8 (2025) Movie Script
1
THERE IS NOW A SPANIARD WHO WANTS
TO BE ALIVE AND STARTS TO LIVE,
BETWEEN A SPAIN THAT DIES
AND ANOTHER THAT YAWNS.
LITTLE SPANIARD COMING INTO
THE WORLD, MAY GOD KEEP YOU.
ONE OF THESE SPAINS
WILL MAKE YOUR BLOOD RUN COLD.
ANTONIO MACHADO
APRIL 14, 1931
Octavio!
Octavio, it's coming!
So soon?
You're not dreaming?
No, I dreamt I was peeing myself,
that's why I woke up.
So much water, it's like a creek.
I'll get the doctor!
No, no, no. It's coming now!
- Already? No, no, no.
- It's coming. Yes, yes.
It looks like a fish.
What do I do?
- Help me get it out.
- How? Do I get the fishing rod?
No, don't make me laugh.
See? It's a fish.
Let's see.
Ay, ay, ay.
Fish or not, he's going to
be named after you: Octavio.
What do we do with this?
You're still joined.
It has to be cut.
And if you stay like that forever?
I wouldn't mind.
And the cord will grow with the boy,
so we always know where he is.
Maybe in a few years
it'll go round the house.
- You have to...
- Amazing.
You have to boil the knife
and cut the cord.
Then you must get
the placenta out of me.
Boiled knife!
Delicious!
Hello.
Hello.
Don't move, I'll be right back.
Do I put salt in it?
No.
Sure, it's a river fish,
not a sea fish.
I'm an idiot.
Something's going on here.
We're going to mix this...
with this.
Now, yes.
That's it. The knife's on.
Rosa.
Rosa.
Hey.
Rosa, Rosa.
Rosa. Rosa, listen to me.
I'll get the doctor. Hold on.
Please, hold on.
Hold on.
Hold on!
Doctor!
Doctor!
Doctor!
Rosa's given birth!
And she's in a bad way.
Arturo's not in, he drove to a birth
in a house on Soto de Abajo.
Doctor!
Doctor!
What's wrong?
Rosa's had a boy,
she's very weak!
She's going to die!
Wait a moment, Octavio!
What's going on?
- Relax.
- My God.
Breathe, calm down.
It hurts, Venancio,
I think it's pushing again.
- No...
- It really hurts.
Honey, there are hours to go.
There's a long while to go,
right, Doctor?
Yes, there are still many hours
until dilation.
You see?
I'm going urgently, a woman
has given birth in Soto de Arriba.
No, no, don't go, please.
- This woman could die.
- And what about me?
You won't die, but the baby
is in a bad position
and if you get nervous
it'll be much worse,
so try to sleep,
I'll be back straight away.
But don't be long!
Relax.
- You have to calm down.
- I can't.
Breathe, you must calm down.
Don't yell, you'll hurt the baby.
I think it's a girl, poor thing,
she wants to come out.
Oh, God! It really hurts.
Will you shut up?!
Come on.
The vote recount
has been finalized
in the municipal elections
two days ago.
Republican parties defeated
Monarchist parties in the big cities,
and provincial capitals,
although not in number of votes
in Spain as a whole.
But demonstrations have already been
announced for today in the big cities
to proclaim the Second Republic.
This is the political crisis
of a country
that went to bed Monarchist
and woke up Republican.
- Long live the Republic!
- Hurrah!
They should teach you husbands
how to get the placenta out.
- Is that woman not dying now?
- No, she's not dying.
- How is yours?
- She fell asleep.
Good, she was very nervous.
We've lost the mother!
What?
The boy has to be taken out.
She thinks it's a girl.
Her body's still warm.
Adela, my love.
Adela.
No, my love.
No.
Adela, Adela.
My love, my love.
My love, I'm sorry.
I shouted at you,
I always shout at you.
I apologize for all my shouting.
We'll have a beautiful daughter
and I swear I'll never shout at her.
I promise you,
I'll never shout at her.
Yes.
It's a girl.
She'll be called Adela, like you.
Our daughter was born
with the Republic, you know?
My girl, you'll live in a more just Spain.
MARCH 3, 1939
After almost three years of war
for national salvation,
the Red army is beginning
to fall apart.
It won't be long until Franco's troops
gain the peace of Spain.
And on the day of the victory
of freedom
the cry of redeeming fascism
will be heard aloud,
having exterminated Bolshevism.
Come on.
A great day for fishing. Let's go.
Rosa!
- Come on.
- It's all ready.
Do you really think
it's safe to go out?
There's no problem, it's close by.
Soto de Arriba is National now.
Franco's about to visit us,
he'll come in that very door.
- Didn't you know that?
- Franco's coming here?
Did you hear that?
I think that's Franco,
behind there with all his guards.
His guards? How many?
I don't know,
about 500 red berets.
Let's check. Three, two, one...
Son, they're your father's
bright ideas. Go on, go.
Dad, your gun sight is up
and it's crooked.
Yes, it was hit.
But hit hard.
Do you know why?
Because the Red I spot
with the gunsight falls.
To catch something big,
you just need patience and hope.
I thank God for my family.
For having a son
who farts when he laughs.
And when he laughs,
he lets out a fart.
And I thank God for a wife
who couldn't be better or prettier.
The finest dresses in the world
couldn't improve her.
And the less clothes she wears,
the more irresistibly pretty she is.
That's strange, isn't it?
Someone better without clothes.
Very strange, Dad.
Octavio. Octavio! Come!
Hey, Ernesto! About time
you came fishing with me.
Is that him?
Yes, he's Octavio Goya,
yesterday he set up a firing squad.
They shot ten from Soto de Abajo.
Your weapon.
Say goodbye to your family.
Come, come.
You keep fishing,
I'll hunt something
for Mom to prepare.
Good?
I love you.
No!
Patience and hope.
Dad, it's going to bite!
- Aim!
- Long live Franco!
Fire!
Dad!
A fish almost bit, Dad.
You couldn't shoot me
with two rifles!
You'll see, Mister Red!
Reds! Your souls are burnt
by the Devil!
We've got rid of the worst one.
If I were you,
I'd throw that rifle away.
Lest it turns against you.
Against me?
The war is against us.
Madrid is about to fall.
In the Wolf's Ravine
is a fountain that gushes
the blood of the Spaniards
who died for their homeland.
Poor mothers,
how they cry
on seeing their sons
go off to war.
Adela.
- Hello, Dad.
- Hello, my girl.
- Where are you coming from?
- The river.
Why do you have two rifles?
Nationals! National troops!
In Soto de Arriba
National troops are concentrating.
They have armored cars! Tanks!
Dad! What's happening?
Dad! Dad!
What's happening, Dad?
Will you shut up?!
Forgive me for shouting at you.
Forgive me.
I never have, right?
Tell me I've never shouted at you!
No, Dad, it's the first time
you've shouted at me.
Then forget it,
it'll never happen again.
Let's go!
- We're not going home?
- No, to the school.
Which is your home too.
What are you going to talk
to us about today, Don Venancio?
My girl... Listen.
This is very important.
You have to be ready,
because the fascists are going
to take Soto de Abajo today.
You were born when the Republic
was proclaimed, 8 years ago.
But it hasn't lasted long for us.
My girl, get ready.
The fascists, who'll win this war,
will allow only one Spain to live
and they'll destroy the other.
- I don't want them to kill you.
- I won't be a teacher again.
But why not?
What will they do to you?
Listen, Dad, even if the fascists
win the war, you obey them.
And we kids will tell them
you're the town's best teacher
and you'll keep teaching here, okay?
Don't kill him, please, mister fascist.
He's my father, he's all I have.
No crying, my girl, no crying.
Your daughter's saved your life.
Dad!
See, Dad? I'm not crying.
Very good, my girl.
Give me your belt.
That's it.
You have to tighten it hard here.
Very tight.
Mom would be proud of you.
MAY 1, 1952
You're loaded!
Today I brought three more books,
you read so fast lately.
It's my escape.
I read too, every night.
I recognize your words in the books,
like "escape".
Oh, I brought you this too!
I made it myself.
You only brought me one?
Keep reading, read all you can,
because in Spain now
those who know the least rule,
cultural mediocrities,
but Franco won't last forever.
Of the books I brought,
I only had time to read one.
Give me back the others next time
and tell me what you like most.
Next time?
They're processing lots of people.
My girl, very few.
You're just accused of being
a teacher during the Republic.
You didn't to anything wrong.
I did some things,
we were at war.
Yes, but the best thing you did
was teach, educate.
I taught you secular education,
now it's banned.
Well, how are they treating you?
The warden gives me
all the food you bring me.
Although I'm sure
he eats some of it.
Perhaps, it's not easy to know.
Is there something
I should know, girl?
Nothing.
Are you sure? The warden says
there's nothing between you,
but he keeps asking about you.
I keep quiet, of course.
You're not in love?
All I want is for you to be okay.
I'd never be okay if I knew it was
at the cost of your dignity.
Dignity? You see, that word
I also learned in books.
But my dignity is mine alone, Dad.
Are you still cleaning?
Yes, everything they tell me to.
I'd even clean this jail
it they let me see you more.
You see? That's my dignity,
Dad, to be able to see you.
To see you looking well
and dream that one day you'll be free
and we can live together.
Don't worry, Dad, I never cry,
I can control myself.
I love you, my girl.
Here I go!
If in the sky I had power,
this night black as a well,
with the blade of the moon...
Colonel,
this order just arrived.
If I were the queen of daylight,
of the wind and of the sea...
I would wear slave ropes
for your freedom...
Do you want me to undress now?
If your father got out of here,
would you and I keep
seeing each other?
Is he getting out?
Has he been pardoned?
No.
The order comes from above.
What?
Forgive me, Dad, I shouldn't cry.
I'm very sorry, Adela,
but you knew it was coming.
Will he have time to read these books?
He reads very quickly lately.
And to eat all this?
- No.
- What do you mean, no?
What do you mean, no?
Adela...
Adela, please tell me
we'll keep seeing each other.
If he's shot, I'll leave forever.
The order comes from Franco himself.
He wants to make the most
of the 1st of May,
the day of labor,
the day of the Reds.
I want them to let me
weep your sorrows
and to be by your side,
my darling,
drinking the tears
of your loneliness.
I'll be back in two minutes.
Wait for me naked.
FATHERLAND, BREAD AND JUSTICE
Silence!
Opening in Barcelona,
the International Eucharist Congress...
This order must be carried out at once.
Yes, sir.
- He's come from eating up Adela.
- Some guys are lucky.
Look who's signed it.
- The Generalisimo?
- Yes.
What handwriting,
the authority shows.
Come on, everyone form up
in the courtyard, now!
Let's go, now! Come on, now!
In line, double file!
Hut!
Left, left!
Left, right, left!
Halt!
Line up in single file
in front of the wall!
Waiting for the entry
of the prisoners!
Division of prisoners!
First prisoner here!
Second prisoner here!
One-Arm here!
Fourth prisoner here!
Squad! Ready!
Hut!
Aim!
Hut!
Fire!
The end of food rationing
has been decreed,
12 years after implementing
the card scheme.
So, today's the big day, huh?
Yes, I'm introducing her
to my mother, yes.
But have you asked
for her hand already?
No, that's happening today.
Are you going to talk
to her father?
Her parents died in the War.
Well, think that those
bastard Reds killed them.
- To put your mind at ease.
- Think about One-Arm.
Right.
Why did One-Arm bleed so much?
Because you're distracted today
and you shot him in the stump.
No.
Today I got a rifle...
Don't worry, he's in Hell now.
I'm going to give it up.
The uniform.
Hello.
Hello.
- How is it?
- Fine, normal.
I'm not excited by it anymore.
I mean my dress.
Ah,
you look very pretty.
Did you want to tell me today
what was so important?
How did your parents die?
- No one wanted to tell me.
