Original subtitles

Fred May 19th, 1910

Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen,

2 German scientist from the University of Wurzburg.

Herr Roentgen has just discovered

electromagnetic rays that can pass through walls,

metal, even a person's body.

...progress, Fred.

You'll be working as 2 doctor

in this new age of reason, of science.

You will discover the origin and the cure of all diseases:

tuberculosis, yellow fever, malaria, canker...

- Frederico. - To my godson.

And now, doctor...

Frederico Kieps Junior...

I can now die in peace.

Don't say that, father!

- Antonio Jos�. - Yes ma'am?

Please, close the window.

Yes, your Highness.

The comet...

Don't you want to see the comet?

The newspaper says that it will come by the earth again.

In another 70 years.

76.

After dinner, play a bit of piano for us.

I can't today, ma'am...

What a pity.

Play for the Empress Catarina, Fred.

She's your godmother.

I have an appointment, father,

and I'm late.

Grace is quicker than all.

Lustful, lewd, poetic...

�a, c'est la vie.

- Kinda scares you, huh? - What?

Looks like some miracle.

God isn't going to leave his bed of roses in Europe

to come perform miracles here in Brazil.

See if you sell some flowers now, dona Menina.

That face.

That piece.

I speak.

Penetrating.

What a stud!

The dog dies.

In my dreams.

I back off.

We fucked.

The Mysteries of 1001 Nights

Ladies and gentlemen...

the greatest show on earth...

Voila

the Moorish Serpent...

Scheherazade!

Hear out this declaration, Oh, gorgeous

Of a titan dreamer

Able to tie parallels in knots

And eats ball bearings For lunch

The strongest man on earth

With a superman's chest

A superman's chest

And a poet's heart

The stars wouldn't shine, Oh, gorgeous

Without night In the background

Your gazelle-like beauty

lying under my body is more

...ours is a mystic love, Beatriz...

the kind that not even God can stop...

amystic love...

when I saw Scheherazade on stage the first time...

it was as if nothing had ever happened before that moment

in my life...

as if everything started that very instant...

as if God were creating the world only right then.

But, I won't be here for much longer.

They want me to be leading man in a play by Franga Junior.

I play a Brazilian guy..

Who, to win over his fiance's father,

what does he do?

He pretends he is a French aristocrat.

You've got to be blond, to play AFrench aristocrat, Celavi.

Bis... Bis... Bis...

Bliss, bliss, bliss.

Beatriz.

Hmm! The Empress.

I know a real empress...

My father's her doctor.

There are no empresses in Brazil. They're all gone.

- Oh, really?! - Really.

The Empress Catarina isn't Brazilian.

- No? - No, she's in exile here.

There was a revolution, back in her country.

The Empress had to leave, and she came here.

Her people call her the Virgin Empress.

- Virgin?! - Virgin.

Hermetically sealed, completely virgin.

- Virgin, virgin, virgin? - Virgin, virgin, virgin.

Never married, never had a boyfriend...

The Virgin Empress.

Poor Empress!

Beatriz The Bullet Woman

I've never been to a circus.

My family all worked in the circus.

But they all died at the same time, of yellow fever.

My mom, Beatriz, the human bullet, was the only one left.

Beatriz?!

I was baptized Agnes.

I changed it in honor of my mother.

Agnes is nice too.

But it doesn't rhyme with anything.

My mother drank too much...

she began missing the target...

And one day, she left the circus.

For good...

left me all alone in the world.

One day the circus owner tried to rape me,

I almost killed the old guy with an ax.

And after that...

no other circus would hire me for anything.

I really miss the circus, Fred.

You should have seen me in the circus!

What is it?

Can't anybody fuck in peace anymore?

Come in.

...it's for you, Fred.

The Empress is waiting for you in her bedroom.

...it's my heart, Fred.

I'll call a doctor, father.

I told the Empress to not call anybody else...

Does my mother know?

Don't let anyone see me here, Fred.

Catarina...

Catarina...

Take your father home, Fred.

Your father didn't leave us anything.

Practically nothing.

Only you can right this wrong.

What?

