Tabu (2012) Movie Script
presents
in co-producntion with
a film by
TABU
Under the rain and scorching sun,
a melancholic creature
treks through jungles
and arid lands for months.
In the heart of the black contlnent,
neither beasts nor cannibals
seem to frighten
then intrepid explorer.
Followed by a contingent of men
carrying beads fabrics
and modern
scientlfic exmpedition tools.
The group includes in its ranks
His Majesty the King of Portugal,
or at least his will,
as expressed in a royal decree,
and He who is above
who all creatures call Creator,
and whose voice lives in the Bible.
But even if his legs move forward
by superior will
sovereign or divine
the heart, the most insolent
muscle of all anatomy,
dictates other reasons for the march.
Poor miserable man!
This whimsical organ
rules over both King and the Eternal.
So we here by reveal
the true law of this expedition
to roam the ends of the world
walking away from the land where he saw
his beloved wife perish,
as if he could ever stop death.
Intrepid he is,
but out of desperation.
Taciturn and melancholic,
the sad flgure wannders desolately
over thne inhospitable planes.
And by mysteries unknown,
he is visited from afar by the one
whom his heart begs for,
wearing
- oh morbid detail! -
the dress that hugged her
when she returned to dust.
You may run as far as you can,
for as long as you like,
but you will not escape your heart.
Then I will die.
You sad and poor soul.
A crocodile awaits its moment,
submerged in murky waters.
The intrepid explorer is well aware
he will meet his destiny in this river.
His men witness the horror.
The explorer bids farewell to life.
Night falls in the savannah,
as will a thousand and one more.
Then and ever since,
despite how absurd this may sound
to men of reason
some swear to have witnessed
this ghoulish sight:
a sad and melancholic crocodile
with a lady from days gone by,
an inseparable pair
united by a mysterious pact
never broken by death.
PART ONE.
A LOST PARADISE
Let's go, Maya!
Hello.
Hi, Miss Aurora.
Yes.
All right.
OK.
Yes, Santa?
Miss Aurora called from the casino.
She has lost everything.
She has no money for the train.
Remember our conversation
a few months ago?
You told me
you wouldn't come back here.
My dear Pilar,
this time was different to the others.
Do you have any money left, Aurora?
No, dear. All gone.
So it was the same.
No, Pilar. It was different.
It was from a dream.
From a dream?
There were monkeys
with very hairy arms.
They were all fighting. Losts of them.
In the kitchen,
the living room, the bedroom...
All biting each other.
I even told them
to get out and be friends.
But all they wanted to do was bite.
What at nightmare!
I had to phone my daughter
to ask her to get me a lawyer.
And then I was somewhere else!
At the house of a friend
who died over ten years ago,
poor thing.
We were eating toast
with pumpkin jam delicious.
And one monkey could speak,
but sometimes
the monkey was her husband.
Thinking back,
her husband was a really hairy man.
When he pulled his sleeves up
you could see lots of hair.
Sometimes he was a monkey,
sometimes the husband.
I had to phone my daughter,
in case she came to visit
and saw only the biting monkeys.
To stop her from thinking
they had eaten me.
Then again... my daughter hardly
ever visits me anyway.
She can't, poor thing.
Especially now she's in Canada.
But you know what dreams are like.
We can't command them...
So the husband, or the monkey...
said he had made a fortune
on the machines at the casino,
in the old casino,
since the new one in rubbish.
The wife replied,
"Lucky at gambling, unlucky in love. "
And I thought she said that
because she was cheating on him.
She was dead,
so she was cheating on him
with the dead.
Even with some foreign celebrities.
The husband heard this
and was very sad.
I took the train with him
because I felt sorry for him.
I told him there were
other dedicated and honest women.
Like Our Lady.
When the ticket inspector came,
the husband pretended to be a monkey
and hung from the things
that people hold on to.
I had no ticket
so the inspector took me to get one,
but the ticket machine
was a casino betting machine.
I felt anxious in front of it,
the collector would say a colour,
I would bet the opposite
and always win.
Until I thought
maybe he was telling the truth.
And I had to decide
if I bet what he said,
or the opposite, or take the money.
I woke up before the end
and decided I had to come here
to see if I was lucky
I am such a fool:
people's lives are not like dreams.
But if I hadn't come
I'd still he wondering...
Are you mad at me, Santa?
What a dismal day.
The forecast was rain.
Nonsense...
I won't eat all these prawns, Santa.
I'll be alone for dinner, after all.
The Polish girl isn't coming.
They're for you and Miss Aurora.
We've already had dinner.
They'll go to waste.
I've kept lots.
Thank you, Miss Pilar.
How I decided to travel the world:
I was born in York in 1632...
...to a good family.
After becoming a rich man,
my father retired from business
and settled down in this town.
He had married my mother...
It is thought...
...to be a hideout...
...of the Moors...
...of the Moors and Romans.
This here was a passage
to the castle of Torres Novas.
All I'm telling you
is not reality but tales.
Incidentally, there is no proof.
But if remains were found,
it could be true.
This way.
Someone asked if there are bats. Sure!
We can't see them
but we can check if they're here now.
For 23 years,
I performed my duty
respectfully and with care.
I buried 280 corpses.
Any others around,
and I'm ready to do my job.
Man, do you talk nothing but nonsense?
The World War II invasions
only strengthened
centuries-old Catholicism.
Centuries old?
Millennia, Pilar, millennia!
Rather more apostolic than Roman,
if you follow...
Not really.
Look, my dear,
losing your guest isn't that bad.
Damn Taizs!
All happily stuffing themselves
with "nata" cakes and smoking joints
after singing the psalms!
- How silly
Even the toughest Pole
would soften
at my dearest friend
Pilar's hospitality.
As for the carrot cake,
it won't go to waste.
"A slice is kept
for the one who will eat it".
I must admit,
all this climbing has made me hungry.
Not today,
I have to finish, my report
for the Peace and Justice committee.
I can't focus, I'm too worried
about my neighbour's crisis.
You worry about everything.
Sometimes I regret that
I haven't stepped on an African mine...
just to get your attention.
- You didn't even go to war.
Varices...
We've lost a soldier and won an artist.
I'm glad.
And your neighbour?
It makes me sorry
to see her all alone.
She must be having a breakdown.
She saw so little of her daughter
at Christmas.
She was in Portugal for 3 or 4 days
and had only minutes for her mother.
Left her a gift
and went to meet her husband's family.
Do you find that acceptable?
You want to see me dead!
Ungrateful! You wish for my death!
I'll kill myself right away!
- Come home, madam.
Give me my pills, black woman!
None left. If you want pills,
get them from your daughter.
How dare you?
You turned my daughter against me
with your witchcraft!
Pilar! Open up, Pilar!
You are my only friend.
Nobody cares about me...
"For Pilar"
"My dear friend,
my maid locks me in my bedroom.
I'm sure my daughter doesn't know,
or she would fire her
and take me to the doctor's
so I can get the sleeping pills I need.
I fear my daughter
has been irremediably poisoned
by this devil worshipper's
lies and witchcrafts.
Because she never listens to me
and thinks I am mad.
Pilar, I need to see you urgently.
You're the only one I can trust.
Yours. Aurora"
Pilarita, we're very concerned.
You must be very sad,
missing the little Polish
nun's company.
We came to pay you a visit.
Delicious cake!
It's the only one I can make.
- Really good.
Oh, a new painting!
It's modern... and weird.
It was a gift from my painter friend.
He's a good man
but this is not this best.
I thought me might come today,
didn't want to disappoint him
if it wasn't on the wall.
But as he's not coming...
