El Sur (El sur)

THE SOUTH

Screenplay by...

Based on a Story by...

AUTUMN 1957

Agustín?

Agustín?

Casilda!

What is it, ma'am?

My husband's gone. Sinbad won't stop barking.

Agustín!

Is this the hospital?

Is Dr. Arenas there?

This is his wife.

Ma'am, Estrella's bicycle is gone!

No.

I just wanted to know if he dropped by during the night.

Do you know where he might be?

Yes, if he shows up, please tell him to call home right away.

Yes, it's very urgent.

Yes.

His wife.

Thank you.

That day at sunrise...

when I found his pendulum under my pillow...

I felt that this time...

everything had changed...

that he'd never be coming home.

Well?

A girl.

Are you sure?

I'm sure.

What will her name be?

Estrella.

They told me my father predicted

that I would be a girl.

That's the first memory I have of him...

a very vivid image...

that in reality I made up myself.

Want some?

Yes.

I grew up as we moved from place to place.

He was looking for a steady position.

He found it in the north...

in a walled city

on the banks of a river.

We lived outside of town in a rented house...

"the Seagull."

It was in a no-man's-land

halfway between the countryside and the city

on a road my father called

"the border."

- Let's continue the same treatment. - When can I go home?

I'm fed up here. I have to get home.

Very soon.

But you must do what Sister Lucía tells you.

And relax.

- Will you take me for a ride? - Isn't it a bit late?

No.

Come on. One little ride.

All right. Hop on.

Faster!

Faster! - All right!

Estrella!

Don't make so much noise!

Your dad's upstairs.

I didn't know.

If you bother him,

he can't do his experiments.

What did I tell you?

I dropped it.

Mommy...

why doesn't Daddy want anyone coming up into the attic?

Because all the power he keeps in there would escape.

So that's why he locks the door?

Without that power he couldn't do any of the things he does.

Where does he get it from?

Nowhere.

It's just something he has.

Has he always had it?

Yes, ever since he was born.

Could I have it too?

I don't know.

Seeing you're his daughter...

I imagine you might.

Would you like that?

Very much!

And now...

off to sleep.

Good night, sweetie. - Good night, Mommy.

The first thing you must learn

is how to hold the pendulum.

Take it.

Don't squeeze too hard.

That's the way.

That's it.

Now...

close your eyes...

and let your mind go blank.

No, don't squeeze the chain so hard.

Let it hang loose.

That's it.

Now...

all by yourself.

Let your mind go blank.

Slowly.

Nice and slow.

Nice and slow.

That's it.

Just like that.

Very good.

Empty your mind completely.

That's it.

Very good.

Daddy, it's swinging!

Stop!

Stop right there.

It's swinging!

- He found it. - Now for the depth.

Count them.

- Did you find it? - The water's right here.

...two...

three...

- How far down do we dig? - Each coin is one meter.

The total equals the depth you have to dig.

...seven, eight.

- How many coins? - Eight.

You have to dig down eight meters.

- Now we know what to do. - That's not very deep.

My dad could do things

that others considered practically miracles.

But to my eyes, coming from him...

nothing could have seemed more natural.

My mother was one of the teachers

who suffered reprisals after the Civil War.

She taught me to read and write.

Gentle going up...

and harder going down.

A bit more.

Wet the pen.

Another blot!

It doesn't matter. Go on.

We'd spend almost the entire day together,

yet I have only a few clear memories of her from that time.

I remember her sitting next to a window

in the afternoon sewing my dresses...

in the greenhouse looking after her flowers...

on the patio varnishing old furniture she got from God knows where.

And at night

reading the novels she enjoyed so much.

How is it?

Really good.

My father's origins were always a real mystery to me.

I knew nothing of his past...

but that never bothered me.

What's that?

Mint.

It smells so good!

We'll take some to Mommy for the soup.

With him at my side...

all my cares vanished.

The mystery of his past

was revealed to me bit by bit

through my mother's words.

In the south...

it almost never snows.

What a strange place!

Mommy, how come we've never gone there?

Your dad left when he was young and has never wanted to go back.

Why did he leave?

He never got along with your grandfather.

I heard they fought like cats and dogs...

that your dad was a rebel and your grandpa was an ornery coot.

So you can imagine what happened.

From the very beginning...

these stories lent themselves to fantasies...

and I filled them with images I collected from all over the place.

Not knowing the real distances involved...

I situated it all on the other side of the globe,

always with palm trees in the background, somewhere in the south.

There, something I never understood clearly

had happened to my father...

something that made him leave and never return.

One May afternoon...

the day before my First Communion, two women arrived from the south.

The seagull! There it is!

You see it? - Where?

On top of that house. It's like it's really flying!

Milagros, I don't see a thing.

Pepe, stop! This must be it.

Are you sure, Milagros?

We don't want to be wrong.

I said stop the car, ye of little faith!

I think they're here.

Run and open the gate.

What a racket you're making!

I'm coming.

Mommy, they're here!

I hope you behave.

Where's Daddy?

- Come here a second. - What for?