Original subtitles

PRISONERS OF THE EARTH

Script by ULISES PETIT DE MURAT and DARIO QUIROGA

Based on the Short Stories "A Slap in the Face,"

"A Laborer," and "The Orange Distillers"

by HORACIO QUIROGA

Misiones is a breathtaking region

in the far north of Argentina

with magical charm,

endless jungles,

and deep rivers.

There the call to peace and work

resounds ever more loudly.

But it wasn't always so...

Many years ago, men marked by destiny

trod the crisscrossing trails of red earth,

blazed by machete

in the very heart of the jungle,

in a saga of blood and alcohol.

Our story takes us back

to those strange and turbulent times.

THE YEAR 1915

Will you come back?

Will you come back?

I hope so.

Let's get to the party! You coming?

Of course!

Good-bye, beautiful.

I'm glad to hear of this distillery project.

My left ear is ringing. That's a good omen.

THE SUFFERING OF THE MENSÚ

If I could pay back the money, I wouldn't go. My father —

You spent the whole advance. Now you don't want to go.

There's a brave man!

My father is sick. He can't get around.

It's left him crippled.

I'm not going!

Try telling Köhner that.

You might melt his heart.

I was drunk when they made me sign. It's not fair.

My father will be all alone.

Run if you can!

I don't want to go!

I won't go!

They've blocked your path.

- Let me leave! - What's going on?

Please, sir!

It's my father! I'll pay you back!

With what? Take him to the boat!

No! I don't want to go!

- You're coming along? - That's right, boss.

Very well. Then go get on board.

Sign, my friend.

I don't want to sign!

What's going on here?

He won't sign.

I advise you to sign.

He can't read or write.

You were paid 200 pesos, right?

Here's 100 more.

LA BAJADA — YERBA MATE AND TIMBER PLANTATION

So you can buy something when you get there.

Now sign. - Give me your hand.

Stop this music and carousing!

It's time to board!

Didn't you hear? I said stop!

The party's over!

Get going! It's time to board!

- Something wrong, Andrea? - Papa's not here yet.

Don't worry. We won't leave without Dr. Else.

Köhner, I want to thank you for what you're doing for Papa.

I couldn't let you ruin your eyes and hands sewing.

- It's not so bad. - Don't deny it.

You've been working day and night to help him.

If that's the only reason —

No, Andrea. I really need him.

The sickness is decimating the Mensú on the plantation.

Forgive me, friend.

It's nothing. It doesn't matter.

This cane can't be broken.

It's the best cane in the world!

Try it, Köhner, my friend.

Try it.

- You got any money, friend? - Of course.

Leave your weapons here!

Leave your weapons here!

Ask your friends for a drink.

This is good-bye. I won't drink from now on.

- You're coming along? - Yes.

That's not a good idea. It's dangerous.

There are many sick people. - It doesn't matter.

Let's go.

Leave your weapons here!

- What are you doing? - What you see, boss.

Go easy on the books.

They fill your head with crazy ideas.

Careful, Podeley. That Köhner is a bad man.

Last night I dreamt of a cat. That means betrayal.

Damned gringo!

He doesn't like people reading.

That way he can cheat them in the bars and markets

and conspire with merchants to charge 10 pesos

for a shirt that costs two.

That's why I work as a free laborer, like you used to do.

Remember when I went treasure hunting,

and we dug that tunnel near those ruins?

That only you and I know about.

We didn't find anything, but the hideaway's still there.

We may need it one day.

- For what? - Nothing.

Like two logs on a fire we sing together

And with our guitars we spread happiness to all

Watch that man! He's going to jump ship!

Stop this!

Stop it!

So it's you!

I don't like anyone getting in my way!

That's what you deserve!

Tie him to the pole!

- Is that dog yours? - Yes, sir.

Here.

Give him something to eat. He's very thin.

What beasts!

You're still tied up!

Beating you wasn't enough for them.

I've been here all day.

- I'll untie you. - No.

It would only be worse later.

- Are you thirsty? - No.

Yes, you are.

I'll bring you some water.

Come in.

It's in sad shape.

It hardly works anymore.

But it still plays the melodies my father loved.

When I listen to it,

the music seems to carry me far from this land

to my father's homeland.

The poor man worked day and night to return home.

But the bite of a coral snake

hurled him into that night that never ends.

