Original subtitles

On the coast of Bahia, live the cavalla-fishing black men...

whose ancestors came from Africa as slaves.

Until this day, they continue to worship African Gods...

And they're still dominated by tragic and fatalist mysticism.

They accept their poverty, illiteracy, and exploitation...

with the typical passiveness of those who wait for a Godly Kingdom.

lemanjé is the queen of the seas, the old mother of lrecé...

the master of the ocean who loves...

the ocean that protects and punishes the fisherman.

Turning Wind is the violent moment when earth and sea are transformed...

when sudden changes occur in love, life and society.

the characters in this movie have no relation to living or dead people.

any similarities are coincidences but the facts are real.

The movie was shot at the Buraquinho beach...

A few miles from ltapoé, Bahia.

We would like to thank Salvador's and Bahia's administrations...

the locals from Buraquinho, everyone who made this movie possible.

especially the fishermen, to whom this movie is dedicated.

THE TURNING WIND

If you're alive, you always come by, and Firmino Bispo dos Santos...

a son of this beautiful land, will never forget his old friends.

He always comes back. Right, Jofio?

I don't know!

Forget him, guys. Firmino has the good life now.

- Look at his nice outfit! - That's what you think, mate.

I couldn't call myself a rich man, but I can sure look like one.

To dress myself so nicely, I had to unload ships and run from the police.

He's a real caddie! Take a look at his watch!

You like it? Out of my way, caddie!

It was expensive! My life isn't as easy as it looks.

I had to work hard, until the police came pouring down on me.

I'm here to hide, since the police like the sunlight.

Enough, Firmino. You're gonna do your bragging all at once?

Jealous? You have nothing to brag, 'cause life here never changes.

Let's drink, my friends. The booze is on me today!

Let's go, Jofio. Forget about Firmino and his booze.

That's for powerful people.

You pull nets every day, and for what? To make white men rich.

They're rich thanks to you. I won't be exploited anymore.

I work for myself, and I don't have to punch a card.

I run my risks, but I'm as free as the cavalla you fish.

Only no one fishes me.

If you only knew how to sign your names...

But you're all illiterate.

You think the world turns around poverty!

Get his hat!

Hey, I just got here, ma'am

Hey, I just got here, ma'am

- Hey, I just got here, ma'am - What a heavy kid!

Wait, my friends. Let's show some respect.

Bless me, ma'am. Give us a hug.

Bless me, ma'am. Another hug.

And, now, booze, booze, booze.

Let's drink booze.

Let's drink!

Look who's here!

Nigger all dressed up like a doctor, huh?

No way, woman. It's just for the weekend.

You know my game, don't you?

Naina, we've separated Seu Vicente's fish.

- Why are you so sad? - Dad insists on going out to sea.

The sea is in his blood. Don't worry, it might be good for him.

He's too old to go out on his own.

Forget all that. I'll take care of him.

She's a basket case.

So desperate, day and night.

It's the color of her eyes and her hair.

- People are talking. - No one messes with her.

You know what? Some brave man should marry her already.

It's all separated. 400 for the boss...

4 for myself...

and 5 for my fishermen.

There should be more. We have plenty of clients.

And the fish price is high. Can you pull some more tomorrow?

We can try, but there's no guarantee.

I might even go get a new net...

- for us in town. - A new net? You're demented.

You're very funny.

If we give you a new net, what can our profit be?

What's with you, girl?

It's gotta be Santeria.

I'll take you to Mãe Dadá's tonight. She can fix anything.

There's no point in counting the fish.

The net won't take it. It's beginning to tear.

I thought so. It's as old as Seu Vicente. Master should by a new one.

If I were the master, I'd stop fishing until I got a new one.

Fishing for other people is only for fools.

You're asking too much, Aruan. We live better here than in the city.

- You're agreeing with Firmino, now? - Firmino's not worth a dime...

- but at least he's not a beggar. - If you're born poor, you eat sand.

The master can solve that.

Let's go. They've probably started the samba by now.

I'll go look for Seu Vicente. A storm might be coming.

You want to see lemanjé? She only appears to Aruan.

See the mango tree flower

Hello Bahia

Check how good it smells

Hello Bahia

Where's Firmino?

Hello Bahia

I can'! see him singing

Hello Bahia

Or if he's alive or dead

Hello Bahia

But he owns this place

Hello Bahia

See the mango tree flower

Hello Bahia

Check how good it smells

Hello Bahia

If you hit the tambourine You're a man

Hello Bahia

If you clap your hands You're a woman

Hello Bahia

See the mango tree flower

Hello Bahia

Check how good it smells

Hello Bahia

I'm going to say my name

Hello Bahia

It's been given at the baptismal font

Hello Bahia

My name is Washington Bruno

Hello Bahia

But I live in Bahia

Hello Bahia

Clap your hands, everybody

Hello Bahia

If you want to hear me sing

Hello Bahia

See the mango tree flower

Hello Bahia

Check how good it smells

Hello Bahia

Seven plus seven is fourteen

Hello Bahia

Plus seven, it's twenty-one

Hello Bahia

But if you want to read, spell it

Hello Bahia

Each person has a taste

Hello Bahia

See the mango tree flower

Hello Bahia

What beautiful mulatto girl

Holy mother nature!