Santa, give me another slice.
This will be my dinner.
Have some more, too,
you won't have to worry later.
I'm fine, thank you.
I'll do that later, Santa.
I like doing it.
Don't you think Ms Aurora has been
more nervous lately?
She complains she can't slepp...
- She wakes up early.
Ms Aurora is special, has a tendency
to exgerate a lot of imagination.
That's true.
...but I think she's not well.
We should do something.
Madam, I do as I am told.
I think she's having a breakdown.
She needs medication,
not a "crazy" tag.
Her daughter is the boss.
But her daughter doesn't care!
Don't you see that, Santa?
Excuse me, madam.
I've had a wonderful idea:
You will make another cake
for Santa's birthday.
Have you told Pilar, Santa?
She's having a party at mine,
and even have a few cousins round.
That's much better.
Sometimes people give us presents
that don't suit us at all.
They mean well
but they don't know our taste.
See this? A present from my daughter.
It's very soft
and suits me really well.
It has this beluga print,
those whales she studies in Canada.
That way she knows
I won't forget her.
"PETITION FOR THE APPALLED ECONOMISTS"
"CAMPAIGN.
HUMAN RIGHTS = LESS POVERTY"
"ARMS TRAFFICKING, RISE IN DEATHS"
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us the wrong we have done
as we forgive those who wrong us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from the devil...
Amen.
Lord, please watch over Ms Aurora
who has been so restless.
Give her some peace.
Santa made no mistakes
in this dictation.
She has made enormous progress,
an example to us all.
I think I know why that is.
Santa told me
she has been reading a book.
Isn't that right, Santa?
- Yes.
Which book?
Robinson Crusoe.
Extraordinary!
What's the book about?
This is too much work, Santa.
It'll be the last time.
An old lady like me doesn't need this.
That's life, Ms Aurora.
Have you got any money for me, Santa?
No, you spent it all at the casino.
You'll have to ask your daughter.
I'm going out. I won't be long.
You're not pawning that coat, are you?
- What a nerve!
Your daughter will be angry
if you come back
without the coat like last time.
Monster!
I am the prisoner of a monster!
How is Ms Aurora?
- She's lying down.
Santa, this can't go on.
We'll have to call her daughter.
I need her number.
I'm not allowed to give out her number.
You'll have to ask Ms Aurora.
Is this the way to treat someone?
Can't you see your nistress needs help?
Why do you have to mind
other people's business?
Who is it, Santa?
It's Ms Pilar.
Leave, Santa.
My friens, I'm so glad you're here.
You won't believe what's happening.
They want to see me dead.
- Calm down, Ms Aurora.
I can't. You don't know a thing.
I do but nobody else does.
I don't want to go to hell.
Pilar,
I beg you to pray to Saint Anthony!
You're so kind, like no other.
He will listen to you.
I pray, but he doesn't listen to me.
And I know why.
- Ms Aurora...
You're too good to imagine
other people's crimes.
Horrors I am ashamed to confess.
I know I'm paying for them.
This black woman was sent by...
because I'm his prisoner.
Santa practices witchcraft
against all of us.
Against you too, Pilar,
because he's terrible.
But he has nothing against you.
Only against me.
Because I have blood on my hands.
My daughter is also under his spell.
I can smell the fumes in the night
but I'm unable to get up.
I am so afraid.
Pray to St Anthony, Pilar,
for me and for my daughter.
All is in your hands.
This isn't a matter of faith.
Modern science admits the possibility
of this kind of mass phenomenon.
A group of people
thinking the same thing,
together,
at the same time
can alter a situation.
It's parapsychological...
Nothing supernatural.
Assuming somebody will be there.
Lots of people are away for New Year.
Yeah, they only care
about the fireworks.
Could I have the green pen, please?
Green pen, Pilar.
Geographic dispersion is the future.
Small gatherings around the globe
at the same time.
It's the law of simultaneity.
Pilar, you gave me the yellow pen.
I need the green one.
Silly me.
My head is in the clouds.
Problems can't be solved in the clouds.
"SHAME ON THE UN"
We will now proceed...
Please lower your posters
for our minute of silence.
We ask you to light the candle
you were given
and raise it, when you
manage to light it, really high...
Pray to Saint Anthony, Pilar.
If then you ask for miracles
Death, error, all calamities,
Leprosy and demons fly,
And health succeeds infirmities.
The sea obeys and fetters break,
And lifeless limbs you do restore;
While treasures lost are found again,
When young and old your aid implore.
All dangers vanish at your prayer,
And direst need does quickly flee;
Let those who know your power proclaim,
Let Paduans say: there are yours.
To Father, Son may glory be
And Holy Ghost eternally.
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come, your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Hello, Santa.
- Hello, Ms Pilar.
Well, happy birthday.
- Thank you, Ms Pilar.
I made carrot cake.
Very good.
Shit.
- What is it?
That's the Portugues lady
I should have stayed with.
Did you enjoy that?
- Very much.
There'll be more next year.
Have you got your twelve raisins ready?
- I don't like raisins.
Pagan rituals.
Jesus, Marie, Joseph.
Happy New Year.
Happy 2011, Pilar.
You know, I've been thinking of you.
Your company, Pilar,
is the ray of light that pierces
the darkness of the hole where lives...
blind...
this devoted friend of yours.
Will this beast deserve
such a delicate golden thread?
No,
don't answer.
Doies the painting
look good on the wall?
Very good.
Another one? - Take it.
I painted it thinking of you.
You shouldn't.
Scribbles. The hand is rough
but soul is sensitive.
My God, please forgive me
for being such a fool sometimes.
I beg you to look after
santa and Aurora's health.
Madam is not feeling well.
Oh, Pilar, you're here?
Would you like some tea?
Santa,
see if we have some biscuits left.
Don't worry, Ms Aurora, I'm fine.
Oh, my friend!
I should get up, but I'm so tired.
Africa is very pretty,
but this time of year
the heat really gets to you.
Ms Aurora, you're at the hospital.
- What a nuisance!
Well, maybe I'll get my pills.
Will you wake me if I fall asleep?
- Don't worry, It won't take long.
Don't just stand there, Santa.
You must check the crocodile regularly.
- What crocodile?
I think you're kidding me sometimes.
How many crocodiles have we got?
Go check before the cheeky bugger
hides in Mr Ventura's house again!
It's completely obsessed with him...
You should get some rest, Ms Aurora.
How can I
if the darn crocodile
is always trying
to get into Gian Luca's house?
What if he bites his finger off?
If then you ask for miracles
Death, error, all calamities,
Leprosy and demons fly,
And health succeeds infirmities.
The sea obeys and fetters break,
And lifeless limbs you do restore;
While treasures lost
are found again...
Hi, Santa.
- Hi, Ms Pilar.
Is she here?
- No, visits are over today.
What did the doctor say?
- Nothing to me.
Her daughter?
- Doesn't answer.
You must find this gentleman.
Madam wants to see him.
But you must be quick.
Madam is dying.
Are you a Jehovah's Witness?
I'm Catholic.
- So am I.
Can I help you?
This may sound weird,
but is there a Mr Ventura here,
by any chance?
That's me.
Gian Luca Ventura?
That's the old man. He's in a home.
Is he your father?
My great-uncle.
He lived here some years ago.
I need to talk to him.
Well, a friend of mine does,
she's a friend of your uncle.
Come in.
Make yourself a t home.
The dogs are harmless.
They like children.
Oops! But I am not a child...
But you're kind.
Dogs can see that and so can I.
I didn't know
the old man had any friends.
I only heard of him yesterday.
I thought he didn't actually exist.
