Original subtitles

"From Colligny In Antarctic France.

Lates news from Admiral Villegagnon.

The country is a barren desert

There are no houses nor any other amenities.

On the contrary.

The natives are barbarous savages,

different from us, without any religion,

or any knowledge or honesty or virtue,

or what is right and unjust.

They are beasts with human faces.

To boot, our neighbors are Portuguese.

Unable to keep the country for themselves,

they hardly tolerate our presence and hate us.

Therefore, I must show firmness and courage

and I prepare my "family" for permanent work.

God's goodness will assist us in this enterprise.

We have set up camp

on an island two leagues from the mainland

to discourage any attempt to escape

and to allow our troops to fulfill their task.

Wives will be admitted only with their husbands.

All opportunities of sin will thus be eliminated.

Even so, twenty-six mercenaries,

tempted by their carnal lust,

have conspired to kill me.

I have avoided any further danger

by arming five of my servants.

We have arrested and imprisoned

four of the principal mutineers

The others, scared, have hidden themselves.

On the following day, I had one of them unchained

so that he could plead his cause.

He broke loose and threw himself into the sea

and was drowned."

Letter from Villegagnon to Calvin,

dated 31st of March, 1557.

HOW TASTY WAS MY LITTLE FRENCHMAN

Directed by NELSON PEREIRA DOS SANTOS

"In S�o Vicente lived the Portuguese, enemies of the French."

A Frenchman!

It will be a nice present for my uncle.

He hasn't tasted a Frenchman yet.

Let's take him to the Captain!

Your chief is our friend.

The Frenchman is a friend of our enemies.

You're christened. You can't eat him.

My uncle is not christened.

He is our slave.

He will have to fight at our side

until we get to S�o Vicente.

This way! Beware!

Go see the Frenchman!

Wake up, Frenchie!

He is mine!

He is mine!

I am French!

French!... French!

He is French.

Say something!

Put the lamprey into scalding water, take its guts out...

Lay half a slice onto a bowl, spice it with oil.

Speak more!

He is French!

I think he is Portuguese. I will kill him.

He is French.

He is mine!

That rabbit sure can run.

He is Portuguese.

He is French.

I am French!... French!

Speak!

Speak!

Let it rest for a while and take it to the fire...

Then lay a little bit of water, vinegar, and clove.

He is Portuguese.

He is mine!

You eat the other one.

I want to show him to the women.

"My Lord, if I must die a barbarous death...

let it be at the hands of someone who knows you."

There comes Cunhambebe!

Our meal has walked to us.

Come and see what I brought you to eat.

Beautiful slave!

I want to die with my beard.

He doesn't weep like the other Portuguese.

You brought good slaves.

When do we start the war?

They are like tigers, naturally cruel...

friends of War and enemies of peace."

Our sorcerers prophesied

that we would capture a strong Portuguese.

There he is! He is my slave.

At last I shall avenge my brother's death.

If he were French, he wouldn't kill Tupinamb�s.

The French have knives,

hatchets, and combs,

which they trade for wood and pepper.

He has nothing of the sort.

He is Portuguese, friend of the Tupiniquins, our enemies.

He'll die on the 8th moon.

"To the European friend, they deplore the bad luck

of their ancestors who have not known such a virtuous people."

How good he is...

Our friend...

He comes from so far...

Just to see us...

How many dangers has he faced

just to reach us!

Since our friend left, we have suffered much.

Many of us have died at the hands of our enemies.

How sad are our dead today!

They will not see the beautiful presents

which our friend has brought us.

Among the dead, Tapiru�u, my husband,

claims for vengeance and suffers much.

Tapiru�u died by the fire of the Portuguese.

The prophecy of our sorcerers has come true

since Cunhambebe has brought us a strong Portuguese

to avenge Tapiru�u's death.

Damn Portuguese!

He says he is French.

He refuses to sleep with me.

I am sad.

That's enough!

At last you have come!

Here I am! I brought you many trunks.

I want to see.

Later! We have time.

I am angry. I want to see now.

Let me see your slave first.

Bring the Portuguese!

He says he is French?

I'll tell you if he is lying.