Andrea, I —

Looking for something? - Glasses.

Are there any? - I'll get one.

No, thank you. I'll use my own.

I took a long time, didn't I?

Here.

What's it say? "Chinita."

If I'd known the water was for him,

I'd have saved you the trip.

Untie him.

Well, you're free now.

Free...

Those men are very sick.

I looked under "S" and found "scurvy." The symptoms fit.

Unfortunately I also looked under "D."

There I found diphtheria, and the symptoms also fit.

Let's go see Dr. Else.

Coming!

Just a minute.

Come in.

I need you, Dr. Else. Some Mensú are sick.

The Mensú!

How times change!

Remember when they took 300 Mensú from Villarrica

to work on plantations in Brazil?

Only 20 returned.

The Mensú die.

No one worried about such details before.

Those men cost money.

I'm taking them to replace those the sickness has killed.

That's what I'm paying you for, not to get sentimental. Let's go.

These men seem as sick as those on the plantation.

I'll prepare something for them to take.

Take a lantern and show him to the medicine cabin.

Thank goodness those brutes are off our backs! What savages!

Seems those men are still sick.

They treat us like animals.

They plunder the land and oppress the natives.

They say ghosts show the way to treasure.

If we find treasure, we'll head south,

far away, where the laws of the land and men are more humane.

Give half a mug to each one.

What a beautiful night!

Too bad it's carrying us to that hell.

Why didn't you stay in Posadas? - I want to help Papa.

If only he could be like before.

He was a great and wise man when he arrived,

and now —

Seems there's anthrax on the plantation.

That's why they're bringing Papa.

I'm going because Köhner has promised to help build my distillery.

- Really? - Why do you laugh?

Before, you wanted to distill bitter oranges.

Chinita, don't make fun! This time it won't fail.

Looking through "A" in the encyclopedia,

I came across "alcohol."

What? Don't you like alcohol?

Why?

It's deadlier than a coral snake.

In this case it might improve our lives.

I'm a happy man.

What more do I need? Nothing.

Yet I always dream of inventing something important.

Don't laugh!

Köhner is giving me jars to set up a still.

Olivera will work for me. I'll succeed in distilling orange liquor.

Your papa's a smart man. He can help me.

We'll make a fortune. We'll be rich!

Always so happy!

I'm a happy man. What more do I need? Nothing!

I'll speak with Köhner, then Dr. Else,

and the distillery will be built. Good-bye.

- Beautiful evening, huh? - Oh, it's you!

- Did I scare you? - No, I was just lost in thought.

I wanted to thank you.

Bringing a little water isn't doing much.

It is if it's for a Mensú.

You don't seem like the others.

They're my brothers. They're suffering.

Look.

They treat us like animals.

Someday...

Listen.

We live forgotten

Like the spirits in the forests

Among the thorns we work

Are they really alive, the men who keep us like this?

The foreigners who bleed us dry have no heart at all

It's a lament.

I've always lived so close to Papa

that I don't understand much Guaraní.

- You don't understand it? - Very little.

He's saying, "Life is sad for the Mensú.

He lives forgotten in the treacherous jungle.

Work is his fate.

Only a woman, as beautiful as a star,

can brighten his dark nights."

How beautiful!

It was like that today, when I was tied up, and you appeared.

Did I offend you? - No, it's not that.

I had my own star once too.

As a young girl I'd wish upon that star.

When Papa was off at the bar, it would shine through the window,

and I wasn't afraid of being alone.

The same star the Mensú see at the end of the trail.

Perhaps it's my heritage.

Papa is a foreigner, from far away,

but Mama lived in the solitude of the mountains.

She was the daughter of a Mensú.

I'm going to check on Papa. Good night.

When did they die?

You think staring will bring them back to life?

Go on!

Let's hear it.

Shortly after Dr. Else gave them medicine,

they started to get worse and then died.

- What are you saying? - Just that, sir.

He mixed the medicine drunk.

He could barely read the bottles.

He poured in anything, in any quantity.

Don't talk nonsense!

Do you realize the men you treated died?

The Mensú die like rats. Medicine is useless.

Enough of this drunken nonsense!

The men you killed cost me 600 pesos!

You mixed the medicine with no idea what you were doing!

All the bottles looked the same.

Why are you taking me to the plantation?

I'm useless.

My head is empty.

