Horse Money (Cavalo Dinheiro) (Cavalo Dinheiro)

HORSE MONEY

Ventura, did you bring some snuff?

They don't allow us to smoke.

Uncle...

The food sucks, no salt.

Ventura, don't forget your passport.

One never knows in a situation like this...

I thought you had emigrated, to France, to Nice...

Those soldiers gave you a good beating.

Nobody likes me.

Not even the Armed Forces.

We're together through life and death.

Death doesn't scare me...

...'cause we will have our dues.

Remember our mates?

Delgado.

A typist.

He had a good family.

A good house in Zambujal.

One evening he finished his dinner, tucked his sons into bed,

waited for his wife to fall asleep,

and then set the house on fire.

Never opened his mouth again.

Benvindo, your nephew Benvindo.

He suffered a lot from epileptic seizures.

He was stripping a construction site,

a beam fell on his head, and he fell from the third floor.

He and his mate Daniel.

Daniel lay dead in the elevator shaft.

Lento.

Had to sell drugs to make up his wages as a paver.

His boss treasured him.

The junkies always paid on time.

One day he knifed a policeman in a raid.

They handcuffed him and took him to the station.

Now he needs a shot every day to calm his nerves.

Forever.

What will those soldiers do to us?

Nothing.

Our life will still be hard...

We'll keep on falling from the third floor.

We'll keep on being sliced by the machines.

Our head and lungs will continue hurting the same...

We'll be burned...

We'll go crazy...

It's all that mould in the walls of our houses.

We've always lived and died this way...

This is our sickness.

If you don't kill me first with your knife...

What is your name?

Ventura. José Tavares Borges.

Do you know who brought you here?

The MFA brought me. The revolutionary army.

Did you come of your own free will?

Has this happened to you before?

It will happen again, I know it will.

Can you describe what happened to you?

It's because of the mould in our walls.

Where are you currently living?

In my shack in Fontainhas.

Do you sleep well?

Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night?

A big black bird...

Appeared on my roof.

Where were you born?

Chão do Monte. Águas Podres. Cabo Verde.

How old are you?

I am 19 and 3 months.

How did you get lost? Where?

Fontainhas...

Are you currently working?

Bricklayer. Retired.

Are you married? Any children?

Do you know who I am?

Do you know where we are?

I know a bunch of hospitals...

Miguel Bombarda,

Julio de Matos,

Santa Maria, Amadora.

Which season of the year are we in?

Springtime.

What date is it today?

March 11th, 1975.

Do you know who the president is?

Seems to be a guy General Spinola...

Did you go to school?

Are you able to read and write?

I hear a man crying.

Do you take any medication?

I used to shake a lot. My boss took me off the scaffolding...

Are there any nerve-related diseases in your family?

Are you aware of any illnesses you may have?

I know my sickness.

Confess.

Vitalina from Figueira das Naus?

Ventura from Chão do Monte.

Are you here for treatments?

Visiting.

It happened on June 23rd, 2013.

My sister Isabel showed up with heart-stopping news.

I rushed to Assomada

to get my visa and passport.

I was so confused, so lost. I couldn't recognize anybody.

I couldn't even recognize myself.

My face was all disfigured.

I couldn't even take my photo for the passport.

I was blind, I was numb.

In Praia, I bought an airplane ticket.

On the night of the flight I nearly died.

A policeman took me to the stairs of the plane.

The air hostess took me by the arms

and showed me to my seat.

I was burning with fever.

The girls sat me down and gave me two big pills.

They undressed me. I was left in my nightclothes.

Miss Filomena, sitting next to me,

helped me to the toilet.

I couldn't pee.

Went back to my seat.

Had to pee again, she took me back to the toilet.

The pee kept on coming...

She had to ask for nappies from the girls.

I arrived in Portugal with a burning fever,

soaked,

freezing.

This was June 30th,

2013.

My husband's funeral had been three days earlier.

Vitalina, your husband is here with me.

He has the same sickness as me.

Nervous disease...

He's skinny but he's alive.

Ventura, you're on the road to perdition.

What do you do here all day?

I speak to the walls.

You're trembling, Ventura.

It's my illness.

Stop trembling.

It's from the pills they give me every day.

Don't give UP-

Think about your Zulmira.

I already have enough saved to buy her plane ticket.

Your fingers are so thin, so long...

Strong, white nails...

Beautiful...

My fingers are paralyzed...

because of the shock.

I went to the hospital in pain.

The doctors had to cut off my wedding ring.

It broke.

It rolled off onto the floor and it was lost forever.

Where's your wedding ring?

A man with a steel hood stole it from me...

Vitalina, he is also diabetic, but he is alive...

Notary of Santa Catarina

The marriage registered

with the number 1...

was dissolved by the death of the husband.

Did you get Zulmira a full wedding dress?

Yes, I did.

Did you buy her underwear?

Yes.

Did you buy her the veil and the dress?

Headpiece...

and shoes?

Yes, I did.

Wedding ring and cushion?

Lemon tree blossom.

Did you pass by my house in Chão do Monte?

I did.

The house is demolished.

Not a stone left standing.

And my chickens, my pigs?

- The goats? - Ran away.

My donkey, Fogo Serra?

Dead.

My horse, Dinheiro?

The vultures tore him to pieces.

I'm feeling a bit better.

Republic of Cabo Verde.

Embassy.

Dear Sirs,

We hereby confirm the death of

Joaquim de Brito Varela,

on June 23rd of this current year.

We inform you

that the Funeral Agency Damaia, Ltd.

Is carrying out the funeral.

The ceremony is on hold

until the arrival of his wife.

Hereby...

We hope that you will help

Vitalina Tavares Varela,

resident in Cabo Verde

in obtaining her visa

from the Portuguese Embassy.

We are hoping

you will allow his wife

to be able to attend the funeral.

The Funeral Agency Damaia, Ltd.