- Good.
What did you do today
that it doesn't thrill you?
Someone lost an arm on the hunt.
You've been hunting?
I'm in the hunting
and fishing brigade, yes.
But I want to give it up.
Especially the hunting,
I want no more rifles in my life.
What do you hunt?
Fishing, fishing,
Fishing is the future.
A fishing rod...
I want to change my life.
With you.
I want us to go and live in Madrid.
The two of us, with a fishing rod.
But what'll we do in Madrid
with a fishing rod?
As my father said:
"with patience and hope".
That's not bad. And to live?
Come, I'll introduce you
to my mother.
Yes?
- Mom, may I?
- Of course.
This is Claudia, my girlfriend.
- Rosa, my mother.
- Hello.
- How are you, my girl?
- Good.
Mom, I want you here
for what I'm going to tell you.
You're the two most important
people in my life
and I want you to help me
to be a good man,
because...
I can't take it anymore.
But you are good.
I want children and when I die
I want them to be proud of me.
May they not speak badly,
may they have nothing
to reproach me for.
I...
still haven't caught a big fish,
so we'll try in a big city
where we can be who we want.
Mom, I've asked Claudia
to go and live in Madrid
and she thought it was
a wonderful idea.
I haven't said anything, but yes...
- But...
- ...I'm going with you.
- You're giving up your military career?
- Fishing.
The hunting and fishing brigade, sorry.
But I'm taking Dad's rod.
- Of course.
- And what about you?
What about me, son?
Will you come with us to Madrid?
Well, I can sell this house.
Franco gave it to me, for the death
of your father, may he rest in peace.
But with that perhaps
we can make a start.
You still haven't asked for my hand.
Oh, well...
SEPTEMBER 22, 1964
MARY QUANT LAUNCHES
MINISKIRT IN LONDON
Aren't you ready yet?
Get dressed, please,
we'll be late for Mass.
Is that your second vermouth?
You know I find it hard to go.
Do it, even if it's for your son,
so he has a more devout mother,
like his schoolmates.
I'm dressing like that, right?
Dark stockings,
a skirt that covers my knees,
a blouse with no neckline, oh...
and the veil.
You know what you could do?
We're going to church
so you could pray for your father
who I'm sure that God
has in Heaven.
- My father's not in Heaven.
- God is infinite, excuse me.
My father didn't do anything wrong.
All the dead from the War,
as long as they had a good heart,
God has taken them
to his bosom.
But my father didn't die in the War
and you know it, he was shot by Franco.
And why don't you forgive?
- That's something else.
- Sure it is.
Going to Mass to forgive
those who shot my father.
We've discussed this many times, Adela.
My parents were Republicans,
but Spain has changed
and Franco, like it or not,
has brought us peace.
And you, Mauricio, faith.
Yes, I believe in God now
more than before,
I don't know what's bad about that.
Nothing, but it seems like
yours is another God
brought by Franco himself in person.
Look, I think in these times
if anything brings Spaniards
together a little, it's God.
Do you know why?
Because He loves us all the same.
So that we love each other.
And if you believed a bit more
in his infinite kindness
it'd help you to forget
this resentment of yours.
Adela, Adela, please,
please, please.
Who cares who his father was?
Adela, love your son more.
- Sure, sure.
- Please.
That's it, fine, okay.
You're right, forgive me.
For Toms you're his only father,
and the best he could have.
I only have gratitude to you.
You've been so good to me.
How do I look, Mom?
- My boy's so handsome!
- Did you see?
Do you need to get anything?
We're running late.
- Are you ready?
- Yes.
Come on.
Let's go.
Let me drive,
I've got my keys.
No, let them see me
at the wheel, please.
- I'd rather Dad drove.
- Of course.
The upholstery still smells, I like it.
Leather from a bull.
Tinged red.
The one you liked, right?
Next year I'd like to enroll
in Philosophy and Letters.
But Mom, studying is a drag.
Adela, I let you get
your high school degree,
for which you neglected the house.
And months ago I consented
to you getting your driver's license
and I paid for it, which wasn't cheap.
Please, don't ask for more.
Well, since I can't study,
I'd like to work,
to go to work every day.
Don't you realize that it
makes me look bad? Adela, please.
It's like I don't earn enough
and I need my wife to work.
No, that's for working class
and small-town families, no, no.
Your family was working class
from a small town.
Yes, Adela, I know.
But I've prospered.
Meanwhile, I have to be
the angel at home?
It's a job blessed by God.
You should devote yourself more
to your son, your husband and...
to the home.
Do you have a complaint
about the home?
Well...
sometimes you drift away
with your reading,
your novels, and I get home
and it's not as clean as it should be.
Sure, you're right.
You tell me that a lot,
that I read too much.
While you only read laws
and procedures.
Toms, do your friends' mothers
work or not?
No. Well, I don't know.
Some take around
a piggy bank for charity.
- Son, that's not a job.
- Why not?
I have an idea.
I'll work and pay a working class,
small-town woman
to get the house spic and span.
And I'll be helping a needy family.
You'll like that, Mauricio,
having a maid gives the family
a lot of prestige.
Come on.
We're going to be late.
Adela, the veil.
Without asking who you were,
I fell in love.
And whoever you are,
I'll always love you.
I don't know where you're from
of what you prefer,
I only know that when I saw you,
I fell in love,
That's why you...
you'll be my baby,
only you, my baby,
baby of my love.
The glow of the sky will change.
What I feel for you will not.
I want nothing from the world,
I have it all in you.
If I ever lose you, I fell in love.
That's why you...
Red vermouth, please.
Only you, my baby,
baby of my love.
Coca-Cola, please.
The Peninsula and the Balearics
remain affected by low pressures...
Do you like Coca-Cola?
It wakes me up more
than coffee when I'm working.
What do you do?
If we're talking devotion,
it's fishing.
Fluvial, river fishing.
You're a fisherman?
No.
Thank you.
But I have my father's fishing rod
in my dining room at home.
I greatly value fishing.
Do you know why?
No.
Because it needs patience and hope.
It's how you get the big things in life,
slowly and hoping they'll come.
What do you hope
to come into your life?
Do you know they've put locks
in the Manzanares River?
Do you know what they are?
They're dams that regulate
the water level.
From afar it looks like a river,
but it's not, there are no fish,
it's dead.
Even if you get close,
it smells rotten.
I've been studying it on my own
to present a report to the Town Hall.
Anyway, to argue that they let
the river run,
let the Manzanares flow.
So...
we could say that you're
a very fluvial person.
I love you calling me fluvial,
I love the expression.
Yes, I like it.
What kind of person are you?
Not much, actually.
I know I need strength, as a woman.
My father gave me all his strength,
for me alone,
and I'm using it up.
Did he die?
In the War?
No.
Afterwards.
Poor man.
I heard the shots.
My father did die in the War.
He, my mother
and I were fishing by the river.
Men came along and shot him.
The image I have
of my father is with...
lots of red holes in his chest.
I'm sorry.
And yours?
He died twelve years ago.
Now my husband is taking it from me.
My strength, I mean.
And my son, who isn't his.
Sorry, I shouldn't...
No, don't worry, ma'am.
Don't apologize.
Carry on if you like, ma'am.
Without asking who you were...
Can you sit next to me, please?
And stop calling me "ma'am"?
I can stop that, yes.
I married while I was pregnant
to man I want to forget.
And my poor son, who believes
my husband is his father,
isn't to blame that
he reminds me of that pig.
He took advantage of me
when I was a kid.
And I'm not being a good mother
or a good wife.
But you have a conscience.
And I know I need strength,
as a woman.
Right...
I want you
to give me your strength.
Yes, but how do I...?
And whoever you are...
Who are you?
Where did you come from?
I was just going to
ask you that question.
- My name is...
- No.
What?
I don't know where you're from
or what you prefer.
I only know that when I saw you,
I fell in love,
I don't want
to know your name,
who you are
or anything about you.
- I'd like to know yours.
- Really?
Well...
I'm the woman who's going
to pay for your Coca-Cola.
Come, come with me.
- Where?
- My car's outside.
Mine too.
Do you know in London
they have miniskirts?
That's my taxi.
You parked next to my car.
I need all your strength.
Come to me, my fluvial man.
Thank you.
After 25 years of peace with Franco,
Spain becomes to top tourist
power in Europe.
- Hello, family.
- Hello, son.
The largest number of visitors choose
the cities of Valencia and Alicante...
- Hello, honey.
- Hi, Dad.
- How are you?
- Good.
- How was your day?
- Good.
Yes?
- Take that! Take that!
- Take that!
- Take that! Take that!
- Take that!
How many times have I told you?
No popguns in the house!
- Bang! Bang! Bang!
- Bang! Bang! Bang!
You didn't do well today.
Your mother's back is getting worse.
She should stop cleaning
at the hospital.
I'm going to clean
two more houses
and you'll have to put in
more hours in the taxi.
You've been at the library
today, haven't you?
No, not exactly.
Right.
Your mother's paying with her health
for the time you waste studying...
I'm not wasting time, I never spend
more than two hours at the library.
Well, studying overstates it.
It's your nonsense about
letting the Manzanares flow.
The Manzanares again?
- Oh, for God's sake.
- Mom.
Madrid's not a city for fish,
get that through your head.
How's your back?
You needn't worry
about my back.
Even your father,
may he rest in peace,
would've thought
this Manzanares thing was drivel.
I think he'd like it.
You carry on with that idea,
no more talking.
Boys, to the table!
I'll put in four more hours
in the taxi
Do what you like, but I'm not
going stop cleaning in the hospital
for my son to stop having
dinner with his family at home.
You should've carried on
as a soldier.
I want to be a soldier, Grandma.
Honey.
JUNE 3, 1977
A year and a half
after Franco's death,
Spain, constituted
as a parliamentary monarchy,
prepares for democratic elections
next June 15.
The last elections were 41 years ago,
at the end of the Second Republic,
in February 1936,
five months before the military coup
that unleashed a three-year civil war
that led Franco to govern as
a dictatorship for almost 40 years.
My boy, we're entering a new Spain.
We can now forget this
fucking dictatorship forever.
- Mom!
- Sorry, Venancio.
This dictatorship blessed by God.
Don't confuse the boy,
Adela, please.
Well, no, blessed by you too,
and many like you who say
you were democrats deep down.
Now you won't let me
be a democrat.
Look, Adela,
it seemed to me that Francoism
was the best system of government
we Spaniards could have
while it lasted,
because we deserved it
and now we have the chance
for democracy. Do you know why?
Because we've grown,
we've matured as a society.
And in this new Spain
you're talking about, we all fit.
Right.
Do sexists as well,
or are you going to stop being so?
- Dad's not sexist!
- Ha!
- Mom, he treats you with respect.
- Right. Sure.
Not like your friends' father
with their wives, you're right.
And he doesn't hit me.
It's true, boys, your father
raises his hand and voice at me,
but he never hits me.
Though he wants to deep down,
I see it in his face and I'm scared.
Can you leave your mother
and I alone for a moment?
No! No one is leaving!
Don't leave me alone
with your father.
- What are you insinuating?
- Dad, don't take the bait.
- What are you insinuating?
- You can't talk like that.
Do you know in the democracy
they're approving the divorce law?
Family, would you be in favor
of Spain legalizing divorce?
Just so you know, my sons,
there was already a Divorce Law
in the Republic in 1932.
- No, I wouldn't be in favor.
- Right.
I don't want you to go, Mom.
Don't worry, I'll never leave you,
we're discussing something else.
- And you, husband, what?
- Look, Adela,
one thing is us having different
political ideas, and another
is allowing to make this scene
in front of our sons.
You're disrespecting me
and my whole family.
For or against divorce?
Adela, I know you're not very devout,
I know that very well,
but that day in church,
on our wedding day,
you swore before God and me
you'd be married to me for life.
