo" socks on.

Damn it!

It's coming off.

- It's coming off?
- Yes.

It doesn't fit in.
I stick it back in there and plug it up.

Done.

Cover up the head.

This is how you dress a laying corpse.
With a shirt turned inside out.

You tear the back
and turn it inside out.

You raise the head
and dress him.

Dressing him from one sleeve to the other
would never work.

Hold the neck.

Make it tighter.

It's buttoned up.

Pull it down.

Turn it over a little.

Let's finish the rest
inside the coffin.

Do you lay someone in there
for a picture?

No.

Let's get him down.

Be careful.

Bastard!

Let's finish the rest
inside the coffin.

Remove the bag
and accommodate his head.

Exactly half an hour.

Good.

| might switch to carpentry
doing this all the time.

Good.

Do you like my picture?
It's very nice.

We know nothing about your career.
It's mysterious.

- Talking about me?
- Yes, as a police inspector.

Well, | was
a police inspector.

Were those times
as violent as these?

Yes, it's the same.

Good.

A new job.

- What happened?
- Nothing at all.

Nothing?
We have no case.

Shall we stay there?
Boss?

- Yes, I'm leaving now.
- Good.

If someone can't work,
he shouldn't eat either.

- You understand the meaning of the work?
- That's the point. | did it, brother.

He's afraid of nothing,
except one thing.

- What?
- An injection.

| mend it
with the knife.

Formalin scalds heavily.

- She's going on a trip.
- Where to?

Not that far.
She's going to Sogamoso.

It's so hot there
that she would inflate rapidly.

She's filled with liquid.

Alberto did that.
It's his style.

And who taught you?

I've been doing this job for 20 years,
while Alberto's done it for about four.

But we don't fight with each other
about the job.

- You don't?
- No.

| have to put formalin
all over the corpse.

Of course, it's too much
formalin now.

It's a pity
that her stomach is closed.

What?
| was asked to delay this job.

If | open the fixed body
it'll fill with water again.

It's fixed for the trip.

| saw the journalists coming to interview
an embalmer here.

They interviewed Biruta.

- Yes, they interviewed him for Channel 3.
- Why?

Now people will think
that all the embalmers are blind like him.

- He knows the least of all embalmers.
- | didn't know that.

He's very clumsy.

Whether he can do something or not,
when he is asked, he follows.

The corpses Biruta embalmed decompose
because he doesn't know how to do it.

He repaired a corpse
around here...

... and took it for repair to his companion,
allegedly the best embalmer on 1st street.

The best in Bogota,
allegedly.

If so, why does he
damage corpses?

The corpses | restore last from 20 days
to one month without smelling.

| have to present
them all.

That's very interesting!

Froilan doesn't do this.
Nothing.

How is this?
Can Froilan do this, that motherfucker?

A lot of water
is leaking out.

When | embalmed
an Indio from Ecuador...

... he lasted
for 6 days of vigil.

| was here for 3 days and 3 nights
to restore him.

| restored him
and kept him well.

And | met with another Indio
in Los Martinez.

| asked her how it was,
and she said "fine".

Tremendous.

- Your job is fuckin’ crazy.
- What?

Your job
is fuckin’ crazy.

They started with nothing.

Yes, | know.
| understand what you mean.

They started with nothing,
no nothing.

Go away with the old.

They started with nothing.

They get nothing.

They get nothing.
Poor, poor. Eat shit.

Eat lots of it,
son of a bitch.

Ask me something.

Just ask me something.

She has a well-closed
bushy pussy.

How cute
she used to be.

- A cute corpse, isn't she?
- Sure.

Her feet are cute.

You have to get
something for me, brother!

The blood
flows from the guts.

This poor old man
doesn't even bleed.

The liver.

The formalin scalds him.

It's the same as putting
a piece of raw meat into boiling water.

It's cooking him now.

These rags are put into the visceral cavity
to give him form.

Done.

When the corpse
is bigger...

... to take out the viscera, wash them
and put them back takes more time.

But 99.99% of the corpses are like this,
without an autopsy performed on them.

That's done
exactly like this.

It's faster to unlace them, to take out
the viscera, wash them and put it all back.

- That's quicker.
- Is anything being put in the head?

Yes, but this is a poor old man.
Why should | open it?

Why should | open the head with a saw?
The brains would be taken out and put here.

It's better for him
to leave the brains in there...

... because | have to cut
the trachea and two veins.

| turned it over
to exsanguinate it...

... because the brain decomposes
when there's still blood in it.

When it doesn't bleed...

| know
it doesn't bleed.

Anyway, the old man's trachea
and two jugulars were cut...

... $0 he has no blood
in the head.

This is what
every embalmer does.

Whatever the others say
is bullshit.

This is done here and in the funeral parlors
such as Gaviria, Cristo Rey...

... in Los Olivos, Cali,
Medellin, etc.

But we have to work
conscientiously.

Some embalmers
don't do that.

It's not because they are afraid
or ignorant of the dead.

They know that the corpse is buried
the next day anyway...

... and that there's no problem.
But the embalmer has to open them...

.. and do
what | do here.

Fortunately, | have,
so to speak...

... the conscience
to do my best for a corpse.

I could dress a corpse,
put it in the coffin...

... and don't mind what happens next.
| try to avoid that.

The clients would be displeased
by a bad job.

Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow,
somebody might tell the family...

.. and the family
says to the funeral parlor:

"Son of a bitch, what the fuck did you do?
It's decomposed." Or something like that.

