All language subtitles for El coronel no tiene quien le escriba.eng

NO ONE WRITES TO THE COLONEL

You mean to tell me
you're afraid?

Like some ordinary pet.

You're a battle cock!

How can you act like a pansy
because of a few mice?

I scared them off.

Quiet now.
Don't wake her.

What about you?

I already had mine.

There was enough left.

There was a big spoonful.

It's about to start raining again.

I wonder if my asthma
will survive the rains.

Your asthma and my guts.

Don't forget to stop by the wake.

They're taking him to the cemetery
at noon. Before it rains.

If you take the umbrella,
don't open it. Someone might notice.

This humidity consumes everything,
even the umbrella.

He was born on April 9.

Exactly one month after our son.

Always Agust�n...

Before Agust�n...

After Agust�n's death...

When will you get him
out of your head?

Not until my mourning is over.

Never.

Mourning...
Mourning...

Are you coming?

In these rags?
Not on my life.

Anyway, the next funeral I attend,
will be my own.

And mine?

Your bad luck.
You're healthier than I am.

Taking it out on the cock again?

A rooster squatting on the toilet?
It's unheard of.

Can't you see?
This cock is all we have left.

A brooding fowI perched
on my toilet seat.

That's what I see.

I see there's no iodine
to dry up the phlegm in my chest.

I see that it rains and rains.

And I see what matters to you,
is that rooster.

When will we get to use
the lavatory again?

All the neighbors can see
what you're up to in there.

Even these snotty little kids.

Calm down!

And don't stare at the cock.
You'll jinx him!

Get along, now!
Get going!

It's Friday.

It's your day.

Nothing, Colonel.

I wasn't expecting anything.
I just dropped by.

POST OFFICE

Look how handsome
they left my son, Colonel.

It's Don Dimas' work.
The barber.

He looks healthier now
than when he was alive.

He smiles now, and everything.

But please, come in.

Come in.

He really does seem to be smiling.

Poor kid. It came to him too early,
as it did to our Agust�n...

your son, and my godson,
may he rest in peace.

They look the same because
don Dimas made them both up.

He uses the same rouge
for everyone.

Be that as it may, he leaves
the dead to rest in peace.

Just look, healthier now than alive.

His health fills me with envy,
with all due respect.

Priest-bashing as ever, Colonel?

No matter where the wind blows.

The times may change,
but my coat does not.

You see.

Well...?

Well, what?

Well, the gamecock!

The gamecock?

Just there.

The same as me.

Another dead boy.

They end up getting into squabbles,
scrapes with the unions, quarrels...

Then their number comes up.

- Like Agust�n.
- Oh, come now.

My unlucky godson quarreled
over cockfighting.

One of those normal things
that can happen.

An affair of men.
It was his time, that's all.

My son had ideals.

No drunken brawl
took him to his grave.

Not at all.
Ridiculous!

Whatever you say, Colonel.
Just don't let it get to you.

Calm down, you're even blushing.

Try to see a doctor, compadre.
You look like a dry twig.

See how your jacket hangs on you.

One of these days, Sabas.

One of these days.

Listen to me.

Take care of yourself.

And take care of that gamecock.

Rest here.
Quiet now.

Nice and quiet.

Two drags, now.
Then, after dinner, two more.

To make it last.

Just listen to this:

"...and thus, the nation's Senate
bestows a full pension...

equal to 76% of their
monthly salary...

to all Federal army veterans who
fought in the revolutionary wars...

including those who fought in the
religious hostilities of the 1920's..."

Religious hostilities!

Today that's what
they call that swarm

of priest and their
crucifix idolaters.

You should have seen the wake
today... A mass, prayers...

Just like that.
In broad daylight.

Even blessings in Latin!

And to think how once we fought
against them...

those priests who told the people
that the government was Communist...

and had no legal authority!

We fought against ignorance,
and we won.

And look how things are now.

Everything is as it was.

And I wait and wait for a pension
that never comes.

Three years of the Cristero revolt.

Three years of faith mongers...

Masses...

but not a single peso of my pension.

Not one miserable peso.

There's no justice.

Again?

Twenty-seven years waiting for
that pension. Can't I complain?

- To the rooster?
- If not to him, to whom?

To me.

Who else?

Just look at you.
Dressed for a ball...

and all you get is supper
with this cranky old man.

As always.

The years haven't dulled
the gentility

of my young lady from Madrid.

And you went and married a Spaniard.
You, the great nationalist!

To conquer the conquerors.

Not again!

Four bells!

For adults only.

Forbidden for pernicious content.
It's a melodrama, to be sure.

The real tearjerker is Father Angel
dictating what films can be shown.

He prohibits the films,
but he sure watches them.

He's a priest, not a saint.

The poor fellow enjoys films,
just like I do.

I'm on my way. If I don't hurry,
it will have started.

I didn't know you loved me so.

Again!

You struggle and scrape, then
these gate crashers show up.

I mean you too,
so don't play dumb!

Quite the Spanish lady...
But you're still a freeloader!

Tomorrow, don't even show up;
I won't absolve you.

I was absolutely clear.

It's not the fondling I mind,
it's the movie!

Am I invisible?

I made it very clear, "Four Bells
Picture Prohibited by the Vatican."

Until the boy leaves the girl,
don't even think I'll be moving.

You can watch concupiscence,
because you're no spring chicken...

if you'll excuse my saying so.

Although, you're not yet
out of mourning.

My mourning is inside.

Don't spoil my evening.

Laris already caught me sneaking in.

It's his business. Concupiscent
and all, still,

this is how he makes a living.

And me, Father?
How do I make a living?

Just look at this.
Like reaping the wind.

The cinema is full,
church bells and all.

