BUENOS AIRES, OCTOBER 2001
We're rebelling!
We demand freedom for all those imprisoned
for fighting for their rights.
We want health care and education.
We want jobs, comrades!
We say No to hunger!
No to repression!
Stop stealing! You bastards!
Stop stealing from us!
Let the people decide and govern this country!
Get rid of them all! Let's go to the Plaza de Mayo!
Hello?
Yes.
Where?
I'm on my way.
- What have you got? - An attempted suicide.
Alcohol, drugs, pills...
- What else? - There's no pulse.
Give me the tube.
What's on the monitor?
Have we got the airway?
It's clear. Massage.
Insert it.
- Hold it a minute. - Wait, let me detach this.
Ready?
Keep going.
- What's on the monitor? - Still no pulse.
Stand back.
Good evening. Casualty?
Thank you.
ENLIGHTENED BY FIRE
Marta?
Esteban.
I'm sorry, I called you, I didn't know what to do.
That's OK. What happened?
I knew he was going to do it.
I knew it.
It's my fault.
Calm down, it's not your fault. What happened?
He mixed everything.
Brandy, coke, pills, everything.
If I hadn't found him, he'd be dead now.
Have the doctors told you anything?
They asked some questions.
They told me to wait.
All right.
Vargas?
How is he? What's going to happen, doctor?
- Who are you? - I'm his wife.
I'm a friend.
He's in a coma,
on a ventilator, because he can't breathe on his own.
At this moment, there is no ocular reflex,
he's not moving his arms or his legs
or responding to painful stimulus.
It's still too early to say anything.
We have to wait.
Over 290 veterans had committed suicide.
The number of suicides was equal
to the deaths on the Islands during the war.
The photos in the scandal press were shocking.
Faces and bodies showing signs of suicide.
But seeing Vargas,
finding him there,
between life and death in a hospital bed,
was something else.
The Malvinas came back again
and covered everything.
What's wrong?
Can't you sleep?
No, it's all right.
Go back to sleep. I'll watch TV for a while.
AIR BRIGADE IX. APRIL 1982.
Everybody out!
Group 3 with me, on the double!
Move it, soldiers!
Come on!
Attention!
Get your kitbags!
Group 1, on the double!
Group 3 with me!
Come on, soldiers!
On the double!
Attention!
Reports!
Support group, all quiet.
Group 3, all quiet.
Group 2, all quiet.
Group 1, all quiet.
Attention!
At ease!
Fall out!
Permission to speak.
Come here, soldier!
- What is it? - The bathroom, sir.
Two minutes.
On the double!
I said, on the double!
Hello, mom!
It's Esteban.
In Comodoro.
Mom, I'm fine, I'm fine.
I'm fine, but listen. Can you hear me?
I'm going to the Malvinas.
I love you too. Please, don't cry, I'm all right.
I don't have much time, we'll be cut off in a minute.
No, I sneaked off to call you.
I'll send you a letter about everything that's going on.
Can you hear me? Mom?
Hello? Hello?
Mom?
The world should know
that a country which is as fiercely determined
as Argentina is,
will stand up to anyone. Let them come if they want!
Few Argentineans doubt that it was a military tragedy
and a severe setback for the country's chances
of recovering the Malvinas,
seized by England 150 years ago.
The British Prime Minister took the opportunity
to consolidate her political position
which was in deep crisis at that time...
That's all I could get.
- You want it on tape? - Yeah.
Let me finish this first.
Alberto...
Can you hear me?
Alberto...
Look who's come to see you.
Love, do you know who's here?
It's Esteban.
He's come to see you.
We're here with you.
Come back, my love.
Come back, darling. I'm here with you,
come back.
MALVINAS, MAY 1982
- What's the problem? - Private Alarcón is sick.
- What's wrong? - I can't feel my foot, sir.
Let me see.
OK, take him to the infirmary, quickly.
Yes, sir.
Attention!
For It. Gilbert,
eyes right!
- Good morning, sir. - Good morning.
Group all present, with the following report.
Private Alarcón is sick.
Thank you, sergeant.
Soldiers,
good morning!
Good morning, sir!
At ease!
I don't see fiber, soldiers.
I don't see morale.
I see a bunch of sissies and half-hearted recruits,
shit scared and freezing cold,
who don't understand
and don't want to believe we're going to win this war.
If you thought a bit,
you'd realize
that we have been here for months,
preparing our defenses for months.
Carefully preparing our defenses!
But not our supplies.
They, on the other hand...
Think about it.
They've spent all that time inside their ships.
Imagine the shape they're in.
Coming so far by ship
and then landing on these unknown islands.
For God's sake, soldiers,
they're not even used to the cold!
