Trenque Lauquen (2022) Movie Script

1
Exactly, Clara. Imagine, if Ive come here,
its precisely because of that.
Im going back now and
I have to give a load of explanations
and theyre going
to have to be very clear.
Yes.
Yes. But she didn't...
If she said otherwise it would be
a different story, but she hasnt.
She hasnt clearly stated that
she doesnt want the position.
She hasnt said
"I dont want the position."
Sure.
No Yes...
If I come all the way here its
not to be told no, its to get a yes.
Exactly. If she...
If she wanted to
say "no", shed say "no".
Well, exactly.
A silence is not a no.
It's not a no.
Take your coffee.
- No, I dont want coffee.
- Take it, take your coffee.
Clara, the situation here is very clear.
There is a person here who
made a commitment to something.
And Ive made a commitment,
precisely because of her commitment. Yes?
So, what do I do?
I come all the way here so that that person
can do what they have to do. Thats all.
Thats all.
No...
But there are clues!
There are all kinds of
clues. Like this guys car, yes.
No, but I have the keys now, yes.
No, no, he doesnt know.
No, he doesnt know a thing.
No, to be honest he looks...
He looks pretty lost.
And Laura
No, it isnt a mystery.
Come on, lets be logical:
shes indecisive, she wants the
position but Im here in the middle.
And for some reason...
she doesnt want to tell
me because Im involved.
So we cant mix the
academic side with a situation
Wait! Wait a second!
- Im going to get sugar.
- We have to go to Fortn Olavarra.
Wait for me a second, please.
Can you wait in the car?
Yes, here you go.
Listen
Clara, to be clear...
this isnt just a professional thing.
Yes.
Thats why I try not to mix things.
You can imagine that I would be
Distraught.
Well, yes, I am a little distraught.
You know how things are.
Academia doesnt
prepare you for sadness.
Well, I dont think its a
good idea to stay there.
No, dont feel sorry for me either.
Well, Im very
grateful to you, Clara.
Thank you very much.
Lets do that.
Well leave now and...
Ill keep you up to
speed on how it goes.
Perfect.
And lets hope it will be.
Lets hope so.
Lets hope so.
OK, thanks!
Thanks a million.
Bye.
Bye.
Can you believe that she
left the keys with a child?
A child?
A kid, a little gaucho from the area.
A child, yes.
But the guy who called me
No. The service station
manager called you.
Whos the boys dad.
Why? No.
The service station manager
is the service station manager.
The kids dad left the keys
with the manager.
And also left your
telephone number.
On this piece of paper.
I imagine youll
recognise the handwriting.
Can I have that?
I was told she might be
near Fortn Olavarra.
Do you know anything about that?
PART 1
I
THE ADVENTURE
I think weve gone past it.
I know weve gone past it.
- So what are we doing?
- Were looking for her
They told us to look in Fortn...
So we look in Fortn.
But like this?
In general?
Wait here.
Hi, good afternoon.
Hows it going?
Can I ask you something?
Im looking for a friend, whos
probably been here the last few days
I wonder if you recognise her
Lets see...
Ah, wasnt this girl
hanging around here?
Ah, yeah?
Maybe, but...
Did you call there?
I called but
He must be taking a nap.
- No one came out.
- No, but he must be in there.
Yes?
- But did you see her?
- Yes.
Thanks.
Hi, how are you?
Hows it going?
- Pleased to meet you.
- Pleased to meet you too.
Listen, Im looking for
a friend and Im told...
she could have been
here, these last few days.
Shes my girlfriend, so
careful what you say.
No, beacuase, you dont normally
get many people round here.
But she says she saw her,
and maybe you remember
Because the train goes by here,
and there arent many folk about
Now and again, and the weekend
You know where you can search?
She's very similar...
Laura clearly was in the village.
- The lady saws she saw her.
- She saw her?
Yes. I showed her the photo
She says that...
last week or the one before...
a girl was wandering about
all afternoon.
These are things that
people notice more in small towns.
Do you have anything to say?
Like what?
I dont know.
Anything I should know.
I dont think so.
Lets go to Puricellis.
Who is Puricelli?
Hes a guy with a general store.
And he rents rooms.
"Thats where all the
out-of-towners go," the lady said.
She said "out-of towners"?
She used that word?
"Out-of-towners" she said, yes.
Laura, an out-of-towner.
Did she talk to you about the position?
No.
She never said anything
about the position?
I dont think so.
But you worked with
her at the council.
No.
Ah, on the phone you said you did.
I said I work for the Council
but I dont work with Laura.
I work in another department.
What department?
Transport.
Transport?
Transport of materials.
You transport stuff?
Yes.
And how do you know Laura
if you transport stuff?
Sometimes we were sent together
to 30 de Agosto...
to La Indiana, or the
fields where she worked.
So you transported her?
Sometimes, yes.
Hang on, wait here.
- Hows it going?
- Hello.
Hi, good afternoon.
How are you doing?
- Rafael, pleased to meet you.
- Daniel.
Listen Daniel,
I'm looking for a friend...
from Buenos Aires.
She might have come here to make a call.
I have a picture here.
Let me know if...
if you saw her around.
No, I haven't seen her around here.
She's been trying to communicate,
but we don't know where...
Where should I keep asking?
Maybe in the next
general store, near by.
- But everything's closed.
- No, not here.
On the road.
OK. Where should I make a turn?
Take a left here, and from there...
Let's go.
We have to go to another
general store.
And we should start worrying
if we find something odd on the way there.
Sure.
I'll keep you up to speed.
Yes. OK, listen.
Send kisses to all the boys
and girls from the Academia.
Were going to have to wait.
Hi. Good afternoon.
Hows it going?
My name is Rafael. How are you?
Listen, Im looking for a friend.
A girl...
Shes my girlfriend, actually.
We think she might have been here.
Do you recognise her?
Because shes
She works in the
classification of plants, flowers
Ah, yes.
There's a man in Amrica who has...
an orchid plantation.
- Orchids?
- Orchids.
- What's this man's name?
- Abrante.
Give me a moment, please.
I'll take note...
Abrante.
And this is in Amrica, no?
FAREWELL, FAREWELL,
IM GOING AWAY.
We have to go to Amrica.
We have to go and see
a man called Abrante.
It appears that Laura was here...
it looks like they told her about
him and Im sure she went to see him.
With all the
information Ive got
I cant help but think
about something.
Abrante is an orchid producer.
Abrante lives in Amrica.
In Amrica is the mark
of the one remaining species.
Look...
You see?
Laura still had one species unclassified.
PENDING.
"Pending."
Heres the thing:
Laura committed herself to finishing a job.
And thats exactly what shes doing.
No more, no less.
Just finishing a job.
She went to Amrica looking for
a species she still has to classify
Who knows why the hell
It all adds up.
Shes gone crazy.
Well, like so many others went crazy:
Sinclair, Treviso, Pailln
Franco Vidal himself.
You see?
They all went after a species
that they hadnt yet classified
and threw their lives
away looking for it.
You follow me?
Yeah, more or less.
We have to go to
Amrica to see Abrante.
Thats the answer.
Yeah, the thing is...
I really
We cant pass up this opportunity.
Laura is lost.
Her family are worried.
Shes destroying my career.
She stole your car.
I know one version of Laura...
and you know another.
Theres no one but us two
looking for her.
You see?
No, you know, like I said...
I know, I know.
Yes.
Its complicated with
the kids, or with your ex.
But OK, well work it out.
- Now on the way well call
- Viviana.
Viviana and well explain
to her more or less.
Yes?
Im going to use the phone that this
Nereo told me he thinks he can get.
And Im going to go to the toilet.
You should go too.
Weve got about 25 miles.
II
EZEQUIEL'S PARGod, or bad luck,
punishes him by blinding him.
Hence the expression Peeping Tom...
which is what they call voyeurs in English.
Right, voyeurs...
There are a lot of
Peeping Toms in this studio...
Look at Rodro
Theyre all wild with excitement
about Lady Godeeva.
Thank you one again, Laura,
for the section Women Who Made History.
Thank you very much.
And we are still here in
A Sea of News...
with Patita's humour and...
much more news.
Radio is a blind media...
Until you watch with your ears.
The Station Broadcast.
Unique.
Just like you.
LU 11 invites you
to the first Journey to Italy Contest,
coordinated with
the Trenque Lauquen Culture House.
Now, you too can change
the course of history.
Because traveling is for everyone.
Hello.
Very good, I was listening.
Did you like it?
Yes, I didnt know the story.
Its fun, isnt it?
Very good.
Do you have a
map or coordinates?
No, but were going to
La Indiana, close to 30 de Agosto.
OK.
What is it?
The farm close to La Querencia?
Right. On the way
to La Querencia.
La Querencia first?
You think?
OK.
It seems like today
we are on the subjetcs of nudes
- Who is Anita Ekberg?
- La Dolce Vita!
Dont you remember that
emblematic scene
of her bathing almost naked
in the Fontana di Trevi?
- Just like Lady Godiva! Naked!
- Exactly.
Well, then, if the listeners
want to participate in the contest...
Is it true that she rode
naked on horseback?
Truly naked?
Looks like it.
Must be uncomfortable.
Yeah. It really must.
I dont want to imagine.
And the guy was crazy
Forcing your wife to do that
No, no. Technically
he didnt make her.
You reckon it was a game?
No, no. What game?
She did it so that
hed lower the taxes.
What?
I reckon it was an erotic
game between them.
No. The legend says that she
sacrificed herself for the people
I reckon it was a
game between them.
He loved the idea of his
wife stark naked on a horse.
He had that fantasy.
Nonsense.
She was into it.
They were both kinky.
I think its you whose
making an erotic novel out of it.
I think its obvious.
Well, at least he lowered the taxes.
Is that your boyfriend?
Your mum?
No. My boyfriend.
Ill call him later.
OK.
He must be missing you, no?
Yes. Were building
a house together...
so he calls me a lot.
There are lots of things to decide on.
Actually were renovating a
house that was my boyfriends
and now its going to be our house.
- And it needs everything doing.
- Right.
Doors, windows
Yes. The colour of the wall
in the bedroom. Everything...
Yes, I know what you mean.
I mean
You go home and you get married.
Yes. Were moving
in together, lets say
RAFA
Sorry, I have to get that.
Yes, sure..
Take your time.
Hello?
Yes, I was having lunch.
Go on, tell me!
Tell me!
There he is.
- Hi, Hugo.
- Hi, Laura.
- How are you?
- Fine, you?
How are you doing, Chicho?
Afternoon!
Hows it going, Hugo?
All good. Here we are.
I came here looking
for this one I had left.
I came to do a last search but
You know, I'm still missing the one
that looked like Like Symplocos Uniflora.
Look.
I was saying to Hugo
that it could be in the
Behind la Ollita or in el Molino.
Ah, yes, I know the place.
Those could be good places.
Yes, because weve already
looked in the bush and nothing.
- Coming, Chicho?
- No, I'm staying. Do your thing.
We found some other
things but not that one.
Its playing hard to get.
Well, you have one left.
- Thats not so bad, is it?
- No...
Are you busy this afternoon?
What do you need?
Go and see a farm.
- Where?
- On route 33.
Ive got a map.
An old estate. Martn Fierro,
its called. Have you heard of it?
I think so.
I think I can find this there.