Let's hope I've banned something
that's at least worth the sinning.

She's a country girl.

She has a half-wit boyfriend.

Lame, too. Imagine that.

She gets to the city.
She wants to dance...

- With the lame guy?
- No! With another.

She'll end up a tramp.
You'll see.

Tomorrow is Friday.

It's your day.

Nothing today, either.

Doctor.

It's good for making cough syrup.

It's medicinal.
It's no ordinary rum.

Rather early to be making
your syrup, isn't it?

In the mornings,
it tones up the mind.

These come to me...

but here...

You keep them.

Why would I want to know why
the nation ended up like me?

An old rag.

That's why.

Ill omens please you, don't they?

If not, I wouldn't be a doctor.

That's because you're a cynic,
not because you're a doctor.

That's how I was born,
a cynic and disbeliever.

Your sin is that you're credulous.

We're a bad match.
That's why dominoes don't suit us.

"Dominoes don't suit us..." because
I haven't played with you in years.

- Do you know why?
- Because I play with the priest.

But he plays better than you.

Let's just say
I offered you a drink.

Let's just say
I let you enjoy it alone.

Take care of your wife.

Ever since this mortgage deal,
her asthma has gotten worse.

And...?

Why should I read up on the misdeeds
of that pack of thieves?

Better this way.

Not knowing in whose pockets
my money ended up.

They filled their coffers.

They divided up the money
by the hands full.

A position for this one...

A handout for that one...

Everyone but you...

who still waits for a miser's
pension twenty-seven years overdue.

Twenty-six.

It's almost August.

Twenty-six years and eight months.

- Do they say anything?
- About what?

What else?
About the pensioners.

What would they say?

There can't be more than five of us
left alive in the whole country.

Well, those five have
a right to know.

The years haven't dulled
your stubborn Spanish nature.

There's nothing there.
There never will be.

What's this about a mortgage?

- Who told you?
- The doctor. Who else?

They posted a notice.

The payment is due in October.

October twenty-fourth.

Not one day more.
Not one day less.

The date is irrevocable.

If my pension is revocable,
why not the mortgage?

Because the tax collectors came.

Because they brought the order,
and I signed it.

Because I showed it to the doctor.

Even he agreed that this
time they mean it.

And because life
is unjust and unfair.

Why hadn't you told me?

Because, I expected
that Friday would come...

and that the mail...

and that maybe...

You see, you're the same as I am.

Now that you know, can you tell me
what you'll do?

We have the cock.
The cock can pay the mortgage.

The rooster!
The famous rooster!

Do you really believe that wretched
animal will get us out of hock?

It was the same with Agust�n.

That animal took him to his death.

Let the dead rest in peace.

Let his death rest in peace!

You didn't tell me how
we'll pay the mortgage...

or what we're going to eat.

I eat, too.

Just like the rooster.

Just the same.

He looks cockier every day.

If Agust�n could only see him now.

- Any news?
- Same old.

The end of November,
the cockfighting tours arrive.

It's all set.

The owners get 20o/ of the bets.
Same as always, the usual.

He must be trained, Colonel.
You can't be too sure.

Anything can happen.
Life's a real bitch.

Watch your tongue, lad.

Show some respect.

The kids can take
the cock for walks...

and I'll make sure he gets
lots of sun and fresh air.

And good feed, Colonel!

Man doesn't live on bread alone,
and cocks need more than strolls.

Where will I get the money
to buy good feed?

You do what you can.

And what you can't do as well.

He has to be conditioned
by someone who knows how.

He can't let us down.

Us...

Agust�n...

the people.

Suppose I can get an advance.

Everyone knows he'll fight here,
I'd say.

Everyone knows he's a pure-bred.

My compadre inquired about him.

That sly old fox
never takes a false step.

You know he's got his eye
on our cock.

Times are hard.

That's worse.

If he suspects you're on the ropes,
he'll exploit that. For sure.

No one gets rich for free.

Every rich man took money
from another's pocket.

Worse still,
in this forsaken country.

"This forsaken country,"

is the country that gave
us the Revolution...

our Revolution.

Careful of your compadre.

Not only does he want your bird,
but he's sneaky as well.

The day they raided the union press,
he was snooping around.

He had one of those newspapers
that we gave you.

He's the Governor's snitch,
on his payroll.

Now he fancies himself as a cocker.

Give us a little more time.

I have a deadline.

My mortgage deadline.

That comes due before November.

Before the game season.

You know full well
we already have a lawyer.

What good has he done us?

This one only charges a percentage.

What can you lose?

My time. I waste my time.

I�ve reached a decision.
I�m changing lawyers.

I need money.

It's nothing personal.
It's just that...

I mortgaged my house when my son
died and that is coming due and...

You know how they can be.

Years have passed,
and nothing.

All that happened was
that my comrades

died waiting their pensions.

That's the way of it, right?

Well, there may be some way.

You don't want ways,
you want miracles.

I don't know how to do miracles.

Every last cent went
to cover court costs.

I'll need all my documents.

That won't be possible. Your files
have been passed from hand to hand.

They're very complicated actions.

I'll track them down for you, but
I'd have to charge you a stipend...

to hire an agent in Jalapa,
or maybe even Mexico City.

They're very important papers.
Historic, even.

One was the act that established
socialist and sex education...

back when we struggled
against the clergy...

their priests, altar boys
and superstitions.

No point in speaking of that
any longer, Colonel.

During the Cristero revolt,
so many people died.

Many had to be baptized in cellars.
Nobody liked that.

Everyone was appalled.

Why parade about, Colonel?

You don't like it; I don't either.

But this is a Catholic, apostolic
and Roman country.

To my disgrace,
and everyone else's.

I fought against that for
three years and five months.

But that was years ago.
Administrations ago.