- I know nothing about any of this. - You must! Think of your daughter!

Dr. Else drowned in alcohol.

All that's left is old Else, drunk and useless.

I know nothing — - Stop shouting!

This is your fault.

Good evening.

I know nothing about any of this.

All the bottles looked the same...

and death is the same as life!

Will you do something for me?

Yes, Chinita.

You must drink less and look after the sick on the plantation.

Yes, Chinita...

I'll do that for you.

Good morning, boss.

I must get to my office.

Take them to their cabin.

I'll speak with you later, Doctor.

- Tirafondo, my friend! - Welcome, my boy!

How many girls did you leave crying in Posadas, eh?

Here it is, Dr. Else.

This one.

To get to the company store,

take the trail just beyond the kitchen.

Thank you.

Soon the rains will begin.

The eternal issue.

The rain feels like a shroud enveloping my corpse.

For 25 years I've been wrapped in a sodden shroud,

a prisoner of this land.

I'm tired, Chinita.

I'm talking nonsense.

You must help the sick.

You were the very best at setting up hospitals

when you first arrived.

The university had given me an award.

I felt invincible.

I'd come from the north, from a dry and harsh climate.

I planned to return after two years.

Like John Brown...

who came to visit the ruins for a few hours...

and stayed forever.

I came to know the dank loneliness of the jungle,

where death stalks its prey.

The rains closed in around me.

After that I gave up forever the idea of returning downriver.

Like all the others, I dropped anchor before a glass of rum,

the same glass that's filled again and again...

because all the glasses are the same...

and death is the same as life!

Chinita...

forgive me.

I get carried away easily.

I'm better now.

I'm better now.

You must save those people!

You have to save them!

Yes, Chinita.

- Good night, boss. - See you tomorrow.

Poor Papa. You look so tired.

Dinner's ready and waiting.

I'm not hungry.

Bring me a drink.

I need it.

Very well.

Good evening.

You're performing miracles, Dr. Else.

You've driven off the sickness in no time.

I don't perform miracles. It's the medicine that cures them.

But we're short of everything here.

Malaria is spreading and wreaking havoc.

We have too little medicine and too many outbreaks.

If only we could clear the swamps.

This land is invincible.

You can beat it back with machetes, but only for a time.

Then it turns around and drives you back.

Clear the swamps!

Great idea...

but even that wouldn't be enough.

Death has other tricks up its sleeve.

You're right.

We must fight.

It's all the same.

Good evening. May I?

What do you want at this hour?

- I'm soaking — - State your business!

Yes, boss.

I went to see my friend Podeley.

He was almost unconscious with fever.

I wondered if the doctor would go see him.

The doctor is tired.

You must go, Papa.

- Will you stay here with Köhner? - No, I'll come along.

Good night.

Good night.

He'll be fine.

He's young and strong.

One spoonful every two hours. Look after him!

Yes, Doctor.

- If anything happens, call me. - Of course.

See you tomorrow.

You're all better now, my boy. Come to the bar...

for a drink.

I saw some rough days, old-timer.

I'll say! You were rambling like a madman.

Was it all just a fever dream?

Or was she here? - Who?

Forget it. It was just a crazy idea.

One of those things you young men get excited about.

Who knows? So are you coming?

I'm staying here.

Then see you later.

Feel how solid it is!

You see, my friend?

You can't break it!

It's solid as a rock.

The best cane in the world!

The doctor's a strong man, drinking cachaça like that.

Let him drink!

He's earned it!

He's a tiger!

In just months he's driven the sickness from the plantation.

Dr. Else...

I want to speak with you.

My wife's very sick. She's shivering with fever.

A pen and ink.

I know nothing about any of this!

Rum.

Rum.

It's closing time, but these men won't leave.

Just a bit longer.

Give Dr. Else whatever he wants.

I'll pay, of course.

Forgive me, Andrea.

No one answered, so I came in.

Papa isn't here. It's him you came to see, right?

You know it's not him I came to see.

Your aloofness has my soul in flames!

Forgive me.

That's not how I meant to speak.

That's not how I meant to speak to you.

This heat has me on edge.

Estéban!

I can't take any more.

I can't take any more!

Try to calm down.

Köhner, the loneliness...

the snakes!

It's all driving me mad!

I have no one to turn to.

If only my mother were alive!

I'm not no one, Chinita.