OK, lets go.
The only thing is
I have to pick up the kids.
Do you mind going with them?
- We found it!
- Let's see.
It was there on the old map,
but not in this one.
No, dad!
It's in the other direction!
Quit it!
But we are telling you:
it's in the other direction!
Quit it!
No! No!
Sit down.
Sit down, I said!
- No!
- Sit here.
I think the Martin Fierro Estate
is right there.
There. Its that little house.
Is that it?
I think so, yes.
This estate burned down.
They must have got it
wrong at the Council
This estate burned down,
you are right.
Yes.
It burned down.
Maybe they meant
the village of Martn Fierro...
No, "Martin Fierro Estate"...
Sorry. Were you with the kids?
- No, theyre with their mum.
- Ah, OK.
Heres the thing.
Ive made a discovery.
Its silly, but...
But I wanted to know
what you thought.
Sure.
You might not
even be interested.
No, Im sure Ill be interested.
- Is it something to do with flowers?
- No. It's something else.
I feel like a mad woman.
Look.
I found this.
Letters.
Exactly. Letters.
I think Ive become the only
witness of a little mystery
Crikey.
Yes.
I feel like nobody else
knows this. Just me.
Well. Now you as well...
OK.
Did you find them
at the hotel or what?
No. Hang on.
Let me explain.
I usually go to the library to look for
material for the radio, for my guest slot.
- Usually the librarian
- Susi.
III
THE LETTERS AND THE BOOKS
Susi! Is there a section on
women in science?
Any fascicles?
- Women scientists?
- Yes.
There are some things
on scientists here.
But women scientists
I dont know if theres
anything. If it even exists.
Women scientists?
Right. Scientists, yes.
But women scientists
who discovered something...
Marie Curie.
- And the monkey woman?
- Whos that?
The one who writes about the
chimpanzees. She's very good.
Ah, let me see.
She must be a scientist
Look, "devoted to science and
guided
by empirical facts of reality."
- Shes like a scientist.
- Yes.
But lately
she hasnt been finding so much.
Different tastes.
She says things like
Mercedes Sosa, or local things...
Im looking for, you know,
more universal things, scientists
Or things that are more unheard of,
like Pope Joan, the Queen of Sheba,
Mata Hari
- Mata Haris very good.
- Yes, Mata Haris very good.
And the local ones...
Alfonsina Storni, Evita, Mercedes Sosa
Shall I get you
the biographies that we have?
- OK.
- Pepe!
Weve got some.
If you like I can set them
apart. You can then check them.
If it helps, you keep it...
One day Susi got together
all the biographies of women
that there were in the library.
I took them to the hotel.
I started to read.
Nothing convinced me very much
until I came across
the Russian woman.
A woman called Alexandra Kollontai.
And the book was called "Autobiography
of a Sexually Emancipated Woman".
- Whats the book about?
- Its an autobiography...
- Of a sexually emancipated woman
- Right.
Anyway, I thought it would
be good to do the guest slot
and also I really liked how she wrote.
Right.
What most caught my attention
was one aspect of the edition:
every time Kollontai referred
to a personal achievement...
there was a footnote by the editor
saying that Kollontai at the
last minute had asked to turn
the first personal singular
into the first person plural.
That is, every time the "I"
had to be replaced with "We".
Sorry. What was that again?
- The "I" had to be replaced by "we".
- Ah, OK.
The funny thing is that
I then came across the notes
that someone
who had also read the book had made
and they were surprised at this
same aspect of the edition as I was.
That thing of changing "I" to "We."
That interested me:
someone had read the book
and agreed with me.
Maybe at another time, in another place.
... BY US...
You lost me a bit with that last bit
No, dont worry.
That doesnt matter.
The thing is that
we had both been struck by the same thing.
Both?
Yes, the two of us.
Hang on...
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A
SEXUALLY EMANCIPATED WOMAN.
At the start of the book there was
a stamp that said "Martn Fierro Estate".
And under that a note that said:
"Carmen Zuna, read for the
first time in September 1962".
The ink from this Carmen Zuna
seemed to be the same ink
from the underlining
that I found throughout the book.
Martn Fierro Estate
Yes. I lied to you.
It wasnt for work.
It was espionage.
OK.
So this book belonged
to this Zuma...
- Zuna.
- Zuna.
Yes, but anyway.
That isnt important all the same.
When I got half way through the book...
I found that the pages
jumped from 45 to 50.
And then I realised
that between those pages
that were stuck together
intentionally...
there was something.
A letter.
A love letter.
Yes...
Yes.
The letter was addressed to her.
To Carmen Zuna.
That was the first letter I found.
And then I realised...
that it wasn't the first
letter between them.
That it was part of a correspondence
that had started earlier
The letter I found is dated 1962
and signed by someone
called Paolo Bertino.
- Paolo Bertino
- Yes, Paolo Bertino.
The Bertinos are Italian,
they had land here.
Exactly.
In fact,
I think there are some left.
Yes, yes. A few.
And what were the letters about?
Ill tell you later.
But were they love letters?
Yes, yes. Well...
The thing is that this is
where the bees come into it.
The book about bees.
The letter ended with a
promise to send a new book
in which another letter
was going to be hidden.
And it referred to the
"universe of the bees."
There I figured out that
this whole correspondence...
all the letters from
Paolo and Carmen...
could be among
the thousands of books
in Trenque Lauquen Library.
But I only had to find them.
And to do that I had
something, I had a clue:
The clue that
the same letter was giving me.
Do you see?
I think so.
The clue was the bees.
Exactly!
Check.
Check.
Check.
Check.
Check.
"Autobiography of a woman"
No, Im keeping that one.
Kollontai, not here.
Susi, can I ask you a question?
Is there a record of donations?
Does that appear anywhere?
Hang on a second
because this is I get lost.
What is it you want?
I want to know something,
about a collection
- Which?
- Martn Fierro.
- Martn Fierro Estate?
- Yes.
Thats an enormous collection.
Now, as for women and women
scientists and all that, forget it
No, no
Its not that.
Its because I was intrigued
because I found a stamp that
OK, hang on a second.
I went back to the library.
I asked Susi to let me see the whole record
of donations that were in the library.
Could we see the records of donations?
OK.
Is the ladder safe?
I mean, it won't kill us
OK, were coming now.
Come with me.
Among the thousands of cards,
I found a Martn Fierro Estate collection.
And then I started to look to see
if there was something to do
with the universe of the bees.
Bees...
120...
THE LIFE OF BEES.
- And?
- I found one. "The Life of Bees."
- Good!
- Yes.
I found it in the childrens section.
And mind you, it isn't a childrens book.
When I opened the book,
there was no letter
but there was a note with a page
number and several pages torn out.
I started to look for all the books
that had Carmen Zunas signature...
which because of the
stamp had been archived
in the Martn Fierro
Estate Collection.
So I realised that
all of Carmens books
had ended up in the hands of
the Bertinos or who knows where.
But did no one ever find the letters?
It doesn't look like it.
THE PERSONALITY OF ANIMALS
THE GREEK CITY
Italy.
Rome.
Letters that come and go
between Trenque Lauquen
and various Italian cities.
Several from Rome, some from Turin.
A lot from Quincinetto and Scalaro,
I didnt even know where they were.
This is what I offer to you,
love letters, coming and going.
It starts thus
I found a letter in every book.
I put together a map with all this.
I classified them, I ordered them
by date, I studied them.
I read all the books.
Well, not all of them...
Hang on, hang on.
Sorry.
- Can I ask some questions?
- Yes.
Apart from finding all those letters
Which is no small thing
Hidden correspondence
among thousands of books.
- Amazing.
- Yes. So... What?
That's what I'm asking you:
what?
What?
Well
Let me put it another way.
Why are you so
interested in all this?
I mean
Apart from the thousand books
What's the mystery?
Read this.
Out loud?
Please.
"Carmen: I feel swept away.
I feel like until yesterday I was a child,
and that you have made me an adult.
Something has just begun.
I have lost my
virginity again...
this time definitively.
All the women
I have been with before...
the woman to whom I was
married for over ten years...
every one of my many lovers,
appear before me like little girls.
Your vagina, Carmen. Your vagina.
Someone has given me a treasure
map, and I have started to explore it.
I want to return to your
vagina again and again.
Immerse myself in it, give my life to it.
If I could live there, Carmen...
if that devouring sex would accept
me as a permanent inhabitant...
I would, after so many
years, finally be happy.
My phallus is a poor innocent.
A poor blind man who has entered
the jungle and cannot now leave.
I am crying.
I am a castaway. I am lost.
Paolo."
The mystery is her.
Carmen Zuna.
Unbelievable.
Yes.
"Dear Carmen:
Yesterday I thought about you all day."
- He dropped the formalities.
- Yes.
"That little hotel room,
that staircase...
that table, will be little sanctuaries
for me, little temples."
Hang on...
Interesting.
A lot of information.
Yes. We know that
they met in a hotel.
But the staircase...
Who knows why he says that.
Maybe they always
started on the staircase
On the staircase
of the hotel? You think?
I wouldn't be surprised.
What I don't understand is the table.
Why does he mention the table?
"The table. That little wooden table...
and you on top of it.
Your eye, waiting, open like"
"Your eye waiting open like an orange"
Ah, OK
"I want the summer to come now.
Please, beloved Carmen,
let us meet again.
Let us set a time and place
for our next encounter.
There I will be, always yours. Paolo."
"Carmen: I apologise."
He goes back to the formality.
"The student was not up to the task.
I failed. I failed you,
and I deserve punishment.
I was foolish, I was weak.
To see you in that mans arms,
to see that man possess you...
to see you aroused, panting,
screaming, surrendered...
rude.
Burning like a fire for that coarse
man, that brutish, rough man...
for that animal who did not
and could not know
who he had in his arms
was too much for me.
The image tortured me
and continues to torture me.
There I was, sitting, watching you...
The gaucho, watching me...
Laughing at me as he possessed you.
And you, Carmen, your happiness,
your fury, your laughter...
looking at me contentedly like a child."
Blimey.
"I don't know if I will be able
I don't know if I will be able
to continue my education.
I don't know if this art is for me.
I don't know if I'm any use to you.
If I can cope with your fire, my
lady, my queen, my priestess.
I am worse than you.
I do not deserve
any of you, Carmen.
Nor do I deserve to be
humiliated by you. Paolo."
- This is getting a bit weird.
- Yes.
What do you make of it?
Her ladyship took the
gaucho to the stud farm.
You think shes a landowner?
I dont know. That seems
to be the case, doesnt it?
Yes.
- Shall we go?
- Yes.
"Carmen, my beloved.
A short note
on this windy afternoon.
I'm so aroused that
I don't know where to begin.
I feel like I am being examined
on a new subject.
I write you letters
and tear them up.
I can't find the words.
I don't recognise
my handwriting on the paper.
Could it be that I am terrified by the
idea of losing my place in your heart?
Whatever it is, I cannot wait.
I know he will be received
as one of us."
I honestly don't understand a thing.
"Whatever it is, I cannot wait...
I know he will be received
as one of us.
And you Carmen?
When will I see you again?
Will it be soon?
I miss you more
than ever. Paolo."
"Dear Carmen:
I no longer know why I write to you.
Three months have passed since you left.
Where are you?
Who could you be with?