What God has joined together,
let no man put asunder.
As well as to God, did you not
make a personal promise?
- I think you read a lot.
- What?
You read too much, those novels
contaminate the soul.
- I read... So my soul's contaminated!
- Exactly!
No! Not yours! Mister Mauricio's
is safe with Jesus Christ!
You know what? I'll say it.
You blessed and praised
by God are hypocrites! I said it!
Watch what you say, Adela, please.
- Go on, say it!
- Watch what you say!
Would you legalize divorce or not?
For or against?
Against, always, do you know why?
You're my wife and you have
no right to be anything else!
I knew it.
I knew it. Let's go, son.
What are you going to do?
What are you going to do?
Get a divorce! Illegally!
Let's go.
Come on.
Pack a bag with the basics, let's go!
I had to put up
with you getting pregnant
by who knows who
that day you ran out of the church.
You think I didn't count?
And I forgave you.
No, you didn't forgive me.
For you, Venancio isn't your son,
he's someone else's.
Who were you with?
Fucking tell me!
Don't touch me!
Never, ever,
talk to me like that again!
I've had to put up with not being
the father of our two sons,
and now you're leaving me?
Is that it?
Are you deserting me?
I'd have like
to have gotten pregnant by you,
but it's not my fault you're sterile.
I'm not Dad's son?
Toms, you and I will see
each other when we want.
I'll always be your mother,
you'll never lose me.
I love you.
Are you still like that?
Hurry up, let's go.
- What does basics mean?
- Whatever, honey, anything.
- The Indian chief.
- Fine, he'll give us strength.
- Dad.
- Adela, please...
- What's this about not being your son?
- Toms isn't Dad's son?
I'll tell you everything later, let's go.
- Adela, I beg you, don't go.
- Don't beg me.
I'm begging you. Where will you go?
You have nothing, you have no one.
I'll work, finally.
I'll let you work.
We'll change the house rules.
Let's discuss it as a family.
I just want us to be happy,
you first of all, my love.
I've always been the last.
Please, come on. Hurry.
Please! Please, Adela!
Let her!
Adela! Adela, please!
Dad, let her.
Please, don't debase yourself.
Adela.
Mom, is this the new Spain
you're defending?
Let's go.
- You're destroying a family!
- Venancio...
Come on! Let's go!
Taxi!
Taxi!
Adela!
Thank you.
Keep me informed, please.
- Mom, this is a joke, huh?
- No.
- This is serious?
- Yes.
I know, I'll get Geyperman,
the explorer, the American soldier...
- Don't worry, they'll send you them.
- To where?
I don't know.
Taxi, taxi!
Come on, let's go!
Let's go.
Come on.
Where to?
Just take us.
I don't know, I'll look around
to where we want to stop.
- An adventure?
- Yes, that's right.
You see? I should've got
the Geyperman explorer.
So you have no preference?
Neighborhood, street, life style,
or would you rather I chose?
Yes, but we don't want
a specific neighborhood, right?
Just to live near nice, peaceful,
open, free people...
That's relative.
Sure. You're right, sorry.
No need to apologize to me,
on the contrary.
We want a change of life,
even of persona.
I want to be a good mother.
Without Dad?
So, will you let me think
about where to take you?
Sure, that's why we got in your taxi.
I grateful for the trust.
Are they your sons?
Yes, when they were small.
I haven't changed the photos.
My daughter is a hairdresser,
my eldest son is a soldier and
the youngest, I don't know what he'll be.
And your wife?
My wife hasn't aged well,
especially in her temper.
- Gee, I'm sorry.
- She's getting worse.
- Have you thought about divorce?
- Ha! Divorce...
Mom...
What's wrong? People in Spain
will soon be able to divorce.
My mother would have
a heart attack if I got divorced.
Right.
What's your soldier son's name?
Octavito, Octavio.
Like my grandfather,
my father and me.
Do you know if...
they're returning the flow
to the Manzanares River?
I'm so glad you ask.
I've been studying
that project for years.
I did a biology degree
all by myself too.
Maybe one day
I'll work at the Town Hall
and convince them that
the Manzanares must flow.
My fluvial man.
That's why you,
you'll be my baby,
only you, my baby.
Baby of my love.
Mom, you're caressing
the taxi driver.
Yes, son, because this taxi driver
is a good man.
And besides...
you're his father.
I've just separated from my husband
and getting in your taxi is the first
thing I've done in my new life.
Do you want meet up?
- Tonight?
- Yes.
Stop!
At 12, in the bar of that hotel.
- Here.
- Go on.
No, forget it. Forget it.
It's the best drive of my life.
If you want, bring your luggage.
- How much luggage?
- The basics.
Dad!
Madrid is beating Atleti, 1-0.
Because they called a penalty
when it wasn't.
You're a goddamn Atleti fan, eh?
Come here.
What a pain.
You can't show off today, eh?
And you laugh as well?
Look, eh?
Everything we fought for
in the war...
Spanish values have gone to hell.
Come on, Grandma,
don't be so closed off.
I'm not betraying my principles,
so I'm not voting.
I like this Surez,
he's in the center.
- Who are you voting for, son?
- Me?
Look here...
Family, it's very simple.
They want democracy now?
Then we'll vote for Francoism.
Fuerza Nueva. And we warn:
We've got our eyes on you!
We have another war and win.
What's wrong with you, Dad?
What are you doing?
I'm going.
- You're going?
- Yes.
Yes.
Dinner!
Dinner, dinner as a family first.
Did you bang your head, or what?
What's going on?
What are you doing, Mom?
When you were born,
your father said...
"He's a fish!
Rosa,
we must give this boy
the name of a fish!".
Grandma, Grandma!
No, no, no!
Claudia, call an ambulance!
Mom! Mom!
Grandma has no pulse.
Dad, don't cry like that!
MAY 10, 1992
The Spanish people have reason
to feel proud of this 1992...
Hold it, I'm just going
to measure you.
...in which we're celebrating
exactly 500 years
of the founding of Spain
by the Catholic Monarchs,
and of the discovery of America
by Christopher Columbus.
Our young democracy, which had to
overcome a coup 11 years ago,
now celebrates that Spain is
a buoyant, exultant, modern nation,
after almost half a century
of darkness.
Last April saw the opening of
the Universal Exposition of Seville,
and the first high-speed train
that links
the capitals of Spain
and of Andalusia.
And next summer there'll be
the Barcelona Olympic Games.
So, you're really going
to the game?
My sons convinced me.
Because you buy their tickets.
That's true.
See you tomorrow.
Hello.
How are you, Dad?
You look nice.
Weren't you an Atleti fan?
And he is, he is.
How do I tell my friends
I've come with an Atleti infiltrator?
What are you saying?
Don't overdo it.
How are your kids?
Good, good, good.
They didn't want to come because
they're Atleti fans, like their dad.
Well, that's better.
This way I get some
free time with my family.
It's been ages
since we were together.
At least your grandchildren
had the decency not to come.
Not like this guy.
If it's to beat the Catalans,
I'm willing to make a truce.
I'm going to Bernabu,
to cheer on Madrid.
That's what you've got to do.
Especially today.
These Catalans have got big heads
about the Olympics.
You wait how it turns out...
They say the organization's a mess,
that it's too big for them.
We have to stay united
as Spaniards now.
But it's them, they always
want to be different.
A lot of them feel more
like Catalans than Spaniards.
Some people detest Spain.
It's their damn superiority complex.
That's it!
And I'm told a lot of far-left groups
come from Barcelona.
Goddamn separatists.
Right then, we'll crack
their fucking skulls.
Hey, I don't want any
scuffles with them. Got it?
No.
Relax, Dad,
nothing's going to happen.
How's your mother?
- Hysterical.
- And depressed.
- I'm very worried about her.
- Really?
I may go see her one day.
No, Dad, for God's sake.
That'll be worse.
Her only consolation
is hating you.
Well...
Tonight, Madrid
welcomes Bara at Bernabu.
The classic Spanish match
always has a special thrill.
The match broadcast will have
wide international coverage.
Please!
Thanks for inviting me.
I really wanted to come with you.
Me too.
And I told my friends...
"You know my Mom's taking me
to Madrid for the Bara game?"
"You really go to the football
with your mom?". And they laughed.
You must've also told them:
"I'm going with my mom because
I can watch it from the box".
Yes. And they all protested.
"Lucky you, that's why!"
Soon there'll be no need
to come with me, but...
You see how easy it can be
to get into the publishing house?
Clearly, yes.
Thanks. What a mother I've got.
You don't have to thank me.
You passed your doctorate
in Literature with flying colors.
At the publishing house they say
"Nancho has great reading ability,
he can see beyond".
I owe that to you.
No, you're wrong.
I tell them: "That reading ability
is from his grandfather Venancio".
Go Madrid!
Real Madrid!
Long live Franco!
Franco, Franco, Franco!
These people scare me, son.
Venancio!
Venancio!
Venancio, here!
Man! Venancio!
Just a moment on, it's Jordi.
Venancio!
Venancio!
What's up?
What's going on?
I came with my mother.
To see the game?
With your mother? Seriously?
Long live Bara!
Sons of bitches!
Fucking Madrid!
Fucking Madrid!
Fucking Catalonia!
That's my son! That's my son!
Hold on.
Two ambulances are coming now.
Please.
What happened?
The three of us were together.
Octavito went to greet
some fans and suddenly,
he ran off like mad.
Those Bara guys provoked it.
And you know how Vito gets.
Who provoked whom?
It's okay. It's okay.
How are you?
Excuse me, excuse me!
You can't go in.
You have to wait here.
My son, they're seeing him.
- Mine too, there was a fight.
- Right.
Yes, I came with him
in the ambulance.
He's just unconscious.
It'll be nothing. Just shock.
Mine was given a beating.
His face was bleeding badly.
I almost don't recognize him.
I'm sorry.
I waited all night
like I've never waited for anyone.
The whole week.
I stayed for a month in the hotel
with Venancio, with our...
our son.
That night I got home,
got my father's fishing rod,
started to pack
and my mother had a stroke.
She died in my arms.
Then,
after all this time,
I think I'll forgive you.
That'll be good. For me, I mean.
I'm so sorry your mother died.
Really.
But after 15 years,
I think I do forgive you.
Right?
- Ma'am.
- Yes?
I'm very sorry to tell you that...
your son has passed away.
What? No, no, no, no.
It can't be. My son was fine.
It can't be. No, no, no, no!
My boy! My boy!
Ma'am, I'm going to give you a sedative.
It can't be!
You're wrong, you're wrong.
Dad, we can see Vito now.
Are you okay?
Are you okay?
Coming...
This lady...
Who is she?
An old friend.
Her son just died.
I give you all the strength
you can take from me.
It's all yours.
I'm yours.
Dad!
What?
- The police are questioning Vito.
- What?
I don't know.
Excuse me. I'm his father.
What's going on?
Several witnesses state
that your son, with this bar,
hit the head of the young man
who has just died.
Dad, what do we do?
We're not abandoning your brother.
We'll help him get over this
so he forgives himself one day
and apologizes to that woman too.
And me, I'm the father
of both of them.
Of Vito...
and Venancio.
He was called Venancio.
MARCH 25, 2008
THE FATHER OF CAIN
Adela Rey
- To whom?
- To Luca.
Thank you.
- To whom?
- To Miguel, please.
"THE FATHER OF CAIN",
THE NOVEL BY ADELA REY,
WHICH STIRRED CONSCIENCES
IN SPAIN,
HAS REACHED 500,000 COPIES.
Thank you.
- Only one left.
- Great. Thanks.
To whom?
To Octavio, the father of Cain.
And Abel.
"To Octavio.
Father of Cain and Abel.
Mysterious fluvial man
who appears and disappears".
- You've handled it a lot.
- Yes, a lot.
With my eyes.
I've been over it again and again.
And it always makes
my blood run cold.