What did you bring me this time?

How many trunks?

Many... with cloth...

combs, beads for your women, knives...

But this time I want much pepper and wood.

You mean you have come from so far

just to get wood?

Where do you come from?

I was serving Villegagnon in Rio de Janeiro.

Please, tell these savages I am French.

I was forced to leave the fortress.

I was caught with some Portuguese.

Tell them I am French.

He is Portuguese all right. Go and eat him!

You dog!

Swine!

Murderer!

Give it to me!

I have brought you a present.

Filthy dog!

Traitor!

That's no way to treat a Christian!

Let me explain.

They will eat me up!

Quiet! Those savages aren't easy to cope with.

All right! They will kill you,

but you have still eight months to live.

Until you die, you'll be very happy.

You may even escape.

Follow my advice.

That woman at your side is your wife.

It won't be difficult to be happy with her.

Meanwhile collect peppers and wood for me.

When I come back in a few months,

we'll make a deal.

I'll take you along.

I'll give you money to start a new life.

"The French took with them every year

thousands of quintals of Brazil wood."

Where...

...did you find...

these beads?

Tapiru�u stole them from the Portuguese.

How many?

Won't you go look for wood?

The sun's up.

My husband Tapiru�u might get sore.

Let him rest in peace!

He can't see nothing.

Come! Let's go look for wood!

No! Today I want to stay... home.

Tell me about Mair...

...the great "caraiba"...

... your ancestor.

The one who taught us how to build a fire?

What else?

He taught the Tupinamb�s how to shave,

how to make weapons to beat the enemy,

to plant manioc and corn,

to drink "cauim." He taught us how

to build houses. We lived like animals.

He built a house

and told us every family could have the same.

The house that the new god had built

was stronger than our miserable huts.

Not a single drop of rain fell inside...

Where there were straw roofs and log walls,

the new god built a small village

with brick and stone-walled houses,

with streets and squares, barracks for the warriors,

and a castle for the council of chiefs.

The Tupinamb�s cannot forget their enemies

till their very last day.

Tupiniquins enemies... Portuguese enemies...

The men were jealous of the god and

decided to kill him.

They forced him to jump through a fire.

He fell and was burned alive.

From his head came out thunders and tempests...

My husband!

Then he taught us how to cultivate the land

to have big crops.

He worked alone with the women and the children

since the men were busy hunting, fishing,

and preparing for war.

Your old customs...

Look at the Portuguese!

He goes around only with women.

They will be my slaves, like you.

Once more!

The Portuguese!

Stop there, Portuguese!

I want gunpowder.

I've brought many boxes...

...axes, beads...

...and combs for your wives.

I want gunpowder...

plenty of gunpowder.

I'll get it later on...

...from father.

He's on board a ship sailing from Rio.

I'm going to exchange my gifts with another one.

Let's make a deal.

As I see, you want beads.

But you're not allowed to come along this time.

I've tried to rescue you, but Cunhambebe is not prepared.

You'd better wait a little while.

My goods may interest you.

In exchange for what? Your flight?

It's impossible.

I want gunpowder.

Impossible.

Ten barrels, at worst.

Listen, no French captain...

...not even Sir Villegagnon will ever give gunpowder...

...to these barbarians.

It would be nonsense.

It's for me.

Don't you understand you can't have a thing of your own?

All you have belongs to Cunhambebe.

No trade with you.

Is it worth that much?

Look at her belly button.

Not bad!

The coin.

Let's bargain honestly.

Don't think you can run away.

The captain wants to leave at once.

A rival of mine.

Give me that.

It's mine, I found it!

Half and half.

No. We've made a deal.

Where are you going? Come back.

Come on!

Let's see the big ship.

Come along.

You'll see...

...some nice things...

...my cousin gets...

...on board.

Come on!

Don't be afraid.

We'll be right back.

I want you to stay...

...by my side.

You are going. to see...

...things you never saw.

There will be many beads for you...

Nobody owns such a stuff.

Only my cousin.

They'll come back.

I'm not sad.

What do you need all these necklaces for?

And all these combs?

The Frenchmen promised to bring me gunpowder...

