Original subtitles

NIGHT ACROSS THE STREET

Inspired bythe novel by Hern�n del Solar

A pale sky above a crumbling world

could dissolve with the clouds.

"The rags of the washed-out purple of the setting sun

"fade in a river which slumbers on the horizon

"submerged between brightness and water. "

"The setting sun. "

"The washed-out purple of the setting sun. "

Let's correct this translation.

In French if we say,

"The washed-out purple of the setting sun,"

it is surprising.

In Spanish, to say "setting sun" is also surprising,

but not in a good way.

And to say...

"The canvas house of one who shows us the past"

is what we call "a linguistic find. "

But to say in Spanish

"the canvas house of the exhibitor of things past"

doesn't work.

It grates.

But why?

Se�or Villegas?

Se�or Alba?

Why, Se�or Martinez?

Does nobody have the answer?

I think it sounds good.

But it isn't any good, Se�or Olave.

Not at all. No, not at all.

In French we say "shadow puppeteer," isn't that right?

Se�or Martinez?

Close your eyes please.

Yes, sir, I'm sorry.

In Spanish one doesn't say "exhibitor of shadows. "

When someone says "puppeteer of things past,"

they are referring to the past,

as though that past were a theater of shadows.

Isn't that so, Monsieur Villegas?

Yes, Monsieur Giono.

Let's play with that idea.

If we say,

"The magician who makes us see the shadows of things past,"

we're getting closer, aren't we?

Se�or Ribera?

Any ideas?

We'll continue on Friday.

Goodbye. See you Friday.

The Horseman on the Roof has just been published.

So I've heard. Is it a good edition?

Very good.

And a good translation.

So I've heard.

Congratulations.

Why me?

Because you are Jean Giono.

The author of The Horseman on the Roof.

Aren't you?

Sometimes I get the impression

that I am.

Time seems

to stumble along here,

doesn't it, Giono?

Yes, you can almost touch it as it passes.

That's an image which obsesses me.

Time doesn't pass.

The hours don't follow one another.

They're like little balls.

What do you call them?

- Marbles. - Marbles.

Little balls of time.

But of stone or of crystal?

Strange question, "Marbles of stone or of crystal?"

Could one make a necklace out of these marbles of time?

Necklaces of years.

Ages of crystal.

Months of bronze.

Epochs of steel.

Could one play

with these marbles,

made, as you say, of time?

Once again I am out of my depth with your questions.

But time passes,

and I have to get back to the office.

See you on Friday, at 3:00 on the dot.

You see what I was telling you, boss?

Look.

Look how he's moving his hands.

He never used to do that.

I asked him why he was moving his hands.

"My hands?

"What hands," he said.

You see, boss.

As I was saying,

he had no idea why he was moving his hands.

I'm talking to you, Don Celso.

What?

What?

I asked you a question.

What do you think of a port without ships?

A port without ships?

Let me see.

A port without ships is like...

Like a whore without a lawyer,

like a lawyer without his Parker 51 pen,

or like a cyclist without nieces.

No. It's no good.

You've been utterly incoherent recently.

I have no more ideas.

I'm like

a port without sea gulls.

The seagulls have left me.

That's no good, Don Celso.

Now that you're about to retire,

what are you going to do?

A retired person needs ideas.

Without ideas

you'll lose your youth.

You'll be all alone.

I don't intend

to retire just yet.

It's Wednesday today.

You're going on Monday.

That's quite soon.

Monday turns into Tuesday,

then Wednesday.

Then it's nearly the end of the week,

so it's "see you next Monday,"

and so on forever.

For God's sake Don Celso.

We're having a leaving party for you tomorrow.

There's no way out.

What's done

is done.

Perfumed with aftershave.

Long John Silver.

Why Long John Silver?

That's what they called me

on the Hispaniola.

What's your name?

People call me Celso, but my real name is Rhododendron.

Rodo... What?

Rhododendron.

What's that?

My grandmother always said rhododendron.

So that must be my name.

But people call me Rodo. Like Rolo but with a "d".

You can call me

Captain from now on.

Captain Long John Silver.

Look, that's my brig out there.

I can't see it.

Close your eyes and say "Black Spot" three times.