Who is in the place where
I was for so many years?
Was it that easy to replace me?'
"Carmen, I no longer know where
I find the strength to write to you...
but I feel that it is
the only thing I can do.
I am not resigned
to this being a farewell.
Oh Carmen, oh my traveller,
oh my adventurer, don't leave me this way!
After abandoning everything,
this fire has left too many wounds.
- He left his wife?
- Well, yeah.
- Paolo was married.
- Of course.
Then I remember that your body
is the map of my life,
and without your body I am lost.
Your letters reach me
from the most remote places.
And your words become
equally remote and vague.
Could it be that you wrote them
thinking they would be your last?
I cannot accept that.
I deny those words,
I impugn them.
They are the words of a little girl.
A little girl who repeats mechanically
the cruel verses of infantile games.
But you are not
a little girl, Carmen.
And this is not a game.
Yours, Paolo."
He's losing her.
Yes.
I don't know why he insists
so much on the words.
What words?
"They are the words of a little girl.
A little girl who repeats mechanically."
What could that be?
I'm leaving you!
To me, it sounds like
a pat-a-cake.
I leave you, I leave you,
I ditch you, I ditch you...
I kill you, I kill you,
I bury you, I bury you...
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye!
I don't know.
What do you think she said to him?
- Bye, bye?
- Bye, bye.
Bye, bye, goodbye?
Farewell, farewell?
- Im leaving!
- I'm leaving.
Farewell, farewell,
I'm going away.
Yes, that sounds mechanical.
Yes.
If you find yourself regretting
Im leaving, Im leaving
Having given your love
Farewell, farewell
It wasnt my fault
Im leaving, Im leaving
You gave me the chance
Farewell, farewell
Jealousy weighs down on me
I dont know why
IV
"FAREWELL, FAREWELL, IM GOING AWAY"
All right, Abrante, thanks.
So I come out here where I came
in and straight ahead to Piedritas?
Yes, yes.
Straight ahead, youll see a sign. OK?
Im in a hurry. Excuse me.
No, no. Please. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Bye.
Nothing, mate.
This Abrante hasnt got a clue.
He doesnt know
anything about Laura...
or who this guy in the bar is...
He doesnt know a thing.
He hasnt had any orchids for ten years.
He doesnt know anything
about plants. Now he has sows.
Mothers.
3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days.
In 114 days they get
8 to 12 suckling pigs.
So each sow could have up to
About 30 suckling pigs a year.
Ten mothers...
300 a year.
Every suckling pig is 10 kilos,
more or less 5000, 5500 pesos.
Good business, no?
What Abrante did tell me...
is that theres a big nature reserve
near here, near Piedritas.
Maybe there is the thing
were looking for.
Laura?
Not exactly.
Lauras unclassified species.
I think that could lead us to Laura.
Do you remember when the last
time was that you saw her exactly?
I'm not sure.
Evidently with the car thing...
Ah, sure. When she
came to borrow the car.
And when she stole your car...
Sorry, but I don't feel
like she stole my car.
Well...
OK.
- You drove her around, right?
- Yes.
OK.
How often?
Do you remember how often?
Once or twice a week.
It depended on the work she had to do.
What was that like?
Tell me the routine
Did you meet at the council?
I usually picked her up at the radio.
The radio?
She worked at a radio station.
Who?
Laura...
Laura worked at a radio station?
She had a guest spot on a programme.
Juliana's programme.
Listen, did she
tell you anything about me?
I mean, did she tell
you she had a boyfriend?
- Yes, she told me.
- OK.
OK.
So, the radio
Yes.
Carry on.
I used to pick her up at the radio...
we'd go to the farm
where she had to work...
Sometimes we had lunch...
then I left her at the hotel.
That's all.
Right.
Right. That job was the
first step to being appointed
as department head.
We were joint chair.
I was the head,
she hasnt been appointed yet
She was about to be appointed
Right.
I mean, if she did that job well,
the position was confirmed
Right.
That's why I don't
understand what's going on.
Right.
Can you tell me the name of the radio?
L, U.
L for "Laura",
U for "unicorn"...
OK.
Let's go.
You drive, Im tired.
What happened?
Flat tyre.
OK, lets get the jack.
- No.
- No what?
No, I havent got one.
What?
I've just realised, the day
Laura borrowed the car...
I took all the things out of the boot
to clean it and left it all at my house.
No, I don't understand.
You go driving in the
country without a jack?
Ill remind you that it wasn't
in my plans to drive here.
I have the worst luck!
Well call the breakdown service.
You sure about the jack?
You dont want to check just in case?
Im sure, but Ill check.
See?
Is thats Lauras backpack?
Call the breakdown service, please.
OK.
Theyll be here in an hour,
hour and a half.
"Autobiography of a sexually
emancipated woman."
Crikey.
So I can get some sleep...
Hey, could you give me a
wake-up call at quarter to five?
Yes, of course. Girls, do you
want to watch TV in the kitchen?
Ill set my phone all the same
but if I don't hear it I prefer
to be woken by a professional.
Can I get breakfast at that time?
I'll find out, Sir.
If it's very complicated:
A coffee, something quick...
so I don't have to go
out on an empty stomach.
- Yes, sir. We'll get you a coffee.
- Thanks, very kind.
Dont worry about my friend here,
hell probably keep on sleeping.
- Thank you, thanks a lot.
- You're welcome.
- Mum, can we watch TV?
- In a minute.
When?
In a minute when
Ive finished clearing the table.
- Good morning.
- Morning.
- Will you have breakfast?
- Yes.
Excuse me. Could I have
some more croissants please?
But the butter ones.
I have sweet or savoury.
Is that ok?
Sweet.
Sweet.
- Did you sleep well?
- Yeah, yeah...
Good.
You didnt shower?
- No.
- The showers great.
Just so you know
Theres a lot to do.
I was at the nature reserve this morning.
Very nice reserve, very well maintained,
there was nothing there.
Not a trace. Not a trace of the
unclassified species, not a trace of Laura.
There wasn't even a trace of the
women who were working there.
Thank you.
So they sent me back here, to Amrica.
To a municipal plant nursery.
They wanted to send
me to a zoo. Nothing.
Theres nothing.
The thing is something else.
The news of the day is here.
"Man has always tried
to impose his ego on us women
and adapt us completely to his ends.
Thus, despite everything,
the inevitable inner rebellion broke out
because love became a prison."
I'll read you another one.
"I had to go, I had to break with
the chosen man, as otherwise...
this was a subconscious feeling...
I would have exposed myself to the
danger of losing my independent existence."
One more
Underlined with pen.
"The decrease in our
capacity to work was lost
in sterile emotional experiences."
And the ink matches the piece of paper
where she wrote down your telephone number.
The piece of paper she
left at the service station.
It's clear what is happening here.
Laura was making a house with me.
She was about to take
a position in my department.
It isn't that Laura's gone crazy.
It's just that she's got cold feet.
Cold feet?
About what?
In general.
Love or work.
A man or an independent life.
A career...
Laura needs to find
that unclassified species.
Work out the enigma.
And feel...
like she did it herself.
That no one worked it out for her.
That I didn't work it out for her.
Only then will she be able
to return to her usual life.
It's all here.
In this book.
Rafael...
I need us to go back to Trenque.
See the people
who were close to this Laura.
I need you to come with me.
I'm going to pay for the hotel.
And pick up some regional products that
I bought on the excursion this morning.
Shall I see you in the car?
I've already got petrol.
Excuse me, could I check out?
- Yes, certainly.
- Thank you.
I'm going to the restroom.
I'm leaving the credit card here.
Something Ive never wanted
Is having ever been ungrateful
Thats why Ive never forgotten
How much youve
been there for me
I could say that you and I
Weve been good friends
I dont know if its fate
That parts the ways
You always go in such a hurry
Hiding in your laughter
Maybe you never understood
That I move slowly and sadly
I offered you my soul sincerely
And you werent even
capable of taking my hand
I dont know if it was in vain
I could hardly say
that you feel it with sorrow
And dont ask why
Theres no sense in knowing
Just sit in silence beside me
And dont ask after me
when Im gone
V
THE ROADS
LOVE LETTERS
PROPOSAL
MARTIN FIERRO ESTATE
I / WE
BEES (NO LETTER)
NO CLUES
WHO HAS CHILDREN ACCEPTS LIFE
PAGE 48. PAVESE, LE AMICHE
NO REPLY
WALKING
MY ANSWER IS JUANA
It's the only note from
Carmen signed by her.
I don't understand
how I missed that detail.
If there is a note from Carmen
among Carmens things...
it's because this
note was never sent.
And it's because this name, Juana...
represents something
that she wanted to omit.
Something that she thought,
wrote, but then didn't send.
Mysterious, huh?
Is it the only time shes mentioned?
Yes, the only time.
There's something
curious about the Juanas
There's a book about Joan of Arc,
one about Sister Juana Ins de la Cruz.
And the book about Joan of Arc is
also translated by a Juana, Juana Castro.
Right.
Right...
- A thousand Juanas.
- Yes.
I dont know. Just to bear it in mind.
Maybe it'll help us to think.
Right.
Right...
- What's up?
- Nothing.
- What's up?
- Nothing.
I found something.
- Carmen Zuna.
- No!
The first thing that caught my attention
about Carmen is that no one knew her.
I grew up in this town.
Everyone knows each other.
A woman like that
would never go unnoticed.
Even less with Carmens profile.
How could it be that
no one noticed her?
It had to be someone
who came to the town now and again.
A doctor, who came to work
at the hospital.
Or a nun.
But at that time
there were no convents.
I looked in all the registers I could find.
Locals guide, Kraft guide...
phone book, book of trades...
professional services,
electoral registers.
Not a trace.
Until I had a revelation.
An intuition.
Since they played so much with
the idea of the student,
the teacher, learning...
- Perhaps I had to go and see
- You went to the school?
School Number 1.
Im a former student.
At the school I met everyone.
Chicho! Long time no see!
Tito the caretaker.
Lelia, my second grade teacher.
Graciela, the librarian...
and Mary, the principal.
I asked them if they had
a file from that time...
From 1960.
I didn't tell them
exactly what it was for.
I simply said that I was interested
in the schools file.
The first thing they showed me was
a picture from "The Golden Decade".
It was the era of the great schools.
I found that the teaching stuff
from '60 to '70 were outstanding.
In those ten years, the teachers
were almost all eminences.
It was the time
of the great schools, I'm told.
Do you know who all of them are?
Some, yes.
This is Ana Mara Sastre.
The thing is that Tito,
Graciela, Mary and Lelia...
spent some time putting
names to the teachers.
They recognised them all.
Ana Mara Sastre, Leoncia Garro...
Silvina San Miguel, "la Bergamasco"...
Ulda Saenz de Fosatti...
Piaggio, Trotta, Barragu, Muiz.
They all have a name.
Longobardi
And this one
Who is that one, because this one
we know up to here, but that one?
I don't remember that one.
I can't place her.
No. The other ones, yes.
Everyone had a name except one.
- Beatriz Del Sarto.
- Del Sarto...
- And this one?
- Is she Barrag?
Hey, what about this
one with the long hair?
Isn't she the same one
we don't know from there?
It was always the same woman:
a teacher who they couldn't place at all.
This is the same photo from
This is the photo from there.
Exactly, it's the same person.