Yes, he does.
But he's gone bonkers.
"Rising Sun" nursing home
Gian Luca Ventura.
Yes. It's me, Santa.
I'm on my way to the hospital
with Mr Ventura
- Yes, I am... -I wasn't
expecting it so early.
"In loving memory of my mother"
Mr Ventura,
will you join us for coffee
before you go home?
She had a farm in Africa...
Pardon?
Aurora had a farm in Africa
at the foothill of Mount Tabu.
She never met her mother.
She died after giving birth,
lamenting the time wasted
closed in a bedroom
to scape the mosquitoes,
read romantic novels
and heal a chronic headache.
Her dad, a man of easy wrath,
has abandones a small
industrial wool empire in Portugal,
because he resented the monarchy.
He settled in Africa,
where he was successful again
exporting
cushions of ostrich feathers worldwide,
famous for their softness and elegance.
Had it not been
for his gambling addiction,
Aurora
would have inherited a fortune.
PART TWO.
PARADISE
Aurora grew up
according to her social status,
between private tutors
and black servants.
Bur her gracefulness
in reciting verses
did not stop her
from malicious behaviour
in which
some saw devilish influences,
others saw
whims of a spoiled childhood.
Before his apoplexy, her dad
was proud of his daughter's feats,
recognising the traits
of a strong temperament.
The father's death made her
more of a dreamer and introspective.
Her talent for big game hunting,
for which she became famous worlwide,
was due to her father's influence.
She was a hunting consultant
in the film
"It Will Never Snow Again
over Kilimanjaro",
an RKO box office flop
that caused the producer
to commit suicide.
Aurora didn't care:
cinema bored her to death.
When hunting elephants,
lions and leopards
she was truly chasing
her father's memory,
something she felt
ever more present
when running through
the vast savannah.
This inflexion
in Aurora's character
benefited her studies.
She studied German
at an Anglophone University.
She met her husband
at the graduation ball.
The look of this confident posture
greatly impressed her,
as well as
the perfection of his waltz.
The couple set up home
on the western slope of Mount Tabu.
The mythical hill
was generous to all:
it offered Aurora's husband
the perfect climate for his tea crops,
the academics
the hope of having found
the cradle of humanity,
and the natives
their indispensable local myths.
The natives saw
their ancestors' avenging spirits
in the haze that descended
from the mountain at dusk.
None of this occupied
Aurora's mind,
she loved her husband
and was happy.
But her taste for adventure
was merely dormant,
numbed by the extravagant presents
that livened up her routine existence.
Allow me to skip the misadventures
that led me to leave
my father's house in Genoa.
I crossed the South Pacific
on a commercial vessel,
docked in exotic Far Eastern towns
and lived an infamous romance
in Paris
with a Hungarian countess,
unfortunately a married one.
I broke many hearts in my time.
That didn't benefit me
nor give me any happiness.
I made easy money
and spent it effortlessly.
Ina bohemian night in Lisbon
I met Mario, a student priest.
An outsider like me,
he was celebrating
abandoning the dioceses
due to a lack of vocation.
He spoke passionately
about his roots in Africa,
where he wanted to return.
These stories fuelled me,
so I told my new buddy
of my firm decision to see his land.
More than its promises
of exoticism and an easy life,
Africa opened doors to a new world
free of gambling debts
and love troubles.
I had barely arrived
when I was offered
a good office job
ina respectable firm,
with a schedule from 9 to 5.
Santos e Irmo,
a small mining company,
had a good reputation
for labour relations
regarding white employees.
My lack of ambition
quickly made me
the bosses' right-hand man.
Mario,
also known as the Priest,
the Sheriff,
the African and the Boss,
was profuse
in passions and activities.
His grandfather, the community's
pioneer and spiritual leader,
had been sent there for life
when the colony
was mainly a colonial prison.
Mario always wore
his grandfather's crucifix
around his neck,
maybe because he couldn't fulfil
the old man's dream
of becoming a priest.
His vocal versality
delighted the African youngsters,
and Mario,
a good cultivator of his ego,
founded Mario's Band.
Women were sensitive to this charm
and my friend showed
a preference for the natives.
He would father a child
with one of them
an occasionally remembered
to take the boy out on a Sunday.
At fifteen,
Mario had looked death in the eye.
A tragic expedition to Mount Tabu
resulted in the deaths
of several youths.
Aurora's husband's crucial
intervention saved my friend.
I'm not aware
of the exact accident
or haw he intervened.
But I believe both held sacred
the bond that was born then.
He invented
an impressive curriculum
and was accepted
as an assistant lecturer
in the Department of Geography
of the Faculty of Humanities
of Coimbra.
He never made the journey.
The maps he designed
were very beautiful,
but, it later proved,
hardly scientific.
October
Despite living next to Aurora's farm
we only met months after my arrival.
My neighbors were looking
for the small crocodile
that had escaped from the lake
that Aurora had built on her farm.
I found the animal in my garden
and spent part of that evening
watching it move in the bathtub.
Aurora was happy when
she got the crocodile back.
Since her husband
was away on business,
she ordered lemonade
to be served outside,
following the customary
prudish etiquette.
To make small talk,
I asked about the animal's name.
She replied it had no name yet.
Aurora had many possessions.
but one was very peculiar:
the house cook...
who had been serving
the husband's family for decades.
a sage old man
of excellent cooking reputation.
He was also a sorcerer
and used to read the future
in the entrails of the animals
he prepared for the pot.
One October day,
after the first rains, he confided
words from the spirits to the maids
that Madam was pregnant.
and her end would be bitter and lonely.
But one of the maids betrayed him,
and the prophecies
reached Aurora's ears.
Furious, she fired him...
claiming that she could
no longer tolerate
such repugnant and heretical rituals.
Time, however, would prove
the first prediction right.
Aurora was expecting a baby.
and the husband,
who hoped for a vast succession,
was happy about his firstborn.
He celebrated the event... and
doubled his matrimonial attention.
After her initial euphoria,
Aurora became more reserved.
and wasn't passionate
about the subject.
November
Her husband attributed this to
a natural fear of maternity
and some harmless, slight bipolarity.
that he had noticed in her from before.
A rare beast, thought to be extinct,
was hear for weeks on the hills
from where came...
echoes of lonely
and excruciating growls.
Many chased it without success,
but Mario was the one to capture it.
Challenging a second time
the scary summit of Mount Tabu,
he made a triumphal descent
with the caged beast.
A powerful Arab caliph
soon bought it,
giving my friend the first installment
of a vast sum that he would
never see in total.
Socialism would put
an end to the caliphate.
Ignorant of the revolution,
and thinking
he would have the money,
Mario accumulated debts and
splurged on various whims,
including recording a single
that would be the band's debut.
This record
is today a cult object
amongst music lovers
due to its rarity and simplicity.
December
Around Christmas,
the crocodile escaped again
and Aurora immediately knew
where to find it.
We later found the crocodile
hidden under a cupboard.
Since that fateful day
Aurora secretly gave the animal
a romantic name:
Dandy.
The news that Aurora has missed a shot
caused quite a stir.
Her shotgun
had not fired a stray bullet
since her early youth.
January
It was thought the pregnancy
was linked to the incident
and that maternity had the power
to sweeten her virile nature.
It would be Aurora's last hunt.
Meanwhile there were rumours
of revolts and massacres
perpetrated by black people
elsewhere in the colony.
In the quietness of our community
the news sounded exaggerated
even unreal.
The confirmation arrived
through a military officer
carrying out
government information sessions.
White folk got excited
and organised militias,
night patrols
and did shooting exercises
accompanied by tea and biscuits.