If I could marry her

What a treat

Do it again, my love

Do it again, my love

It's not like that It's not like that

It's not like that

That's not the way to treat A woman

Old guitar, what's the matter'? Why do you squeak?

Old guitar, what's the matter'? Why do you squeak?

Adam, Adam

Where's Salome, Adam?

Where's Salome, Adam?

Salome went for a walk

Adam, Adam

Where's Salome, Adam?

Where's Salome, Adam?

She's gone to Maré Island

Adam, Adam

Where's Salome, Adam?

Where's Salome, Adam?

Salome went for a walk

Adam, Adam

Where's Salome, Adam?

Siri knocked Gameleira down on the floor

Siri knocked Gameleira down on the floor

- Get off me, woman! - I know. You're going after Naina.

Nonsense.

Aruan owes me one, and he's gonna pay.

Why don't you solve it with a fight? You need a spell for that?

You think I'm going to fight Aruan? I'm not stupid.

I'm not that weak or stupid anymore.

Every time we'd get in trouble, poor Firmino took the worst of it.

Not even my father liked to say he was my father.

One day, Aruan got me, so I threw a knife at him.

People tried to cast me away. I feel no resentment for it.

I feel sorry for people who stomp on other people's heads.

Everybody falls for Aruan's charms, but he's nothing but stupid.

He's all happy. Everybody is starving, and he's celebrating.

Never mind, Cota. You wouldn't understand.

No. Don't you know he's protected?

We do nothing against lemanjá's favorites.

Out! Out with you!

No!

She belongs to lemanjé. She has to honor her patron...

she has to spend a year in her service.

- You see, Naina? - I can't!

Come back, Naina! It could get worse.

- Good evening, Uncle Tião. - Firmino? What do you want?

I want a spell to ruin the net and destroy Aruan.

What happened?

The net is torn, and the fish got away.

Aruan drowned!

Hey, what's the commotion on the beach?

If I heard it right, the net is torn, and Aruan drowned.

There's a spell right in front of his door.

Was that your spell?

I never thought you'd ask to have Aruan gone for good.

I asked to have him gone, body and all.

He's better off now, sleeping with lemanjé.

Isn't that what he wanted?

I can't say anything.

I paid my respects to my patron entity.

And Aruan's entity...

Maybe, if he liked women, I wouldn't feel so neglected.

Listen, I don't depend on anyone.

There's no man in this town who won't come by and ask for me.

I can get what I want.

It's my body, and I set a price for it.

Aruan is alive!

Let's go, Tonto. No spell can get to him.

I knew it was all a lie. I risked myself willingly.

- But his net did tear. - Because it was old.

But I wanted to get Aruan.

This is the first and last time I get involved with spells.

Luck has never been my friend.

I'm going to cause a turning wind with the tip of my knife.

Yeah, master. The man said he wants his fish, no matter what.

You can't retire the net.

People want their fish, and down there, they sell it cheaper.

- He knows the net is old. - No, save your excuses for later.

He just cares about his fish and nothing else.

We've been fishing for 10 years and we never needed anything.

Now that we had bad luck, he gets all demanding?

- They can't treat us like dogs. - We need these people.

Right, but we're the ones pulling the net.

When there's no fish, we're the ones who starve.

The boss eats every day.

And we have to share one fish among 100 people!

I told you it was for real.

If there's no fish, he takes the net back, and that's it!

Don't be sad. We'll fix the net.

Right, master, I'll do whatever you want.

But, in your place, I'd solve it with my fists.

Work, you bunch of asses!

Black people were born to suffer!

All work, no food!

Not me, I'm independent. I'm done with religion.

Candomblé won't solve anything!

We have to fight, resist. Our time is coming, brother!

One word, and I'll slash your tongue off!

Stop being so suspicious. I'm after something else.

I'm glad you like me.

If things were different, I'd even settle down.

You haven't because you don't want to.

Can't you afford it?

I can barely afford my nice rags.

I have no opportunity, as a friend of mine says.

My situation with the police is very complicated.

They've even invented a new word:

- "subversive individual". - It sounds important.

Is that why you don't settle down?

If it's because of money, don't worry.

I am as rich as the two fishing rafts my father left me.

We can live together.

Why don't you get straight and live just like the others?

Me, a fisherman?