The magazine of the
schools centenary.
Look, 100 years.
This same photo even appears in
the magazine of the schools centenary.
Let's see if we
can find her here.
With all the names of all
the teachers, except hers.
But you see, here is she is.
Ah, look.
Its the same photo.
There she is.
Garro, Scuderi, San Miguel...
I have a hypothesis.
- Teresa Trotta
- Yes.
Piaggio...
If they all have a name except one
And this one?
Is Carmen Zuna.
Carmen Zuna was a teacher.
- Supply teacher.
- How do you know?
I checked in all the
registers from '60 to '70.
Once a month a signature
appears and, beside it: Supply.
The name never appears.
I started to ask questions.
Specifically I asked them about Zuna.
Do you know a "Carmen Zuna"?
No...
I don't.
Mary says "It doesnt sound familiar."
I asked her about
the supply teachers at that time.
She tells me there were several.
I ask her: where did they come from?
She says...
Well, most of them
from La Pampa.
"Almost all of them
from La Pampa, from Santa Rosa".
Right, you went to Santa Rosa
and looked for the records of Zuna as a
supply teacher who came from Santa Rosa
when a teacher was absent.
No. I asked Grace,
at the council
and she looked
for it on the internet.
- And?
- Carmen Zuna.
But the photo was
the same as this one?
No, there wasnt a photo.
But all the same:
There was a teacher called Zuna.
Supply teacher.
In that photo
everyone has a name.
There is only one who
doesn't have a name.
- I think it's clear
- Yes, it's clear.
- Carmen Zuna!
- Yes, yes.
VI
CARMEN ZUNA
- There's something else.
- What?
I looked at the records of
students from '65 to '69 at the school.
And?
Mario and Marcelo Bertino.
- She was the sons supply teacher.
- Exactly!
Mario and Marcelo Bertino.
- Do you have any more photos?
- Yes, keep looking.
Is this her?
That's her.
OK
But wait, wait. This gets better.
I carried on reading
the letters you gave me.
From the first half of the year,
Bertino is the same as before.
He's like a kind of lover who
is learning. She is his teacher.
But at one moment
something happens.
An event.
In the letters he starts to sound worried.
He starts to speak
about someone else.
He says: "He will be
received like one of us."
Who is he?
Is it the gaucho?
From the stud farm?
At one stage, she leaves.
He keeps writing letters to her,
completely despairing...
but she disappears.
He blames the other one.
He feels that she
abandoned him for the other.
But at the same time he can't
speak about the other one with hatred.
As if he too loved that other one.
There are three,
and the two of them love Zuna.
And Carmen...
Who does she love?
Time passes. Finally, in the
last letters, Zuna reappears.
And listen to this:
He is no longer he.
He is she.
The third party is now female.
That's as far as I've got.
Can you hold on
while I go to the toilet?
Clearly, there is an event.
But it is not a lover.
Look at this photo.
It is from late '68, a few months
before Carmen disappeared off the map.
So?
Her face has changed.
- Does she look sad?
- Tired, maybe?
Shes fatter.
- Shes pregnant.
- A daughter?
Juana.
Its like this
The letters from '69
reconstruct all the mystery of '68.
At some stage in '68, as you read,
Carmen gets pregnant by Bertino.
Suppose Bertino receives the news
of the pregnancy while in Italy,
on a business trip.
Bertino doesnt understand,
he doesnt know what to do.
At first, he writes things like:
I will take care of everything,
"Don't be afraid",
"You are not alone."
Comments of a married man
to his lover in this situation.
He wants to behave like an adult.
I guess he found leaving his family
a scandalous thing.
But an answer from Carmen,
we dont know which one is, surprises him.
Something happens.
Something changes within him.
For example, look at
what he writes in this letter:
Your answer has given me hope.
I never thought having a child with me
was a possibility for you,
in the same way a Goddess doesnt
have a child with a simple mortal.
Thats the sort of things he writes.
Hes out of control.
In love as he has never been before.
And he refers to that child as a miracle,
a present form destiny.
That kind of clich.
And thats where the problem begins:
Carmen's letters stop arriving.
Nevertheless, Bertino keeps writing to her.
He keeps the ritual going...
a little resigned.
For long months, apparently,
Carmen doesnt reply.
Nothing, not a single letter,
not a single word.
Bertino suffers, fears, waits.
Finally Carmens
long-awaited letter arrives.
And what can be read in that letter
is even more disturbing for Bertino.
Once again, Carmen doesnt
behave as he expects.
Something is off.
Carmen announces shes leaving.
Where? I dont know.
And Bertino doesnt know either.
Carmen simply tells
him that: Im leaving.
What I understand is
that Carmen starts to walk
What do you mean to walk?
To walk across the fields
How do you know she starts
to walk across the fields?
How could you know that?
He says he doesnt know where she is.
He wants to find out,
but in the end he gives up.
He tells her:
After days of
trying to find out where you are,
Ive realized you are nowhere.
Or rather: you are everywhere.
I don't buy it.
Wait! She starts walking.
There are more clues.
Which clues?
Look at these letters.
If you follow what he says
it is as if she has become
a wild creature, almost an animal.
He writes things like:
Pilgrim of the pampas,
lonesome explorer,
adventurer.
Even "vagabond"
Carmen, a vagbond...
- He writes "vagabond"?
- Many times.
OK. Lets picture this.
Carmen walks the province of Buenos Aires
for months, as her belly grows.
Its as if hes seeing her:
walking along dirt roads,
walking into a farm every once
in a while, to ask for food.
Alone, somewhat lost.
But at the same time
determined not to turn back.
And Bertino?
Bertino meanwhile is in Italy.
All his letters are stamped there:
from a remote village
where he takes refuge.
And there he stays.
Bertino waits for her.
He knows about the pregnancy.
That pregnancy is what Bertino
tries to imagine in his letters.
Where is she?
Where is she going?
Is she okay?
Does she know what shes doing?
Or has she gone crazy?
What is she worried about?
Is she worried about something?
Will she return?
At that time he thought
it was going to be a boy.
Look, he writes:
"He will be received like one of us".
He confirms to her that
he will be there with her...
to look after him.
But it doesnt seem to be enough.
Something in Carmen has changed.
Somethings happened to her.
He fears for her.
He is afraid that she is lost.
Carmen replies only sporadically.
And, from what Bertino says in his
letters, her notes are erratic and bitter.
But Carmen is all right.
She is better than ever.
She has found on that walk something
that she had always looked for
For some reason, she cannot stop walking.
She crosses the whole province
and does not tire.
She walks so much,
she even reaches the sea.
And there she stays, waiting.
Let's suppose that some time later,
at some seaside town,
the baby girl is born.
Thanks.
"My answer is Juana" is the answer
to why she gives up the life with him.
That life full of love and adventures.
That life is no longer possible.
And there is no way
they can be the same again...
love each other equally.
The letters from Paolo from that period
are the letters of a sad man.
He misses her.
He thinks about her all the time.
He travels here and there,
like a lonely shadow.
He thinks about her,
as he travels around Italy
as if trying to find something.
As if he were trying to replace her.
And this is were a new mystery appears.
Listen...
At some stage,
I dont know how,
Juana appears in Italy,
living with her father, with Bertino.
"We continue to wait for you here, Carmen.
Always in the same place,"
he tells her in one of his last letters.
How does she get there?
How is it that Carmen lets the girl go?
Does she abandon her?
Do Carmen and Bertino meet again?
If they dont, how does the girl
travel to Italy?
Here we are at the
very heart of the enigma.
The great mystery of the love story
between Bertino and Carmen Zuna
Juana.
- "The answer is Juana."
- The question is Juana.
The girl grows up.
He raises her on his own.
She is the only thing that
keeps him close to her.
The only guarantee that
Carmen might return one day.
And then what happens?
I don't know.
All we know is that at
some point he returns...
and almost like a ceremony, like a ritual,
he leaves the letters in the same place.
He knows that she will not return...
but he prefers that
the letters are there:
in the same place where I found them.
He writes letters to nobody?
Something like that.
Bertino talks about her as if
she has got lost on the roads.
He accepts that
she will not return.
Did Carmen go crazy?
Or is it he who went crazy?
Imagining her as a kind
of legendary character?
That is something
we will never know.
What we do know is that they
did not see each other again.
And he never stops
thinking about her.
His life is her.
And he thinks about the
years they spent together...
as the only moment
when his life made sense.
VII
RAFAEL'S PAR...Rome is one of the most
beautiful cities in the world, right?
- You had already gone.
- No, we hadn't Juliana...
And we loved it.
It was like a dream to us.
When I was a boy
they spoke to me a lot in Italian,
because my family was Italian.
So I was able to communicate.
I was able to be in contact, let's say...
What do you want me to say?
I can't explain it either, Clarita.
I don't know.
No, no. Rude.
Chip on his shoulder.
No, whatever you like,
but you just dont do that.
You dont leave someone
stranded in Piedritas...
You just dont do that.
No, no!
Thats right.
He hates me.
I said: he hates me.
He hates me!
Nothing, nothing.
Dont worry, Clarita.
Ill call you when I arrive.
See if you can arrange
that ticket for me.
I said check
The ticket
I said
I said check
Nothing....
Bye.
Bye. Bye. Yes.
Let's go to a commercial break and we'll be
right back with "A Sea of News".
Radio is a blind media...
Unil you watch with your ears...
The Station Broadcast.
Unique.
Just like you.
Hello.
How can I help you?
Hello, yes.
Norma?
Normita
Ah, how are you?
Im Rafael.
Rafael?
I'm the person who you
arranged Lauras transfer with.
Laura?
She's...
Laura?
Ah! Laura!
Of course! Laura!
Sorry
Sit down, I'm a bit disoriented
wrestling with this
wrapping paper
to wrap this for my godson.
Rafael! We know each
other well but by email!
Yes. But not in person...
You received the project completed
and signed by me, didn't you?
Perfect, yes.
Would you like anything,
a coffee or something?
No, thank you. I'm fine.
And what brings you here?
- Here we are
- Is something the matter?
No, no...
Truth is...
I just wanted to come in person,
to see to some matters that
Laura kind of left in a mess.
- You're her partner, arent you?
- Exactly.
You're getting married.
We're moving in together.
Right, thats right.
Well, its the same
Yes, its the same.
- Sure you dont want coffee, nothing?
- No, no. Thank you.
Actually I wanted to ask you if you
remember the last time you saw Laura.
Laura?
Has something happened to her?
No.
Not at all.
Thing is...
She went on holiday and after a while
I didn't hear from her, but it's nothing
That's odd.
She came to the council to finish
her job. She signed everything.
Did she complete everything all right?
Yes, fine. She did an
excellent job. Great.
The team adored her.
But I think she was missing
something, she said to me
She finished everything
and I speeded things up
so that they could advance
with the university position.
Right. I'm very grateful to you...
I don't know.
She surveyed one last field
and she told me that she would
take care of the remaining one
and that in any case
she would come back.
I don't exactly remember
what we agreed.
Right...
- The unclassified specimen.
- Sorry?
The unclassified specimen,
the remaining one.
Ah, yes. A pending one.
The pending one.
Thats what it says on the file.
Yes, but thats just bureaucracy.
"The" pending one,
"the" remaining one...
Right.
You don't remember how
long she stayed in the hotel?