Mama was the daughter of a Mensú.

A Mensú like you, Estéban.

Holding you in my arms, I know this is no fever dream,

like when you appeared to me when I was sick.

That really was me.

- It was? - In the flesh.

I belong to your people. - And to me.

Good-bye, Estéban.

You're up so early!

You know, that one-armed man is insisting

that I be his scientific advisor!

How funny!

Asking me, who knows nothing about any of that!

What?

He insists he's going to distill liquor from oranges.

He's convinced Köhner to put up some capital.

The man dreams

that we'll all become rich enough to leave.

Dreams...

and madness!

Impossible!

This red earth makes men its prisoners.

A paradise...

with a magnetic force.

Once it draws them in...

they can never leave.

Here...

forever.

Too thick. Cut it thinner.

I can't imagine what attraction this place holds for you.

In San Ignacio you'd be surrounded by a better class of people.

- When do we leave? - Tomorrow, on the afternoon steamboat.

I see you so rarely, Chinita!

Everything's ready!

Köhner's a partner in the distillery, Dr. Else is my scientific advisor,

and you'll be in on it too, of course.

Start thinking how you'll spend all the money!

I envy your determination.

I'm a happy man. What more do I need?

Let's go to the office.

Aren't you coming? - I prefer to stay here.

Very well.

Shall we?

Two hundred.

Higher. 230.

Two hundred.

What about the other 30?

It's an idiot tax!

My beautiful girl!

I must speak to you seriously.

We're leaving tomorrow.

- Did you forget I'm leaving too? - Your contract ended?

Together once again on the boat,

but all so different this time.

Chinita, you're in my blood and in my soul.

Remember: The boat leaves at 6:00.

How much does he owe?

Six hundred pesos.

Renew his contract. Next.

He's a servant, and he's sick. He owes —

Your account is clear. You can go.

Get going or you'll miss the boat!

Podeley.

He owes 500 pesos.

I don't owe a thing!

There must be some mistake! Please check again!

Check again!

The figures are correct.

Always the same troublemaker!

To teach you not to waste our time by complaining,

you'll work off the year you owe clearing trees.

That'll knock you down a peg!

We'll meet again on my return from San Ignacio.

Good-bye.

Well, in just moments we'll begin our journey to riches.

Already?

We will triumph! My orange liquor will become reality.

I'm a happy man. What more do I need?

Hello, Andrea.

Why didn't you let Podeley board?

So you call that fellow by name?

Why worry about him? - Be quiet!

Podeley is a Mensú.

Listen to me.

Those people are like the plants and insects.

They belong to the land. They endure the rain and —

But they know how to love...

while you know nothing but hate.

You're wrong, Andrea.

If you'd just love me —

Never! You hear me?

Never!

You have everything you need to be happy,

yet you're always looking for problems.

You were speaking of love.

I read the entry in this book carefully.

Did you know that to love is to understand?

You love neither this people nor this land...

so you don't understand them. - You never let up!

This red earth hasn't just soiled your jacket.

It's seeped into your encyclopedia too!

No, Köhner.

Where there's a friendly face and a hunk of bread,

there you'll find my world.

What more do I need?

Leave me!

I dreamt I might dispel this loneliness, but it's no use.

I'll see to matters in San Ignacio,

then return here to be alone, just as I've always been.

Alone!

Leave me now.

Spiders!

Does no one sweep these cobwebs away?

Papa, what are you doing?

Why didn't you sweep away these cobwebs?

Calm down, Papa.

I feel very sick, Chinita.

Very sick.

Have you been drinking again?

Last night I saw spiders...

and a white rat.

It was enormous.

I feel very sick, my child.

Don't drink anymore, Papa.

I won't, Chinita.

I won't drink anymore.

Well?

He's sick.

Very sick.

He sees cobwebs where I dusted three times.

Calm down. He'll get better soon.

Misfortune has hounded us since we left the plantation.

Everything will work out.

Last night I dreamt I was climbing stairs — a good omen —

and today I learned from a friend of Podeley's

that Estéban will be here soon!

- Really? - Of course!

I'm preparing everything now so we can head south.

Hello there.

I found you at last. - What's wrong?

I got this letter from Buenos Aires.

The liquor samples haven't arrived.

- Who'd you ask to send them? - Him!

I gave them to Dr. Else. He said he'd see to it himself.