Indifferent to the fate
of the Empire,
I saw it as another opportunity
to be near her
even if her husband's presence
caused me a new and growing anxiety.
February
I wonder, can anyone really understand
the moment one goes
from desire to love?
I believe I have already said,
my past was
hardly deprived of pleasures,
especially when socialising
with the ladies.
Despite my fiery passions,
going from one woman to another
had never bothered me,
as they all seemed very beautiful.
Aurora irreversibly
overturned my nature,
I'm not sure when
or for what obscure reason.
I couldn't ignore that Aurora
carried the child of another man,
her lawful husband,
and that being her lover
meant committing a colossal foolishness
that I could only live to regret.
But in her arms,
the future
seemed a vague and stupid concept.
We met in secret
while the others played their wars.
The risk of being caught was high
but schemes to hide illicit affairs
were nothing new for me.
The originality here
was of a different nature:
Aurora grew in me
as an absolute reality.
March
My growing discomfort reached
its climax at a party
in the pool house.
Maybe the lugubrious aura of this place
stressed my restlessness.
The parties there
owed their reputation
to the strange family that lived there.
The lady had run away, leaving son
and husband in charge of each other.
The son had been born
with feeble nerves,
and later returned even
more perturbed after
a long stay in Marseille,
where he got involved
with the underworld
and especialised in French boxing.
In panic situations
he would take flight
into another reality
and, just like Don Quixote,
he'd fight invisible enemies.
The father hid a feral despair
under a polished cloak of amiability.
On New Year's Eve,
after a bottle of whiskey
he'd close the living room door,
load a bullet into the drum of a gun,
raise it to his temple
and challenge life.
He later died as a consequence of this.
His parties often ended
with a gun salute,
scaring the guests away.
Due to my forbidden love.
I had grown apart from Mario
in the last few weeks.
I couldn't tell
how he'd react to my secret.
Mario evoked God,
he believed Divine Providence
had come to my aid.
He showed me a letter
from a famous singer
from a British colony
who liked the band:
an invitation to perform at a hotel
in the capital for a few months.
Two days later I flew out there.
April
"My dear Lady,
The sweet and ill-fated moments
we have lived in the last few weeks
make me fear for my future
and above all for yours.
The profound emotion I feel
when I'm next to you
puts me in a new, frightening position.
I can't justify my actions.
My heart begs me not to,
but I have made a final decision.
I shall not see you anymore.
I believe this is the only way
to stop this horrendous crime.
Conveniently,
fate brought the boys and me
a three-month contract
to play in a famous hotel abroad.
My dear,
please think of yourself, your husband
and the child growing in your womb.
I bid farewell with eternal sadness,
yours forever,
Gian Luca Ventura"
"Dear Sir,
Your fame made it easy for me
to find your address.
Your letter left me
with fevers for several days.
The nobility of your attitude
brings me even more love for you,
something I thought was impossible.
That nobility is,
however, my misfortune.
I always thought I was a happy person,
but the plenitude
I have found in your arms
makes me the most doomed
of women today.
Forget me if you can,
because I will always be yours,
Aurora"
"My sweet and dear Aurora,
It is you who must forget me...
May
...because I will always be
a despicable villain.
I never thought, hpwever,
that in so much crookedness
my biggest crime
would be to fall in love.
I'd be lying if I denied
how much I still think of you.
You would be scared
by some of the thoughts in my mind.
They are the result of a juvenile
rapture with no chance of a future.
I shall therefore silence myself,
and I beg you,
as I would beg to God
if I believed in Him,
to write to me no more.
Gian Luca Ventura"
"My dear Gian Luca,
Those who claim time heals all wounds
have never loved as much as I have.
I must confess this monstrosity to you:
Neither my husband,
nor the unborn child, not even God
bring me the slightest remorse
for our moments together.
If I curse the day I met you
it's because it was followed
by the one when we separated.
The image you keep of me
hardly resembles reality.
My biggest shame,
to love one man
and carry the offspring of another.
Yours always, Aurora"
"Gian Luca,
Your lack of reply makes me think
you must have forgotten me.
You do as you must
and I wish I could say
it makes me happy.
I have to exist
because the life I carry demands so.
An innocent life,
despite my misadventures.
I bid you farewell forever,
my dearest friend,
yet telling you that,
now and forever,
if you are ever to ask me,
I will not hesitate to pull out
of my chest a beating heart,
which is always yours,
June
July
In the following weeks,
I left my job and avoided friends.
August
The mild way in which Mario demanded
I end the adventure was not comforting.
I knew him well enough to recognise
the gravity of an ultimatum.
We took flight.
Aurora's pregnancy required care,
but the proximity of the border
made up the risk
of a night on the mountain.
We moved into an abandoned
house and watched the fire,
trying to see in it signs of destiny.
We were taken to a nearby village.
Aurora had entered a state of silence
interrupted by cries announcing
new contractions.
Labor began after the death of Mario,
and continued in a hovel whose
entrance was forbidden me,
according to the implicit rules
of ancient matriarchal pact.
I hoped to wake up
in a nightmare anytime absurd.
I am aware that in the course
of this story did not hide
nor explained my attributes.
But beyond madness samples
I still had some awareness.
Knowing that my lover's life
was at stake,
and that our crime committed forever
a common future,
I asked a boy from the village
to look for the husband of Aurora.
renounced my project of flight,
and I was willing to plead..
as his wife's kidnapper
and murderer Mario.
The idea of spending
the rest of my life in prison
or being pierced by a bullet
from the deceived husband,
were good prospects
compared with the desperate impasse
of my current condition.
It was announced
the birth of a child.
The news spread quickly
through the village.
The vision of Aurora with her daughter,
heartwarming for other eyes,
was almost as unbearable
as Mario's body
lying next to me.
In short, I expected to it whatever.
Al da siguiente se divulgara
The next day a mysterious statement
be released on Mario's death,
which today is taken
as one of the determinants factors
for the beginning of the colonial war.
The freedom movement
admits responsability
for the death of this member
of the colonialist militia
as an act of war.
This representative
of the white occupation
was shot in quadrant 45,
Mukange,
where he was caught spying
on the strategic positions
of the African revolutionary forces
for the opressive regime.
Our popular forces
will continue the struggle
for total freedom
of our people and country.
September
I left Africa and Aurora's life forever
two days later,
after receiving her final letter.
It was in India, some ten years later,
I learned of the death of her husband.
By one of those strange
coincidences that life rarely gives us,
I worked with someone
who also knew him.
He was who gave me news of her,
and informed me of her
return to Lisbon,
where she had moved with her daughter.
Some friends also settled in Portugal
and made Aurora reach the location
of my whereabouts.
There was no answer.
And despite this love,
never buried or defeated,
I decided not to look for her.
It is the first time
that I share this with someone.
I did his will
and destroyed her letter:
"Gian Luca, my love,
I leave as soon as possible
and I leave behind these cursed lands.
and the memory of the horror
that I lived in them.
Nothing binds me to this place.
The woman who loved lies dead,
buried under the shadow
of these impassive mountains.
When God lift me,
my secrets will go with my shroud
and like them, say nothing,
because the memory of men
is limited,
and beyond the world, eternal,
and no one can escape it.
In those crimes we
committed together,
his participation
is not comparable with mine.
Mr. is foolish,
and therefore not realized
he spent the last months
with a wild unhappy woman,
who can remember fondly
at the time where there will be
treacherous iniquities.
I ask you to make
this sad letter ashes,
the last I will write
and that you won't respond.
And that never can reveal,
in my lifetime,
the monumental crimes we lived.