These are new times.

And those times past, no one
can be bothered to remember.

I can.

You're the only one.

Good luck, Colonel.

And keep waiting.

I'll wait.

Get out of there!

Rice isn't for beasts!

And thank your lucky saints.
If it were up to me, you'd be stew.

I was looking for do�a Amalia.

You were looking,
but you won't find her.

You've found me,
not my mother-in-law.

Then, I'll return when
I can find her.

That won't be possible.

She's had a stroke.

The doctor has ordered rest.

Then, when will I find her?

For freeloaders,
she won't be back at all.

Can I do anything for you?
Or did you just drop by.

I just dropped by...

and to inquire about the health
of your mother-in-law.

Then, nothing?

Nothing.

And do�a Amalia...?

Her daughter-in-law was there
with another of her stories.

That one is so nasty.
She's young.

But don't worry about me.

You know how asthmatics
loose our appetites.

How fortunate, don't you think?

And the pot on the fire?

Cabbage stew.

Boiled leaf, as we say in my town.

In such a big pot?

It's just for show.
Why make others feel sorry for us?

Yes, why arouse the pity of others.

We're sorry enough on our own.

I have an idea.

The German pays fairly.
He may be interested in the clock.

It hasn't worked in years.

All the more reason.

Then, it's just in the way.

May I give you a hand, Colonel?
Don't slip, it's very muddy.

It's just the rain.

Every year we get
more rain and mud.

It may just need an adjustment.
Where are you taking it?

To the German.
He knows about these things.

He knows about everything,
and charges for everything.

Maybe I can fix it for you.

There, you see!
It had gotten stuck here.

But, I should warn you,
this clock is falling apart.

Like mother says,
"Why throw good money after bad?"

That's right, "Why throw
good money after bad?"

- Thank you.
- You're welcome.

Comes the Sacred Host!

I'll walk with you, Colonel.

Comes the Sacred Host!

You see that?

Still proclaiming in the streets
as if it were nothing. It's cynical.

It's against the law.
This is a layman's country.

Three years of my life I fought
so those idolaters would realize...

that from now on this would be
a free country, a nation of reason.

And just look.

I�m still waiting for my pension
from that war...

and the priest struts through
the streets. That's not right.

And worst of all, they've got
that boy in a girl's dress.

Like some sissy.

When the Spanish woman comes,
what does she buy?

The Colonel's wife.

Do�a Lola?
What's she gonna' buy?

They can't even afford to drop dead.

Alright, but when they could,
what did they buy?

Since I was born,
they've never had anything.

Then, give me some cans of tuna.

Some sardines...

Coffee...

Guava fruit...

No, better this guava candy.
It's nourishing.

She likes it.

A little luxury, right?

Don't worry.

We streetwalkers always pay.

Because we always collect.

What's this?

It works now.

The idea was to sell it, not fix it.

The German was supposed to buy it.

Well, I didn't sell it,
but it works now.

Weren't you always so upset
because you didn't know the time?

You ran into someone, then got
ashamed they'd find out

you were selling it.

I know you so well.

I hope you didn't pay a nickel
to fix this thing.

She's like a soothsayer.

She always knows.
Always.

Just look at those shoes.

All holes.

This way the foot breathes.

If I could, I'd buy you new ones.

As soon as the pension arrives,
the first thing...

The very first...

Let me, I'll do it.

Like we used to.

Like we used to.

Tomorrow is Friday!

It's your day.

Aren't you going to ask me
if there was any mail?

Sell that rooster, right now!

Take it easy, Blondie.
Take it easy.

Pay no attention to her whims.

Asthma exasperates her nerves.

One moment bad,
the next moment worse.

Life is hard and friends are few.

You've become a stranger, Colonel.

Just look at me. Sticking
this pesky contraption in my...

...rear end, as you would say
so as not to offend.

Jacinta, don't be such a lout!
Stick this in me!

Wash your hands, dammit!

Offer something to my compadre.

We don't seem so compadres
as we used to.

Nowadays, your wife doesn't
even come around.

She used to drop by
to listen to the Mad Monk show.

She's dumped me.
She only goes to movies.

Watch it!

You can't get enough
pain and indignity.

If I only wasn't so fat...

I'd do it myself.

I yearn for that.

What I wouldn't give to have
your health, Colonel.

I get around,
but that's about all.

- So, how about a coffee?
- Thank you, compadre.

Jacinta is right.

You never show yourself any longer.

- What brings you around?
- My battle cock.

He's a little...

crestfallen.

One worries about people,
not about beasts.

It's not a beast.
He's my battle cock.

That's right, he's
my compadre's gamecock.

And more so...

my godson's.

I was just saying to say so.

Have a little nip.
To brighten up the soul.

The Mad Monk show is about to start.
Why not stick around?

Then you can tell do�a Lola
all about it.

Between us, she's right.

You speak about that cock
as if it were a person.

It's that, he's no ordinary rooster.
Everyone knows that.

I�m thinking of training him.

Teaching him the Prussian attack...

The one to the flanks.

I don't mean to offend, compadre,
but you know nothing about it.

You'd never been inside a game pit
until you recovered Agust�n's body.

This is an art.

A trade.

Sell the cock before it's too late.

You're not the kind for that game.

The bird is getting awfully ragged.
Look here.

Right now...

I know who would give you this.

Maybe even more.

Do your arithmetic.

I know him.
I could speak to him.

Present your case.

You'd do that?

Are we compadres,
or not?

Did we fight the Cristeros together,
or not?

Did we grow old together,
or not?

We owe it to each other.

For old times' sake.

- That's what he said.
- Really?

His word on it.

His word! Your word is good,
Colonel. Not that faker's.

He's right.