This is very strange...
Have you been jilted?
Did she go off with a local man?
No, no, not at all.
I have to take precise
information for the department
and now Laura doesn't
A load of things.
How strange!
She has a ticket.
- Who?
- Laura.
She bought a ticket
For Monday.
And how do you know?
Because I'm her boss.
She's going to come back.
Don't worry.
No, yeah. I know she's
going to come back.
Have you fallen out?
No
Now that I think about it, maybe there
was a small misunderstanding, but...
I think I will have a tea now.
Look...
No, I know what you're
going to say, but it isn't that.
Laura doesn't do things like that.
She hasn't left me for someone else.
So wait for her, she'll be back.
Thanks.
What I wanted to tell
you is something else...
Laura did a very good job
I know
But at the end she went off the tracks.
She went off the tracks?
Yes. Maybe its nothing but...
she forgot to pay for
some things in the hotel
A bit irresponsible.
Sloppy, you know.
A lot of minibar, a
lot of room service
And she didnt even say, if
shed told us wed have fixed it
Of course.
Needless to say I can take care of that.
And I apologise on behalf
of the whole department.
She became an unfriendly
character, you know?
So she had to leave Trenque...
and I don't know why but she
decided to stay a few more days
but the council couldn't
keep paying for the hotel
because her contract
had already ended.
So, being so friendly...
I offered her a room that
my grandmother rents out.
And not only did she not pay her...
but she didn't even leave
her a box of chocolates.
My grandmother is retired, you know.
Well, once again...
I'll be sure to get a good
gift for your grandmother.
She took a pair of wellies of
mine as well, and a raincoat
A Perramus.
I'd like to offer to pay
for that as well, Norma.
She became quite rebellious.
She left the room in a mess.
We had to call someone to clean it...
And she had set up a kind
of dirty and smelly habitat
What about her things?
No, she took them, I suppose.
And the rest was returned.
What do you mean returned?
To the library.
She went to the library a lot
because she had a radio
programme, you see?
Yes, yes
And there were maps
and things of the council
But all that was returned as well.
Right, you returned it.
No, Chicho returned it.
- Whos Chicho?
- Chicho, the transport guy...
Ah, yes Chicho.
Yes, I know who you mean.
I'm going to have to get going
because my coach is leaving.
You're leaving already?
Yes, I didn't even bring any clothes.
I came for the day and ended up staying.
OK, but youll be back.
Sure. Yes, sure.
Besides, if Laura doesn't
come back in a couple of days
maybe I'll start
to get worried...
I dont think so.
Shell be back.
Yes, of course
shes coming back.
Shall I take you to the bus station?
Im at a loose end. And Ill
drop off this gift for my nephew.
Go on, go on.
Go on, that's handy.
- Can I help you with that?
- OK.
You already know the town hall
Its a monstrosity
This is where Lau started working.
And this is the main street
Villegas.
You see how its a boulevard?
Well, all the streets in Trenque
are boulevards.
This was the bar for Laura.
This is Kalos.
She came here a lot.
She spent her time here.
I guess she used it as her office
Right.
This is where Laura moved to
when she left the hotel
Right.
This is my grandma Telmas house.
The one with the bench.
As I said, thats where she left
all her things.
Looks like a UFO.
Yes
A flying saucer.
More boulevards
All boulevards.
This is the lake.
Trenque Lauquen means "round lake."
You see that room with the blind up?
Laura stayed there for the first six months
that she was working in Trenque.
Your coach to Buenos Aires is here.
Give her time, Rafa.
Maybe she's confused.
Yes.
Maybe I'll get home and
she'll be waiting for me there.
It goes without saying that I can
sign the completion of the project...
take responsibility
for the remaining one.
I don't know, I can also send someone
to finish this business next week...
so it isn't left half done.
No, don't worry, Rafael, thank you.
Besides, the project is on hold
and we won't get another
allocation of money for it.
No, of course, yes.
This has been a tough year.
All the budget cuts went to health
when the monkey thing happened.
And now with the elections
and the re-election of Prez Fox
you can't sell a project to classify
local flowers to anybody.
Not a soul
Whats the monkey thing?
The monkey thing
Well, I call it the monkey thing.
Didn't you read the news about an
apparition on the lake,
a while back?
No, no. I'm not aware of it.
This thing appeared and we don't
know what it was, on the lake in the park
there were thousands of theories.
The whole business with
a doctor from here
who was kind of controversial
who took it to her house
Madness.
- And what happened?
- Nothing
It died down in the end.
It was a big fuss until it got out
hat it was a fairly normal animal.
An alligator or something.
An alligator?
Alligators here?
It was a scandal.
There was this whole
science fiction story...
and then they said it
was all a trick, a screen.
A trick?
Yes. To keep people
entertained and scared
while the lake was taken
over in a privatisation project.
An artificial beach.
An artificial beach
in Trenque Lauquen...
- With artificial waves.
- No...
Nothing new, Prez Foxs idea.
Its leaving now.
Well, nice to meet you.
Likewise. Yes
Keep me updated and let me know.
If you come Ill book you
a hotel through the council.
Ah, OK.
Sure, sure, of course.
Wel...
- Very nice to meet you.
- Likewise.
- Bye.
- Bye.
Thank you.
Good journey!
PART II
"Towns falling apart,
politicians not doing their jobs"
by Juliana Verdi.
"Juliana Verdi from Paris..."
"One of the new women from the west
of the province of Buenos Aires."
How helpful for the town...
LU11 RADIO SCHEDULE
MONDAY TO FRIDAY
6AM TO 9AM
GOOD MORNING TRENQUE LAUQUEN
9AM TO 1PM
A SEA OF NEWS
ON AIR
... when they finish high school,
instead of getting off-track,
might have some inkling
of what they want to do...
What are you laughing at?
What they want to do,
what choice to make in life.
This is the picture
I have of your work, Marcio,
because I can see it.
I can see a lot of kids come in,
sometimes to talk...
and you can see they lack support in...
in their families and also
from the government...
trying to guide these kids to see
what theyll do with their lives,
what activity or discipline
they can develop...
maybe not with all the kids,
Trying to channel their talent
into something.
I think your work, somehow...
maybe not with all the kids,
but somehow helps in that.
If these kids werent doing this,
where would they be?
What happens when they finish school...
If they ever do...
... if they dont know what to do.
A little support, a little guidance.
Guide these kids and see what
they do with their lives.
What activity,
what discipline they will devote to
VIII
JULIANA'S PARSo trying to channel the talent
and I think you
the activities with the kids...
If not theyd be at home
on the PlayStation.
What will become of them later?
Will they be lawyers?
I don't know.
- For example.
- Possibly.
You know they always thank me...
and I try to set the limit.
To explain that...
the merit is all theirs.
Im the teacher.
They know my place.
And what someone
in a position like mine has to do
is to accompany.
This is LU 11 from Trenque Lauquen
also broadcasting on
LU 25 in Fortin Olavarra,
LU 23 in Tres Lomas,
LU 33 in 30 de Agosto,
LU 34 in Pellegrini
and LU 37 in Salliquel.
Youre listening to
Good Morning, Trenque Lauquen
with Enrique "Rolo" Rolandi.
Hi, Patita.
Hi, Carla.
Rodro.
Somehow, your job,
maybe not with all of the kids,
but somehow it helps them
to find what they want to do.
OK. The operator says were over time.
The guys from A Sea of News are here,
but theyll have to forgive us.
So...
OK.
We have some listeners messages.
One of them says congratulations to Marcio
for supporting the sport
and bringing it to our town.
- Thank you very much.
- That's true.
Here's another one...
Oh, I know this one: "El Gato" Montes.
- My high school buddy.
- Yes, of course.
- Such a nice guy, "El Gato".
- Very nice guy.
He says he's specting you and
the kids for a barbacue at his place.
I don't know if he's kidding or...
I haven't seen him in ages.
- What a great guy, "El Gato"!
- Nice guy.
You know, his father...
Tito Montes...
Used to play soccer with us in La Plata,
back when we were students...
me and my brothers.
Yes, yes.
Another great guy.
The whole Montes family, really.
They are not only good people,
but also do a lot for the community.
That family has done a lot
for Trenque Lauquen...
So...
We have to wrap it up, but before that...
A word from our sponsors,
who make the live broadcast a reality...
We're sponsored by...
Almafuerte Tractors:
30 years by the fields.
And who made the croissants, Lila?
"Los Amigos" Bakery:
More than a friendship...
Now we are ready.
OK...
We're leaving now.
Gals from "A Sea of News".
You've come dressed to the nines...
Thank you for everything.
Thank you, Marcio.
- Thank you.
- See you later.
- Unitl tomorrow, friends.
- See you tomorrow.
LU11 presents Juliana in...
A Sea of News.
The magazine
thats there for you each morning.
Good afternoon.
This is a new edition
of "A Sea of News".
One again, we are on
from the floor of Radio LU11...
and we apologize for the customary delay.
Here we are alongside our team,
our friends, our listeners.
Meeting once again to start the day
with news,entertainment...
and above all,
looking forward to sharing this place...
to talk with all the
Trenque Lauquen community.
Today we have with us
our good friend from Buenos Aires: Laurita.
- Our almost biologist, no?
- Almost, yes.
She is going to give us a surprise section,
from what it says here. Right?
We also have...
Curcio on sport.
Today: historical section
on shot put...
And it's... Well...
- It's relationship with...
- OK, very good.
And our dear Patita.
With her motley characters that...
bring us toghether, move us,
make us laugh and cry...
And we hope shes brought
more characters, right?
Did the fortune teller come?
Seems like it!
OK, alright...
And lets get going, yeah?
Rodro, from the control room
there, always dependable...
Were going to start off
with an upbeat subject
about the work that is being done
in the lake complex
that you all know very well,
in the area of Route 33...
which is causing so many arguments
over the construction of a dam.
We hope that this afternoon
the towns mayor Francisco Prez Fox
will be coming to see us.
He promised he would,
but you never know...
He'll be here. Of course.
The mayor is a busy man.
Were now going to interview
Marta Rpodas...
director of the play that opens tonight
at the Municipal Theatre of Trenque.
A beautiful theatre,
a wonderful place to go.
But also tonight...
is the presentation of Martas company,
which is called Theatre a priori",
who are tonight performing
an interpretation of "Waiting for Godot"
by Samuel Beckett...
Starring parents and children.
Marta is travelling to Trenque
and weve got her on the line now...
Hows it going, Marta?
Hello Juliana. Can you hear me?
OK, and here it is now...
our section on
Women Who Made History.
A classic section for all of us.
We hope Laurita
never leaves Trenque...
She couldnt be replaced, right?
No, please.
I hope I won't be!
So tell us, then, Laurita...
almost biologist?
Almost, almost.
I'm getting there.
OK, almost biologist.
What have you brought us this morning?
Ive brought a character
whos going to cause a little bit
of controversy, I know.
She's done it before.
Her name is Lady Godeeva.
- Lady Godeeva, right.
- I think it's pronounced Lady Godiva...
No, Godeeva is fine.
- Yes, I say Godeeva.
- Godeeva works.
OK, Laura...
Tell us who this woman is who made history
OK.
First and foremost, we could say
that she's the most famous
nudist of all time.
Whoa, good start.
Nudist?