L'am all alone in the world now.

I'll give you that portrait,

when I die, godson...

Son.

Why didn't you all tell me the truth?

My mother...

I mean, Mrs. Kieps told me that,

when you found out you were pregnant from my father,

the three of you went to Paris

on vacation.

She and my father came back first with me

because you couldn't be a mother.

State's affairs.

The Virgin Empress!

...what my people have always called me, and still do.

What do you know about politics, Fred?

...It's better we never see each other again, Fred.

But, I don't want you to forget me...

ever.

And how could I forget Your Majesty?

Although we can't see each other any more...

I want to give you 2 present. anything you desire.

She told me to ask you for money.

If that is what you want...

Me and your father drank out of these very glasses...

and we made a toast to love.

To love, Fred.

To state's affairs.

A circus.

What?

Didn't you want to give me a present?

Anything?

Well then...

I want a circus.

What you want most in the world, Fred...

is a circus?!

THE GREAT MYSTICAL CIRCUS.

The clowns!

Look

Is she made out of porcelain

Is she sad

Or the contrary

Is she a painting

Is she a star

If she dances up in seventh heaven

Does she believe it's another country

Does she merely memorize her role

And if she let me into her life

Look

Is she made out of porcelain

or is it ether

Is it just folly

Is it just the scenery

Where does the star live

Does she live in a skyscraper

And are the walls made out of chalk

And if she cries in a hotel room

And if only she'd let me into her life

Yes, fake me forever, Beatriz

Teach me how to walk up in the clouds

Forever is always too fast

Ahh

Tell me all the disasters 1 hold here in my hand

Tell me if it is safe For us to be happy

Better untie any knots you have at home, Beatriz.

Ties, packages, braids, curtains...

so the baby boy doesn't choke when he's born.

I don't think it's going to be a boy.

No baby Freddy?

If it's a girl, I'm going to name her Charlotte.

Charlotte, very chic.

French, right?

And is it divine

The star's life

If she falls from the heavens one day

And the audience demands an encore

And if the archangel passes round the hat

If only she'd let me into her life

Happy birthday, Beatriz.

How do you know that, Celavi?

Asmall bird told me...

it also told me you're going to get a big wonderful

present!

Beatriz!

They love me, Celavi.

In fact, they come to the circus

because the guy may always fall down from the trapeze.

Scheherazade.

Quiet, quiet!

Call a doctor, Celavi.

There's no time.

She's pregnant.

A doctor!

You're a doctor.

Beatriz!

Beatriz, Beatriz!

Beatriz, Beatriz!

Beatriz!

Let me go!

Hello, princess.

Charlotte Around 1935

Ladies and gentlemen,

Radio Nacional from Rio de Janeiro presents:

In Search of Happiness.

An emotion-filled daytime drama by Leandro Blanco.

The zebra took sick, princess.

Lotte, you didn't go to ballet class again.

I don't want to be a ballerina.

And what do you want to be, girl?

If real life isn't always what it should be.

And you do prefer your fantasy, if it causes no one pain,

trade one for the other then...

Monsieur Jean-Paul Moreau, the magician of love!

Slowly he possess me

Possessing me

In some dark corner

. like water flowing

Flowing till the end

...this is how he wants me

My boyfriend

My boyfriend

My home

...is your home

Slowly he shines his light

Shines his light on me

As we sf roll along

{ know he guides me

Guiding me gently

Down my chosen path

My boyfriend

My boyfriend

My home

...is your home

{ see my lover through his eyes

And it is through my eyes

That my love sees me

Jean-Paul, tell me you love me.

- Say yes. - Yes.

- Yes? - Yes, yes.

Clara... Let's go, Clara.

To try and rehabilitate

Let's go Clara, come on!

Clara, Oto, aren't you ready yet?

I'm ready mom, it's Clara who isn't.

After what happened in Hawaii,

Brazil is going to be forced to join the war...

The Americans are going to want to install military bases

on the coast up in the Northeast...

to get to Europe faster...

by way of Africa.

Can we go see the camels?

- Go on. - Thanks.

Bring me a glass of water, please?