Aurora".
in co-producntion with
a film by
TABU
Under the rain and scorching sun,
a melancholic creature
treks through jungles
and arid lands for months.
In the heart of the black contlnent,
neither beasts nor cannibals
seem to frighten
then intrepid explorer.
Followed by a contingent of men
carrying beads fabrics
and modern
scientlfic exmpedition tools.
The group includes in its ranks
His Majesty the King of Portugal,
or at least his will,
as expressed in a royal decree,
and He who is above
who all creatures call Creator,
and whose voice lives in the Bible.
But even if his legs move forward
by superior will
sovereign or divine
the heart, the most insolent
muscle of all anatomy,
dictates other reasons for the march.
Poor miserable man!
This whimsical organ
rules over both King and the Eternal.
So we here by reveal
the true law of this expedition
to roam the ends of the world
walking away from the land where he saw
his beloved wife perish,
as if he could ever stop death.
Intrepid he is,
but out of desperation.
Taciturn and melancholic,
the sad flgure wannders desolately
over thne inhospitable planes.
And by mysteries unknown,
he is visited from afar by the one
whom his heart begs for,
wearing
- oh morbid detail! -
the dress that hugged her
when she returned to dust.
You may run as far as you can,
for as long as you like,
but you will not escape your heart.
Then I will die.
You sad and poor soul.
A crocodile awaits its moment,
submerged in murky waters.
The intrepid explorer is well aware
he will meet his destiny in this river.
His men witness the horror.
The explorer bids farewell to life.
Night falls in the savannah,
as will a thousand and one more.
Then and ever since,
despite how absurd this may sound
to men of reason
some swear to have witnessed
this ghoulish sight:
a sad and melancholic crocodile
with a lady from days gone by,
an inseparable pair
united by a mysterious pact
never broken by death.
PART ONE.
A LOST PARADISE
Let's go, Maya!
Hello.
Hi, Miss Aurora.
Yes.
All right.
OK.
Yes, Santa?
Miss Aurora called from the casino.
She has lost everything.
She has no money for the train.
Remember our conversation
a few months ago?
You told me
you wouldn't come back here.
My dear Pilar,
this time was different to the others.
Do you have any money left, Aurora?
No, dear. All gone.
So it was the same.
No, Pilar. It was different.
It was from a dream.
From a dream?
There were monkeys
with very hairy arms.
They were all fighting. Losts of them.
In the kitchen,
the living room, the bedroom...
All biting each other.
I even told them
to get out and be friends.
But all they wanted to do was bite.
What at nightmare!
I had to phone my daughter
to ask her to get me a lawyer.
And then I was somewhere else!
At the house of a friend
who died over ten years ago,
poor thing.
We were eating toast
with pumpkin jam delicious.
And one monkey could speak,
but sometimes
the monkey was her husband.
Thinking back,
her husband was a really hairy man.
When he pulled his sleeves up
you could see lots of hair.
Sometimes he was a monkey,
sometimes the husband.
I had to phone my daughter,
in case she came to visit
and saw only the biting monkeys.
To stop her from thinking
they had eaten me.
Then again... my daughter hardly
ever visits me anyway.
She can't, poor thing.
Especially now she's in Canada.
But you know what dreams are like.
We can't command them...
So the husband, or the monkey...
said he had made a fortune
on the machines at the casino,
in the old casino,
since the new one in rubbish.
The wife replied,
"Lucky at gambling, unlucky in love. "
And I thought she said that
because she was cheating on him.
She was dead,
so she was cheating on him
with the dead.
Even with some foreign celebrities.
The husband heard this
and was very sad.
I took the train with him
because I felt sorry for him.
I told him there were
other dedicated and honest women.
Like Our Lady.
When the ticket inspector came,
the husband pretended to be a monkey
and hung from the things
that people hold on to.
I had no ticket
so the inspector took me to get one,
but the ticket machine
was a casino betting machine.
I felt anxious in front of it,
the collector would say a colour,
I would bet the opposite
and always win.
Until I thought
maybe he was telling the truth.
And I had to decide
if I bet what he said,
or the opposite, or take the money.
I woke up before the end
and decided I had to come here
to see if I was lucky
I am such a fool:
people's lives are not like dreams.
But if I hadn't come
I'd still he wondering...
Are you mad at me, Santa?
What a dismal day.
The forecast was rain.
Nonsense...
I won't eat all these prawns, Santa.
I'll be alone for dinner, after all.
The Polish girl isn't coming.
They're for you and Miss Aurora.
We've already had dinner.
They'll go to waste.
I've kept lots.
Thank you, Miss Pilar.
How I decided to travel the world:
I was born in York in 1632...
...to a good family.
After becoming a rich man,
my father retired from business
and settled down in this town.
He had married my mother...
It is thought...
...to be a hideout...
...of the Moors...
...of the Moors and Romans.
This here was a passage
to the castle of Torres Novas.
All I'm telling you
is not reality but tales.
Incidentally, there is no proof.
But if remains were found,
it could be true.
This way.
Someone asked if there are bats. Sure!
We can't see them
but we can check if they're here now.
For 23 years,
I performed my duty
respectfully and with care.
I buried 280 corpses.
Any others around,
and I'm ready to do my job.
Man, do you talk nothing but nonsense?
The World War II invasions
only strengthened
centuries-old Catholicism.
Centuries old?
Millennia, Pilar, millennia!
Rather more apostolic than Roman,
if you follow...
Not really.
Look, my dear,
losing your guest isn't that bad.
Damn Taizs!
All happily stuffing themselves
with "nata" cakes and smoking joints
after singing the psalms!
- How silly
Even the toughest Pole
would soften
at my dearest friend
Pilar's hospitality.
As for the carrot cake,
it won't go to waste.
"A slice is kept
for the one who will eat it".
I must admit,
all this climbing has made me hungry.
Not today,
I have to finish, my report
for the Peace and Justice committee.
I can't focus, I'm too worried
about my neighbour's crisis.
You worry about everything.
Sometimes I regret that
I haven't stepped on an African mine...
just to get your attention.
- You didn't even go to war.
Varices...
We've lost a soldier and won an artist.
I'm glad.
And your neighbour?
It makes me sorry
to see her all alone.
She must be having a breakdown.
She saw so little of her daughter
at Christmas.
She was in Portugal for 3 or 4 days
and had only minutes for her mother.
Left her a gift
and went to meet her husband's family.
Do you find that acceptable?
You want to see me dead!
Ungrateful! You wish for my death!
I'll kill myself right away!
- Come home, madam.
Give me my pills, black woman!
None left. If you want pills,
get them from your daughter.
How dare you?
You turned my daughter against me
with your witchcraft!
Pilar! Open up, Pilar!
You are my only friend.
Nobody cares about me...
"For Pilar"
"My dear friend,
my maid locks me in my bedroom.
I'm sure my daughter doesn't know,
or she would fire her
and take me to the doctor's
so I can get the sleeping pills I need.
I fear my daughter
has been irremediably poisoned
by this devil worshipper's
lies and witchcrafts.
Because she never listens to me
and thinks I am mad.
Pilar, I need to see you urgently.
You're the only one I can trust.
Yours. Aurora"
Pilarita, we're very concerned.
You must be very sad,
missing the little Polish
nun's company.
We came to pay you a visit.
Delicious cake!
It's the only one I can make.
- Really good.
Oh, a new painting!
It's modern... and weird.
It was a gift from my painter friend.
He's a good man
but this is not this best.
I thought me might come today,
didn't want to disappoint him
if it wasn't on the wall.
But as he's not coming...
Santa, give me another slice.