Nudist, exhibitionist,
whatever you want to call her.
We go back to the Middle Ages,
specifically the eleventh century, England.
When we think about the Middle Ages,
we have to imagine what
that means to us:
the castle, the feudal lord
- The vassals...
- Thats the scene.
Lady Godeeva was married to this Leofric,
who was Lord of the city of Coventry.
Godeeva was well liked by the people
for her goodness and beauty...
And she was very popular
at a time when the class differences
were more marked than ever.
Leofric, on the other hand...
was a tough lord, pretty tyrannical.
The people didn't like him at all...
A male chauvinist, no?
In a moment of shortages
he decided to increase taxes
which would literally leave the city
on the verge of starvation.
The people begged Leofric to show mercy,
but he could not be moved.
It was then that the traders and the poor
turned to Lady Godeeva
hoping she would be able to convince
her husband into lowering the taxes.
Lady Godeeva stands up to her husband,
but he won't come around.
Mocking her request,
Leofric offers a deal.
He says "OK, I'll lower the taxes,
but on one condition:
you shall ride a horse
through the town of Coventry, naked."
- Woah...
- Some kind of sexaholic.
Rodros already googling it
Imagine...
What a pervert.
I find him very perverse.
Now imagine how scandalous
this would be today...
To have the First Lady
wonder around the streets naked...
Yes. Perhaps some gril from Trenque Lauquen
could do the same, no?
- Maybe that inspires the mayor...
- Right.
- A listener, perhaps?
- We should start a casting...
That could work.
- Top shelf, you might say.
- That's it!
Top shelf.
Now imagine this in the middle ages...
OK. So Lady Godeeva
takes up the challenge.
The matter is announced...
It seems that until the last minute
Leofric believed
she wouldnt keep her promise...
but the time comes,
Lady Godiva saddles up her horse
and rides completely naked
through the streets of Coventry.
Good job, Lady.
But the most moving thing
is that the people,
who know that Lady Godiva
is making this sacrifice for them,
decide to close the windows,
draw all the curtains, and no one sees her.
So the sacrifice isnt so great...
as she rode naked
through the empty streets of Coventry.
We shouldn't
detract from it either, right?
She rode a horse, naked...
That is true, yes.
She also made Leofric lower the taxes.
- Well done, Leofric.
- It has to be said...
Nice one, Leofric.
Well done.
Sorry. One last detail!
The legend goes that only
one of the inhabitants of Coventry,
a man called Tom,
couldnt resist and spied on Lady Godeeva
when she went past his house.
So the gods, or bad luck,
or who knows what...
punished him by blinding him.
Thats how we get the phrase
Peeping Tom"...
which is the English word
for what we call voyeurs.
Right, voyeurs.
There are a lot of
Peeping Toms in this studio.
Look at Rodro.
Theyre all wild with excitement
about Lady Godeeva.
Thank you one again, Laura,
for the section Women Who Made History.
Thank you very much.
And we are still here in
A Sea of News...
with Patita's humour and...
much more news.
Radio is a blind media...
Until you watch with your ears...
The Station Broadcast.
Unique.
Just like you.
Hello.
IX
SEA OF NEWS
- Were you busy?
- No, not at all.
I was just finishing some things
for tomorrows programme.
Well, actually
Id just got back from Pilates
and was starting
with some stuff
Is something wrong?
No. Nothings wrong.
Well
I dont know if theres any point
in telling you this.
I have some information
that may be of use to you.
Ah, OK.
Some information
Something journalistic, you mean?
Or what?
Its about Laura
Ah, OK.
Some time ago, before she left,
there were a number
of situations that...
may help us understand
what happened.
What happened with what?
With her.
So
Laura is in control of her faculties.
She knows exactly what she's doing.
Its not like she went crazy.
What?
Nothing, nothing.
Basically, Laura told me
to meet her here once
and she told me something
very mysterious.
Right here?
Yes, here. In Kalos.
You two came to Kalos a lot.
Yes.
Especially after that meeting.
In that table.
Laura used to sit
next to the window.
I used to sit facing her.
Maybe Im telling you something
that you already know?
No, no.
Carry on, Chicho.
She had found some
hidden correspondence in some books,
which she had been
taking out of the municipal library.
At the time,
the two of us got obsessed
with who the people
who wrote the letters were...
The letters were
Shall we say
quite risqu.
Quite risqu?
Kind of erotic.
Pornographic?
Erotism.
And there were two lovers who,
for some reason, drifted apart.
The thing is that Laura
was really interested in the case.
Carmen Zuna...
The Kolontai books...
She never told you anthing about this?
And why are you telling me this?
I think that some
of what shes going through
might have something
to do with this
What is she going through?
This.
What is this, Chicho?
She disappeared, Juli.
Well, I dont know.
She left.
The thing with
the letters and the books
Why are you talking so quietly?
Because its a secret that evidently
only the two of us uncovered.
I think theres a clue there, of course.
I didnt tell anyone
You met Rafael.
How do you know?
Have you got your car back yet?
How do you know all this?
I know Laura stole your car.
Well, she didnt actually steal it
I had to go and get it back with this guy.
With this Rafael.
- Do you know him?
- Yes.
He called me so many times
that I blocked him in the end.
I dont trust him.
Hes a typical Buenos Aires idiot.
Hes a good guy.
Yes, Im sure he must be a good guy.
I guess Laura
doesnt hang out with bad guys...
I dont know.
I had like a revelation, an intuition.
I think that what I'm telling you
is going to help us find her.
I know a lot about this.
I know which places
to go to look for her.
I know how to speak to the people
who must be around her right now.
I know the world she went after.
Believe me:
theres something in this letter business
that Im positive that
And what makes you think
she wants to be found?
Because maybe
she doesnt want to be found.
I dont know
I'm worried about her.
I want to find her.
I care about her.
Chicho, do you have some time?
I want you to see something with me.
- Right now?
- Right now.
Sure.
Can you...
Can you hear me?
No, the other ones.
The retro ones, behind you.
Can you hear me now?
OK...
Hello, Hello
Hel
Hello...
OK. Let's go
Good afternoon.
This is the section
Women who made history.
Today Im going to talk about
Alexandra Kollontai.
Alexandra Kollontai was born in
St Petersburg, Russia, in 1870.
She was a Russian politician, Marxist,
communist and revolutionary.
She was the first woman to lead
a ministry in a national government
No, wait
I'll start again.
I chose this person, a woman, Russian,
Marxist, feminist
Too many adjectives...
No, wait.
Rodro, I'll go again.
Take three.
Alexandra Kollontai wrote her life story...
without knowing that some time later
she would rewrite it.
In her book Autobiography of a woman
No, no. Thats wrong
OK, I cant get this.
I cant do it
Hang on
Oh, I need a wee.
Juli, what is this?
OK, I cant figure this out.
I cant do it.
Juli, listen
Im going to record this for you,
and leave it for you here, at the radio.
Just for you.
OK?
This is a secret, Juli.
When you listen to this, please,
dont share it with anyone.
Im leaving
and I need someone to know.
I dont want to be
the only one who knows.
But I dont want you
to tell anyone either.
Ill be in touch.
But Im going to be OK.
Especially that:
I know Im going to be great.
Dont look for me,
unless something really strange happens.
When you hear this
and everyones looking for me...
and wondering where I am...
Im going to be OK.
Im going to be doing
what I want to do.
Or what no one even thinks
I could be doing...
I dont know if thats clear
Youll be wondering
why Im recording you this...
I dont know.
Let me see
Ill start with...
Ill start with the alligator.
No, hang on.
Its like this
As soon as I arrived in Trenque...
in those first days,
when I was still getting acclimatized...
something strange happened.
Something that I forgot about later.
- This is about the letters.
- I think it was the day I arrived.
Yes.
Of course, that day.
That day, I arrived and,
dressed as I was, I had to go to work.
Hello.
- Laura?
- Laura, yes.
How are you?
Do you have the adress?
I have no idea.
- Yes, to Baigorria's.
- Thanks.
The municipality arranged for a taxi
direct from the bus station
to a farm near Fortn.
- Hello.
- Hi.
Are you doing
a land survey of the area?
Yes.
Of flowers
Yes...
We have a permit.
I can show you if you want.
No...
No, that's not necessary.
Just a quick question.
Yes, go ahead.
Have you found
any of these round here?
No
Not these ones...
I found the ones with the long stem,
which are similar.
There are plenty of those here.
Ive only just started, though
Dont worry.
I needed these.
Thank you.
- Bye.
- Bye.
I dont know how she got here.
The gauchos didnt even notice her.
It was the closest thing
to an apparition Ive ever seen.
Later I thought:
I must have seen a ghost...
one of those dead women
who wander the fields.
It was the closest thing
to an apparition Ive ever seen.
Later I thought:
I must have seen a ghost...
- Carmen Zuna.
- No.
one of those dead women
who wander the fields.
A spectre.
You know how I believe
in those things
Then time passed, I forgot
about the apparition, or her...
I carried on as usual.
The survey,
the municipality, Normita...
Rafa...
The house in Buenos Aires...
And I never saw that woman again.
OK, hang on.
Hey, I'm downing your whiskey...
There's not much left, anyways.
I'll buy you another.
And just in that time...
the thing with the letters
and the books happened.
I think I told you
Or did I not?
Anyway, I came across
this hidden correspondence
in books that I took out of the library.
Correspondence between two lovers
An Italian man and a woman
from round here, from Trenque.
- That's Carmen Zuna.
- A very mysterious...
love story.
A teacher and her lover.
All very pornographic.
Well, I dont know about pornographic,
but very sexual letters.
The truth is I got a bit obsessed.
Well, we got obsessed.
Me and Ezequiel.
Chicho.
We did some spying.
We spent days with that.
It was fun.
I cant remember if I told you
And I fell in love a bit
So
So Yellow flowers.
Remember that.
One day I came across those flowers,
the ones this woman had asked me for.
- Did you find something?
- No, it's nothing. Let's keep going.
I wasnt sure that they were
exactly the same.
And I didnt know where I could
find this woman to take them to her.
I wasnt even sure
that this woman existed...
So I left them and didnt do anything.
I carried on with my things.
But anyway, remember that,
because its important:
yellow flowers.
Remember that.
That day
the day of the kiss.
I dont know if I told you
about the kiss.
It doesnt matter, though.
That day, we left Kalos
and Ezequiel drove me to the hotel.
See you tomorrow.
Laura?
- Hi.
- How are you?
Fine.
Did you find the flowers I asked you for?
Yes, I found them...
- ... but I couldnt find you.
- But you couldnt find me.
Right.
I think I know where they are.
I can go tomorrow if you like.
Where do you want them?
Leave them here.
Here?
Yes, here.
Arent you staying at El Faro?
Yes.
Being them here.
Romina and I will come for them.
Romina
Whos Romina?
Romina.
See you tomorrow.
Leave them here at El Faro.
How did she know my name?
How did she know I was staying at El Faro?
Who was that woman?
What was all this business
with the yellow flowers?
ESPERANZA RESIGNS THE LAKE CASE
It was her.
Yes.
The mysterious woman,
the spectre.
It was her.
It was Elisa Esperanza.
And she had returned to the town...
to take care of something
that was worrying everyone.
Some thing that I hadnt
paid so much attention to.
Something that had happened
three days earlier in the lake in the park.