As if I were used to it in Corrientes.
You have been chosen
to defend our homeland from the invading enemy!
Cold doesn't exist!
Hunger doesn't exist!
Only God and our homeland!
- Hurrah for our homeland! - Hurrah!
Fuck the gurkhas!
Fuck the gurkha soldiers!
Those guys are dead already.
They'll have to get the hell out of here!
Red Alert!
Any wounded?
All normal, sir.
Get them into position, quickly!
Right away, sir.
Soldiers!
This bread gets harder every day.
It's like a rock.
But this is hotter than a black stripper.
Look at poor Pinasco.
He's all fucked up.
He wanted to eat porridge with piss.
When?
The other day, he said
he couldn't take any more,
and if he ate that, he'd get...
- What's it called? - Hepatitis.
And he'd be sent back home.
If that didn't work, he'd shoot himself in the leg.
He doesn't want to be here.
He cries all night.
The "porridge and piss" doesn't work.
You know how many have tried it?
You know what piss is? This is piss.
Here, take this, it's Pizarro's piss.
I'm off. Come on, let's go.
Got a cough?
If my mom saw me now, she'd have a heart attack.
She's always saying,
"Betito, wrap up warm, you'll freeze".
- I can warm you up real easy. - Our camp faggot!
Go see Corporal Dumas, he likes brunettes like you.
Come on, move!
Get moving!
He was unlucky.
It all went wrong for him.
For us.
Do you have kids?
Yes, a daughter, Sofia.
Sofia?
A pretty name.
We had a great time together.
We had some lovely years.
He made no money with the garage
but he really enjoyed it.
Crazy guy!
When he had to close it, he got a job in a factory.
You know he was very handy with tools.
Yes, we had a great time.
We had a great time for years.
Then they closed the factory.
He had no job
and like all the veterans he had to beg in the street.
We started to go downhill way down,
and we never stopped until now.
There's a group of them, about twenty or so.
Take a look.
- What do we do? - Attack separately.
- What? - Attack separately.
You come with me.
I'll give the order.
Let's go.
I've got it, help me!
Esteban, Dad's got the meat.
A barbecue for three.
Come on, let's go.
We should shag it first.
Private Chamorro Juan,
you fed us today.
And, look.
Right on time, with English punctuality.
If Pizarro sees that he'll stick it up your ass.
How will he know I swiped it from the officers' quarters?
Look, one day I'll grab him, tear off his lieutenant's stripe,
have him serving us hot drinks and he won't even notice.
Hey, tell me,
where did you learn to kill animals?
In the country, whatever walks ends on the grill.
Every week we kill at least two chickens.
And in the winter, a pig.
Can you imagine?
Do pigs really squeal a lot when they're killed?
Like pigs.
I've never seen a sheep like that,
with its fleece and dead.
In Barracas, all we kill are mosquitoes.
Don't you miss your girl?
I miss her loads,
especially now we're living together.
I left home to live with her.
Some day we'll have kids, get married...
Or not, I don't know.
But now we're really keen.
- Remember that letter I got? - Yeah.
It was from her.
When I finished reading it I put it here.
It gave me a kind of warmth, I didn't feel so scared.
If you saw how she writes.
It's good?
When I'm reading it,
it's like she's beside me while I'm reading it.
Then she goes away.
But she only sent me one letter.
She might have sent you a thousand.
These shits give us nothing.
No packages, no food, nothing.
No, she just sent one.
A week before I was told about being sent here,
I had a terrible row with her.
On my day off, I didn't go home, I stayed in the barracks
and we all went out dancing.
I didn't even tell her.
And I think I'm being pissed on by all the penguins here.
It was the first time
we'd had a row,
and then the transfer.
I don't know about you, but I wasn't allowed to go home.
I couldn't say goodbye
or give her a kiss.
Or kiss my folks.
Or pick up a toothbrush.
"One phone call", they said.
So I called her.
"Hello."
She recognized my voice and hung up.
"One phone call, soldier."
That was my farewell.
But at least she wrote to you.
Yeah, she did.
This is Marta.
She's pretty.
- Watch it. - He'll wipe your eye.
As the bitch doesn't write
I keep thinking.
- She's got some other jerk. - Don't be stupid.
Otherwise, she'd have written.
Maybe when I get home,
I'll open the door and see her in my bed with another guy.
I'll have to beat her up, kill her.
You'd do that too. You'd kill her, wouldn't you?
Hey...
I'm getting rid of the sheep. If they find it, we're in shit.
Let me go.
I found a place near the barrels.
- What barrels? - The ones by the road.
- Nobody'll find it there. - Be careful.
I'm not so sure that's the best place.