This will be my dinner.
Have some more, too,
you won't have to worry later.
I'm fine, thank you.
I'll do that later, Santa.
I like doing it.
Don't you think Ms Aurora has been
more nervous lately?
She complains she can't slepp...
- She wakes up early.
Ms Aurora is special, has a tendency
to exgerate a lot of imagination.
That's true.
...but I think she's not well.
We should do something.
Madam, I do as I am told.
I think she's having a breakdown.
She needs medication,
not a "crazy" tag.
Her daughter is the boss.
But her daughter doesn't care!
Don't you see that, Santa?
Excuse me, madam.
I've had a wonderful idea:
You will make another cake
for Santa's birthday.
Have you told Pilar, Santa?
She's having a party at mine,
and even have a few cousins round.
That's much better.
Sometimes people give us presents
that don't suit us at all.
They mean well
but they don't know our taste.
See this? A present from my daughter.
It's very soft
and suits me really well.
It has this beluga print,
those whales she studies in Canada.
That way she knows
I won't forget her.
"PETITION FOR THE APPALLED ECONOMISTS"
"CAMPAIGN.
HUMAN RIGHTS = LESS POVERTY"
"ARMS TRAFFICKING, RISE IN DEATHS"
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us the wrong we have done
as we forgive those who wrong us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from the devil...
Amen.
Lord, please watch over Ms Aurora
who has been so restless.
Give her some peace.
Santa made no mistakes
in this dictation.
She has made enormous progress,
an example to us all.
I think I know why that is.
Santa told me
she has been reading a book.
Isn't that right, Santa?
- Yes.
Which book?
Robinson Crusoe.
Extraordinary!
What's the book about?
This is too much work, Santa.
It'll be the last time.
An old lady like me doesn't need this.
That's life, Ms Aurora.
Have you got any money for me, Santa?
No, you spent it all at the casino.
You'll have to ask your daughter.
I'm going out. I won't be long.
You're not pawning that coat, are you?
- What a nerve!
Your daughter will be angry
if you come back
without the coat like last time.
Monster!
I am the prisoner of a monster!
How is Ms Aurora?
- She's lying down.
Santa, this can't go on.
We'll have to call her daughter.
I need her number.
I'm not allowed to give out her number.
You'll have to ask Ms Aurora.
Is this the way to treat someone?
Can't you see your nistress needs help?
Why do you have to mind
other people's business?
Who is it, Santa?
It's Ms Pilar.
Leave, Santa.
My friens, I'm so glad you're here.
You won't believe what's happening.
They want to see me dead.
- Calm down, Ms Aurora.
I can't. You don't know a thing.
I do but nobody else does.
I don't want to go to hell.
Pilar,
I beg you to pray to Saint Anthony!
You're so kind, like no other.
He will listen to you.
I pray, but he doesn't listen to me.
And I know why.
- Ms Aurora...
You're too good to imagine
other people's crimes.
Horrors I am ashamed to confess.
I know I'm paying for them.
This black woman was sent by...
because I'm his prisoner.
Santa practices witchcraft
against all of us.
Against you too, Pilar,
because he's terrible.
But he has nothing against you.
Only against me.
Because I have blood on my hands.
My daughter is also under his spell.
I can smell the fumes in the night
but I'm unable to get up.
I am so afraid.
Pray to St Anthony, Pilar,
for me and for my daughter.
All is in your hands.
This isn't a matter of faith.
Modern science admits the possibility
of this kind of mass phenomenon.
A group of people
thinking the same thing,
together,
at the same time
can alter a situation.
It's parapsychological...
Nothing supernatural.
Assuming somebody will be there.
Lots of people are away for New Year.
Yeah, they only care
about the fireworks.
Could I have the green pen, please?
Green pen, Pilar.
Geographic dispersion is the future.
Small gatherings around the globe
at the same time.
It's the law of simultaneity.
Pilar, you gave me the yellow pen.
I need the green one.
Silly me.
My head is in the clouds.
Problems can't be solved in the clouds.
"SHAME ON THE UN"
We will now proceed...
Please lower your posters
for our minute of silence.
We ask you to light the candle
you were given
and raise it, when you
manage to light it, really high...
Pray to Saint Anthony, Pilar.
If then you ask for miracles
Death, error, all calamities,
Leprosy and demons fly,
And health succeeds infirmities.
The sea obeys and fetters break,
And lifeless limbs you do restore;
While treasures lost are found again,
When young and old your aid implore.
All dangers vanish at your prayer,
And direst need does quickly flee;
Let those who know your power proclaim,
Let Paduans say: there are yours.
To Father, Son may glory be
And Holy Ghost eternally.
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come, your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Hello, Santa.
- Hello, Ms Pilar.
Well, happy birthday.
- Thank you, Ms Pilar.
I made carrot cake.
Very good.
Shit.
- What is it?
That's the Portugues lady
I should have stayed with.
Did you enjoy that?
- Very much.
There'll be more next year.
Have you got your twelve raisins ready?
- I don't like raisins.
Pagan rituals.
Jesus, Marie, Joseph.
Happy New Year.
Happy 2011, Pilar.
You know, I've been thinking of you.
Your company, Pilar,
is the ray of light that pierces
the darkness of the hole where lives...
blind...
this devoted friend of yours.
Will this beast deserve
such a delicate golden thread?
No,
don't answer.
Doies the painting
look good on the wall?
Very good.
Another one? - Take it.
I painted it thinking of you.
You shouldn't.
Scribbles. The hand is rough
but soul is sensitive.
My God, please forgive me
for being such a fool sometimes.
I beg you to look after
santa and Aurora's health.
Madam is not feeling well.
Oh, Pilar, you're here?
Would you like some tea?
Santa,
see if we have some biscuits left.
Don't worry, Ms Aurora, I'm fine.
Oh, my friend!
I should get up, but I'm so tired.
Africa is very pretty,
but this time of year
the heat really gets to you.
Ms Aurora, you're at the hospital.
- What a nuisance!
Well, maybe I'll get my pills.
Will you wake me if I fall asleep?
- Don't worry, It won't take long.
Don't just stand there, Santa.
You must check the crocodile regularly.
- What crocodile?
I think you're kidding me sometimes.
How many crocodiles have we got?
Go check before the cheeky bugger
hides in Mr Ventura's house again!
It's completely obsessed with him...
You should get some rest, Ms Aurora.
How can I
if the darn crocodile
is always trying
to get into Gian Luca's house?
What if he bites his finger off?
If then you ask for miracles
Death, error, all calamities,
Leprosy and demons fly,
And health succeeds infirmities.
The sea obeys and fetters break,
And lifeless limbs you do restore;
While treasures lost
are found again...
Hi, Santa.
- Hi, Ms Pilar.
Is she here?
- No, visits are over today.
What did the doctor say?
- Nothing to me.
Her daughter?
- Doesn't answer.
You must find this gentleman.
Madam wants to see him.
But you must be quick.
Madam is dying.
Are you a Jehovah's Witness?
I'm Catholic.
- So am I.
Can I help you?
This may sound weird,
but is there a Mr Ventura here,
by any chance?
That's me.
Gian Luca Ventura?
That's the old man. He's in a home.
Is he your father?
My great-uncle.
He lived here some years ago.
I need to talk to him.
Well, a friend of mine does,
she's a friend of your uncle.
Come in.
Make yourself a t home.
The dogs are harmless.
They like children.
Oops! But I am not a child...
But you're kind.
Dogs can see that and so can I.
I didn't know
the old man had any friends.
I only heard of him yesterday.
I thought he didn't actually exist.
Yes, he does.