He's just going around lying
when he says he's got a buyer.

He wants it all to himself.

And he's your compadre.

Believe him if you want,
it's your divine right.

Stay with us, Colonel.
We'll buy you a drink.

A while out of your house
won't do you any harm.

Place your bets!

Come on, play one for Agust�n.

He had a gambling debt
with me anyhow.

On the nine.
It was his birthday.

- Cheers, Colonel.
- Thanks.

Fifteen!

Oh, well, Colonel.
Maybe the next time around.

"Unlucky in money; lucky in love."

Thank you.

Read it.
Agust�n wrote for this one.

Hey there, boys!

We're back again.

Nogales is here.

Drinks all around!

Peanut liquor shots.

Here, Julia, drink up.
To your health.

My health doesn't depend
on your drinks.

So I stay away for a year,
and she gets uppity.

Right?

There must be some reason.

Some reason why your
conscience bothers you.

What's he doing here?
It's not the circus season yet.

He does small time jobs now.

Small time dirty work for
the Governor and his cronies.

So he comes back here!
To the same place!

Shut up, the old man will hear you.

A round for everyone.

Compliments of me, Nogales.

It's not for nothing I'm the best
acrobat in all the South.

Good night.

You'll excuse me.

Of course, Colonel.

What?

Is it my fault that
I bumped into him here?

It's not like it was on purpose.

You should have warned me.

One of you should have told me.

What is my son's
murderer doing here?

The circus is coming.

Nogales is still with them.

The circus isn't until November.

Nogales is always up to something.

Making his deals.

I wondered how your wife was doing?

How would a dead boy's mother be?

Older and thinner by the day.

Do you need anything?

No, I don't need anything.

You were his...

...my son's woman, right?

Well...

The reason I ask is...

You'll probably say,
"The things that cross your mind..."

But at times I�ve asked myself...

if maybe you had a child by him.

You know, those things that happen.

No...

My kind aren't given much to that.

It upsets the clients,
and then...

How to know who the father is...

Well...

maybe they're the musings
of a foolish old man, but...

my blood has died.

My bloodline is finished.

Such a pity.

I'd love to have given you
that pleasure, Colonel.

Such a pity.

Colonel!

At least I'd like you to know
that it wasn't my fault.

It was destiny.

Destiny is always to blame.

Julia!

What's this?

Look here.

Your guava candy
is turning to juice.

What's it to you?

I was just saying.

I was just saying.

Out! Out! Get out!

Sheesh!
Who can make a living like this?

Ma'am, please...

It seems I'll never see how it ends.

The other day the film broke,
and today Laris runs me out.

Here! Take it.

There's guava candy inside.

It's a little mushy, but if
you put it under the faucet...

and run a little water over it,
it will be fine.

Take it.

You need it.

Do it for your husband.

My husband?

Give it to him, if you're
so concerned about him.

How can you say that?

Men don't like to accept gifts
from women like me.

Especially, someone like
your husband.

A respected man, and all.

We're not like that.

We women are different.

We find a way.

We do what we must.

Here, don't be foolish.

No one will find out.

I'd be foolish, as you say.

But your course and mine,
crossed only one night.

That accursed night my son died.

And they will never cross again.

No matter how hungry I get.

So, change your course.

Think about your husband.

Alright...

It's plain you're both needy.

- Leave us a shred of decorum.
- Leave decorum to the men.

Woman to woman, take it.

No one will know,
no one will find out.

At least the guava candy.

He liked it so much.

I mean...

You like it.

So, I�ve heard.

They say it has a lot of
ascorbic acid.

Look, Ma'am, I mean well.

It's not to humiliate you...

and it's nothing to do with guilt.

You don't really believe anyone
kills for the likes of me?

You know...

my kind can't say, "I love you."

The word sticks here,
in our chests.

That happened to me with your son.

I never told him,
and he died on me.

He died on me just as
he died on you.

He and I laughed together.

We had good times.

That's loving, isn't it?

Agust�n and l...

Hush!

Decorum? No way!

Those were the mortgage people.

What are we going to do?

What are you going to do?

Find another attorney.
Like you said the other day.

That was the other day.

You wrote, and there's been
no response.

I was wrong.

You were wrong.

We were wrong.

And you'll wait another thirty years
while they continue to cheat you.

We still have the rooster.

It's all we have left.

And you know that.

I�ve got a little something
special for you.

Let's say we moisten it a bit,

and it will be like nectar
from the gods.

I�m sorry.
Don't think the worst of me.

What must be done, must be done.

Compadre...

you sure don't waste
a single minute.

I no sooner tell you of
an interested party...

than two days later,
you're here with that animal.

- It's been two weeks.
- It's just a saying, Colonel.

- You can be so rigid.
- A soldier's habits.

This comes on a bad day.
My blood sugar is up.

Look! Dilated pupils and all.

I take a turn for the worse,
and you don't come.

Your patients will all die off
at this rate, my dear Doctor.

And there you are,
fluttering about in the streets.

Don't complain.
Take a lesson from the Colonel.

A solid oak.

I�ve never seen a sick skinny man.

Who wouldn't be healthy like that?

I was just telling my compadre here,
the skinny one...

he's come at a bad time.

The lads in town are all excited
about the fighting cock.

They're calling it,
the Town Cock.

I�m debating whether to give it
to them, or to that client you said.

I said, I said...

Pay him no mind, Doc.

The Colonel here has too many
gray hairs to be so gullible.

It seems to me the Colonel is right
to make you keep your word.

You owe him the truth,
as well as your career.

Your gullibility is just as sinful.

Come on, stick me!

I don't have all day to spend
with a stretcher bearer...

with a boozer's breath.

Look, Colonel.

Redder than a baby's fu...

...frigging mother.
With all due respect.