But I've also found warmth.
And you've always made
my imagination soar.
And my mind has never
stopped reflecting.
It's a wonderful novel.
The best I've ever read.
And I'm glad that half a million
Spaniards from the two Spains
have been able to reflect
on what you've written.
My whole family has read it,
my children.
Thank you.
Well?
Can we talk for a moment?
Adela.
Please.
Cristina, thanks a lot.
I'm going home.
I'd like to talk to you
for a second.
I was at the funeral.
I didn't dare come over.
I felt too guilty.
I didn't know what to say.
You can't cry.
You can't cry.
Your father clearly told you
that you couldn't cry.
Look at me.
You can't cry.
It's alright, it's alright.
Let's go somewhere.
I'll take you home.
I have my car here, if you like.
I live in the mountains.
I bought my father's house.
I know.
Shall we go?
Yes. Take me home.
I'M TAKING HER HOME.
From what I've read,
you've researched me thoroughly.
And apart from keeping my name,
I didn't know we were born
on the same day at almost the same time.
That same dawn when
the Second Republic was proclaimed.
You, from Soto de Abajo
and I from Soto de Arriba,
two towns separated
by three kilometers.
And that your son, the developer
Manuel Goya, joined together.
Now they're just one town.
True.
But there are two things
that you don't know
and I think
would've fit into your novel.
What are they?
I don't quite know where to start.
You...
You describe your father
as a noble, brave teacher
who defended the Republic
until the end.
But your father didn't just kill
Nationals in combat.
He was also on firing squads that
killed neighbors from the other side.
- That's not true.
- Yes.
And my father died
in the assault on Soto de Abajo,
when your father went
into the school with you.
My father died
fishing by the river.
A group of militiamen arrived,
grabbed him in front of his wife
and eight-year-old son
and shot him.
They riddled him with bullets.
How do you know my father
was among them? You didn't know him.
It was your father
who set up the firing squad.
It was he who took him
behind the bushes.
And?
well?
You also wrote
that I was in the mountain barracks
when your father was shot.
That's true.
And you had the decency
to not specify that I was part
of his firing squad. Thank you.
That day I?
I didn't know?
I picked up a rifle and it turned out
to be my father's.
The rifle that your father
took from mine.
I know because the sight
was raised and twisted.
And yes, I had to shoot
the one-armed man.
But my bullet wasn't
the one that killed him.
I was so nervous about having
to fire my father's gun
that I shot him in the stump.
I didn't kill him.
I remember he bled and bled,
but it wasn't me.
Right then I decided
to quit being a soldier
and swapped the rifle
for the fishing rod.
It was later,
when I read the novel,
that I found out that the one-armed man,
Venancio Rey, was your father.
So you see.
- It's there.
- Yes, I know.
Do you want to come inside
for a while?
I'd love to.
I'M ENTERING HER HOUSE
Do you live alone?
Yes. And you?
Yes. I do as well.
I'm writing another novel.
About what?
About the future, on the Moon.
- The Moon?
- Yes.
A nice trip, yes.
He was the best son
a mother could have.
And a father.
There's something I didn't do right
in Octavito's upbringing, for sure.
Well...
I know he just got out of jail,
he's on parole,
he only served 15 years...
But you and I aren't going
to talk about that.
- No.
- No.
Look.
My son is ruined.
This crisis has burst
the real estate bubble.
- Do you see that sector there?
- Yes.
It's paralyzed.
So, is the Manzanares
flowing or not?
I've spent 20 years recovering the rivers
of Spain so they have plenty of fish.
After I retired, they kept calling me.
But the Manzanares is resisting.
I'm in touch with the Town Hall, but...
I hope to achieve it before I die.
That's Toms, my son, the eldest.
Because of Venancio's death,
we saw each other again.
He's a lawyer, like his father,
my ex-husband,
who died ten years ago.
He's into politics.
He says he's a liberal centrist.
Interesting.
Right.
- Listen closely, Octavio Goya.
- What?
Come here.
We come from families that were
enemies in the Civil War,
who killed each other.
You and I
should never talk about politics.
You're right, my dear Adela.
Dear?
Do you like living alone?
Yes, I'm used to it.
Me too.
Yes, but I'd rather something else.
Something?
Something, no.
Someone with me.
- All the time?
- Until the end.
How long do we have left?
You don't know
how often I've thought
that I was wrong not to go to you
after my mother's death.
Good heavens.
And I shouldn't have let you go
when we did it in the car.
The black veil. Outrageous!
The number of times
I've thought about that sex.
Me too.
Do you want to stay here?
- Maybe you don't like my house.
- I love it.
Lately I've been thinking about
coming to live in the mountains.
Then come spend what life
we have left with me.
No.
To live better than ever.
Do you think we can still
be happy together?
I can't believe you're
proposing this to me.
Well, I've seen it in your eyes.
It's the dream of my life.
More than the Manzanares, it's the dream
I couldn't allow myself to dream.
Well, I'll allow you.
You threw an apple at me.
You don't remember,
I was leaving the barracks.
You didn't put it in your novel.
I don't believe it.
Well, in the next one.
Now hug me, please.
Did you still want sex?
Hey, it's been a while since...
But with you maybe
I could turn into a teenager.
I still have the black veil.
- Seriously?
- As a memento, yes.
Come.
Come.
In this bed my mother
brought me into the world.
I'm not opening up.
I am, do you mind?
One moment.
I'm sorry, ma'am.
For what I did to your son.
To your son, Dad.
To my brother.
I'm sorry.
I apologize in my name...
and in that of my family.
In that of our entire existence.
Cry, cry.
Cry.
It's all right.
No...
Cry, my love.
Now you should cry.
APRIL 14, 2021
Happy birthday to you,
happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday to you two,
happy birthday to you,
Let's go, let's go!
One, two and three!
- Come on, guys!
- Champions!
Almost!
A little help, come on.
One, two and...?
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday, family!
Happy birthday!
To your 90s and more!
Here, honey.
They look so good. They're divine.
Hey, hey!
Hey!
Do you love each other or not?
You do love each other!
Since you're so different,
which is appreciated,
don't argue about politics,
because you'll never
convince your opponent,
much less in such a Spanish tone.
He's absolutely right.
- Manu!
- Yes?
- Take us home.
- Of course.
Don't go!
It's fine. Don't worry.
Don't worry.
It's our politicians' fault,
they have us at each other's throats.
Take this as a goodbye, everyone.
We love you, family.
Us too, forgive us.
You are our life.
Careful here.
Careful here, Dad.
- Thanks, son.
- You're welcome.
Watch that tile, it wobbles.
There.
Be careful there.
And the last step, there.
Thank you.
Thanks, Manu,
for organizing this wonderful
birthday lunch.
It's been ages since
we were all together.
A long time.
Well, never.
We'd never all sat
at the same table together.
And there was La,
our fifth great-grandchild,
who's three months old.
The coronavirus vaccine
has succeeded in lowering
the number of deaths
of elderly people,
as well as the general
incidence of infection.
Without the vaccine, we wouldn't have
been able to celebrate your 90th birthday.
Now only the young
need vaccinating.
And we're grateful you took
the test to be able to be here.
Listen...
Did you divert the river's course
to make that golf course?
Yes, well, it was a decision
by the Town Hall,
by the majority.
There's a moat.
You'll have been nice enough
to put in a few fish, no?
No, but it's no problem.
Tomorrow I'll ask...
You'd like there to be fish?
My father would be thrilled.
That was the section of river
where he most liked to fish.
Do you want us to put
a little cross where...?
No.
Did you know that the Manzanares
is full of retirees who fish,
return the fish to the river with
a perforated mouth and a terrible fright?
Sure, sure, sure.
OCTAVIO GOYA, WHO GOT THE MANZANARES
TO FLOW AFTER 60 YEARS.
The fact that fish abound
doesn't mean they can catch them.
Right. So fishing rods stay there,
on the wall.
Imagine you're snatched by
the mouth out of your medium.
It's like humans being drowned
for a while, water torture.
You're not a fisherman.
You tricked me, old man.
You've never fished in your life.
Not like your father.
Now he was a fisherman.
I took almost a whole life,
77 years exactly, to catch you.
- Now you call me a fish.
- And I did it with that rod.
With patience and hope.
I learned that from my father.
Come on.
Has the test result come?
Let me have it, I saw you,
I saw your son, Manu,
giving you some paper.
- Let me have it.
- Wait a little.
So you know the result.
And you preferred to wait
for us to celebrate our birthday.
It was good, wasn't it?
They got a bit annoying at the end.
I loved seeing the progeny
we've left behind.
I've spent all week
getting used to the idea.
I can't get the doctor's face
out of my mind.
I have it here in my mind
when he said:
"Well,
we still have to wait for
the result of the tests".
It's given me time to prepare.
For the trip, I mean.
Come on.
How long do I have left?
Six months at most.
Don't cry!
You, eh?
Right.
Six months.
I knew it.
In which I'll go senile,
lose my sanity with a brain tumor
I don't want you to look after me
and see me half-nuts
and screaming in pain.
Come on, don't cry any more.
I'm going.
- Where to?
- To the bed I was born in.
To sleep and to dream
that maybe there's a state,
an energy in which my mind
and soul can float
and become part of the universe,
do you understand?
- I've stockpiled.
- Stockpiled what?
Remember the other day
you wanted to go with me to the pharmacy
and I didn't want you to?
Well, I told Elena I couldn't find
my sleeping pills
and to prescribe me another bottle.
Then I called your daughter Ins,
who takes them as well,
to bring lunch today
and another full bottle.
She's a darling, your Ins,
she always has been.
Don't ask me not to do it,
I beg you.
Come on, after the bad news
I have some good:
I'm leaving this world
without suffering.
How many pills do you have?
Look... Hear that?
- I think I'll reach the Moon.
- Then I'll go to the Moon with you.
- No.
- Yes.
- Don't you dare.
- Yes.
- No.
- I don't want to live without you.
Please, you spent your
whole life without me.
That's not true.
You've been in my life secretly
since you put on that black veil
and lay down on that red
leather upholstery.
Old man, you're always
on about the same thing.
Right.
In fact, our lives were connected
from the start.
The same doctor, the same hands
attended our mothers at our birth.
No! Octavio, you're fit as a fiddle.
No, you overcame COVID
at 89 years old.
Because I'm your partner.
Stop it, don't say that.
Because I want
to keep living with you.
What a short time I've lasted.
You're so silly.
- Listen.
- What?
Look at me.
Accept me on your ship.
When does it take off?
Please.
Whenever we want.
I'm thinking right now
of a date and I think...
- Right.
- Right, what?
The same day we came
into this world
seems the best day
to leave it for another.
Today.
Go on, now then.
And no more talk.
Go on, you weigh more than I do.
One, two and three.
Like hide and seek.
I can't swallow them.
I can't.
I... can't.
Relax, honey, relax.
You've always gotten nervous
before you travel.
You're on the rocket, but I...
- I couldn't go alone.
- No.
No. Can you imagine?
Didn't anything like this happen
in one of your novels?
That one person stayed on Earth?
Come on.
Come.
I've had the best days
of my life with you.
All my life
has been worth it
for the time I've lived with you.
You're the best man
I've ever met.
You're an incredible woman.
With an army of women like you,
I'd save the world.
Would you like to be born again?
I don't know,
but if you decide to, tell me.
Listen...
If I find God would you come?
Well now, maybe.
What a cheek!
Your whole life without believing,
and now...
Relax, if it's with me
God won't be waiting
for you anywhere.
True.
First stop, the Moon, right?
And from the Moon, where to?
Venus.
I've always wanted to see Venus.
- You're always thinking the same thing.
- We can have a shag there.
Done.
I'm imagining it.
Me too.
I'm inside you.
Don't come out.
Never.
Ever.