No ice...

The price of land there is going to skyrocket.

You can buy now for almost nothing...

and then sell it for a lot more to the gringos in no time.

You'll make a fortune.

His business is the circus, Jean-Paul.

So, sell the circus then.

He can't take a risk like that.

Yes, but unfortunately, you have to take risks

if you want to make any money.

If you want...

I have this friend...

areal estate agent, in Rio de Janeiro.

I think he could help.

What do you think?

Merry Christmas, Dr. Fred.

Idiot.

Where do you think the smell goes to after?

I talked to the lawyer again.

He's got all the papers we asked him for.

Grace...

What is Grace doing, Celavi?

What?

- Good morning! - Good morning!

- Good morning! - Good morning!

Good morning, grandpa, everything OK?

Bless you, grandpa... bless you...

Grandpa...

Grandpa!

Mom!

He was crouched over the piano...

like he was taking a nap...

I held him by the hand, it was cold.

Celavi, what'd my grandfather die of?

- His heart. - Of love?

No, stupid, he had a heart attack.

Son of a bitch.

Those who don't like me don't know what they're missing.

You made the old man change his will.

Lotte can only use her inheritance

to invest in the circus.

Tear it up, go on.

There's a copy at the notary public.

You're fired, you piece of shit.

You can't order me around. You're not my boss.

Get out, now. You're fired!

The girl would always go to the circus

to hear the trumpet player play, just for her.

They never talked,

but knew of the love each felt for the other.

The trumpet player was the best player

of all the trumpet players in the world.

People would come from all over to hear him play.

And he'd play, just for her.

One day, nobody knows why,

she stopped going to the circus

and he couldn't play his trumpet anymore.

That's it?

You want to leave?

Celavi, is this story going to have a sad ending?

Since the trumpet player couldn't play,

people stopped coming to the circus.

The owner begged him to play,

but, by then, nobody came to the circus anymore.

Well, practically nobody.

And then, he raised his trumpet to his lips,

and played one note

just one note in one long breath...

the same note, in one long breath.

And people began to fill the bleachers.

But then, 2 strange wind blew up

and then turned into a hurricane.

While he kept blowing on his trumpet,

the other instruments blew up into the air all around

and all the people were blown about like birds.

And the circus tent turned into the large wings

of a huge bird of the night that flew up into the sky.

Taking clowns, elephants, acrobats, lions, magicians,

Chinamen, ballerinas, everything, with it...

All swept away by the big bird's wings.

The bird known as Albergalia.

Ab... what?

And there was no more circus?

Tell us the one about the elephant that lost its trunk,

tell us, tell us, come on.

That's no story for girls, Clara.

Who's that?

Acharacter I made up...

for the theater...

Hey, Clara!

Celavi, when will we see you again?

We better not see each other again.

Your father wouldn't like it.

Celavi...

Stay Celavi, don't go.

- Bye. - Celavi...

C'est la vie!

Mom, have you ever seen Celavi in a play?

"Captain, who was the crazy guy talking about pirates?

I don't know, he left without saying his name."

Read that part now with Diana in the Skull Cave.

OK, Clara.

Jean-Paul...

Jean-Paul...

I'm working.

I hardly ever see you anymore.

That's your father's fault, he let the circus go bankrupt.

Now I have to fix it.

You can't do anything right, Lotte.

You can't even take care of your kids.

We have something to tell you.

Me and Clara, we want to get married.

To each other.

You shouldn't have done that!

He's my son...

{ can do whatever I damn please with him...

And who are you to tell me what I can and can't do?

There's a bit of blood on your clothes.

No problem, come here...

I HAVE NOTHING, I TAKE ITALL

Mom...

we could call Celavi back.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Ladies and gentlemen,

welcome to the Great Mystical Circus!

Clara and Oto in the 1960s

My little children, are you ready?

I'm sure you are.

Let me introduce you...

Clara Kieps!