This sugar is killing me
before my time.

Fat, ruddy and flabby...

That's why no one
takes me seriously.

For anyone to feel sorry for you,
I guess you need a gruff complexion.

Regarding your business,
I spoke to the interested party.

He did his arithmetic.

Now, he follows boxing on the radio.

Hardly anyone goes to
the cock-matches any more.

He'll pay half of what he said.

You know attendance is down,
but betting is up.

Keeping a battle cock costs a lot.

If were up to me, I'd give you
four times that amount, but...

But you're just speaking for your
friend, in the vein of a go-between.

The only vein you know of,
is the one you jabbed.

What do you say, Colonel?

- But...
- There are no "buts" in business.

Look. Right now, I'll give you an
advance to nourish you as God wishes.

And by mid-December,
I'll pay you the balance...

in my friend's name.

Alright.

I'll leave him to you.

He likes his walks.

His name is Tadeo.

He's very sensitive.

I call him Blondie.

Now I'll tell you how far
the diabetes has advanced.

As the saying goes...

"Let me die a dimwit."

He cheated you.

I don't know a peep about the game
of cockfighting. Not a peep.

We do what we must.

You said so yourself, more
than asthma, my wife is hungry.

There are bad men.

But bad men, thinly disguised,
exist only in ballads.

Hello, Doc.
Same as always?

And for you, Colonel?
The same as always.

Yes, my water.
As always.

All because I sit here every
morning, and drink his water.

As if water cost money.

Never trust redheads.

There's a reason why they
were killed in the Middle Ages.

His hair is brown.

Reddish-brown.
That's red enough.

Doctor, the Colonel
can sit over here.

I�m not even wearing
my cassock.

This time, bet something.

Otherwise, it's no fun.

You have your advance.

If I bet it, my wife will kill me.

If you've just sold your rooster,
you should at least enjoy it.

Leave him alone. Do�a Lola will
really tighten the strap if he bets.

I won.

You see.
You should have bet.

You have the soul
of a killjoy, Doctor.

You must relish giving injections.

- How could you tell?
- It's the years.

And I'm off, because there are
too many vultures here.

Anyway, my wife is waiting for me.

Don't even tell her, she'll surely
scold you for not betting.

Your turn, my son.

- How long before you get off work?
- A while.

The same while as always.

Doc! Doc!

His shift ends when it ends.

And if some pretender,
or friend wants to wait for him...

he'll have to do it
in the alley out back.

That's how it is, Doc.

You know this is
a family establishment.

You're married and all.

Why, Doc?

Why?

I have three years worth of pension
in my hands.

And the medicine
the doctor gave you.

I have coffee for the mornings.
Good coffee, and all that.

I have shoes.

Finery as you call them.

And I have the mortgage...

or almost...

Almost.

Whatever we're missing,

we can extend until after
the gamin season.

When did you say that was?

Around Christmas,
right after the circus.

Imagine, I�ve spent my life
shut away in this town...

and I don't even know when
the gaming season begins.

As if there was so much
to do around here.

Now, show me those shoes once again.

You look so handsome.

You miss that animal.

The things you think up.

I was simply picking up the feathers
so you wouldn't complain.

It's been two weeks since
I picked up the last feather.

Yes, I do miss him.

But I'll get over it.

If Agust�n's death hasn't
killed me...

this longing will surely pass, too.

Go get him.

It bothers me to see
you grieving so.

It brings on my asthma.

Are you serious?

Would I waste my morning on jokes?

Go on! Get up and go deal
with Sabas.

"I'll take care of the cock
in the meantime."

"I'll take care of the cock
in the meantime."

"I'll take care of the cock..."

I'll take care of the animal
until the season.

You're sure it's mold?
Do you swear it, Sotero?

Thirty years in the business,
of course I know.

It's what they call White Lily.

It's a terrible disease.

I'll handle his training.
The kids and I will.

If we do nothing, within three days,
we'll be up to our ears in it.

The sparring partner
is all set to go. Everything.

Who'd believe it?

A fighting cock conditioned
by a three unsullied children...

and an old pensioner.

They will mess him up.

Did someone ask you?

Colonel, really...
Why do you want him?

The house is lonely without him.

Sad.

He keeps me company.

You should have said so at first.
Take him.

I just want you to keep him
in shape for me, compadre.

Fed and trained.

Jacinta, the gamecock!

You're giving it back?

The animal is spoken for.
You even gave him an advance.

Just on loan, Colonel.

Blondie! Blondie!

Get going!

Get going!
Let that animal be!

The Colonel asked us to exercise
him. Besides, he's the Town Cock.

He belonged to the people;
he has a new owner, now.

So, be off with you.

Don't make me lose my temper
so early in the morning.

You're always angry, morning
and afternoon. You're a sourpuss.

Bad luck as a hold on you.

It's your fault!
Your rotten luck killed Agust�n.

Dirty rotten Spaniard!

Out of here! Get out!

What did I tell you?
Get out!

Out!

Woe to those who cross me again.
Cross me, or the memory of my son.

Woe to them and the whole town!

This Spaniard gets her due.

I wish you'd all rotted
in your mothers' wombs.

I hope your mothers find you
disemboweled in an alley.

I hope I'll be there...

to enjoy it.

It's your fault!

You have them all under your spell.

Him, too.

Hush!

He can't find out about this.

It's enough that I have
problems with the neighbors...

more than enough.

Best you not even look.

Some things are better left unsaid.

What was that racket?
I heard you scolding the kids.

They can't come around any more.

- They're out to get me.
- What an imagination you have.

Besides, they're exercising
the cock for me.

They're bringing a sparring partner,
so he'll master the attack.

You train him.

But I don't know about gamecocks.
That's why I asked them.