TO ALL SPANIARDS,
EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM
Translation: Lindsay Moxham
THERE IS NOW A SPANIARD WHO WANTS
TO BE ALIVE AND STARTS TO LIVE,
BETWEEN A SPAIN THAT DIES
AND ANOTHER THAT YAWNS.
LITTLE SPANIARD COMING INTO
THE WORLD, MAY GOD KEEP YOU.
ONE OF THESE SPAINS
WILL MAKE YOUR BLOOD RUN COLD.
ANTONIO MACHADO
APRIL 14, 1931
Octavio!
Octavio, it's coming!
So soon?
You're not dreaming?
No, I dreamt I was peeing myself,
that's why I woke up.
So much water, it's like a creek.
I'll get the doctor!
No, no, no. It's coming now!
- Already? No, no, no.
- It's coming. Yes, yes.
It looks like a fish.
What do I do?
- Help me get it out.
- How? Do I get the fishing rod?
No, don't make me laugh.
See? It's a fish.
Let's see.
Ay, ay, ay.
Fish or not, he's going to
be named after you: Octavio.
What do we do with this?
You're still joined.
It has to be cut.
And if you stay like that forever?
I wouldn't mind.
And the cord will grow with the boy,
so we always know where he is.
Maybe in a few years
it'll go round the house.
- You have to...
- Amazing.
You have to boil the knife
and cut the cord.
Then you must get
the placenta out of me.
Boiled knife!
Delicious!
Hello.
Hello.
Don't move, I'll be right back.
Do I put salt in it?
No.
Sure, it's a river fish,
not a sea fish.
I'm an idiot.
Something's going on here.
We're going to mix this...
with this.
Now, yes.
That's it. The knife's on.
Rosa.
Rosa.
Hey.
Rosa, Rosa.
Rosa. Rosa, listen to me.
I'll get the doctor. Hold on.
Please, hold on.
Hold on.
Hold on!
Doctor!
Doctor!
Doctor!
Rosa's given birth!
And she's in a bad way.
Arturo's not in, he drove to a birth
in a house on Soto de Abajo.
Doctor!
Doctor!
What's wrong?
Rosa's had a boy,
she's very weak!
She's going to die!
Wait a moment, Octavio!
What's going on?
- Relax.
- My God.
Breathe, calm down.
It hurts, Venancio,
I think it's pushing again.
- No...
- It really hurts.
Honey, there are hours to go.
There's a long while to go,
right, Doctor?
Yes, there are still many hours
until dilation.
You see?
I'm going urgently, a woman
has given birth in Soto de Arriba.
No, no, don't go, please.
- This woman could die.
- And what about me?
You won't die, but the baby
is in a bad position
and if you get nervous
it'll be much worse,
so try to sleep,
I'll be back straight away.
But don't be long!
Relax.
- You have to calm down.
- I can't.
Breathe, you must calm down.
Don't yell, you'll hurt the baby.
I think it's a girl, poor thing,
she wants to come out.
Oh, God! It really hurts.
Will you shut up?!
Come on.
The vote recount
has been finalized
in the municipal elections
two days ago.
Republican parties defeated
Monarchist parties in the big cities,
and provincial capitals,
although not in number of votes
in Spain as a whole.
But demonstrations have already been
announced for today in the big cities
to proclaim the Second Republic.
This is the political crisis
of a country
that went to bed Monarchist
and woke up Republican.
- Long live the Republic!
- Hurrah!
They should teach you husbands
how to get the placenta out.
- Is that woman not dying now?
- No, she's not dying.
- How is yours?
- She fell asleep.
Good, she was very nervous.
We've lost the mother!
What?
The boy has to be taken out.
She thinks it's a girl.
Her body's still warm.
Adela, my love.
Adela.
No, my love.
No.
Adela, Adela.
My love, my love.
My love, I'm sorry.
I shouted at you,
I always shout at you.
I apologize for all my shouting.
We'll have a beautiful daughter
and I swear I'll never shout at her.
I promise you,
I'll never shout at her.
Yes.
It's a girl.
She'll be called Adela, like you.
Our daughter was born
with the Republic, you know?
My girl, you'll live in a more just Spain.
MARCH 3, 1939
After almost three years of war
for national salvation,
the Red army is beginning
to fall apart.
It won't be long until Franco's troops
gain the peace of Spain.
And on the day of the victory
of freedom
the cry of redeeming fascism
will be heard aloud,
having exterminated Bolshevism.
Come on.
A great day for fishing. Let's go.
Rosa!
- Come on.
- It's all ready.
Do you really think
it's safe to go out?
There's no problem, it's close by.
Soto de Arriba is National now.
Franco's about to visit us,
he'll come in that very door.
- Didn't you know that?
- Franco's coming here?
Did you hear that?
I think that's Franco,
behind there with all his guards.
His guards? How many?
I don't know,
about 500 red berets.
Let's check. Three, two, one...
Son, they're your father's
bright ideas. Go on, go.
Dad, your gun sight is up
and it's crooked.
Yes, it was hit.
But hit hard.
Do you know why?
Because the Red I spot
with the gunsight falls.
To catch something big,
you just need patience and hope.
I thank God for my family.
For having a son
who farts when he laughs.
And when he laughs,
he lets out a fart.
And I thank God for a wife
who couldn't be better or prettier.
The finest dresses in the world
couldn't improve her.
And the less clothes she wears,
the more irresistibly pretty she is.
That's strange, isn't it?
Someone better without clothes.
Very strange, Dad.
Octavio. Octavio! Come!
Hey, Ernesto! About time
you came fishing with me.
Is that him?
Yes, he's Octavio Goya,
yesterday he set up a firing squad.
They shot ten from Soto de Abajo.
Your weapon.
Say goodbye to your family.
Come, come.
You keep fishing,
I'll hunt something
for Mom to prepare.
Good?
I love you.
No!
Patience and hope.
Dad, it's going to bite!
- Aim!
- Long live Franco!
Fire!
Dad!
A fish almost bit, Dad.
You couldn't shoot me
with two rifles!
You'll see, Mister Red!
Reds! Your souls are burnt
by the Devil!
We've got rid of the worst one.
If I were you,
I'd throw that rifle away.
Lest it turns against you.
Against me?
The war is against us.
Madrid is about to fall.
In the Wolf's Ravine
is a fountain that gushes
the blood of the Spaniards
who died for their homeland.
Poor mothers,
how they cry
on seeing their sons
go off to war.
Adela.
- Hello, Dad.
- Hello, my girl.
- Where are you coming from?
- The river.
Why do you have two rifles?
Nationals! National troops!
In Soto de Arriba
National troops are concentrating.
They have armored cars! Tanks!
Dad! What's happening?
Dad! Dad!
What's happening, Dad?
Will you shut up?!
Forgive me for shouting at you.
Forgive me.
I never have, right?
Tell me I've never shouted at you!
No, Dad, it's the first time
you've shouted at me.
Then forget it,
it'll never happen again.
Let's go!
- We're not going home?
- No, to the school.
Which is your home too.
What are you going to talk
to us about today, Don Venancio?
My girl... Listen.
This is very important.
You have to be ready,
because the fascists are going
to take Soto de Abajo today.
You were born when the Republic
was proclaimed, 8 years ago.
But it hasn't lasted long for us.
My girl, get ready.
The fascists, who'll win this war,
will allow only one Spain to live
and they'll destroy the other.
- I don't want them to kill you.
- I won't be a teacher again.
But why not?
What will they do to you?
Listen, Dad, even if the fascists
win the war, you obey them.
And we kids will tell them
you're the town's best teacher
and you'll keep teaching here, okay?
Don't kill him, please, mister fascist.
He's my father, he's all I have.
No crying, my girl, no crying.
Your daughter's saved your life.
Dad!
See, Dad? I'm not crying.
Very good, my girl.
Give me your belt.
That's it.
You have to tighten it hard here.
Very tight.
Mom would be proud of you.
MAY 1, 1952
You're loaded!
Today I brought three more books,
you read so fast lately.
It's my escape.
I read too, every night.
I recognize your words in the books,
like "escape".
Oh, I brought you this too!
I made it myself.
You only brought me one?
Keep reading, read all you can,
because in Spain now
those who know the least rule,
cultural mediocrities,
but Franco won't last forever.
Of the books I brought,
I only had time to read one.
Give me back the others next time
and tell me what you like most.
Next time?
They're processing lots of people.
My girl, very few.
You're just accused of being
a teacher during the Republic.
You didn't to anything wrong.
I did some things,
we were at war.
Yes, but the best thing you did
was teach, educate.
I taught you secular education,
now it's banned.
Well, how are they treating you?
The warden gives me
all the food you bring me.
Although I'm sure
he eats some of it.
Perhaps, it's not easy to know.
Is there something
I should know, girl?
Nothing.
Are you sure? The warden says
there's nothing between you,
but he keeps asking about you.
I keep quiet, of course.
You're not in love?
All I want is for you to be okay.
I'd never be okay if I knew it was
at the cost of your dignity.
Dignity? You see, that word
I also learned in books.
But my dignity is mine alone, Dad.
Are you still cleaning?
Yes, everything they tell me to.
I'd even clean this jail
it they let me see you more.
You see? That's my dignity,
Dad, to be able to see you.
To see you looking well
and dream that one day you'll be free
and we can live together.
Don't worry, Dad, I never cry,
I can control myself.
I love you, my girl.
Here I go!
If in the sky I had power,
this night black as a well,
with the blade of the moon...
Colonel,
this order just arrived.
If I were the queen of daylight,
of the wind and of the sea...
I would wear slave ropes
for your freedom...
Do you want me to undress now?
If your father got out of here,
would you and I keep
seeing each other?
Is he getting out?
Has he been pardoned?
No.
The order comes from above.
What?
Forgive me, Dad, I shouldn't cry.
I'm very sorry, Adela,
but you knew it was coming.
Will he have time to read these books?
He reads very quickly lately.
And to eat all this?
- No.
- What do you mean, no?
What do you mean, no?
Adela...
Adela, please tell me
we'll keep seeing each other.
If he's shot, I'll leave forever.
The order comes from Franco himself.
He wants to make the most
of the 1st of May,
the day of labor,
the day of the Reds.
I want them to let me
weep your sorrows
and to be by your side,
my darling,
drinking the tears
of your loneliness.
I'll be back in two minutes.
Wait for me naked.
FATHERLAND, BREAD AND JUSTICE
Silence!
Opening in Barcelona,
the International Eucharist Congress...
This order must be carried out at once.
Yes, sir.
- He's come from eating up Adela.
- Some guys are lucky.
Look who's signed it.
- The Generalisimo?
- Yes.
What handwriting,
the authority shows.
Come on, everyone form up
in the courtyard, now!
Let's go, now! Come on, now!
In line, double file!
Hut!
Left, left!
Left, right, left!
Halt!
Line up in single file
in front of the wall!
Waiting for the entry
of the prisoners!
Division of prisoners!
First prisoner here!
Second prisoner here!
One-Arm here!
Fourth prisoner here!
Squad! Ready!
Hut!
Aim!
Hut!
Fire!
The end of food rationing
has been decreed,
12 years after implementing
the card scheme.
So, today's the big day, huh?
Yes, I'm introducing her
to my mother, yes.
But have you asked
for her hand already?
No, that's happening today.
Are you going to talk
to her father?
Her parents died in the War.
Well, think that those
bastard Reds killed them.
- To put your mind at ease.
- Think about One-Arm.
Right.
Why did One-Arm bleed so much?
Because you're distracted today
and you shot him in the stump.
No.
Today I got a rifle...
Don't worry, he's in Hell now.
I'm going to give it up.
The uniform.
Hello.
Hello.
- How is it?
- Fine, normal.
I'm not excited by it anymore.
I mean my dress.
Ah,
you look very pretty.
Did you want to tell me today
what was so important?
How did your parents die?
- No one wanted to tell me.
- Good.