Halt!
Why have you left your post?
Answer me!
Why are you endangering your companions' lives?
You thieving shit!
You should be shot!
Do you know what we do with thieves here?
Do you?
We've told you 1,001 times.
But you can't get it into your head.
Grunt!
Turd!
Get up!
Attention! Stand to attention!
Move, on the double.
Get up!
Move, on the double!
Get over here!
On your hunkers, and jump!
Get down on all fours!
A snake, I want to see a snake.
Crawl like a snake.
Permission, sergeant.
What the hell is up with you two?
It was the three of us.
We killed it because we were hungry.
Down on the ground.
I want you on all fours.
You... Kneel down.
Look at me.
You don't know me.
You know how many pretty boys like you I've wiped out?
- You know how many? - No, sergeant.
Look at me.
So pray that I don't accidentally fire a shot some night.
- Understand? - Yes, sir.
Pray!
- Got that? - Yes, sir!
But this turd is the loser now.
I want you to crawl slowly back to your holes. Move!
And you, turd...
Get that animal you stole, we're going to see It. Gilbert.
Move, move!
Come on.
Come on, grunt, move.
What he said was that there was an improvement.
You saw what the doctor was like.
Can this be happening?
I'm sure he'll pull through.
- Really? - Yes, of course.
The hospital wants some papers that are in his apartment.
I don't want to go on my own. Would you come with me?
I'd come to pick up some things.
Luckily I had a key,
so I came in and I found him here.
Just like he is now.
I had to dump a few things to avoid problems with the cops.
He took a whole mixture.
He always did,
but this time he put in everything.
You weren't living here?
I put up with everything.
With everything.
His bad spells, not having any money...
When he became an activist with the veterans,
when he fought with them.
I put up with it all.
When he drank,
when he drove me crazy with his jealousy,
when he'd kick me around when he came home drunk...
Everything.
Not having children.
You know,
the two
or three times we talked after the war,
he always said the same thing.
We had to go back to the Islands.
"We have to go back."
Fuck, you should've said it was you.
I'll blow you away the next time, motherfucker.
Asshole!
Any word of Vargas?
They brought him to the hole a while ago.
They fucked him over.
How is he now?
He's a wreck.
Soaking wet.
I'm scared today.
Scared the English will come.
I keep seeing ships in the mist.
When I was a kid,
my dad would take me hunting.
I was afraid of the dark,
so he taught me to listen to what I couldn't see.
"When you can't see, listen", he told me.
It's the same with the English.
You're either afraid or not.
I stopped being afraid of the dark long ago.
When my son is older I'll teach it to him.
You've got a son?
Yes.
Why did you never tell us?
He's 18 months, and he's beautiful.
He looks at you with these big eyes, he's like an owl.
When the sergeant caught us the other day,
and they took Vargas,
I don't know if it was from fear,
but I dreamed about him.
What did you dream?
He was watching me and laughing.
I want to teach him things.
I don't know, to play the guitar,
not to be afraid of the dark,
walk him to school.
I'm afraid I won't see him again.
You'll see him again.
Attention!
You are under the lieutenant's orders.
Get ready, men.
You have a mission at the battlefront.
You have to take this equipment to Sgt. Garrido.
You heard the lieutenant.
Prepare your weapons,
your blanket, rain cape, mess kit.
I want you ready in five minutes.
Do it in orderly fashion. On the double! On the double!
- Permission, Sgt. Gilbert. - What is it, corporal?
I think the equipment is too heavy for two men.
- Do you? - Yes, sir.
- OK, send the three of them. - Yes, sir.
- Vargas too? - Affirmative.
Vargas too.
Vargas!
Get your gear, you're going to the front too.
I can't move, I'm sick.
Leave your post and come out here immediately.
I said, now!
What is it? You want to be staked out again?
Come on, get out of there.
Get out.
Move.
Attention. Attention!
Attention!
What's wrong?
You wimp!
Are you crying?
Are you crying, soldier? Answer me!
What's wrong?
You want to break my heart with your tears?
Your mommy's not here, there's no one to look after you.
You're on your own!
Now, get your stuff.
You're going out again with those two grunts.
Get ready to leave.
And you two mules, what are you doing in there?
Get out here!
Come on, ladies, I don't have all day.
Move those tits, come on!
You two,
get that stuff over there.
Come on, move, move!
Now, listen carefully to this.
You're taking this stuff to the front,
to the first lines,
where the real fighting is.
You're going to find real soldiers there
who are giving their lives for their homeland,
not faggots like you. Chicken shits! Apes!
Now, move your asses!
- I can't go on! - Come on.
Come on.
You can't come this way! Go around the other side!