Something that you yourself
reported to the whole town.
X
THE LAKE CASE
Good morning everyone.
We are starting the day with some news
that is calling all our attention.
It has to do with the apparition,
in the early hours of this morning,
in our town
where one of the rangers
immediately reported
what happened
in the early hours.
Until now, we cannot have much detail...
but some authorities
say it may be Marquitos.
The orphan kid...
who had appeared before
at Laguna Gomez in Junn
and who, after 10
days in observation...
had managed to escape.
In any case...
it cannot be confirmed.
Up until now, it
cannot be confirmed
whether it is a case of a
child in a state of malnutrition
or any other vulnerable condition.
The organism...
appeared unexpectedly, and it
seemed to have been in the water
for more than 24 hours.
The phenomenon is causing more concern
than usual among doctors and scientists,
since they cannot understand
how this being is still alive
despite having spent so many days
in such a precarious survival state...
He is now in observation
at Trenque Lauquens city hospital
and priority is given to his health
as much as to the authorities effort
to find his origin.
Dr. Elisa Esperanza,
a local renowned MD...
You read the news and at that time
you talked about Elisa Esperanza.
But for me it was just one of thousands
of names involved in the case.
At the time I was reading
these erotic letters Id found,
from Carmen Zuna
I don't know.
I didnt pay much attention
I mean, when you reported it,
I still didnt know that was her.
That she was the flower woman.
The apparition.
It's a very significant case,
to which our community
is probaly going to be
paying close attention to.
Yes, plus there are serious doubts...
regarding, not just his sexuality
but also the possibility of it being
human
- ... or something else.
- I dont get it.
If not human, what would it be?
I dont know.
Some kind of animal
Some kind of animal...
Yes, those...
savage kids
- ... raised by monkeys.
- Monkeys in the Province of Buenos Aires
There are monkeys
in the Province of Buenos Aires.
Yes, so they say.
So they say
- Rumors
- Rumors.
Since we dont deal in rumours...
given that radio and journalism
is what we do
we are going to
leave this matter for later.
We'd like to ask our listeners...
What do you think about this matter?
Given that it's calling up
our community's attention deeply.
At least I didnt think I was crazy anymore
or that I was imagining things.
The woman existed.
And had a name.
And a very important mission:
to take the lake case and work out
what to do with that discovery.
MYSTERIOUS APPARITION IN THE LAKE
Were here with Eugenio Pastor,
manager of parks and green spaces
in Trenque Lauquen,
where the incident occurred.
Hes going to tell us
how this discovery came about.
I was raking in one of the other parks...
when I received an alert
from an angler whos a regular here,
fishes early in the morning...
who said hed seen something strange.
So then I started the Class C operation,
which is when theres
a certain gravity to the matter.
So we coordinate with the police,
ambulance and other services
The towns mayor, Francisco Prez Fox...
is still discussing with the provincial
government and the national government
what to do about the case...
given that the nature of the being
found yesterday in the central lake
in the town
has not yet been established.
Meanwhile, Dr. Eliza Esperanza
has taken responsibility for the chaos
Sorry, the case
and has caused more controversy.
She had this to say this morning
outside Trenque Lauquen hospital:
The politicians can do politics.
Its us scientists who should be dealing
with this kind of thing.
And if they dont like it, they can deal
with the consequences themselves
or go to university and study.
It's still free.
The words there of Elisa Esperanza...
who as usual uses
a not very friendly style...
quite hard on the press
and with the people.
Broadcasting straight
from the central park in Trenque Lauquen...
just a few feet away from
where a creature was found two days ago
that we still know little about.
The authorities are continuing to debate
how and where to study it
as they still havent defined
the nature of the being
Were here with Alda Bossi...
chief of staff of Trenque Lauquen mayor,
Francisco Prez Fox...
after an unfortunate episode
at Trenque Lauquen hospital...
where according to witnesses...
NURSE ASSAULTED
AT LOCAL HOSPITAL
the little boy lashed out at one
of the nurses who was transferring him
Mayor Prez Fox himself visted the nurse
this afternoon in the hospital...
- Ecxcuse me...
- Yes, tell me.
Was there any violence involved?
Apparently,
it hit him against a stretcher
that was in the room,
but we were unable to
confirm
whether the nurse slipped first,
or how it was that it ended up there
Sunday afternoon.
Were outside Trenque Lauquen Town Hall.
Were here with
the councils press secretary.
Thank you for meeting with us today.
Are you aware
of the commotion in the town?
The storm, if you will...
throughout the community
as a result of this.
Were all concerned.
We are citizens,
like all the inhabitants of this town.
Were also concerned,
but we want to send out
a message of caution to the people.
Were not alarmed.
Words from Press secretary
Alberto Speczialle there
LU11 presents Juliana in...
THE "LITTLE BOY"
WAS AN ALLIGATOR ALL ALONG
... "A Sea of Words".
The magazine
thats there for you each morning.
Weve finally had some news.
It seems that the creature,
according to Prez Fox...
- ... is a little animal.
- One of Gods little animals!
ESPERANZA RESINGS THE LAKE CASE
It seems that the matter...
which has caused great confusion throughout
the community of Trenque Lauquen...
was discussed this morning
with Dr. Elisa Esperanza
who resigned from the case...
and stated that she would not
be continuing with it...
given that it is an
animal...
and that her area of expertise
is in human brains, not animal brains.
Let's hear Dr. Elisa Esperanza, please.
Samples were taken
and the forensic teams suspicions
that it was some kind of
animal were confirmed.
The genetic samples seemed to be
from a kind of alligator.
We had a meeting with Prez Fox and...
I obviously resigned from the case,
since its an animal and my
specialization is human brains...
not animals.
So the councils team of biologists
are analysing where
the alligator came from,
it appears to be
from the north or something.
An alligator...
An alligator!
Blimey!
Mind you,
it seems its a big-handed alligator.
Sounds like
it grabs you in the night and
Later, gator!
Watch out!
Let's go to a commercial break.
Rodro...
Oh, it was a big drama
The creature, the little boy,
Marquitos, the monkey...
was an alligator.
Elisa Esperanza resigned.
Case closed.
Never heard another word.
But what about the flowers?
What was I suppoused to do
with these flowers?
Why had she asked me
for these flowers?
Why had she come to me?
I thought:
I have to find her.
I wanted to make up a radio section
so that I could approach her.
I suggested it to you
on the radio.
But you said she was a liar,
an accomplice of Prez Foxs...
Crazy, round the bend,
out of her mind, resentful.
Whereas for me,
she was a very mysterious woman...
and beautiful...
who I owed some flowers to.
Yellow flowers.
Crazy, round the bend,
out of her mind, resentful.
Whereas for me,
she was a very mysterious woman...
and beautiful...
who I owed some flowers to.
- Sorry, I don't understand a thing.
- Let's continue...
XI
ELISA ESPERANZA
"Arrowleaf sida..."
- Thats gone in. Photo?
- Got it.
GPS capture?
Here.
Yes. Here.
- Sage.
- I need the common name.
No, but its sage.
Thats why I didnt put anything.
Its the same.
I wont put anything, then.
The thing is, if I leave the box empty,
the system crashes.
Put an X.
Lets see.
Great. There we go.
Oxalis, common name: wood sorrel.
Theres a photo and capture.
- Oxalia
- Oxalidaceae.
OK, great, were done.
Thank you.
OK, if I can just
get a signature, please.
Right here, please.
There we go.
Youll be reachable all the same?
Well be able to contact you?
Shes going to Buenos Aires, Grace.
They have telephones there
OK, when are you going?
No, Im staying for now.
But your contract runs out on the 30th.
Yes, yes, I know.
Id have a word with Normita, eh
- Does Normita know?
- Yes.
I have to terminate your contract today.
Yes, thats fine.
But havent you got a ticket
to Buenos Aires for the 1st?
Yes, but Im not going to use it.
Oh, thats a shame, itll be lost.
Bye, Liz!
- OK...
- You are leaving.
Yes, already.
Alright.
Come visit us again.
Yes.
Thank you...
- I won't be far.
- OK. We'll be expecting you.
By then Id finished my work
for the Council,
so I left the hotel.
Laura?
- Hi!
- Norma. Normita's mother.
- Thank you.
- I was just setting up your room...
I didn't know why, but I decided
not to go back to Buenos Aires right away.
I didn't understand why.
All the same, I felt that leaving
would mean the end of my story
with Elisa Esperanza.
- I still don't understand what it is.
- It's an animal...
She wasnt going to have a way
of finding me.
Days passed, and I couldnt
get it out of my head.
I walked all over the town,
and now I understand
understand that I was walking
to see if Id find her.
I trusted in that local saying...
that two hours
is enough to walk the town
and bump into at least
half of its inhabitants.
One day I finally saw her.
She was getting into a red pickup
and doing various journeys.
I followed her.
The red pickup made things easier.
But most of all, there was something
that helped me realize that she was there.
A song.
She always went round the town
listening to the same song.
An 80s song.
- Hello.
- Hi, I'll be right with you.
I followed her to a garden centre.
She was buying flowers.
For some reason I didnt speak to her.
Nor did she to me.
She acted like she couldnt see me.
Or she didnt see me.
I was never entirely sure.
I got used to following her
through the music.
Like she was the pied piper
of Hamelin.
I finally came to the house
where she lived.
She lived with another woman.
At some stage, something happened.
I dont remember if it was the alarm first
or whether they noticed
something was up
and then the alarm went off.
Listen carefully to
what Im going to tell you, Juli
because its really weird.
Imagine...
The two women were
completely relaxed, almost partying.
Suddenly, an alarm goes off
and they go crazy, maximum alert.
Suddenly Elisa Esperanza
starts to do something
that I cant see or understand.
At first I thought
she had a syringe.
Then she left.
Then I see that, whats worrying them,
the thing that set off the alarm,
is on the first floor of the house.
Elisa Esperanza reappeared shortly after.
Everything sorted, it seemed.
Then there was a moment of calm.
But then I started to hear something.
A strange sound, like a recorder.
But it clearly wasnt a recorder.
If there was one thing I was sure of,
it was that that sound
was coming from someone.
Someone who was alive.
A moan, a cry.
Thats it, like a child or a puppy crying.
And this is where
the real story begins, Juli.
Its not the letters,
not the books.
Its not Ezequiel.
Not Rafael.
Its the "little boy."
The alligator.
The alligator exists, Juli.
The alligator or whatever you
want to call it, from the lake, exists.
Thats the first thing I have to say.
The alligator.
The alligator exists, Juli.
The alligator or whatever you
want to call it, from the lake, exists.
Thats the first thing I have to say.
The next day, I got the flowers,
I got my nerve up
and I knocked on their door.
- Would you like some ice?
- Yes.
Is he here?
Who told you that?
I dont know
Hes here, yes.
Can I see him?
No.
No...
All right.
Hear him?
Hear him breathing.
It sounds like little bubbles.
I don't hear a thing.
You have to wait for it.
Wait for it.
Nothing.
Im preparing that bedroom.
The idea is that he lives here?
As long as possible
Hello.
Rominas here, youll have to leave.
Hello.
- Hello.
- Hello.
Come.
Pour yourself something, if you want.
Come.
Sit.
They're here again.
Lets see if I can catch it.
There are two of them.