What did you do today
that it doesn't thrill you?
Someone lost an arm on the hunt.
You've been hunting?
I'm in the hunting
and fishing brigade, yes.
But I want to give it up.
Especially the hunting,
I want no more rifles in my life.
What do you hunt?
Fishing, fishing,
Fishing is the future.
A fishing rod...
I want to change my life.
With you.
I want us to go and live in Madrid.
The two of us, with a fishing rod.
But what'll we do in Madrid
with a fishing rod?
As my father said:
"with patience and hope".
That's not bad. And to live?
Come, I'll introduce you
to my mother.
Yes?
- Mom, may I?
- Of course.
This is Claudia, my girlfriend.
- Rosa, my mother.
- Hello.
- How are you, my girl?
- Good.
Mom, I want you here
for what I'm going to tell you.
You're the two most important
people in my life
and I want you to help me
to be a good man,
because...
I can't take it anymore.
But you are good.
I want children and when I die
I want them to be proud of me.
May they not speak badly,
may they have nothing
to reproach me for.
I...
still haven't caught a big fish,
so we'll try in a big city
where we can be who we want.
Mom, I've asked Claudia
to go and live in Madrid
and she thought it was
a wonderful idea.
I haven't said anything, but yes...
- But...
- ...I'm going with you.
- You're giving up your military career?
- Fishing.
The hunting and fishing brigade, sorry.
But I'm taking Dad's rod.
- Of course.
- And what about you?
What about me, son?
Will you come with us to Madrid?
Well, I can sell this house.
Franco gave it to me, for the death
of your father, may he rest in peace.
But with that perhaps
we can make a start.
You still haven't asked for my hand.
Oh, well...
SEPTEMBER 22, 1964
MARY QUANT LAUNCHES
MINISKIRT IN LONDON
Aren't you ready yet?
Get dressed, please,
we'll be late for Mass.
Is that your second vermouth?
You know I find it hard to go.
Do it, even if it's for your son,
so he has a more devout mother,
like his schoolmates.
I'm dressing like that, right?
Dark stockings,
a skirt that covers my knees,
a blouse with no neckline, oh...
and the veil.
You know what you could do?
We're going to church
so you could pray for your father
who I'm sure that God
has in Heaven.
- My father's not in Heaven.
- God is infinite, excuse me.
My father didn't do anything wrong.
All the dead from the War,
as long as they had a good heart,
God has taken them
to his bosom.
But my father didn't die in the War
and you know it, he was shot by Franco.
And why don't you forgive?
- That's something else.
- Sure it is.
Going to Mass to forgive
those who shot my father.
We've discussed this many times, Adela.
My parents were Republicans,
but Spain has changed
and Franco, like it or not,
has brought us peace.
And you, Mauricio, faith.
Yes, I believe in God now
more than before,
I don't know what's bad about that.
Nothing, but it seems like
yours is another God
brought by Franco himself in person.
Look, I think in these times
if anything brings Spaniards
together a little, it's God.
Do you know why?
Because He loves us all the same.
So that we love each other.
And if you believed a bit more
in his infinite kindness
it'd help you to forget
this resentment of yours.
Adela, Adela, please,
please, please.
Who cares who his father was?
Adela, love your son more.
- Sure, sure.
- Please.
That's it, fine, okay.
You're right, forgive me.
For Toms you're his only father,
and the best he could have.
I only have gratitude to you.
You've been so good to me.
How do I look, Mom?
- My boy's so handsome!
- Did you see?
Do you need to get anything?
We're running late.
- Are you ready?
- Yes.
Come on.
Let's go.
Let me drive,
I've got my keys.
No, let them see me
at the wheel, please.
- I'd rather Dad drove.
- Of course.
The upholstery still smells, I like it.
Leather from a bull.
Tinged red.
The one you liked, right?
Next year I'd like to enroll
in Philosophy and Letters.
But Mom, studying is a drag.
Adela, I let you get
your high school degree,
for which you neglected the house.
And months ago I consented
to you getting your driver's license
and I paid for it, which wasn't cheap.
Please, don't ask for more.
Well, since I can't study,
I'd like to work,
to go to work every day.
Don't you realize that it
makes me look bad? Adela, please.
It's like I don't earn enough
and I need my wife to work.
No, that's for working class
and small-town families, no, no.
Your family was working class
from a small town.
Yes, Adela, I know.
But I've prospered.
Meanwhile, I have to be
the angel at home?
It's a job blessed by God.
You should devote yourself more
to your son, your husband and...
to the home.
Do you have a complaint
about the home?
Well...
sometimes you drift away
with your reading,
your novels, and I get home
and it's not as clean as it should be.
Sure, you're right.
You tell me that a lot,
that I read too much.
While you only read laws
and procedures.
Toms, do your friends' mothers
work or not?
No. Well, I don't know.
Some take around
a piggy bank for charity.
- Son, that's not a job.
- Why not?
I have an idea.
I'll work and pay a working class,
small-town woman
to get the house spic and span.
And I'll be helping a needy family.
You'll like that, Mauricio,
having a maid gives the family
a lot of prestige.
Come on.
We're going to be late.
Adela, the veil.
Without asking who you were,
I fell in love.
And whoever you are,
I'll always love you.
I don't know where you're from
of what you prefer,
I only know that when I saw you,
I fell in love,
That's why you...
you'll be my baby,
only you, my baby,
baby of my love.
The glow of the sky will change.
What I feel for you will not.
I want nothing from the world,
I have it all in you.
If I ever lose you, I fell in love.
That's why you...
Red vermouth, please.
Only you, my baby,
baby of my love.
Coca-Cola, please.
The Peninsula and the Balearics
remain affected by low pressures...
Do you like Coca-Cola?
It wakes me up more
than coffee when I'm working.
What do you do?
If we're talking devotion,
it's fishing.
Fluvial, river fishing.
You're a fisherman?
No.
Thank you.
But I have my father's fishing rod
in my dining room at home.
I greatly value fishing.
Do you know why?
No.
Because it needs patience and hope.
It's how you get the big things in life,
slowly and hoping they'll come.
What do you hope
to come into your life?
Do you know they've put locks
in the Manzanares River?
Do you know what they are?
They're dams that regulate
the water level.
From afar it looks like a river,
but it's not, there are no fish,
it's dead.
Even if you get close,
it smells rotten.
I've been studying it on my own
to present a report to the Town Hall.
Anyway, to argue that they let
the river run,
let the Manzanares flow.
So...
we could say that you're
a very fluvial person.
I love you calling me fluvial,
I love the expression.
Yes, I like it.
What kind of person are you?
Not much, actually.
I know I need strength, as a woman.
My father gave me all his strength,
for me alone,
and I'm using it up.
Did he die?
In the War?
No.
Afterwards.
Poor man.
I heard the shots.
My father did die in the War.
He, my mother
and I were fishing by the river.
Men came along and shot him.
The image I have
of my father is with...
lots of red holes in his chest.
I'm sorry.
And yours?
He died twelve years ago.
Now my husband is taking it from me.
My strength, I mean.
And my son, who isn't his.
Sorry, I shouldn't...
No, don't worry, ma'am.
Don't apologize.
Carry on if you like, ma'am.
Without asking who you were...
Can you sit next to me, please?
And stop calling me "ma'am"?
I can stop that, yes.
I married while I was pregnant
to man I want to forget.
And my poor son, who believes
my husband is his father,
isn't to blame that
he reminds me of that pig.
He took advantage of me
when I was a kid.
And I'm not being a good mother
or a good wife.
But you have a conscience.
And I know I need strength,
as a woman.
Right...
I want you
to give me your strength.
Yes, but how do I...?
And whoever you are...
Who are you?
Where did you come from?
I was just going to
ask you that question.
- My name is...
- No.
What?
I don't know where you're from
or what you prefer.
I only know that when I saw you,
I fell in love,
I don't want
to know your name,
who you are
or anything about you.
- I'd like to know yours.
- Really?
Well...
I'm the woman who's going
to pay for your Coca-Cola.
Come, come with me.
- Where?
- My car's outside.
Mine too.
Do you know in London
they have miniskirts?
That's my taxi.
You parked next to my car.
I need all your strength.
Come to me, my fluvial man.
Thank you.
After 25 years of peace with Franco,
Spain becomes to top tourist
power in Europe.
- Hello, family.
- Hello, son.
The largest number of visitors choose
the cities of Valencia and Alicante...
- Hello, honey.
- Hi, Dad.
- How are you?
- Good.
- How was your day?
- Good.
Yes?
- Take that! Take that!
- Take that!
- Take that! Take that!
- Take that!
How many times have I told you?
No popguns in the house!
- Bang! Bang! Bang!
- Bang! Bang! Bang!
You didn't do well today.
Your mother's back is getting worse.
She should stop cleaning
at the hospital.
I'm going to clean
two more houses
and you'll have to put in
more hours in the taxi.
You've been at the library
today, haven't you?
No, not exactly.
Right.
Your mother's paying with her health
for the time you waste studying...
I'm not wasting time, I never spend
more than two hours at the library.
Well, studying overstates it.
It's your nonsense about
letting the Manzanares flow.
The Manzanares again?
- Oh, for God's sake.
- Mom.
Madrid's not a city for fish,
get that through your head.
How's your back?
You needn't worry
about my back.
Even your father,
may he rest in peace,
would've thought
this Manzanares thing was drivel.
I think he'd like it.
You carry on with that idea,
no more talking.
Boys, to the table!
I'll put in four more hours
in the taxi
Do what you like, but I'm not
going stop cleaning in the hospital
for my son to stop having
dinner with his family at home.
You should've carried on
as a soldier.
I want to be a soldier, Grandma.
Honey.
JUNE 3, 1977
A year and a half
after Franco's death,
Spain, constituted
as a parliamentary monarchy,
prepares for democratic elections
next June 15.
The last elections were 41 years ago,
at the end of the Second Republic,
in February 1936,
five months before the military coup
that unleashed a three-year civil war
that led Franco to govern as
a dictatorship for almost 40 years.
My boy, we're entering a new Spain.
We can now forget this
fucking dictatorship forever.
- Mom!
- Sorry, Venancio.
This dictatorship blessed by God.
Don't confuse the boy,
Adela, please.
Well, no, blessed by you too,
and many like you who say
you were democrats deep down.
Now you won't let me
be a democrat.
Look, Adela,
it seemed to me that Francoism
was the best system of government
we Spaniards could have
while it lasted,
because we deserved it
and now we have the chance
for democracy. Do you know why?
Because we've grown,
we've matured as a society.
And in this new Spain
you're talking about, we all fit.
Right.
Do sexists as well,
or are you going to stop being so?
- Dad's not sexist!
- Ha!
- Mom, he treats you with respect.
- Right. Sure.
Not like your friends' father
with their wives, you're right.
And he doesn't hit me.
It's true, boys, your father
raises his hand and voice at me,
but he never hits me.
Though he wants to deep down,
I see it in his face and I'm scared.
Can you leave your mother
and I alone for a moment?
No! No one is leaving!
Don't leave me alone
with your father.
- What are you insinuating?
- Dad, don't take the bait.
- What are you insinuating?
- You can't talk like that.
Do you know in the democracy
they're approving the divorce law?
Family, would you be in favor
of Spain legalizing divorce?
Just so you know, my sons,
there was already a Divorce Law
in the Republic in 1932.
- No, I wouldn't be in favor.
- Right.
I don't want you to go, Mom.
Don't worry, I'll never leave you,
we're discussing something else.
- And you, husband, what?
- Look, Adela,
one thing is us having different
political ideas, and another
is allowing to make this scene
in front of our sons.
You're disrespecting me
and my whole family.
For or against divorce?
Adela, I know you're not very devout,
I know that very well,
but that day in church,
on our wedding day,
you swore before God and me
you'd be married to me for life.
What God has joined together,
let no man put asunder.