That's an Indian’s life. This is not Africa, this is Brazil.

Cota, deep down, I have a very good heart.

I hang out with you because you don't conform.

Aruan doesn't want to conform, but the master dominates him.

This is how these people live.

And the people in the city know things will get better.

That's why I cut the net. When their stomach is aching with hunger...

they'll scream.

To me, Princess Isabel is an illusion.

Once, there was this man who invited me to work in the city.

As a prostitute. One day, he turns and says that he loves me.

But he didn't have the guts to marry me.

To be treated like a dog, I'd rather stay here and eat fish.

I know I should've left, but I had no courage to leave my land.

You cut the net, and tragedy is going to happen.

Nobody sees my suffering

I've got a degree in suffering

Nobody sees my suffering

I've got a degree in suffering

The net is torn... Who did that?

What will happen to us now?

How could this have happened.

They've come to get the net!

Don't do anything.

- The police are with them. - We have to react.

We came from Africa as slaves, but slavery is over.

Poor men only have the right to work.

We fish less with the raft, it's riskier, but the fish is ours.

That's how it will be.

Who's man enough to scare these people off?

I said it once, and I won't repeat it: that's our business.

I'm your brother, too. I just want to help.

In time of need, everybody loses courage?

The master accepts everything. He's right, he's old.

But even the strong ones are being cowards.

Well, I, Firmino Bispo dos Santos...

am a man who doesn't like the police.

I can scare those soldiers and their rifles away.

You're not going anywhere. The master gives the orders.

Where's your independence? Take this!

They're killing each other over there.

The first one to come this way will get shot.

Go away. If your father hadn't been a decent man, you'd be dead by now.

Sun's bright, but it might rain.

- It'll be hard to fish with the raft. - Since we gave the net away...

we have to face the storm.

It's just like when I was a boy.

We'd leave early in the morning and come back late at night.

Some days, the fish would run away.

We'd come back empty-handed.

The turning wind...

killed many old and many young.

The sea got angry...

the raft was swallowed by the waves.

The nets came much later.

Chico was born already.

The net eliminated the danger, but the fish wasn't ours anymore.

The situation is always bad.

If the men go to the city, there's no work.

This is all they know.

They only know how to fish, and there's no one to protect them.

When I came from the dry lands, I thought it would be better here.

It's all the same.

Hunger eats us down to the bones.

We have to pray and hope for a miracle.

But I think Aruan can solve it if he wants to.

With Aruan fishing, the fish are guaranteed.

He doesn't even have to row.

He throws the basket, and the fish jump into it.

I want my baby to be a boy to be just like him.

Some days, he doesn't even look at us.

At night, he's not with the other men. I saw him once.

He was sitting on the sand, looking at the sky...

counting the stars.

I remember as if it were today.

Isabel dreamt that lemanjé wanted her daughter.

Joaquim was the girl's father, and he wouldn't let her go near the ocean.

He was white, but he believed in lemanjé.

One day, things got worse.

If Joaquim touched a net, it didn't get any fish.

Nobody wanted to go out to sea with him.

The weather got worse under the whim of lemanjé.

Hunger punished his family...

and Joaquim got desperate, he didn't know what to do.

One day, he decided to go look for fish...

right in the middle of the ocean.

And nobody ever saw him again.

Isabel went crazy...

and dived into the sea when no one was looking.

A heavy wave knocked her onto the rocks.

The girl went in after her mother and was swallowed by the waves.

It was the worst day of my life.

I was afraid, but I felt sorry for the girl.

I looked for her all day, and I finally found her at night.

What are we to do, Jofio? The master doesn't understand.

He threw us in the ring of fire.

No one is brave enough to face the sea in one of those rafts.

It's you, me, Chico, the good guys...

and the old ones?

They will all drown.

The problem is that the master wants to see if you're worthy.

Other people's courage depends on yours.

But why?

I'm not responsible for everyone.

You know what?

The old man brought you from the city and raised you.

He was always so afraid to get married.

You ended up being his and the entity's.

When you became a man, he started to say crazy things.

"Aruan can't get married because he belongs to lemanjé."

Women ran away from you.

He convinced us you could go out on the raft and bring fish.

Now that we have no net, he wants to prove that.

That's why he let them take the net.

So I have to risk myself in front of everyone?

We're not going to get a new net?

That's right. You'll have to spend the night at sea.

Then everybody will believe Janaína is cured.

It's all on your shoulders.

But I'm not a saint. What if the wind turns and I screw it up?

We have to know if you're really protected. I believe you are.

After that, things can get better.

Isn't that what we want?

Firmino is right. It's too much poverty.

We have to do something. I have to go and spend the night at sea.

Let the master know, and everybody should go out to sea tomorrow.

I'll bring the fish. Afterwards, I'll leave for good.