If you look hard enough

everyone has a sore

Hives or vaccine mark

Itchy spots, even worms, Or amebas

Everyone except the ballerina

No itchy skin

Warts or athlete's feet

No bad manners, does she have

If you look hard enough

Everyone has lice

Or smells like creosote

Everyone has a cross-eyed brother

Everyone except the ballerina

Not even dirty nails

Or food in her teeth

Or scabs on her arm, Does she have

Nobody is exempt, From having rheumy eyes

When getting up at six in the morn

Or had scarlet fever

Or even yellow fever

Everyone except the ballerina

Fear of heights, guys

Fear of falling, people

Dizzy spells, Who hasn't had them

And to confess

Everybody sins

As soon as mass Is over

Everyone has dated their cousin

Everyone except the ballerina

Dirt behind your ears

Chocolate moustache

Threadbare panties, she doesn't have

And the priest too

can be seen to blush

If the wind blows up his robe

You're sure to find, everyone has pubes

Everyone except the ballerina

Rooms left undecorated

Leaks falling in a pail

Family problems, who doesn't have 'em

Give me that red dress...

- With the cleavage... - Clara!

- Jerk, jerk. - Clara.

Don't go.

Could you excuse me? I'm in my dressing room.

Keep it, throw it away if you want.

I won't be needing it.

- Nobody will give you a job. - What?

You think I'm a lousy actress, is that it?

Tough luck!

I'm going to Rio de Janeiro to be a big TV star.

Rick knows a lot of people there,

He knows who I'll have to screw.

- Clara, Clara. - Don't touch me like that.

Calm down, take it easy.

This circus is yours too.

Bye, bye, baby.

My "Highway Patrol" is waiting for me.

Clara, your brother will die of sadness if you go.

Oh yeah?

But, he can come with me if he wants.

I'll even pay him a trip up on the cable car.

If he throws himself off from the top of the Sugarloaf.

Bye!

She'll be back, Celavi.

I don't think so.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is 600 pm in Brazil.

The evening falls So sad and serene

My heart beats so softly

Languishing with memories

Of my first love

Alow moan is heard Coming from heaven

The sound of my agony

As the lovelorn bells toll

Tolling...

I'm so tired, Lotte...

So tired...

You want something to eat?

Aglass of water.

No ice.

And the kids?

Oto doesn't know you're here?

Not yet.

He'll be pleased to know.

You look beautiful, Lotte.

No need to exaggerate, Jean-Paul.

As the lovelorn bells toll

Tolling of the Holy Mary

You don't belong here, Jean- Paul.

In a lousy circus like this one.

I don't either.

I'll be leaving to join the BCT...

The Brazilian Comedy Theater...

To put on a play, me and Sergio Cardoso, their star.

I'll just wait for Oto to get over her death

and then go join the BCT.

Sao Paulo...

They say things are better there.

Sao Paulo, Espirito Santo, what you think?

Goodbye princess goodbye

I'll see you on Judgment Day

Listen here, buddy,

say a Hail Mary and get out of here.

Goon!

Oto...

I don't have anyplace to go, son...

Fuck you.

Please, if you please.

Please.

C'est la vie.

Hey, watch it there.

You're going to fall. Watch so you don't fall.

Stop jinxing me and go get me my pliers.

Looks more like a fish bone.

Highway Patrol

Like in a novel

The man of my dreams Showed up at the dance hall

Just another guy

But then in a glance

His eyes undressed me As they zoomed in

making sweet love

With his hungry look Like I was some photo

{ said cheese

And from close-up to close-up

My knees began to shake And even smiled, happily

He came back

Offered me a drink Called me blue angel

My sight then started

getting hazy

Like in the movies

He sends me, at times, Arose and a poem

Me in the limelight

playing the fool

All muddleheaded Listening to the blues

Drank too much whiskey

He told me that my body Belonged to him that night

And I said please

Covered up my cleavage

Started making faces Blushing with a fever

And then he came back

After my last show With ten poems and a bouquet

{ said goodbye

I'm leaving with my friends Going on four

Like loving your wife

He told me then He loved me like his wife

No longer as a star

He crumpled up the roses

Burned all my pictures Kissed me at the altar

What's it going to be honey?