Black Spot.

Black Spot.

That ship's from a film. I saw it last Sunday.

Nuts,

one kilo.

Nuts, one kilo.

Dried apricots.

Dried apricots.

- One kilo. - One kilo.

Raisins,

a quarter and a handful.

Raisins, a quarter.

Fifty stone marbles.

Fifty stone marbles.

Peoples' faces are like a landscape after an earthquake.

One Marseille soap.

I look at that face and say to myself, "I know that landscape.

"I've been there.

"I know that hill.

"That field was a good friend of mine. "

Excuse me.

I once met someone like you.

In Paris. He was called Adamov.

Adamov?

Doesn't mean anything to me.

He died.

That rings a bell.

He killed himself.

No, Se�or Giono.

You can't kill yourself.

You lend yourself to death.

How can you do it yourself?

Death comes and it stays.

Where does death leave the marbles of time?

Yes, of course.

I'd forgotten about them.

And, even worse, I'd forgotten

that every marble

is a different size.

There's no...

There are no two moments

of the same size.

So how can you play marbles?

Ha! That was a joke!

Marbles? I don't know.

But you can play "follow the leader. "

You've got me there.

Your turn. So, out of date.

Yes, Monsieur Giono... Out of date.

Cheers, then.

Cheers.

Tell me, Giono,

why didn't you change your name?

Guess.

If I were you,

if I wanted to disappear,

or to go as far away as possible,

I'd at least change my name.

To begin with I did.

I called myself Fabrice Rivaud.

Very nice.

Nice name.

Yes, but they caught up with me.

So you'd rather be called Jean Giono again.

Yes.

That way everyone knows,

but nobody believes it.

So they leave me alone.

When I retire I'm going to do the same thing.

I'll change my name.

I thought you were retired.

I've always been retired.

I haven't done anything for years.

I go to the office,

I sit down and wait.

Wait?

What are you waiting for?

For the man who's going to kill me.

I see. Actually, no, I don't see.

Neither do I.

It's just a turn of phrase.

Tell me, Don Celso,

who's your favorite historical figure?

Who's your favorite historical figure?

Ludwig van Beethoven.

Why?

Because he was misunderstood.

We had to be born so that he'd be recognized as a genius.

I don't like him.

Young people should like dance music.

You have to be old to like Beethoven.

Still, it's funny that a boy like you is interested in music like that.

Do you think they'll change the grade?

Depends. Hopefully the married men won.

The bachelors will have won. They're in better shape.

Beethoven was thoughtful.

He listened without saying a word.

They paved this road five years ago.

In two years, the hospital of Quilpu� will be ready.

There are plans to open a medical school here.

To train the best doctors in Chile.

- Do you want to be a doctor? - Yes.

I wanted to be a pilot before, but there's more of a future in medicine.

Actually, I want to be like you.

Like me?

Yes, like you, but in medicine.

I'd like to be a musician as well.

A musician?

We musicians were put on this earth to suffer.

Hold that!

Nobody wants to listen to us, everybody laughs at what we do.

We die of hunger.

So, medicine, here you can make money out of medicine.

Have you seen Carlos?

No.

What do you mean, no? Who were you talking to?

- Beethoven. - Beethoven?

Of course, people call you Beethoven.

Hey, Beethoven!

- Who wrote The Italian Caprice? - Tchaikovsky.

- And The Italian Symphony? - Mendelssohn.

Congratulations, nearly everyone gets that one wrong.

You should enter the competition on the radio,

Quilpu� needs a champion.

If you see Carlos tell him everyone's looking for him

and that he's in trouble at home.

Uproar.

Agitation.

The Symphonic Orchestra of Chile was beginning

the second movement of the Fifth,

Carlos Guerrero

appeared, gasping for breath.

They were arriving at Quilpu�,

Pedro's heart was beginning to beat,

the moment of truth was approaching.

On the fishing and hunting pitch

the bachelors were playing a match against the married men,

the teachers of Quilpu� against those ofVilla Alemana.

He could see Se�or Belmar with his blue hat

and checkered shirt.

The first halfwas ending

and the bachelors had just scored

their second goal.

Hey,

bring me a lamp, I can't see anything.