One day, I might come back like Firmino, and change everything.

All I need is courage. Courage in my heart.

I belong to the deep blue sea

I belong to the sea I belong to the sea

I belong to the sea I came from the sea

I belong to the sea

I belong to the sea Deep blue sea

I belong to the sea Deep blue sea

I belong to the sea I belong to the sea

I come from the sea

I belong to the sea Deep blue sea

I belong to the sea Deep blue sea

I belong to the sea I belong to the sea

I belong to the sea

Dad, you're going fishing again?

Does lemanjé really exist?

Mãe Dadá says I'm her daughter. Even with my fair skin?

I told you, my love

Here's the mist

You shouldn't go out to the sea

Here's the mist

You never came back

Here's the mist

I don't mind if you go

Here's the mist

There it is

Isabel was your mother. Nobody here liked her...

because she went to live with Joaquim.

But it's not your fault.

Every time something bad is about to happen...

I tell his story.

Joaquim was a very handsome man.

That's why lemanjé didn't want him to get married.

We say that to protect Aruan, you know?

Now, because of him, everybody will fish with no net, honey.

So, now, we have to protect Aruan.

So he'll never get married?

Only when there's another man his age. You see the master.

He's still alone. His only friend is Aruan.

The Queen is jealous of handsome men.

But I'm in love with him. If dad dies, I'll be alone.

Shut up, silly girl. Go talk to Mãe Dadá tonight.

- Cota! - What's the matter with you?

Come here now!

Are they going to do something to you?

No, they think I'm only barking.

Aruan got off the raft, and the sea stopped.

Now, they think he's a god. You have to stop this.

You're going to end Aruan's spell.

- Any woman who touches him dies. - That's a lie!

You can only die of hunger, bullet holes, whip strokes. that's what kills a person.

My friend, there are many Black people suffering around the world.

One's freedom can free a million.

The sea is filled with hopeless fishermen.

Only people like Aruan can solve that.

If you like me, do it tonight.

Seu Vicente! Hey, Seu Vicente!

Come quick, old man.

- Seu Vicente! - What do you want?

I was across the big rock when I saw something in the water.

I took a good look, and I saw a girl, with long hair.

She sang a beautiful song.

I'm pretty sure she was calling for you.

- It was lemanjé. - Let's go, I'll help you.

Let's go this way, come on.

Seu Vicente is in the ocean.

Aruan!

Aruan! Aruan!

Let's go get Seu Vicente.

He's in the water and he might drown.

The turning wind is coming.

Chico's dead!

What about my father?

A wave came and took us both.

Chico went deep.

I brought him up by his head.

I took too long.

When I saw sunlight, he was already dead.

Seu Vicente...

he disappeared inside a cloud.

I was disoriented.

I put all my strength on the oar.

That's the only thing I believe in now.

Aruan made the entity angry! I saw what he did last night.

He was with Cota when the turning wind tore everything.

He isn't supposed to fool people, saying he's a saint!

Is there such a thing as a flesh and blood saint?

Chico thought he was protected, now he's dead.

We have to change Aruan's life. He's a man just like the others.

He likes women, he's not a sea master.

The master is also guilty.

Spells are for old-fashioned people. We have to stop with that!

- We have to stop with that! - It's time for you to go to hell!

I'm going to spare your life so you can save our people!

You have to follow Aruan, not the master!

The master is a slave!

Aruan is not worthy anymore. Nobody touches him.

Take the body.

I won't go. Chico is innocent.

He didn't deserve to die.

The fair pays for the sinner.

We have to do it. It'll be good for all of us.

We must offer a gift as strong as his body.

So the entity will be appeased.

We have no protection now that Aruan's spell is over.

The right way to fish is with a net, with a basket.

We've got to get our fish, fishing, not praying.

Naina, if you want to marry Aruan, you have to honor the entity.

He's lost...

but you have to help him again.

Forget about your father. lemanjé got her offer.

Naina!

Naina!

Come back, I'll take care of you.

Naina, wait!

You won't be alone.

Spend a year with Mãe Dadá, if that's what you want.

I'll go work in the city so we can have our own net.

Firmino is no good, but he's right.

Nobody cares about the Black and the poor.

We have to fix our lives and everybody else's.

I'm brave enough now.

I'm going to Bahia To see

The money flow

I'm going to Bahia To see

The money flow

If the money doesn't flow

Oh, dear Lord

Nobody will starve to death

I'm going to Bahia To see

The money flow

I'm going to Bahia To see

The money flow

If the money doesn't flow

Oh, dear Lord

Nobody will starve to death

Ehê Barravento olelê

Ehê Barravento olalá

Ehê Barravento olelê

Ehê Barravento olalá

Ehê Barravento olelê

Ehê Barravento olalá

Nobody will starve to death