...as well as necklaces, combs, and mirrors for you.

Will you be able to kill more Portuguese...

...and Tupiniquins with mirrors?

I've killed many of them...

...and I'll do even more with guns.

Our enemy is afraid.

Our brothers have been killed by Portuguese gunmen.

I want a revenge of my own.

A Tupinamb� is valiant...

...and never forgives his enemy. Like me!

You are going to die like an animal.

Wait! I can get some gunpowder.

I'll make some gunpowder with the help of Tup�.

I'll make it out of sand and pepper...

...this evening...

...when Tup�, the thunder god, will speak.

And tomorrow...

...tomorrow you'll have the gunpowder.

"They believe in the inmortality of the soul, in thunder and devils.

It seems that this seed of religion grows

...and is not extinguished in them...

despite the shadows in which they live."

So little?

Tup� has spoken too much.

There should be more gunpowder.

I'll make more.

Is there any feast in the settlement?

The chiefs are praying for rain.

Go on, till Tup� speaks.

Go on, don't stop!

I'll build my house near yours.

My uncle is waiting for me.

I'm going to visit him,

but I'll be back to make some gunpowder...

...and to live here as a friend.

I'll leave on the first ship that arrives here.

First, you have to fight beside me.

It's time to attack our enemies.

You work the guns.

We'll attack the Tupiniquins with all our might.

I'll send for my relatives...

...all over around.

Weapons and flour are ready.

Only helpful dreams...

...are missing.

Try to dream of our enemies' burnt flesh...

...and ask the chief and your wife for advice.

We shall win!

"The natives believe that the soul...

...of those who conquered their enemies...

...will gor to pleasent places."

Chief!

Our ancestors agree.

We want to revenge the outrage of our enemies.

There they are.

We're going to kill and capture a large quantity of them.

I dreamt of my father looking for me.

Following the war?

Yes, after helping Cunhambebe to defeat his enemies.

But I came back.

We shall win!

The sea will watch the end of the Tupiniquins.

Cunhambebe will know how to beat them!

"In this country no Governor, no Bishop...

...or other authority could please God, Our Lord...

...for evil is much impregnated in the customs."

Father N�brega - Missionary

My slave is ready.

We'll eat him this moon.

And I'll get a further name.

My cousin Ipiragua�u will receive this arm.

That one to Mbitat�.

The neck belongs to Seboipebe.

Are you going to die as a brave...

or will you weep like the Portuguese?

Why did you come here?

I came to make gunpowder...

for my master.

It will not rain before the feast.

Tup� does not need the rain to speak.

Are you going to weep?

What about you?

Yes, I'll feel unhappy.

But then you'll eat me.

What must I do during the feast?

Show yourself a brave.

You have to run...

...and then all of us shall run after you.

Run quickly...

as a warrior does.

You can't escape...

...but you'll be respected.

You'll be led back...

...and the women will paint your head.

You have to dance for a while tied to a rope.

Cunhambebe will bring the "iverapema".

You'll be allowed to throw fruts and stones...

...on those who are going to eat you.

Then Cunhambebe will say: "I'm here to kill you."

"Because your people... have killed...

...many of ours."

You must answer:

"When I die...

...my friends will come...

...to avenge me."

Say it again!

My friends will come to avenge me.

No... "When I die..."

"...my friends will come to avenge me."

When I die, my friend will come to avenge me.

Then Cunhambebe will lift the "iverapema"...

and you must do like that...like that.

But it can't help...

...because two warriors will be holding the rope.

It will beat you just upon your head.

And then?

Women will pour hot water on your body...

...both your arms and legs...

...will be cut... and everybody will eat a piece.

My little neck!

My little neck!

Leech!

My little neck!

What a delicious meat!

I am here to kill you...

...because your people have killed...

...many of ours...

...and eaten them.

Talk!

"When I die...

...my friends will come... to avenge me.

No one of yours... will remain upon this land."

"I fought on the sea, so that no Tup�niquin remained alive.

Laid along the shore...

...the dead covered almost a league."

Mem de S�. Governor General of Brazil, 1557.

THE END