But he's gone bonkers.
"Rising Sun" nursing home
Gian Luca Ventura.
Yes. It's me, Santa.
I'm on my way to the hospital
with Mr Ventura
- Yes, I am... -I wasn't
expecting it so early.
"In loving memory of my mother"
Mr Ventura,
will you join us for coffee
before you go home?
She had a farm in Africa...
Pardon?
Aurora had a farm in Africa
at the foothill of Mount Tabu.
She never met her mother.
She died after giving birth,
lamenting the time wasted
closed in a bedroom
to scape the mosquitoes,
read romantic novels
and heal a chronic headache.
Her dad, a man of easy wrath,
has abandones a small
industrial wool empire in Portugal,
because he resented the monarchy.
He settled in Africa,
where he was successful again
exporting
cushions of ostrich feathers worldwide,
famous for their softness and elegance.
Had it not been
for his gambling addiction,
Aurora
would have inherited a fortune.
PART TWO.
PARADISE
Aurora grew up
according to her social status,
between private tutors
and black servants.
Bur her gracefulness
in reciting verses
did not stop her
from malicious behaviour
in which
some saw devilish influences,
others saw
whims of a spoiled childhood.
Before his apoplexy, her dad
was proud of his daughter's feats,
recognising the traits
of a strong temperament.
The father's death made her
more of a dreamer and introspective.
Her talent for big game hunting,
for which she became famous worlwide,
was due to her father's influence.
She was a hunting consultant
in the film
"It Will Never Snow Again
over Kilimanjaro",
an RKO box office flop
that caused the producer
to commit suicide.
Aurora didn't care:
cinema bored her to death.
When hunting elephants,
lions and leopards
she was truly chasing
her father's memory,
something she felt
ever more present
when running through
the vast savannah.
This inflexion
in Aurora's character
benefited her studies.
She studied German
at an Anglophone University.
She met her husband
at the graduation ball.
The look of this confident posture
greatly impressed her,
as well as
the perfection of his waltz.
The couple set up home
on the western slope of Mount Tabu.
The mythical hill
was generous to all:
it offered Aurora's husband
the perfect climate for his tea crops,
the academics
the hope of having found
the cradle of humanity,
and the natives
their indispensable local myths.
The natives saw
their ancestors' avenging spirits
in the haze that descended
from the mountain at dusk.
None of this occupied
Aurora's mind,
she loved her husband
and was happy.
But her taste for adventure
was merely dormant,
numbed by the extravagant presents
that livened up her routine existence.
Allow me to skip the misadventures
that led me to leave
my father's house in Genoa.
I crossed the South Pacific
on a commercial vessel,
docked in exotic Far Eastern towns
and lived an infamous romance
in Paris
with a Hungarian countess,
unfortunately a married one.
I broke many hearts in my time.
That didn't benefit me
nor give me any happiness.
I made easy money
and spent it effortlessly.
Ina bohemian night in Lisbon
I met Mario, a student priest.
An outsider like me,
he was celebrating
abandoning the dioceses
due to a lack of vocation.
He spoke passionately
about his roots in Africa,
where he wanted to return.
These stories fuelled me,
so I told my new buddy
of my firm decision to see his land.
More than its promises
of exoticism and an easy life,
Africa opened doors to a new world
free of gambling debts
and love troubles.
I had barely arrived
when I was offered
a good office job
ina respectable firm,
with a schedule from 9 to 5.
Santos e Irmo,
a small mining company,
had a good reputation
for labour relations
regarding white employees.
My lack of ambition
quickly made me
the bosses' right-hand man.
Mario,
also known as the Priest,
the Sheriff,
the African and the Boss,
was profuse
in passions and activities.
His grandfather, the community's
pioneer and spiritual leader,
had been sent there for life
when the colony
was mainly a colonial prison.
Mario always wore
his grandfather's crucifix
around his neck,
maybe because he couldn't fulfil
the old man's dream
of becoming a priest.
His vocal versality
delighted the African youngsters,
and Mario,
a good cultivator of his ego,
founded Mario's Band.
Women were sensitive to this charm
and my friend showed
a preference for the natives.
He would father a child
with one of them
an occasionally remembered
to take the boy out on a Sunday.
At fifteen,
Mario had looked death in the eye.
A tragic expedition to Mount Tabu
resulted in the deaths
of several youths.
Aurora's husband's crucial
intervention saved my friend.
I'm not aware
of the exact accident
or haw he intervened.
But I believe both held sacred
the bond that was born then.
He invented
an impressive curriculum
and was accepted
as an assistant lecturer
in the Department of Geography
of the Faculty of Humanities
of Coimbra.
He never made the journey.
The maps he designed
were very beautiful,
but, it later proved,
hardly scientific.
October
Despite living next to Aurora's farm
we only met months after my arrival.
My neighbors were looking
for the small crocodile
that had escaped from the lake
that Aurora had built on her farm.
I found the animal in my garden
and spent part of that evening
watching it move in the bathtub.
Aurora was happy when
she got the crocodile back.
Since her husband
was away on business,
she ordered lemonade
to be served outside,
following the customary
prudish etiquette.
To make small talk,
I asked about the animal's name.
She replied it had no name yet.
Aurora had many possessions.
but one was very peculiar:
the house cook...
who had been serving
the husband's family for decades.
a sage old man
of excellent cooking reputation.
He was also a sorcerer
and used to read the future
in the entrails of the animals
he prepared for the pot.
One October day,
after the first rains, he confided
words from the spirits to the maids
that Madam was pregnant.
and her end would be bitter and lonely.
But one of the maids betrayed him,
and the prophecies
reached Aurora's ears.
Furious, she fired him...
claiming that she could
no longer tolerate
such repugnant and heretical rituals.
Time, however, would prove
the first prediction right.
Aurora was expecting a baby.
and the husband,
who hoped for a vast succession,
was happy about his firstborn.
He celebrated the event... and
doubled his matrimonial attention.
After her initial euphoria,
Aurora became more reserved.
and wasn't passionate
about the subject.
November
Her husband attributed this to
a natural fear of maternity
and some harmless, slight bipolarity.
that he had noticed in her from before.
A rare beast, thought to be extinct,
was hear for weeks on the hills
from where came...
echoes of lonely
and excruciating growls.
Many chased it without success,
but Mario was the one to capture it.
Challenging a second time
the scary summit of Mount Tabu,
he made a triumphal descent
with the caged beast.
A powerful Arab caliph
soon bought it,
giving my friend the first installment
of a vast sum that he would
never see in total.
Socialism would put
an end to the caliphate.
Ignorant of the revolution,
and thinking
he would have the money,
Mario accumulated debts and
splurged on various whims,
including recording a single
that would be the band's debut.
This record
is today a cult object
amongst music lovers
due to its rarity and simplicity.
December
Around Christmas,
the crocodile escaped again
and Aurora immediately knew
where to find it.
We later found the crocodile
hidden under a cupboard.
Since that fateful day
Aurora secretly gave the animal
a romantic name:
Dandy.
The news that Aurora has missed a shot
caused quite a stir.
Her shotgun
had not fired a stray bullet
since her early youth.
January
It was thought the pregnancy
was linked to the incident
and that maternity had the power
to sweeten her virile nature.
It would be Aurora's last hunt.
Meanwhile there were rumours
of revolts and massacres
perpetrated by black people
elsewhere in the colony.
In the quietness of our community
the news sounded exaggerated
even unreal.
The confirmation arrived
through a military officer
carrying out
government information sessions.
White folk got excited
and organised militias,
night patrols
and did shooting exercises
accompanied by tea and biscuits.