They can't find out I know
nothing about cockfighting.

I�m a full Colonel, and all.

Those boys will not
come here again!

I want it understood, I'm lending
her to you for a little while.

If anything happens to her,
you pay.

I gave you my word.

Who's ever seen a hen used as a
sparring partner to train a rooster.

You train those with fighting cocks.

Who would ask you?
Are you a cockfighter?

The Colonel will know how.

You do know, don't you?

See you in a while.

Here, I�ve brought you the enemy.

You'll see.

Come on.

Now, you'll attack on the flanks.

Just like you do in the mirror.

Pretend you're not you.
You're the opponent.

This is like war.
He who strikes first, wins.

The law of strategy,
the Prussian law.

That's it.

There.

Here's the enemy.

Attack! Attack!

Prussian law, I told you!

Where did you get that morose hen?

From do�a Amalia.

- A purchase?
- No, on loan.

I didn't spend a cent.

You made me come here
to look for you?

Here, where he died.

In the same place?

As if it were nothing to you.

- No one told you to come.
- I had a premonition.

Premonitions are only that.

That night, I had a premonition.

As you've had on so many nights.

But that night, it came true.

Tell me where you found him.

Tell me.

Over there.

Just under the car.

Those headlights
were shining on him.

Like this?

Like that.

Leave.

Go on, now.
Don't torment yourself any longer.

I told him, clearly.

I warned him.

When I saw him leave, all primped
and perfumed, I told myself...

"He's going out with her."

And he did.

Because of her...

and because of that rooster you're
so in love with, they killed him.

They killed him on me.

You've started in again.

And I'm never going to stop.

Never!

Leave!

Go away. Carry on with
your stories somewhere else.

Torment yourself alone.

Because of that Julia woman...

That one was also seeing Nogales.

You made me say his name.

Nogales.

They told me that one...

the one who killed my son,
arrived wearing a hat and all.

He came looking for
that Julia woman.

He brought his rooster.

As if one could really love
those women...

those who charge.

I�m spelling it out for you
because my husband isn't here.

The sows.

This one was the worst.

She made him believe
it was different with him.

If they'd only gone out for a drink,
nothing would have happened.

But that one was buzzing around,
buzzing about like a fly.

She brought him her bad luck.

My son had arranged for her
to be the handler in the cockpit.

Then, he...

"that one," claimed she had
fixed the fight with my son.

That he was her pimp.

That she had stuck a hairpin
in his belly. The rooster's belly!

The fool probably did.

She wanted to trap him.

Her kind will do anything
to trap a man.

To stick a hairpin in the rooster...

As if the other fellow
wouldn't notice.

They say her hand was bloody.

Cock's blood. What else?

My son's blood flowed later.

I knew as soon as I saw him
leave the house all gussied up.

Sometimes I tell myself...

"If I only hadn't sewn that button,
he wouldn't have gone...

and he wouldn't have been killed."

It is a sin to live longer
than one's children.

A sin to wake up alive each morning.

I and that Julia woman still live.

That's why it hurts me when
my husband greets her.

It's not jealousy, it's rage.

Rage to still be alive.

And today, I go to the game pit,
and find him there with a hen...

and I get the same feeling.

The same premonition,
the same rage.

And you, not a word!

It's my anger.

It's a sin, and I don't care.

Look here!

I spit on God.

I spit on fate.

And then...?

And then, they came to tell me.

Did I tell you, it rained
during the funeral?

Yes, you told me.

If you don't want the little snots
to come here and exercise him...

I'll have to do it myself.

It's for you that I got the hen.

For you.

For you, I train him.

For you.

You love that rooster more than
you love me.

It's all we have left of our son.

Believe me, I hate this.

Let's go.

The mortgage people stuck
the eviction notice on the door.

They say they hate to do it.

Hypocrites.

They don't want money;
they want the house.

You see spooks behind every tree.

I see the Governor and
your compadre don Sabas...

picking over each and every property
in town for their factory.

Then, there's no other way.

No...

there's no other way.

I looked for you everywhere,
and they told me you were here.

- I came to discuss the mortgage.
- You know the rules, Colonel.

Rules are for breaking.

How could you consider taking out
a mortgage in times like these?

They said they were about to bury
my son in the common grave.

So, if one cannot even afford
to bury his own son...

where does one stand?

Where?

It's for three months.
The cock is already sold.

They've given me an advance.

Look, I'm even wearing new shoes.

Then, tell the buyer to pay you
the rest of your money.

You'll have to excuse me, Colonel,
but I'm busy.

The cock is a living creature.

Suppose my friend pays you off, then
the animal dies before the fight?

And now that you've taken him
into your care, who's responsible?

And you, Colonel,
you spend money fast.

New shoes, and all.

I kept my word,
and you took the cock.

Between compadres,
I'll see what can be done.

But up front, I'm telling you,
it will be very difficult.

Damn, Sotero, you can't
even solve problems.

I�ve told you before, act like
we live in a civilized society.

Otherwise, there's no progress,
there just isn't.

Colonel...

People can buy shoes when
they blessed well feel like it.

- And since when the wheelchair?
- Well, since the rains started.

I no sooner put the clothes
out to dry,

then suddenly there's
a downpour.

This is no way to get by.

What's happened to you?

What's the matter?

You can't die!

Not you!

Not you, treacherous bird.

Don't you know the fight season
isn't even here yet?

If you die, he'll die along
with you.

Get better...

even if it's just for him.

You have to get better, alright?

I'll take you to the doctor.
That's it.

I'll take you to the doctor.
That's what to do.

Doctor!

Doctor!

Do�a Lola, you'll get soaked!
Come in.

How could you go out
on a day like this?

- Where is the doctor?
- He went to the mountains.