Please.

In the distance he saw Beethoven

crossing the pitch,

the breeze lifting his coat tails.

He seemed sad.

The game was finishing.

Celso gave a sigh of relief and said aloud,

"The dice have been thrown!"

He hesitated between two ways of going about things.

Sir,

I think the maths grade is unfair.

You haven't taken into account that in science,

I got a much higher grade

and that my low grade in maths was for psychological reasons.

Or...

I know that I deserve this low grade,

but my average will go down

and I won't pass.

Do you think that's fair,

just because on one occasion I didn't work hard enough?

My friends,

I've never minced my words.

Personally

I'd rather have dictatorship

than this bland conservatism.

I find it amazing that a person of your intelligence

could want a right-wing dictatorship for his country.

It's not right-wing, it's against all extremes.

I've had enough of this electoral circus.

There shouldn't be any more elections, like what Peron did.

Chile and Argentina could become one country.

The people have a right to their opinions, don't they?

Let's see whether Ibanez lets them.

Why wouldn't he, if the working class of Chile are going to vote for him?

It's about time that all those religious schools were shut down.

Throw out all those foreigners who are sucking Chile dry.

Especially the Yankees! Get rid of them all!

What idiots you are!

The Yankees freed us from the English.

Yes, but they also declared war against the Germans.

Why were they meddling?

It's the Yankees' fault that Hitler was defeated,

when he was only trying to do the best for his country.

That's what we need here, Don Carlos.

A Hitler to take everything back from the rich.

The Yankees won't allow it.

Well...

Cheers...

He felt the need to take out the bag with the little grains of gold

and look at it in front of everyone.

He waited a moment longer,

someone touched his arm,

it was Se�or Bitis,

the music teacher.

Hey! What did Saint Thomas say?

That depends, Saint Thomas said a lot of things.

But the most important thing was

"See that you may believe. "

"See that you may believe," said Thomas Aquinas.

I don't believe in witches or in dictators.

That wasn't Thomas Aquinas,

that was Thomas the Apostle.

Isn't it the same person?

Of course not. There's several centuries separating them.

The players ran past and began playing.

He'd have to wait until the end.

He saw the bus arriving from Colliquay.

About 20 people got out

and began to sing.

They walked towards the town center.

Celso approached them.

Among them he saw Morales,

a student from Class 6 A.

Come with us, one of the brothers is being buried.

Who?

Brother Saldias died doing his duty.

Wasn't the fireman who died on Saturday Protestant?

Yes, he was.

Do you know the music?

It's a North American marching song.

Does it remind you of something?

Yes, it reminds me of the Dario Verdugo.

The procession of the Protestants and that coming from Quilpu�

came together.

They walked towards the Belloto cemetery.

Beethoven walked between two women dressed in black.

Thoughtful,

he examined a battery he'd found on the pitch.

A third procession of firemen on bicycles,

carrying wreaths, had joined the procession.

In the distance a fourth procession

was arriving from Villa Alemana.

Do you know what that is?

It's a battery, for light.

Light?

How?

Inside there's electricity which is what makes light.

It also makes radios work, and washing machines...

Washing machines?

There's machines to dry clothes as well. There are machines for everything.

There's a machine which you can ask a question

and it'll reply.

You don't have to learn anything, the machines do everything.

Machines are going to take over mankind.

How sad...

Come here, Carlos!

Carlos ran past and jumped out of a window.

Just around the corner,

Gustavo appeared on his bike.

I'll get you!

Have you ever seen real gold?

Yes, my catholic aunt has stuff like that.

I've got some in my pocket.

Why?

Well, it's not forbidden. Do you want to see it?

Come here quickly!

Let's go!

Boy!

This is the son of the builder, Barra,

a great friend of mine and a fervent supporter of Alfonso!

Sit down, boy.

No, my friend, I don't believe in witches.

Love

belongs to human beings,

and isn't determined by creatures who come from other planets.

I won't allow you

to treat Jesus Christ as a Martian!

I'm not catholic

but I do respect Christ.

What I don't understand about that bean pole,

is how he managed

to stay so skinny, going from banquet to banquet.

And given what a hit he was with women,

how he could be such a prig!