Nevermore romance

Nevermore movies

Nevermore to drink and dance Nevermore cheese

Nevermore sleazy dives

Arose nevermore Nevermore to be happy

You a queer, buddy?

Lend me some money, man?

- I'll pay you back. - No way she'll pay.

You can find me here every night...

Lily...

- Lily Braun... - The Blue Angel.

Lend me?

How much?

- He knows. - Me?

How much?

The Blue Angel still owes me.

Put it all on your tab, honey?

What you do for a living?

The circus.

You the bearded lady?

You're in love, aren't you?

Love is 2 heavy drug...

Alittle pleasure, a lot of strife.

Like a party in hell.

You want some?

Let me see your eyes.

I still don't know the color of your eyes.

No.

No, no, no...

DRINKALOT OF WATER!

Take it easy, man, calm down.

Don't mistreat the animals.

Just this year, Nero, the oldest lion,

has already eaten two ventriloquists.

I'm pregnant, and the father can only be you.

I want money for an abortion.

Or, if you prefer...

It's a girl.

The baby's been born! It's been born!

Looks like her mother...

Blu, blu, blu. So cute...

Bring her here.

We're all ready here, my angel.

Let's go.

Take good care of her, Oto...

Take good care of Margarete...

I'll be seeing you again, Margarete.

Margarete April 1986

My body suffers so

cloaked in deep torpor

And here [ languish

Athousand graces, My Lord

That's nothing.

The older one was much better.

It's the same one, Celavi.

Far from it.

Margarete, aren't you ready for your act yet?

Did you read the letter I gave you, father?

From the convent...

Why do they always want to leave?

Excuse me...

Your father wants grandchildren.

He wants a heir to take care of the circus

when he gets too old.

But he promised me, as soon as I was 21 years old,

he'd let me enter the convent.

Yeah, but he changed his mind.

Even God changes his mind.

Didn't he regret having created the world,

and send the big flood to wipe it all out?

Ludwig, for example...

The Polack is a great guy, and your father likes him a lot.

Get ready, girl.

Your act is about to begin.

The Great Flying Couple.

Three times, Ludwig will somersault through the air.

Three times, just like a feather.

Like a cloud.

Like an angel.

Like the moon itself.

Yes. The "hechicera" moon.

The bewitching moon.

Ludwig, do you want to marry me?

What?!

I asked you if you want to marry me.

But, you never wanted...

I changed my mind.

What's the big deal?

Even God changes his mind sometimes.

If you promise me one thing, I'll marry you.

What is it?

Oh, nothing much.

The Great Mystical Circus proudly presents...

Margarete and Ludwig...

The Flying Couple...

and their death-defying triple somersault!

I'll promise you whatever you want, Margarete.

I love you and I always will.

There he goes.

You look like a grandfather already.

You promised, Ludwig.

But, I'm your husband now, Margarete.

You swore, you promised you'd never touch me,

you promised.

No!

Don't touch me! You gave me your word.

No.

Margarete, I'm your husband.

You gave me your word.

Five years, Celavi.

Five years, they've been married for nothing.

You think we're going to have to teach them how's it done?

No, Ludwig, I'll go get it.

I'll go.

Rodolfo...

You're peeing on the circus equipment.

What're you doing? Stop it!

Get out of here, go on!

Let me go... leave me alone!

I'm going to tell my father to fire you.

You don't have to cry.

Rodolfo,

no need to cry, OK?

Stop it, don't touch me. Don't touch me, let me go.

Let me go, Rodolfo...

Let me go, don't touch me...

No!

No!

No! No!

Don't touch me!

Nobody touch me.

No one is ever going to touch me, never.

Nobody will ever touch me again.

Never.

Maria and Helena in the 21st century

Come on, let's go.

Let's get to work.

That's the way, good.

Very nice, good.

Find your balance...

Alright, very good.

Very good, very good.

Margarete, here present,

was the best trapeze artist that ever existed.

The only woman able to hold

the weight of 2 man with her hands.

But after she became pregnant with the twins...

sort of by chance...

she never went up on the trapeze again.

Now, she wants to sell these old family mementos.