If | don't pay attention,
| won't get money from the funeral parlor.

If | damage a corpse and something bad
happens, the client won't come back.

Yesterday we talked about the phenomenon
of all those violent deaths in Colombia.

Colombia,
where best Castellan is spoken.

Even the Spanish don't speak it
as clear as we do.

What can we do? When we go there,
they just speak blah, blah, blah.

- Are there interpreters?
- Of course.

Of course, | know that.

About 40
or 50 years ago...

... this job wasn't done
in the era of Hitler Germany.

They just dumped 40,000
or 50,000 people into a hole.

Done.

These belts are
very valuable to me.

| don't need to ask
another person for help.

When a corpse is heavy, | put them
under the neck or the legs to lift it.

| better don't tell you
about my impression.

| think that something different
happened to him.

What happened?

He was beaten.

And then?

But the responsibles have already signed
his death certificate.

Leave it as it is.
The mortician will arrange his hands.

Of course.

Good.

- This is another one, but it's no use.
- From when you were in the police?

- Not when | was in the police.
- In the army.

- Yes.
- This photo was taken in 1952.

And this is...
it was taken later...

In 1985.

- For what do you need it?
- Wait. | can copy them.

Can you leave us
these two?

You have changed
so much.

| was 18 years old.

Good-looking.

It was an era of violence
known as "La Violencia".

- | don't know how | survived it.
- Good grief!

- | don't know why I'm still alive.
- Were those times very tough?

Of course.
Now we have a future.

So many lives were lost
in the 50's and 60's.

It was due to
political violence.

I'll never be able
to talk about it.

Good.

It was so fucked up that | hope
it'll never happen again in my life.

Good. Done.

This is my personal file
for emergencies.

| keep it here.
The only thing | don't have is dollars.

Bring them to me.

And lots of them.

Son of a bitch.

FEBRUARY 1998

I'd like to ask you, as his friend,
how he died.

| only know there were complications
from his disease.

So he was rushed
to the hospital.

At first, he had an operation.
It was the beginning of everything.

He was given
a blood transfusion.

Every month
he had a transfusion.

But it was getting worse and worse,
like cancer.

And that simple operation caused
complications like that?

- Exactly.
- What happened then?

He had an appointment
to undergo another operation.

In the end, the weight that he
used to lift inflated the stomach.

It resulted in a hernia.

He had an appointment
for the operation.

But the doctor
didn't want to do the operation.

He said that the hernia
was too advanced to be operated.

He was hospitalized,
but then the kidney caused complications.

- And the bile secreted and turned yellow.
- Did he die from lifting corpses?

- From straining himself too much?
- Yes, at the beginning.

He didn't take care of himself
after the operation.

He was supposed to rest.

But as soon as he left the hospital,
he came here.

- He didn't take a rest.
- Then the sutures were ruptured there.

No, they weren't ruptured.
A real ball was formed here.

A hard ball.
He fastened it with the belt...

... but it was no use.
Then he died.

Yes, he died from
lifting those corpses.

When did he die?

Sunday, 20 days ago?
Sunday, 20 days ago.

| made the posters.
Look!

- They were ripped off.
- One poster is still there.

Look at the posters | ordered.
There!

- | ordered the posters.
- Let's go there. Where is it?

Look, there is a poster
that says "Froilan Orozco".

It says "Froilan Orozco".

It says:
"Orozco, our friend."

What do you think about Froilan's death?
You were his friend.

- No! No!
- Come on, we're shooting a documentary.

Yes...

No, no, no, no, no!
It's dangerous!

- He's dead anyway.
- |s that all?

- Yes.
- Tell me...

- He's still shooting?
- Yes, of course. You know that.

No, no, | don't like video,
no way.

Shall we go there?
Let's go!

Where is he?

You shoot me too much!
Why are you shooting me?

All the people
lament the death of Orozco.

Yes, you have
a wonderful life, brother.

What do you think about
Froilan's death?

- Are you interviewing me?
- Yes.

Where are you from?

What do you think about
the death of Froilan who embalmed here?

| don't know him.

- The man who died a few days ago?
- Yes.

- Yes, | know him.
- He was a good fellow, wasn't he?

- Did he give you change?
- | was his assistant.

Really?

He gave me a 1,000 pesos coin (1 US dollar),
but someone stole it.

The other day a man gave me a 2,000 pesos
bill (2 US dollars), but life still sucks.

He said:
"Take 2,000 pesos and don't come back!"

- And it turned out fake!
- Really?

- Yes.
- And Froilan gave you some change?

- Yes.
- Orozco?

What are you doing?
Shooting?

- Some change.
- God bless you!

Thank you.

What else
do you want me to say?

| love him very much.
God bless him.

I'd love some coffee.
This shop won't give me any.

No?

Coffee with milk!

| want
some coffee with milk.

Sell me
some coffee with milk!

He was like a father to me.
BIRUTICA: SON OF BIRUTA

And as a master
he taught me everything.

I'm very grateful
for that.

| am what he
taught me.

I'll never forget him.

What else can | tell you?

He was very nice
to everybody.

| can't tell you
any more.

Nothing else.

He once fought with this machete
in an argument.

He took it out
to defend himself.

He was armed with it.

You're poor if you don't have
a cup of coffee before a job.

It's poor
to begin a job!

It's poor to begin a job
without a cup of coffee in the morning.

Good. Done.

Orozco has embalmed more than
50,000 corpses during his lifetime.

But he himself wasn't embalmed.
He doesn't even have a grave.

THE THIRD MILLENIU