Something about a house call...

That he might stay the night...

He doesn't even bother
coming around here any more.

The rooster won't last
until morning.

He's a doctor, not a veterinarian.

I didn't do anything to you.
Nothing.

He's been like this
since mid-afternoon.

The lightning...

The doctor is in the mountains.

Do something!

Since when do you care
about the rooster?

Insulin?

The doctor suggested it.
That will raise even the dead.

Then, he would have
given it to you.

Well, his wife suggested it,
that's almost the same thing.

The doctor is up
to his usual mischief.

One grubby doctor in this small
town, and he's out running around...

like some fairy in the bushes.

That's no way to do things.

And what's all this about
injecting a cock?

That's for humans.

Insulin for an animal?
What's next?

A drink, compadre.

Don't even listen to her.

She gets crasser by the day.

But an injection...

You'll have to pay him back.

Things get more expensive
every day.

Imagine! There are days when Sabas
takes as many as two.

That's a lot of money.

The Mad Monk show
is about to start.

Come on, then you can
tell your wife all about it.

Just don't let that old hag see.

She butts into everything.

She counts my injections.

I�m supposed to obey
her every notion.

If I could only do more, compadre.

l often wish I could get around
alone. Offer no excuses to anybody.

Chat.

Do whatever I please.

Breathe in the mountain air.

Talk to friends.

To my compadres.

To you, like when we were warriors.

We've gotten old, Colonel.

When you left Tabasco, you were a
little snot and about one hand tall.

Now you're old and fat.

Enough! I'll get nostalgic.

Nostalgic about me.

Nostalgic about you.

About then.

Meaningless nostalgia.

I hope your rooster gets well.

From my heart.

For your sake.

I�ve come to think of him
as a kind of son.

- Can I help?
- No! You make him nervous.

He knows you dislike him.

Don't be silly.

I could have done it alone.

It's been years since
you've done anything yourself.

It's over now, Blondie.
All over.

Here.

If they are real revolutionaries,
they should learn about printing.

Just look at this.

All the letters have faded.

The letterary...

as Agust�n used to say.

Come, now.

That's what Agust�n used to read...

Politics.

Ideals and principles.

As I was saying...

"A band of White Guards
in the Governor's service...

attacked the union local...

and the constables attacked
the union men."

The constables...

Just like that day.

Just like...

Just like that night.

And him in my house!

Just like that night.

Hear what I'm saying!
I�m not going to die.

Even if it's just to deprive you
of the pleasure...

of rubbing me down with your oils.

He came along only because
we were playing dominoes.

I don't enter where
I�m not summoned.

They didn't summon you that night.
I didn't summon you this night.

He's blaspheming again.
He's on the road to recovery.

Alright, do�a Lola.

Since you're already here,
let's clear things up, Father.

You saw it, too.

I found the body
about two hours later.

You were there.

They must have said, "Why call
the doctor? Better the priest, now."

If you're worried that I gave him
the last rites...

I arrived too late even for that.

No, that's not what
I want to talk about.

When you arrived,
the body was still there.

Nogales was still there,
so complacent.

If there had really been a brawl
during the cockfight...

do you think Nogales
would have stayed?

Answer me.
Don't be so quiet.

No, he wouldn't have stayed.

You saw it, too.

I saw when Agust�n slipped
the newspaper under his shirt.

I saw that, and told him...

"At the dance, the ink will run
from the propaganda...

then you'll have the evidence
printed on your chest."

And he laughed,
the way he always did...

a bit to the side...

like my wife does.

The same laugh.

Just the same.

And he said, "I�m not dancing today,
I�m a handler at the cock-match."

But by fight time, he was sweating.

Maybe you haven't noticed, but at
that game pit, they have no permit..

so they use car headlights
for lighting.

All the handlers who work
with the gamecocks sweat.

Look, if you don't believe me.

It's the same thing
on the bathroom mirror.

Indigo blue.

The same ink that ran
from the same newspaper.

They never learned to print.

Never.

If you don't calm down,

I'll have the doctor give a shot
of morphine...

then sweet peace.

Peace?

There's been no peace since
that night.

You know it.

You saw it.

My boy was involved in politics.

I had to sign the death certificate:
"Altercation at the cockfights."

Like he was some common drunk.

You signed that death certificate
because, for a change...

the doctor was off in the mountains.

You know as well as I do.

The boy is dead,
it doesn't matter.

No, it does matter.

Don't take this as my confession.

It hadn't crossed my mind.

Anyway, keep it as secret
as a confession.

He's right.

It does matter why
they kill one's son.

All this over a cock.
They get themselves all wound up.

Didn't I bring you the shirt?

Wasn't it stained with ink?

- It was stained with blood.
- It was stained with blood and ink.

And once and for all,
I�m telling you...

your son was killed
for his ideals...

and for nothing else.

No matter what, you won't have
the rooster blamed for the funeral.

- Our funeral.
- Our funeral.

Come now, find your sewing
and start working next to me.

That's comforting.

It calms me.

- I have no sewing to do.
- Then make some to do.

This way I can see you better.

You know, which is the only funeral
we'll go to together?

Our own funeral.

The circus is here!
The circus is here!

It's the phenomenal circus of
the Amazing Quintanilla Brothers...

now on their annual tour
of the midlands of the Republic!

The circus is here!

The circus is here.

It's here, and August
isn't over yet.

Cover up.

You'll get pneumonia
in this humidity.

This humidity is all the same
in the bathtub, or in the bed.

Are you trying to frighten
me to death, or kill me with rage.

Let's go to bed.

- Today is Friday.
- Yes...

but you have a while yet.

But I filed an appeal, and
I�m waiting for an answer.

It's no longer
an ordinary procedure.