You don't respect anything.

God will punish you one day!

He already has, by making me Chilean!

Don't you believe in the Chilean people?

No, I don't believe in nationalities.

I think that we're all the same,

free and sovereign individuals.

Which is why I reject communism and religion.

Let's see, what do you mean?

Here we go!

You can go now, boy,

these speeches get boring.

How long will the lunch last?

Until 5:00, 6:00, 7:00 or 8:00 at night.

Who does your family vote for?

Ibanez, they all support Ibanez in my family.

Can you prove it?

Of course, when Ibanez gets to power, he'll make a clean sweep.

Aren't you afraid that your brothers will arrive?

No, they've gone to fetch me from Valparaiso.

Do you want to go to the cinema?

I found some money on my brother's bedside table.

What's on?

The Foxes of Harrow, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

and The Boy with Green Hair.

No series?

No, not today.

Come with us.

You can see one of the great inventions of our age.

The cinema.

Theater?

No, cinema.

Come on.

Let's go, then.

How tall these people are!

They're projected onto a screen.

They're really just special shadows, that give out light.

What's the film about?

It's hard to explain.

Why do you come to the cinema ifyou don't even know anything

about the film you've just seen?

We came to have fun,

not to learn anything.

No!

No!

No!

On the way out he went to the club,

the lunch had finished

and there were only three drunken teachers left sleeping at a round table.

Where's Se�or Belmar?

They all left a while ago.

Weren't they going to leave at 8:00?

They left early.

Ibanez for president!

A clean sweep!

My father's sleeping.

Never mind, this is life or death.

I'll get him, then.

I'm going to give the gold back.

Is it expensive?

Yes, it's all the gold of the whole term.

My father was given it to make the jewels for the Karmy House.

My father's getting up, you'll have to wait for him.

Thank you.

What are you doing?

I'm waiting for Se�or Belmar.

Have you ever heard of the naval battle of Iquique, boy?

Yes,

and I know that this is the house in which Carlos Condell died.

That's what I like to hear.

It's very good when children respect their heroes.

Who discovered Chile?

That depends. Magallanes in 1520

or Diego de Almagro in 1536.

When?

Magallanes in 1520

or Diego de Almagro in 1536.

Good.

When was Santiago founded?

It's not known whether it was 1540 or 1541.

Better.

Do you know who wrote the opera La Juive?

No.

Who was it?

It must have been Verdi.

No, it was Halevy.

He's practically unknown.

So,

if you know so much,

who wrote the opera Marina?

Arrieta.

Incomplete answer.

Camprod�n

wrote the libretto.

What on earth's wrong, boy?

Sir,

I came to speak to you about a problem...

Because of the grade I gave you.

What grade would you have liked?

I'd have given you an even lower one if I could have.

It's high time for the champion

to take his maths classes seriously!

I was talking to your father yesterday,

he must be waiting for you.

A word of advice,

learn to face things like a man.

I don't like it when people are indecisive or beat about the bush.

That's good advice for your life.

Good night, boy.

Before you go,

tell me

who discovered penicillin?

Fleming.

What?

Fleming.

Don Otto ate some beans...

They must be waiting for you at home.

I know.

I did what I could.

...then he went out on this motorbike,

and the bike began to...

The motorbike farted!

That's a good one!

Show me your grades.

The first time this has ever happened in our family.

You've earned yourself a beating.

- But it wasn't my fault! - Fourteen strokes!

That's not fair.

Twenty four!

Let's go outside.

Come here!

Come here, I said!

I'm going to give you a good hiding!

One.

Get down!

Get down from there!

If you don't get down I'll kill you.

I didn't raise my son to be a nazi.

Nazi!

But, Dad, if this goes on he'll become a bohemian.

Nazi!

I'm sorry, my son.

No.

I'll never forgive you.

It hurt me more than it hurt you.

That's not the point.

I worked so hard, I studied so hard and this is what I get!

I'll give you whatever you like.

Come down, my son,

come and eat.

Sit at the head of the table if you like.

No, I want to eat with the chickens.

No!

Not with the chickens!

They might have typhus.

I'll eat with the chickens or with no one.

Do as the boy says,

or I'll kill myself.

