Original subtitles

- 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.

I 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.

I take them out because they hinder the work.

He suffered an infarction.

The blood turned into this.

At least 5 liters 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.

I 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? - It's me.

Did you paint it in cream?

Did you paint it in cream?

Look, why should I open this little shit?

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

Why not, bitch?

- Huh? - Why not, bitch?

- What? - I mean yes.

Good.

Done.

You are watching me dressing a corpse.

I 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

I don't have anything. Just frisk me.

I don't have anything.

Son of a Bitch!

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

Don't do that! I behaved myself!

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

You son of a bitch!

I gave him 1,000 pesos (1 US dollar). But I 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, I 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.

Is 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, I have to.

- What? Water? - Yes.

My illness is in the curvature.

- Inflammation of the stomach. - Yes.

- Anyway. - Better take care of yourself.

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

Here I 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.

I was looking for it.

How much do you pour into a corpse?

Half & 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. - It 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.

I 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, I 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. I did it, brother.

He's afraid of nothing, except one thing.

- What? - An injection.

I 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.

I 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? I was asked to delay this job.

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

It's fixed for the trip.

I 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. - I 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 I restore last from 20 days to one month without smelling.

I have to present them all.

That's very interesting!

Froilan doesn't do this. Nothing.

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

Alot of water is leaking out.

When I embalmed an Indic from Ecuador

he lasted for 6 days of vigil.

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

I restored him and kept him well.

And I met with another Indio in Los Martinez.

I 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, I know. I 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.

If I don't do it, it stays caved in.

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 I open it?

Why should I 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 I have to cut the trachea and two veins.

I turned it over to exsanguinate it

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

When it doesn't bleed...

I know it doesn't bleed.

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

80 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 Qlivos, 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 I do here.

Fortunately, I 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. I 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, I won't get money from the funeral parlor.

If I 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, I 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.

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

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

I better don't tell you about my impression.

I think that something different happened to him.

What happened?

He was beaten.

And then?

But the responsible 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 I 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. I can copy them.

Can you leave us these two?

You have changed so much.

I was 18 years old.

Good-looking.

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

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

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

Of course. Now we have & 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 I hope it'll never happen again in my life.

Good. Done.

This is my personal file for emergencies.

I keep it here. The only thing I 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.

I 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. Areal 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.

I made the posters. Look!

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

Look at the posters I ordered. There!

- I 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. - Is that all?

- Yes. - Tell me...

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

No, no, I 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?

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?

I don't know him.

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

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

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

Really?

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

The other day a man gave me a 2,000 pesos bill ($2 usd), 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 youl!

Thank you.

What else do you want me to say?

I love him very much. God bless him.

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

No?

Coffee with milk!

I 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.

I am what he taught me.

I'll never forget him.

What else can I tell you?

He was very nice to everybody.

I 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.