As well as to God, did you not
make a personal promise?
- I think you read a lot.
- What?
You read too much, those novels
contaminate the soul.
- I read... So my soul's contaminated!
- Exactly!
No! Not yours! Mister Mauricio's
is safe with Jesus Christ!
You know what? I'll say it.
You blessed and praised
by God are hypocrites! I said it!
Watch what you say, Adela, please.
- Go on, say it!
- Watch what you say!
Would you legalize divorce or not?
For or against?
Against, always, do you know why?
You're my wife and you have
no right to be anything else!
I knew it.
I knew it. Let's go, son.
What are you going to do?
What are you going to do?
Get a divorce! Illegally!
Let's go.
Come on.
Pack a bag with the basics, let's go!
I had to put up
with you getting pregnant
by who knows who
that day you ran out of the church.
You think I didn't count?
And I forgave you.
No, you didn't forgive me.
For you, Venancio isn't your son,
he's someone else's.
Who were you with?
Fucking tell me!
Don't touch me!
Never, ever,
talk to me like that again!
I've had to put up with not being
the father of our two sons,
and now you're leaving me?
Is that it?
Are you deserting me?
I'd have like
to have gotten pregnant by you,
but it's not my fault you're sterile.
I'm not Dad's son?
Toms, you and I will see
each other when we want.
I'll always be your mother,
you'll never lose me.
I love you.
Are you still like that?
Hurry up, let's go.
- What does basics mean?
- Whatever, honey, anything.
- The Indian chief.
- Fine, he'll give us strength.
- Dad.
- Adela, please...
- What's this about not being your son?
- Toms isn't Dad's son?
I'll tell you everything later, let's go.
- Adela, I beg you, don't go.
- Don't beg me.
I'm begging you. Where will you go?
You have nothing, you have no one.
I'll work, finally.
I'll let you work.
We'll change the house rules.
Let's discuss it as a family.
I just want us to be happy,
you first of all, my love.
I've always been the last.
Please, come on. Hurry.
Please! Please, Adela!
Let her!
Adela! Adela, please!
Dad, let her.
Please, don't debase yourself.
Adela.
Mom, is this the new Spain
you're defending?
Let's go.
- You're destroying a family!
- Venancio...
Come on! Let's go!
Taxi!
Taxi!
Adela!
Thank you.
Keep me informed, please.
- Mom, this is a joke, huh?
- No.
- This is serious?
- Yes.
I know, I'll get Geyperman,
the explorer, the American soldier...
- Don't worry, they'll send you them.
- To where?
I don't know.
Taxi, taxi!
Come on, let's go!
Let's go.
Come on.
Where to?
Just take us.
I don't know, I'll look around
to where we want to stop.
- An adventure?
- Yes, that's right.
You see? I should've got
the Geyperman explorer.
So you have no preference?
Neighborhood, street, life style,
or would you rather I chose?
Yes, but we don't want
a specific neighborhood, right?
Just to live near nice, peaceful,
open, free people...
That's relative.
Sure. You're right, sorry.
No need to apologize to me,
on the contrary.
We want a change of life,
even of persona.
I want to be a good mother.
Without Dad?
So, will you let me think
about where to take you?
Sure, that's why we got in your taxi.
I grateful for the trust.
Are they your sons?
Yes, when they were small.
I haven't changed the photos.
My daughter is a hairdresser,
my eldest son is a soldier and
the youngest, I don't know what he'll be.
And your wife?
My wife hasn't aged well,
especially in her temper.
- Gee, I'm sorry.
- She's getting worse.
- Have you thought about divorce?
- Ha! Divorce...
Mom...
What's wrong? People in Spain
will soon be able to divorce.
My mother would have
a heart attack if I got divorced.
Right.
What's your soldier son's name?
Octavito, Octavio.
Like my grandfather,
my father and me.
Do you know if...
they're returning the flow
to the Manzanares River?
I'm so glad you ask.
I've been studying
that project for years.
I did a biology degree
all by myself too.
Maybe one day
I'll work at the Town Hall
and convince them that
the Manzanares must flow.
My fluvial man.
That's why you,
you'll be my baby,
only you, my baby.
Baby of my love.
Mom, you're caressing
the taxi driver.
Yes, son, because this taxi driver
is a good man.
And besides...
you're his father.
I've just separated from my husband
and getting in your taxi is the first
thing I've done in my new life.
Do you want meet up?
- Tonight?
- Yes.
Stop!
At 12, in the bar of that hotel.
- Here.
- Go on.
No, forget it. Forget it.
It's the best drive of my life.
If you want, bring your luggage.
- How much luggage?
- The basics.
Dad!
Madrid is beating Atleti, 1-0.
Because they called a penalty
when it wasn't.
You're a goddamn Atleti fan, eh?
Come here.
What a pain.
You can't show off today, eh?
And you laugh as well?
Look, eh?
Everything we fought for
in the war...
Spanish values have gone to hell.
Come on, Grandma,
don't be so closed off.
I'm not betraying my principles,
so I'm not voting.
I like this Surez,
he's in the center.
- Who are you voting for, son?
- Me?
Look here...
Family, it's very simple.
They want democracy now?
Then we'll vote for Francoism.
Fuerza Nueva. And we warn:
We've got our eyes on you!
We have another war and win.
What's wrong with you, Dad?
What are you doing?
I'm going.
- You're going?
- Yes.
Yes.
Dinner!
Dinner, dinner as a family first.
Did you bang your head, or what?
What's going on?
What are you doing, Mom?
When you were born,
your father said...
"He's a fish!
Rosa,
we must give this boy
the name of a fish!".
Grandma, Grandma!
No, no, no!
Claudia, call an ambulance!
Mom! Mom!
Grandma has no pulse.
Dad, don't cry like that!
MAY 10, 1992
The Spanish people have reason
to feel proud of this 1992...
Hold it, I'm just going
to measure you.
...in which we're celebrating
exactly 500 years
of the founding of Spain
by the Catholic Monarchs,
and of the discovery of America
by Christopher Columbus.
Our young democracy, which had to
overcome a coup 11 years ago,
now celebrates that Spain is
a buoyant, exultant, modern nation,
after almost half a century
of darkness.
Last April saw the opening of
the Universal Exposition of Seville,
and the first high-speed train
that links
the capitals of Spain
and of Andalusia.
And next summer there'll be
the Barcelona Olympic Games.
So, you're really going
to the game?
My sons convinced me.
Because you buy their tickets.
That's true.
See you tomorrow.
Hello.
How are you, Dad?
You look nice.
Weren't you an Atleti fan?
And he is, he is.
How do I tell my friends
I've come with an Atleti infiltrator?
What are you saying?
Don't overdo it.
How are your kids?
Good, good, good.
They didn't want to come because
they're Atleti fans, like their dad.
Well, that's better.
This way I get some
free time with my family.
It's been ages
since we were together.
At least your grandchildren
had the decency not to come.
Not like this guy.
If it's to beat the Catalans,
I'm willing to make a truce.
I'm going to Bernabu,
to cheer on Madrid.
That's what you've got to do.
Especially today.
These Catalans have got big heads
about the Olympics.
You wait how it turns out...
They say the organization's a mess,
that it's too big for them.
We have to stay united
as Spaniards now.
But it's them, they always
want to be different.
A lot of them feel more
like Catalans than Spaniards.
Some people detest Spain.
It's their damn superiority complex.
That's it!
And I'm told a lot of far-left groups
come from Barcelona.
Goddamn separatists.
Right then, we'll crack
their fucking skulls.
Hey, I don't want any
scuffles with them. Got it?
No.
Relax, Dad,
nothing's going to happen.
How's your mother?
- Hysterical.
- And depressed.
- I'm very worried about her.
- Really?
I may go see her one day.
No, Dad, for God's sake.
That'll be worse.
Her only consolation
is hating you.
Well...
Tonight, Madrid
welcomes Bara at Bernabu.
The classic Spanish match
always has a special thrill.
The match broadcast will have
wide international coverage.
Please!
Thanks for inviting me.
I really wanted to come with you.
Me too.
And I told my friends...
"You know my Mom's taking me
to Madrid for the Bara game?"
"You really go to the football
with your mom?". And they laughed.
You must've also told them:
"I'm going with my mom because
I can watch it from the box".
Yes. And they all protested.
"Lucky you, that's why!"
Soon there'll be no need
to come with me, but...
You see how easy it can be
to get into the publishing house?
Clearly, yes.
Thanks. What a mother I've got.
You don't have to thank me.
You passed your doctorate
in Literature with flying colors.
At the publishing house they say
"Nancho has great reading ability,
he can see beyond".
I owe that to you.
No, you're wrong.
I tell them: "That reading ability
is from his grandfather Venancio".
Go Madrid!
Real Madrid!
Long live Franco!
Franco, Franco, Franco!
These people scare me, son.
Venancio!
Venancio!
Venancio, here!
Man! Venancio!
Just a moment on, it's Jordi.
Venancio!
Venancio!
What's up?
What's going on?
I came with my mother.
To see the game?
With your mother? Seriously?
Long live Bara!
Sons of bitches!
Fucking Madrid!
Fucking Madrid!
Fucking Catalonia!
That's my son! That's my son!
Hold on.
Two ambulances are coming now.
Please.
What happened?
The three of us were together.
Octavito went to greet
some fans and suddenly,
he ran off like mad.
Those Bara guys provoked it.
And you know how Vito gets.
Who provoked whom?
It's okay. It's okay.
How are you?
Excuse me, excuse me!
You can't go in.
You have to wait here.
My son, they're seeing him.
- Mine too, there was a fight.
- Right.
Yes, I came with him
in the ambulance.
He's just unconscious.
It'll be nothing. Just shock.
Mine was given a beating.
His face was bleeding badly.
I almost don't recognize him.
I'm sorry.
I waited all night
like I've never waited for anyone.
The whole week.
I stayed for a month in the hotel
with Venancio, with our...
our son.
That night I got home,
got my father's fishing rod,
started to pack
and my mother had a stroke.
She died in my arms.
Then,
after all this time,
I think I'll forgive you.
That'll be good. For me, I mean.
I'm so sorry your mother died.
Really.
But after 15 years,
I think I do forgive you.
Right?
- Ma'am.
- Yes?
I'm very sorry to tell you that...
your son has passed away.
What? No, no, no, no.
It can't be. My son was fine.
It can't be. No, no, no, no!
My boy! My boy!
Ma'am, I'm going to give you a sedative.
It can't be!
You're wrong, you're wrong.
Dad, we can see Vito now.
Are you okay?
Are you okay?
Coming...
This lady...
Who is she?
An old friend.
Her son just died.
I give you all the strength
you can take from me.
It's all yours.
I'm yours.
Dad!
What?
- The police are questioning Vito.
- What?
I don't know.
Excuse me. I'm his father.
What's going on?
Several witnesses state
that your son, with this bar,
hit the head of the young man
who has just died.
Dad, what do we do?
We're not abandoning your brother.
We'll help him get over this
so he forgives himself one day
and apologizes to that woman too.
And me, I'm the father
of both of them.
Of Vito...
and Venancio.
He was called Venancio.
MARCH 25, 2008
THE FATHER OF CAIN
Adela Rey
- To whom?
- To Luca.
Thank you.
- To whom?
- To Miguel, please.
"THE FATHER OF CAIN",
THE NOVEL BY ADELA REY,
WHICH STIRRED CONSCIENCES
IN SPAIN,
HAS REACHED 500,000 COPIES.
Thank you.
- Only one left.
- Great. Thanks.
To whom?
To Octavio, the father of Cain.
And Abel.
"To Octavio.
Father of Cain and Abel.
Mysterious fluvial man
who appears and disappears".
- You've handled it a lot.
- Yes, a lot.
With my eyes.
I've been over it again and again.
And it always makes
my blood run cold.
But I've also found warmth.