He's a great man, but good grief!

He drinks up every last sample!

You hit a raw nerve...

a nerve that isn't easily soothed.

Dr. Else had another attack.

He's seeing critters everywhere.

Poor Chinita.

It's set for 5:00, when the whistle blows.

At 5:00, when the whistle blows.

- When the whistle blows, we move. - Me too?

Yes. Are you sick?

It must be today, while the dogs are back at camp.

Back to work, weakling!

Run for the hills!

Run for the hills!

Run! Leave me with him!

Go!

Get up!

Get up!

Take the trail to the river!

Get going!

Get on the raft!

Back to your own land, damned gringo!

I raise you.

- I call! - It's four to call!

- Another rum, boss. - Coming up.

So Dr. Else's getting worse?

Poor man.

He's a great man, but he drinks up all my samples!

- A drink, Sergeant? - No, I'm on duty.

They've sent us on a wild goose chase. Let's go.

They come looking here!

Soldiers won't go into the jungle.

Too afraid of the critters.

- What's going on? - You haven't heard?

Several Mensú disappeared after a revolt at Köhner's worksite.

And Estéban Podeley settled an old debt with Köhner.

What?

He forced him onto a raft and sent him downriver.

- They found the body in a backwater. - Why accuse Podeley?

One of the injured overseers saw him whipping Köhner like a dog.

Damned gringo!

He deserved it.

Did you hear that?

Did you see the overseers?

Podeley's in danger. We've got to help.

Better off dead than in the hands of those animals.

But surely he's making his way to Brazil.

No, I know him well.

He loves Chinita. He won't leave without her.

There's just one place he could be.

I know where to find him.

Give this to Andrea and tell her what's happened.

It's Olivera.

- What luck that you've come! - I knew I'd find you here.

You have to leave. The police are after you.

Even worse, the overseers. - They won't find me.

How's Chinita?

She's fine. It's Dr. Else who's sick.

But you must go, to save your life.

One wrong move and you're dead!

Did you have another vision?

This time it was no dream.

I saw Köhner's overseers in person,

and they're nothing like the police.

You must go!

Not until tomorrow. Tell Chinita to come.

- She won't leave her father. - Then bring him along.

We'll head south, where men aren't slaves.

Hide! If they see you —

Chinita means more to me than life itself.

If the overseers are in San Ignacio, it means they're on your trail.

Be very careful.

Take this talisman.

It'll keep you safe.

- A bad omen! - Lay off the divinations.

Let's go.

And that's all Podeley told me.

Thank you, Olivera. I'll tell Papa.

This land holds its prisoners fast.

Are you asleep, Papa?

No, Chinita.

I don't sleep much these days.

This land and air make you ill, Papa.

We have to leave here. - Leave here!

I thought about that all the time before.

How strange.

I never dream of snow anymore.

Have I ever seen snow?

Not that far away!

Or else your daughter would dream of the rain

and the crickets' song on these beautiful evenings.

Then where?

Downriver, where men are better.

How? With what?

Tomorrow at sundown we can go with Estéban.

He's arranged everything.

You have to understand.

We have to leave. Do you understand?

Yes, my child.

Thank you, Papa.

There'll be no spiders tonight.

You need to rest. Come lie down.

You'll start life over again.

I've spent 25 years here amid the rain...

like a tree trunk rotting in a backwater.

But your happiness is all I want.

Until tomorrow, Papa.

Papa, is something wrong?

No, my child.

What have you done, Papa?

Poor Papa.

It's nothing.

I'm much better already.

We'll leave tomorrow at sundown.

Estéban will take us far away...

where your attacks will never return.

I'll go sleep in my bed now.

Papa, I'm going to die!

My child!

Listen to me, Papa...

for once in your life.

Don't drink anymore.

Your daughter...

begs you.

We'll go...

far...

away...

forever.

For...

ever...

Couldn't we have waited by the river?

There's less danger here.

We'll leave at sundown when they arrive.

"They..." meaning her too, right?

Will she come?

She'll come.

Where's Chinita?

You must be strong, Podeley.

Last night Dr. Else had another attack and —

Poor thing.

She came all the same.

The overseers!

- Let's go! - Where?

South!

You two go. I'm staying.

I'm going with her. - You're crazy!

- She won't go alone! - They'll kill you!

What's it matter?