Indifferent to the fate
of the Empire,
I saw it as another opportunity
to be near her
even if her husband's presence
caused me a new and growing anxiety.
February
I wonder, can anyone really understand
the moment one goes
from desire to love?
I believe I have already said,
my past was
hardly deprived of pleasures,
especially when socialising
with the ladies.
Despite my fiery passions,
going from one woman to another
had never bothered me,
as they all seemed very beautiful.
Aurora irreversibly
overturned my nature,
I'm not sure when
or for what obscure reason.
I couldn't ignore that Aurora
carried the child of another man,
her lawful husband,
and that being her lover
meant committing a colossal foolishness
that I could only live to regret.
But in her arms,
the future
seemed a vague and stupid concept.
We met in secret
while the others played their wars.
The risk of being caught was high
but schemes to hide illicit affairs
were nothing new for me.
The originality here
was of a different nature:
Aurora grew in me
as an absolute reality.
March
My growing discomfort reached
its climax at a party
in the pool house.
Maybe the lugubrious aura of this place
stressed my restlessness.
The parties there
owed their reputation
to the strange family that lived there.
The lady had run away, leaving son
and husband in charge of each other.
The son had been born
with feeble nerves,
and later returned even
more perturbed after
a long stay in Marseille,
where he got involved
with the underworld
and especialised in French boxing.
In panic situations
he would take flight
into another reality
and, just like Don Quixote,
he'd fight invisible enemies.
The father hid a feral despair
under a polished cloak of amiability.
On New Year's Eve,
after a bottle of whiskey
he'd close the living room door,
load a bullet into the drum of a gun,
raise it to his temple
and challenge life.
He later died as a consequence of this.
His parties often ended
with a gun salute,
scaring the guests away.
Due to my forbidden love.
I had grown apart from Mario
in the last few weeks.
I couldn't tell
how he'd react to my secret.
Mario evoked God,
he believed Divine Providence
had come to my aid.
He showed me a letter
from a famous singer
from a British colony
who liked the band:
an invitation to perform at a hotel
in the capital for a few months.
Two days later I flew out there.
April
"My dear Lady,
The sweet and ill-fated moments
we have lived in the last few weeks
make me fear for my future
and above all for yours.
The profound emotion I feel
when I'm next to you
puts me in a new, frightening position.
I can't justify my actions.
My heart begs me not to,
but I have made a final decision.
I shall not see you anymore.
I believe this is the only way
to stop this horrendous crime.
Conveniently,
fate brought the boys and me
a three-month contract
to play in a famous hotel abroad.
My dear,
please think of yourself, your husband
and the child growing in your womb.
I bid farewell with eternal sadness,
yours forever,
Gian Luca Ventura"
"Dear Sir,
Your fame made it easy for me
to find your address.
Your letter left me
with fevers for several days.
The nobility of your attitude
brings me even more love for you,
something I thought was impossible.
That nobility is,
however, my misfortune.
I always thought I was a happy person,
but the plenitude
I have found in your arms
makes me the most doomed
of women today.
Forget me if you can,
because I will always be yours,
Aurora"
"My sweet and dear Aurora,
It is you who must forget me...
May
...because I will always be
a despicable villain.
I never thought, hpwever,
that in so much crookedness
my biggest crime
would be to fall in love.
I'd be lying if I denied
how much I still think of you.
You would be scared
by some of the thoughts in my mind.
They are the result of a juvenile
rapture with no chance of a future.
I shall therefore silence myself,
and I beg you,
as I would beg to God
if I believed in Him,
to write to me no more.
Gian Luca Ventura"
"My dear Gian Luca,
Those who claim time heals all wounds
have never loved as much as I have.
I must confess this monstrosity to you:
Neither my husband,
nor the unborn child, not even God
bring me the slightest remorse
for our moments together.
If I curse the day I met you
it's because it was followed
by the one when we separated.
The image you keep of me
hardly resembles reality.
My biggest shame,
to love one man
and carry the offspring of another.
Yours always, Aurora"
"Gian Luca,
Your lack of reply makes me think
you must have forgotten me.
You do as you must
and I wish I could say
it makes me happy.
I have to exist
because the life I carry demands so.
An innocent life,
despite my misadventures.
I bid you farewell forever,
my dearest friend,
yet telling you that,
now and forever,
if you are ever to ask me,
I will not hesitate to pull out
of my chest a beating heart,
which is always yours,
June
July
In the following weeks,
I left my job and avoided friends.
August
The mild way in which Mario demanded
I end the adventure was not comforting.
I knew him well enough to recognise
the gravity of an ultimatum.
We took flight.
Aurora's pregnancy required care,
but the proximity of the border
made up the risk
of a night on the mountain.
We moved into an abandoned
house and watched the fire,
trying to see in it signs of destiny.
We were taken to a nearby village.
Aurora had entered a state of silence
interrupted by cries announcing
new contractions.
Labor began after the death of Mario,
and continued in a hovel whose
entrance was forbidden me,
according to the implicit rules
of ancient matriarchal pact.
I hoped to wake up
in a nightmare anytime absurd.
I am aware that in the course
of this story did not hide
nor explained my attributes.
But beyond madness samples
I still had some awareness.
Knowing that my lover's life
was at stake,
and that our crime committed forever
a common future,
I asked a boy from the village
to look for the husband of Aurora.
renounced my project of flight,
and I was willing to plead..
as his wife's kidnapper
and murderer Mario.
The idea of spending
the rest of my life in prison
or being pierced by a bullet
from the deceived husband,
were good prospects
compared with the desperate impasse
of my current condition.
It was announced
the birth of a child.
The news spread quickly
through the village.
The vision of Aurora with her daughter,
heartwarming for other eyes,
was almost as unbearable
as Mario's body
lying next to me.
In short, I expected to it whatever.
Al da siguiente se divulgara
The next day a mysterious statement
be released on Mario's death,
which today is taken
as one of the determinants factors
for the beginning of the colonial war.
The freedom movement
admits responsability
for the death of this member
of the colonialist militia
as an act of war.
This representative
of the white occupation
was shot in quadrant 45,
Mukange,
where he was caught spying
on the strategic positions
of the African revolutionary forces
for the opressive regime.
Our popular forces
will continue the struggle
for total freedom
of our people and country.
September
I left Africa and Aurora's life forever
two days later,
after receiving her final letter.
It was in India, some ten years later,
I learned of the death of her husband.
By one of those strange
coincidences that life rarely gives us,
I worked with someone
who also knew him.
He was who gave me news of her,
and informed me of her
return to Lisbon,
where she had moved with her daughter.
Some friends also settled in Portugal
and made Aurora reach the location
of my whereabouts.
There was no answer.
And despite this love,
never buried or defeated,
I decided not to look for her.
It is the first time
that I share this with someone.
I did his will
and destroyed her letter:
"Gian Luca, my love,
I leave as soon as possible
and I leave behind these cursed lands.
and the memory of the horror
that I lived in them.
Nothing binds me to this place.
The woman who loved lies dead,
buried under the shadow
of these impassive mountains.
When God lift me,
my secrets will go with my shroud
and like them, say nothing,
because the memory of men
is limited,
and beyond the world, eternal,
and no one can escape it.
In those crimes we
committed together,
his participation
is not comparable with mine.
Mr. is foolish,
and therefore not realized
he spent the last months
with a wild unhappy woman,
who can remember fondly
at the time where there will be
treacherous iniquities.
I ask you to make
this sad letter ashes,
the last I will write
and that you won't respond.
And that never can reveal,
in my lifetime,
the monumental crimes we lived.
Aurora".