And you've always made
my imagination soar.
And my mind has never
stopped reflecting.
It's a wonderful novel.
The best I've ever read.
And I'm glad that half a million
Spaniards from the two Spains
have been able to reflect
on what you've written.
My whole family has read it,
my children.
Thank you.
Well?
Can we talk for a moment?
Adela.
Please.
Cristina, thanks a lot.
I'm going home.
I'd like to talk to you
for a second.
I was at the funeral.
I didn't dare come over.
I felt too guilty.
I didn't know what to say.
You can't cry.
You can't cry.
Your father clearly told you
that you couldn't cry.
Look at me.
You can't cry.
It's alright, it's alright.
Let's go somewhere.
I'll take you home.
I have my car here, if you like.
I live in the mountains.
I bought my father's house.
I know.
Shall we go?
Yes. Take me home.
I'M TAKING HER HOME.
From what I've read,
you've researched me thoroughly.
And apart from keeping my name,
I didn't know we were born
on the same day at almost the same time.
That same dawn when
the Second Republic was proclaimed.
You, from Soto de Abajo
and I from Soto de Arriba,
two towns separated
by three kilometers.
And that your son, the developer
Manuel Goya, joined together.
Now they're just one town.
True.
But there are two things
that you don't know
and I think
would've fit into your novel.
What are they?
I don't quite know where to start.
You...
You describe your father
as a noble, brave teacher
who defended the Republic
until the end.
But your father didn't just kill
Nationals in combat.
He was also on firing squads that
killed neighbors from the other side.
- That's not true.
- Yes.
And my father died
in the assault on Soto de Abajo,
when your father went
into the school with you.
My father died
fishing by the river.
A group of militiamen arrived,
grabbed him in front of his wife
and eight-year-old son
and shot him.
They riddled him with bullets.
How do you know my father
was among them? You didn't know him.
It was your father
who set up the firing squad.
It was he who took him
behind the bushes.
And?
well?
You also wrote
that I was in the mountain barracks
when your father was shot.
That's true.
And you had the decency
to not specify that I was part
of his firing squad. Thank you.
That day I?
I didn't know?
I picked up a rifle and it turned out
to be my father's.
The rifle that your father
took from mine.
I know because the sight
was raised and twisted.
And yes, I had to shoot
the one-armed man.
But my bullet wasn't
the one that killed him.
I was so nervous about having
to fire my father's gun
that I shot him in the stump.
I didn't kill him.
I remember he bled and bled,
but it wasn't me.
Right then I decided
to quit being a soldier
and swapped the rifle
for the fishing rod.
It was later,
when I read the novel,
that I found out that the one-armed man,
Venancio Rey, was your father.
So you see.
- It's there.
- Yes, I know.
Do you want to come inside
for a while?
I'd love to.
I'M ENTERING HER HOUSE
Do you live alone?
Yes. And you?
Yes. I do as well.
I'm writing another novel.
About what?
About the future, on the Moon.
- The Moon?
- Yes.
A nice trip, yes.
He was the best son
a mother could have.
And a father.
There's something I didn't do right
in Octavito's upbringing, for sure.
Well...
I know he just got out of jail,
he's on parole,
he only served 15 years...
But you and I aren't going
to talk about that.
- No.
- No.
Look.
My son is ruined.
This crisis has burst
the real estate bubble.
- Do you see that sector there?
- Yes.
It's paralyzed.
So, is the Manzanares
flowing or not?
I've spent 20 years recovering the rivers
of Spain so they have plenty of fish.
After I retired, they kept calling me.
But the Manzanares is resisting.
I'm in touch with the Town Hall, but...
I hope to achieve it before I die.
That's Toms, my son, the eldest.
Because of Venancio's death,
we saw each other again.
He's a lawyer, like his father,
my ex-husband,
who died ten years ago.
He's into politics.
He says he's a liberal centrist.
Interesting.
Right.
- Listen closely, Octavio Goya.
- What?
Come here.
We come from families that were
enemies in the Civil War,
who killed each other.
You and I
should never talk about politics.
You're right, my dear Adela.
Dear?
Do you like living alone?
Yes, I'm used to it.
Me too.
Yes, but I'd rather something else.
Something?
Something, no.
Someone with me.
- All the time?
- Until the end.
How long do we have left?
You don't know
how often I've thought
that I was wrong not to go to you
after my mother's death.
Good heavens.
And I shouldn't have let you go
when we did it in the car.
The black veil. Outrageous!
The number of times
I've thought about that sex.
Me too.
Do you want to stay here?
- Maybe you don't like my house.
- I love it.
Lately I've been thinking about
coming to live in the mountains.
Then come spend what life
we have left with me.
No.
To live better than ever.
Do you think we can still
be happy together?
I can't believe you're
proposing this to me.
Well, I've seen it in your eyes.
It's the dream of my life.
More than the Manzanares, it's the dream
I couldn't allow myself to dream.
Well, I'll allow you.
You threw an apple at me.
You don't remember,
I was leaving the barracks.
You didn't put it in your novel.
I don't believe it.
Well, in the next one.
Now hug me, please.
Did you still want sex?
Hey, it's been a while since...
But with you maybe
I could turn into a teenager.
I still have the black veil.
- Seriously?
- As a memento, yes.
Come.
Come.
In this bed my mother
brought me into the world.
I'm not opening up.
I am, do you mind?
One moment.
I'm sorry, ma'am.
For what I did to your son.
To your son, Dad.
To my brother.
I'm sorry.
I apologize in my name...
and in that of my family.
In that of our entire existence.
Cry, cry.
Cry.
It's all right.
No...
Cry, my love.
Now you should cry.
APRIL 14, 2021
Happy birthday to you,
happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday to you two,
happy birthday to you,
Let's go, let's go!
One, two and three!
- Come on, guys!
- Champions!
Almost!
A little help, come on.
One, two and...?
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday, family!
Happy birthday!
To your 90s and more!
Here, honey.
They look so good. They're divine.
Hey, hey!
Hey!
Do you love each other or not?
You do love each other!
Since you're so different,
which is appreciated,
don't argue about politics,
because you'll never
convince your opponent,
much less in such a Spanish tone.
He's absolutely right.
- Manu!
- Yes?
- Take us home.
- Of course.
Don't go!
It's fine. Don't worry.
Don't worry.
It's our politicians' fault,
they have us at each other's throats.
Take this as a goodbye, everyone.
We love you, family.
Us too, forgive us.
You are our life.
Careful here.
Careful here, Dad.
- Thanks, son.
- You're welcome.
Watch that tile, it wobbles.
There.
Be careful there.
And the last step, there.
Thank you.
Thanks, Manu,
for organizing this wonderful
birthday lunch.
It's been ages since
we were all together.
A long time.
Well, never.
We'd never all sat
at the same table together.
And there was La,
our fifth great-grandchild,
who's three months old.
The coronavirus vaccine
has succeeded in lowering
the number of deaths
of elderly people,
as well as the general
incidence of infection.
Without the vaccine, we wouldn't have
been able to celebrate your 90th birthday.
Now only the young
need vaccinating.
And we're grateful you took
the test to be able to be here.
Listen...
Did you divert the river's course
to make that golf course?
Yes, well, it was a decision
by the Town Hall,
by the majority.
There's a moat.
You'll have been nice enough
to put in a few fish, no?
No, but it's no problem.
Tomorrow I'll ask...
You'd like there to be fish?
My father would be thrilled.
That was the section of river
where he most liked to fish.
Do you want us to put
a little cross where...?
No.
Did you know that the Manzanares
is full of retirees who fish,
return the fish to the river with
a perforated mouth and a terrible fright?
Sure, sure, sure.
OCTAVIO GOYA, WHO GOT THE MANZANARES
TO FLOW AFTER 60 YEARS.
The fact that fish abound
doesn't mean they can catch them.
Right. So fishing rods stay there,
on the wall.
Imagine you're snatched by
the mouth out of your medium.
It's like humans being drowned
for a while, water torture.
You're not a fisherman.
You tricked me, old man.
You've never fished in your life.
Not like your father.
Now he was a fisherman.
I took almost a whole life,
77 years exactly, to catch you.
- Now you call me a fish.
- And I did it with that rod.
With patience and hope.
I learned that from my father.
Come on.
Has the test result come?
Let me have it, I saw you,
I saw your son, Manu,
giving you some paper.
- Let me have it.
- Wait a little.
So you know the result.
And you preferred to wait
for us to celebrate our birthday.
It was good, wasn't it?
They got a bit annoying at the end.
I loved seeing the progeny
we've left behind.
I've spent all week
getting used to the idea.
I can't get the doctor's face
out of my mind.
I have it here in my mind
when he said:
"Well,
we still have to wait for
the result of the tests".
It's given me time to prepare.
For the trip, I mean.
Come on.
How long do I have left?
Six months at most.
Don't cry!
You, eh?
Right.
Six months.
I knew it.
In which I'll go senile,
lose my sanity with a brain tumor
I don't want you to look after me
and see me half-nuts
and screaming in pain.
Come on, don't cry any more.
I'm going.
- Where to?
- To the bed I was born in.
To sleep and to dream
that maybe there's a state,
an energy in which my mind
and soul can float
and become part of the universe,
do you understand?
- I've stockpiled.
- Stockpiled what?
Remember the other day
you wanted to go with me to the pharmacy
and I didn't want you to?
Well, I told Elena I couldn't find
my sleeping pills
and to prescribe me another bottle.
Then I called your daughter Ins,
who takes them as well,
to bring lunch today
and another full bottle.
She's a darling, your Ins,
she always has been.
Don't ask me not to do it,
I beg you.
Come on, after the bad news
I have some good:
I'm leaving this world
without suffering.
How many pills do you have?
Look... Hear that?
- I think I'll reach the Moon.
- Then I'll go to the Moon with you.
- No.
- Yes.
- Don't you dare.
- Yes.
- No.
- I don't want to live without you.
Please, you spent your
whole life without me.
That's not true.
You've been in my life secretly
since you put on that black veil
and lay down on that red
leather upholstery.
Old man, you're always
on about the same thing.
Right.
In fact, our lives were connected
from the start.
The same doctor, the same hands
attended our mothers at our birth.
No! Octavio, you're fit as a fiddle.
No, you overcame COVID
at 89 years old.
Because I'm your partner.
Stop it, don't say that.
Because I want
to keep living with you.
What a short time I've lasted.
You're so silly.
- Listen.
- What?
Look at me.
Accept me on your ship.
When does it take off?
Please.
Whenever we want.
I'm thinking right now
of a date and I think...
- Right.
- Right, what?
The same day we came
into this world
seems the best day
to leave it for another.
Today.
Go on, now then.
And no more talk.
Go on, you weigh more than I do.
One, two and three.
Like hide and seek.
I can't swallow them.
I can't.
I... can't.
Relax, honey, relax.
You've always gotten nervous
before you travel.
You're on the rocket, but I...
- I couldn't go alone.
- No.
No. Can you imagine?
Didn't anything like this happen
in one of your novels?
That one person stayed on Earth?
Come on.
Come.
I've had the best days
of my life with you.
All my life
has been worth it
for the time I've lived with you.
You're the best man
I've ever met.
You're an incredible woman.
With an army of women like you,
I'd save the world.
Would you like to be born again?
I don't know,
but if you decide to, tell me.
Listen...
If I find God would you come?
Well now, maybe.
What a cheek!
Your whole life without believing,
and now...
Relax, if it's with me
God won't be waiting
for you anywhere.
True.
First stop, the Moon, right?
And from the Moon, where to?
Venus.
I've always wanted to see Venus.
- You're always thinking the same thing.
- We can have a shag there.
Done.
I'm imagining it.
Me too.
I'm inside you.
Don't come out.
Never.
Ever.
TO ALL SPANIARDS,
EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM
Translation: Lindsay Moxham