Half an hour later,

Celso was sitting at his desk

which had been placed in the middle of the chicken run.

The chickens had woken up and were running around clucking.

He had a radio next to him

and was listening to the Panorama program

with Juan Campbell and Emilio Filippi

about the discovery of the children lost in the snow.

Lost in the snow?

Yes, they were all found dead.

Poor people.

How are you, Se�ora Nigilda?

I heard your program Don Celso.

Is it true that Beethoven is your favorite historical character?

Among others.

So...

Like who else?

Listen to the program tomorrow.

Don't be silly, Don Celso.

Are you going to keep me guessing

until tomorrow?

Until tomorrow.

But

you're my favorite.

What a flatterer you are, Don Celso!

- Me. - You.

What do the cards say?

That I'm going to die.

I see death.

The death of a loved one.

What's a loved one?

Somebody you love very much.

Like my father, you mean?

For example.

A sudden death.

That's how he died. He's already dead.

He's buried over there.

What do you mean he's dead?

Yesterday you said

he wouldn't let you go to the island with me.

That's what he said. He died a time ago.

I never knew him,

but I dream about him and he forbids me to do things.

That must be your mother.

My mother died before he did.

He killed her.

But he was shot a while ago.

Why did he kill her?

He didn't like my brother.

The one with two heads. The bicephalous.

Are you awake?

Half.

I was having a siesta.

Forty winks, as they say where I'm from.

- Where are you from? - It doesn't matter.

Inland.

Everything matters.

What about you?

I'm Se�ora Nigilda's nephew.

Rolo Pedro Pedrez. Rolo Pedro.

Rolo Pedro.

Rolo Pedro. Rolo.

Rolodedro,

Rolo, Rolodendro,

Rhododendron...

You're a poet as well.

He has ideas. He makes us laugh.

Thank you, Nigilda.

Thank you.

Excuse me.

Three feet! Three feet between you!

- Can I bring in my luggage? - Of course.

Do you need help?

I always manage on my own.

I'm from inland as well.

From the desert.

A lot of wind there?

A lot.

That's why I like this boarding house,

it's so windy.

Sometimes, outside, there's not even a leaf moving on a tree,

while inside there's such a wind.

It's a frequent phenomenon in the north,

having a wind at home.

I make the most of it by playing marbles.

Do you like playing marbles?

I love it.

Let's play, then.

There must have been an earthquake somewhere.

Well,

I'm going to take up my luggage.

You know the house.

That's him.

That's who?

The man who's come to kill me.

He wouldn't hurt a fly.

He's a poet. Young Laurel. He's my nephew.

Has it been a long time since you last saw him?

A long time.

Actually I've never seen him before.

But I knew of his existence.

Well, sort of.

And he's come to kill me?

You and your ideas, Don Celso.

Who's going to kill you?

Him.

How do you know?

It's the sort of thing you know.

Or don't know.

Normally you only know later,

when it's too late.

I should put that in the next program.

He's the one who might get killed. There are people looking for him.

I am.

Why are you looking for him?

So that he kills me.

I'll put that in the next program as well.

But he'll be safe here.

He's come to hide here.

I'm going out for a walk.

Come for dinner, God willing.

I'll arrive late,

but I'll be there,

God willing.

Is that him?

That's him.

I'd imagined him to be different.

He won't be easy to kill.

Don't talk about it,

not yet.

Sorry that I didn't notice.

Rosina, at your service.

Rosina's a dancer.

At this time of day,

she goes to the cabaret and comes back at dawn.

I go to all the nightclubs in the north.

I dance

and then disappear in the blink of an eye.

That's how I am.

I'd never touch a man.

All talk and no play!

Don't believe her, Rolo Pedro.

She lies to calm the pain and the anger.

They all do.

I'm off.

See you at dawn.

Have a coffee and eggs waiting for me, how I like them,

scrambled and fried.

For God's sake,

I always get lumped with the hopeless cases.

Well,

as long as they pay.

And this one?

Him...

He's the one who never speaks.

You're the sort of person who's always on time.

And you're always early.

Antenor Figueroa.

Lieutenant Figueroa.

Did you bring the gun?

I did,

here it is.