After a certain age,

the past becomes a burden in people's lives.

After a certain age, everybody needs money.

The radio, see if it's any good.

You have three radios like that boss.

- This isn't worth it. - See if there's anything useful.

A couple old films here, nothing...

Some relative of yours?

Her father.

Alion tamer.

- Was. He died. - Died of what?

- Alion attack? - Heart attack.

That must have been terrible.

Boss, I've never seen anyone die with a smile.

These scissors, how much they worth?

The trunk is worth more than everything inside.

So...

So, we'll make a deal then.

We'll buy the trunk.

- Empty. - Empty. Empty?

- The rest is all junk. - Empty.

What's this?

"To Frederico Kieps Junior"...

Fred!

Must be a sender here...

"Her Majesty, the Empress Dona Catarina"...

The Virgin Empress!

Fred talked a lot about this woman,

I just can't remember if he liked her or not.

Here, the customer is king!

One hundred years,

two world wars,

man's arrival on the moon,

Brazil five-time winner of the World Cup, the Beatles,

the Fab Four, the fall of the Berlin wall,

two Halley Comets,

a century of entertaining our respectable public.

Ca, cestlavie!

Ladies and gentleman!

Ludwig Cybulski.

Maria and Helena, the Winged Twins.

It's mommy!

Go talk to her, go on!

Celavi, the triple.

Me and Ludwig. Without the net.

I love you Margarete. And I'll love you forever.

Forever is too long.

Three times, Ludwig will fly through the air,

three times, as if he were a feather,

acloud, an angel.

As if he were the moon itself...

Ahh, the bewitching moon.

The Great Flying Couple.

Nobody else is coming today.

Maria.

Helena.

That's it.

Our deal was money up front.

Hey, where do I take them?

I don't know.

Nowhere.

Do it right here in the ring.

Dona Margarete!

Dona Margarete!

The guy was hanging out at the comer with nothing to do.

Celavi says the Municipal Theater wants to hire him.

I hope he invites us to see his play.

...the black clouds

in the deep bosom of the ocean buried.

And now, instead of mounting barbed steeds,

he capers nimbly in alady's chamber,

to the lascivious pleasing of a lute.

But I,

that am not shaped for sportive tricks,

I, that am rudely stamped, deformed, unfinished,

I remain alone.

Hi, mom.

Come on guys, what a time we had last week!

Today's gonna be even better.

Get a move on, let's go.

The girls should be waiting already!

Alright!

Hold it, hold it!

Hi sweethearts, how are you girls?

Hi!

We missed you!

Hmm, sexy!

You look great in your wigs!

Turn right after 300 meters.

- Come on! - Of course I'll go!

I want to see you naked today.

I'm not gay! Take it easy with that stuff!

- Enough! - We have to put this stuff on?

You look like an old fag! Hold it, take it easy...

I hope this makeup comes off after, huh!

Sexy little girl! Piece of ass!

It's going to be good today, guys.

Today, I want to see you both up in the trapeze!

Way up high!

Look herel Ml pay to see!

I want to see you girls flying like you did

when this dump was still a circus.

They're going up.

Up high, you sexy thing!

- Further! - This is going to be something.

Maria, Helena...

Maria, Helena...

Alright, very good!

Now, I want you both nude.

Stark naked!

Just like when you were born!

- OK, great. - Swing on the trapeze, jump!

That's it, just like I want!

No

{ don't know I it's, just some stupid trick

If some invisible cord

Holds us up on our feet

An orchestra's cords

In an artist's shadow

The stages of some planet

And the dancing girls At the grand finale

So many flowers fall from the sky

That, without really thinking

An ardent spectator

turns into a hummingbird

Perhaps

it's just another illusion

when after a somersault

there's a new incarnation

Members of the cast

luggage, destination

Parts of an orchestra

Two girls in a huge train car

Black reflectors

Organdy flowers

And the cry of the flying man

As he comes to his senses

Ladies and gentlemen!

The Great Mystical Circus proudly presents

the greatest show on earth.

Is this real life

Or an invisible cord

After a somersault

Today is for free.

Today is for free!