If you like, I'll repeat...

No one writes to the Colonel.

I have something to tell you.

I heard the circus had arrived,
and then...

I want to keep the cock.

To call off the sale.

Call off the sale?

But we've spent
all the advance money.

Germ�n is right.
Sabas can't keep the cock.

He can't finagle
Agust�n's battle cock.

He's going to give it to Nogales.

Hush! That name is not spoken here.

Sabas will give it to him.

Agustin's battle cock won't
end up in his hands.

I want you to know, I'm off to see
Sabas and return his money.

I'll wash the shoes with saddle
soap, then return them...

or I'll sell the clock.

Agust�n's battle cock
is the best in the town.

The cocker who wins gets
20o/ of the betting stakes.

Triple what Sabas offers!

I�m not asking you.

I�m telling you.

I�m warning you.

I�m doing this for him...

for you...

and for me.

As far as I'm concerned,
I�m not a Colonel for nothing.

I'll have to mend your pants with
white thread so they won't notice.

Cockers don't dress in rags.

How much for the ring?

Go away!

I don't do those things.

Father Angel, how much?

How much?

The Church forbids these kinds
of things. Anyway, I'm a priest.

A priest, not a pawnbroker.

Even if a black legend befalls us.

Find someone else.

A money lender.

I am a priest,
but I'm also your friend.

That's why I dare, because
you are my only friend.

If not you, then with whom?

Please take pity.

For all those times
we've gone to the movies.

Then, what do I do with the ring?

Do I sell it?

It has your name etched in it.

In this town, they find out
about everything.

Then your husband will come and burn
the church for the second time...

with me inside.

He'll understand.

How much?

Thank you, Father.

I don't know how to beg.
They never taught me.

Only life teaches that.

Good-bye.

She wouldn't let me absolve her.
An eye for an eye.

I wasn't able to return the shoes.

But you won't know
the time any longer.

What's this?

I�m so thin now, it was bound
to fall off one day.

Now I can take a lover, Colonel.
No one will know I'm married.

What did you do?

- I went to visit Father Angel.
- The cassocked one.

I hope he'll keep this a secret,
as he would a confession.

Where are you going in this rain?

To settle my accounts.
My cockfighting accounts.

I�m here to settle some business.

I�m not here to see my compadre.
I�m here to see a comrade in arms.

Where do you think you're going?

What right do you have
to come in here?

Stand aside, I'm asking you.

I�m begging you.

I�m warning you.

That rooster will not leave here
as long as I'm alive.

Don't make me hurt you,
you're Agust�n's mother.

Well, you'll have to hurt me.
That rooster is mine!

Mine and my husband's, the Colonel.

Shut up and take it easy.

This cock belongs to the people.
It fights for the town.

And we're taking it,
even over your dead bodies!

Kill me, then!

They took it by force.

I told them the rooster
wouldn't leave here...

as long as I lived.

But you're still alive.

You weren't home.

This has nothing to do
with the circus.

They wanted to use the circus tent
as their game pit.

The only one in charge
of handling this cock, is me.

The one who cared for him,
is me.

The one who trained him,
is me.

The one who paid for him,
is me.

Not Sabas, my compadre.

Not any of you.

Not even Agust�n's memory.

It's me.

Tell him the truth.

Nogales, was there boasting,
strutting about in front of everyone.

So the people challenged him
with Agust�n's fighting cock.

There was no other way, Colonel.

My battle cock
doesn't engage this one.

As long as there is
a breath of life left in me...

my cock will not cover itself
in the blood of his.

It was all in goodwill, Colonel.

I have no goodwill towards you.

I didn't break into your house
like a burglar to take him.

It was these fellows,
your son's so-called friends.

I owe you.

I know that.

But it wasn't my fault alone.

We both were armed.

Both of us.

A little more the other way,
and I'd have been the dead one.

But his death was all he needed
to become a saint.

Still, I am in your debt.

I may be only a circus man,
but I'm forthright.

Here, take this for your rooster.

And, my connections.

I have friends, contacts.

Tomorrow I can arrange
for your pension.

Your god-forsaken pension
the whole town knows about.

In the blink of an eye, Colonel.

In a simple stroke of magic.

All because I owe it to you.

All because I have a father.

All because I'm sentimental.

Look...

I do magic for you, and you'll never
again linger at the post office.

Not for your stroke of magic.

Not for your connections.

Not for all the gold in the world.

Nor for all the pensions.

Nothing.

Let's go, Blondie.

Good evening, gentlemen.

It will happen again.

Over and over again.

They will end up taking him again.

The next time...

you won't be able
to keep him with you.

The cock is not for sale.

You're more stubborn
than stubborn can be.

And in the meanwhile, what?

What?

You'll just sit here,
and wait for that pension.

- That pension won't come.
- It will come.

Come to your senses.
You're old.

Today, you got a break because
you're old. You surprised them.

Tomorrow, they'll put a knife in you
because you're old.

They'll end up with the rooster,
and I'll end up widowed and alone.

Now, I�ve come to realize it.

You have, too.

Reconsider.

I won't reconsider.

You haven't reconsidered
in twenty years.

Then it will be twenty more.

You're stubborn and inconsiderate.

My life is burning away slowly,
like some cheap candle.

And there's stubborn you,
and your rooster.

And if the rooster doesn't win?

What if you don't get
your famous 20o/?

That's only if it wins.
What if it loses?

Have you thought about
what we'll do if it loses?

That cock can't lose.

Suppose it does?

I have forty-five days
to suppose that.

And until then, tell me,
what are we going to eat?

Answer me.

Come on, tell me!

Don�t just sit there silent.

Tell me!
After all, you're my husband.

Tell me, what we'll eat.

Tell me.

Shit.