I told you we have to leave
poison all over the place.
But you don't want the poison.
And you?
Do you want a sandwitch?
Have a sandwitch!
Rude one over here,
didn't offer you anything.
Go ahead, eat.
Don't worry about it.
She even makes
me look like the mean one.
You look at us and think
"she's the mean one."
Shes the mean one.
With those angel eyes...
Isn't she?
I cant kill a mosquito.
Shes the one
the whole town hates.
I am good,
I am easy-going.
I am an easy-going gal.
Dont you see me easy-going?
I see myself as easy.going.
How can you not see me
easy-going if you drank all of my whisky?
Eat.
- No, thanks.
- Eat!
You were hungry
You were hungry, huh?
What are you laughing at, fatty?
Come here.
It's a bit late, isn't it?
Yes, sorry.
I'm going.
Come visit us whenever you like.
Just let us know.
OK...
Elisa
Can I ask you something?
Sure.
What is it?
What do you mean?
Yes. What is it?
Is it an animal?
A boy? A plant?
It's a being that
can breath under water...
And it's a mutant.
Someone that everyday
becomes something different.
Like a chameleon.
No...
And these days I think it's a female.
That's it.
Should I walk you to the gate?
Or can you do it by yourself?
No, no. I can do it.
After that night...
I spent a few days
wandering around the town.
No direction
I was like on holiday.
Finally, one day Elisa called me
to ask for help.
And I stayed there.
I stayed several days.
- Laura, can you help me out over here?
- Yes.
We started doing things in the house.
Maintenance work.
With the allotment, things like that
Thyme, oregano.
Sage, rosemary.
Chamomile works too,
if you find any.
- Coriander?
- No, not coriander.
During the day we gathered things.
Go the shed, look for...
I couldnt understand
whether we were cleaning the park
or whether something more
was happening.
- Select everything that is similar...
- Ah, youre doing that.
... and make sure that they havent got
damp and theyre not chipped.
And rods.
Rods.
Poles from the fallen fences.
- Theres some over there
- No, no. Those over there.
All the poles
and fallen fences, grab them.
- And acorns.
- Acorns.
From the oaks.
All you can find.
- The holm oak over there too, right?
- No.
No, theyre no good.
Not the holm oak.
Eucalyptus berries.
- Berries are the little fruits, no?
- Yes. Gather as many as you can.
Leaves.
Dry leaves.
Make sure theyre dry. Thats important.
If theyre not dry,
leave them in the sun to dry
- The agropol?
- No, not that.
OK, I found some stuff.
I didnt know if this size was any good...
This is very good.
Very good.
Look!
- That's good, isn't it?
- Yes.
We didnt talk about the little boy.
It was always there.
They dodged the subject and gradually
I learned that it was something
that I couldnt talk to them about.
In any case, I had to wait.
And I knew that sooner or later
they were going to let me see it.
Or they were going to tell me
The truth.
- Oh, how nice.
- Yes. Look.
It's huge.
One afternoon, walking in the country...
I found a very small field
of the yellow flowers.
It was covered and locked
with a metal sheet and a padlock.
I decided not to ask.
The upstairs floor
continued to be a mystery.
Since that night, with the whisky...
we never mentioned it again.
I continued to respect the silence.
But I found it very hard
to understand what was happening.
Those days, when I stayed the night...
they didnt even seem
to pay attention to it.
Some night I heard them.
I heard them working.
Strange noises, arguments.
The next day,
they were sleeping like animals.
I sometimes fantasized about going up,
opening the door and seeing it.
But I quickly understood
that that wasnt the arrangement.
I had to wait.
Meanwhile, everything was love
between the three of us.
I loved them more each day.
I felt that I wanted to be with them.
I wanted to be them.
I was them.
- How's my fatty doing?
- Hungry, as usual.
Hey! Come here!
I lost the fear of getting lost,
of dying, of taking a risk...
of becoming an animal, an extra-terrestrial
or the mad woman in the village.
I felt that everything they did
was going to be OK.
And I wanted to be there.
One night we drank something.
A very bitter brew that Elisa prepared.
She told us it was going to do us good,
to relax us and blow away our fears.
I dont remember exactly, but...
I remember that
that night she spoke to me.
She finally spoke to me.
Rominas going to be late back today.
She's staying in town, right?
No
You know something?
The flowers you bought that day...
The flowers, yes.
The ones I asked you for.
- Yes, the flowers.
- Yellow flowers.
Yellow flowers.
Short stem.
Theyre the ones eaten by
Eaten by...?
Eaten.
Right. The ones it eats...
We used your samples
for The Plantation, you know?
I never told you.
Thats good.
I was saying to Romina yesterday that...
when we finish working on the room,
maybe you could see it.
You know how
weve been working at night?
Yes, I hear you.
Its not that I want to hear you.
But I can hear you.
So anyway...
Maybe when we finish everything
You can see it.
Well have to see if it wants to...
Right. If it wants to.
That day
you came to see me in the country
Yes.
That land near Fortn
Right, it was near Fortn.
You were already looking
for those flowers.
- Yes.
- Yellow flowers, short stem.
Yes.
Can I ask you why?
What do you mean, why?
Why were you looking for them
when the little boy?
Oh, please, dont be ridiculous.
Dont call it the little boy...
OK.
Why were you looking for them if nothing
had appeared in the lake yet?
Did you already know
that there was something in the lake?
- I mean
- I understand perfectly what you mean.
Do you mind if we have a moment of silence?
No.
I think I'm going to drink some more.
- Do you want more too?
- No, I think Im fine. Thanks.
Until that night, the night of the brew,
Elisa hadnt spoken to me
about the flowers.
Or the little boy, or the room,
or anything.
Something happened.
They asked me to leave the house...
Said they wanted to be alone, that they had
to do some things behind closed doors.
I didnt understand
if I had done something wrong or what
I dont know.
I didnt understand.
I went back to my house.
Well, Telmas house.
I had a strange night.
That insomnia
that sometimes takes a hold of me.
Morning came.
At some stage I managed to drop off,
but I was woken by the phone.
Hello?
Hello?
Hello?
Are you alone?
Im Elisa.
Are you alone?
I don't know...
We need to talk to you.
Are you alone?
Can you talk?
I don't know.
I don't know if I'm alone.
Im alone in the room, that I know.
OK. Do me a favour.
Go where you are sure
you are alone and I'll call you back.
Hello?
Hear me out.
Does anyone know you were here?
- No.
- Good, good.
You did good.
Listen, I need you to get a car.
A car?
What do you mean a car?
Speak more quietly.
A car. A regular one.
Can you?
A regular car
I dont know, I should check,
I think I can.
Can you or not?
Yes, OK.
I can.
Good.
Get it now.
- Now?
- Yes, now.
Get it and go to my house.
- Your house?
- Yes, to my house.
Go in through the back.
OK
Fine, but what happened?
I'll tell you later.
Do as I say and wait for my call.
And dont wear colors
that are too bright, OK?
Hey!
What a surprise.
- I thought you had left.
- No, I didnt leave.
Did you come to visit me?
I came to ask you for a favour.
Can I borrow your car?
- The car?
- Yes.
- Do you need a lift somewhere?
- No, theres no need.
- Did something happen?
- No, no.
- Something happened.
- Ill tell you later, can I?
Yes, of course.
Can I borrow it?
Okay, fine.
- But Ill need it at 6.
- Yes, by 6 itll be here.
Sharp, is it possible?
Because I have to take the kids.
- The key is inside, wait here?
- Of course.
Thanks, Eze.
- Do you have a licence?
- Yes, yes.
Be careful with the
break, ita bit wobbly, OK?
Elisa asked me to get a car.
She didnt explain much.
"Get a car", she said.
I asked Chicho for his car
and did as they told me.
I went to the house.
We need food,
Elisa said.
"Someone suspected something
and reported us.
We had to leave the house.
We need you to help us,
were desperate.
Go in the back door of the place
and then go through a window.
Go to the room upstairs,
the room thats being built,
and take the in vitro.
If you find food, take that.
Take everything you find.
Were going round the fields,
to see if we find more.
Well meet up tomorrow morning, at 10.
At the service station in Fortn Olavarra.
Well leave from there, all together.
And please, dont wear bright colours.
It doesnt like them."
When I went into the room,
I realized
what wed been working
for all that time.
I'm not sure what happened then.
But when I woke up
it was the next day already.
I mean, today.
I dont understand
what I did with those flowers.
The last thing I remember
is to have smelled them...
But maybe I ate them,
I don't know.
The thing is, I slept and rested.
Like an animal.
OK.
Its raining now.
Ill have to owe you a section.
Sorry, Juli.
I dont think youll hear from me
for a long time.
Dont look for me.
Im leaving.
- What I have to do now...
- Who are you leaving with?
- Rodro!
- What are you doing here so early, Laura?
Have you put together
a show for singles?
No wonder the automatic cut off!
Nina, a friend.
Laura.
- Hello. Yes, I know her.
- Hi, how are you?
Curcio called me,
said the broadcast had cut off.
- Did you touch anything?
- No, I swear.
I came to record my bit for Juli, because
I wont be able to come in tomorrow.
I was recording it with desk 2,
I didnt touch desk 1.
- But youre at desk 1.
- What?
Youre going out live
Nah. Kidding.
I dont know
what happened to the automatic.
Damn thing.
Why don't you go get us
some mate, Gringa?
- I don't know where the yerba is ...
- It's all in the kitchen.
Pour it and bring it.
Well...
Do you want to carry on, Laurita?
Yes?
Or do you want me to stop it?
Or edit it, or render it,
I can do whatever you want.
Yes, stop it.
Stopping it, then.
It's all in the kitchen.
Pour it and bring it.
Well...
Do you want to carry on, Laurita?
Yes?
Or do you want me to stop it?
Or edit it, or render it,
I can do whatever you want.
Yes, stop it.
OK.
That's it.
I can't figure out
when Laura recorded this for you.
I don't understand why she records it.
What are we supposed to do?
There's nothing we have to do, Chicho.
Nothing.
Nothing at all.
XII
LAURA'S PARGood morning, everyone.
Were here in a new edition
of A Sea of News.
We're listening to
Tracy Chapman.
In the mean time,
we can contemplate the stormy weather
from the west of the Buenos Aires province.
Many of you are probably
still getting out of bed.
How nice is the aroma of damp soild
in the streets of Trenque Lauquen, no?
Hello.
Thanks.
Hello?
Why werent you answering?
I thought I didnt
have to take the call...
We thought something
happened to you.
Well stop here anyway.
What?
That well stop here.
We had to leave.
We got thousand of flowers.
You keep those, or get rid of them,
or do as you please.
You did good.
We didnt make it.
But it wasnt you, it was our fault.
Don't worry.
Do you have money to return?
No, but dont worry.
- I can handle it
- Yes.
Youll be able to handle it.
Thank you for everything.
Kisses from both of us.
FAREWELL, FAREWLL.
I'M LEAVING, I'M LEAVING.
- Do you need anything?
- No, thanks.
No, no.
I don't want anything.
Cheers!
Excuse me, mate.
When I hear the word "truco"...
- "Truco"!
- Let's see.
I shuffle...
You won't discover a thing!
You, take a close look.
There.
A 2.
It's a 7!
And then...
The card disappears!
Another one, bravo!
This is strong.