It's all mined.
Crazy fool!
Since I've seen you, I keep going back there.
Awake or asleep.
As if the ghosts I've tried to bury all these years
were all knocking at my door.
I can see them, smell them.
Come on, wake up.
We have to go back to the Islands.
Remember when you talked about closure?
Well, now's the time.
Or the ghosts will always be there.
Can you hear me?
Move forward!
Attack!
For the homeland!
Pull back! Pull back, men!
Retreat!
Pull back, men!
Mom! Help me, mommy!
Mom!
Don't leave me!
Pull back!
Retreat! Pull back, for crissake!
Move it! Come on, pull back!
Let's get out of here!
Come on!
Pull back!
Help me!
Look at me, Juan!
Look at me!
Stop it, stop it, look at me!
Chamorro, look at me, come on! Stop, stop, for God's sake!
Chamorro, look at me!
Stop, no!
Stop, stop, no!
Don't leave me here.
Where are you?
Esteban, look what they did to me!
- Where's Juan? Where's Juan? - We have to move!
Stop! Stop!
Stop it, you bastards!
Stop!
Stop! Stop!
Esteban, are you there?
- What is it? - Sgt. Pizarro wants to see you!
What does that fucker want? What's up?
We're pulling back to Puerto Argentino,
so go see Pizarro.
Coming!
Stay here. I'll see Pizarro and come back for you.
Report immediately to It. Gilbert!
Yes, sir?
Pack my personal belongings, quickly.
- Any further news? - Nothing.
Keep trying.
Ready, sir.
The cassette player!
Ready, sir!
Take the bag to where I tell you.
Quickly.
No, you take it.
What?
I have to help a wounded comrade.
Get over here! Who do you think you are?
Are you refusing to obey an order?
We're losing because of faggots like you!
No, it's because you're all incompetent!
- What did you say? - You heard!
What did you say?
- Get over here or... - Will you stake me out?
Come here!
Come on, pal.
Wait, I have to help Vargas. He's still in the hole.
Come on, hurry up!
Vargas!
He's up ahead!
Vargas!
- Come on, get up. - I can't.
Help me, I can't do it on my own.
I'm staying here, save yourself.
I can't move my leg.
It hurts a lot. I can't walk any farther.
We have to go to Puerto Argentino.
It hurts so much.
I'll never get out of here.
Come on!
Come on, men!
Gather in front of the governor's house.
We're entering Puerto Argentino.
The enemy could be hiding anywhere!
There may be urban combat.
The enemy could be hiding in Puerto Argentino.
There may be urban combat.
Gather up, on the double!
Come on, men. Hurry!
Come here, soldier!
Come on, soldier, help this man!
Come on, soldiers!
Gather at the governor's house!
Keep your eyes open. The enemy could be waiting for us.
There may be urban combat.
We're entering Puerto Argentino, the enemy may be waiting for us!
To the governor's house.
Keep together, we're going to the governor's house.
Keep together!
Head for the governor's house.
Private Leguizamón!
Come here.
Listen, you're to go to the governor's house.
We have to take him to the infirmary.
Soldier!
Come here.
Help Leguizamón.
Leguizamón, come back afterwards!
Bring him over here.
Careful!
- When was it? - Yesterday.
Take it easy!
- Take it easy. - It really hurts.
You brought him in too late.
They're going to cut off my leg!
- They're going to cut it off! - No, they're not!
Don't believe that doctor! I'm fine, I'm going home!
- Who are you? - A friend, I brought him in.
- Well, you can go now. - No, I'm staying.
- Get out of here. - No, don't go, Esteban!
Quit pretending you're Maradona. Pass it.
Give me the helmets for the goalposts.
Come on, Maradona, pass it.
Goal!
Soldiers,
I regret that I have to make
this announcement,
but it is my duty
to inform you
that a ceasefire has been ordered
on the entire island.
From this moment,
we are under the orders of the British commanders.
We are going to remain at our positions
until our troops
are regrouped.
At 13:00h,
you will see a helicopter with a white flag.
Do not open fire.
You men
have fought like true soldiers
and you will be remembered
by all the Argentineans
as heroes.
You can be sure of this.
You gave all you had
to defend our homeland.
Soon
you will be back on the mainland.
You will be reunited with your families.
But what you have experienced here
will be with you
forever.
Despite our efforts,
the bravery of some,
and the courage of our pilots
who flew low over the English ships,
the improvisation, sadism
and treachery of those who had tortured their own people
had led us to defeat.
The English didn't need to use the nuclear weapons
that were on their ships.
The support of NATO and aid from the U.S.A.
Helped them seize a territory that wasn't theirs.
They took our Islands again
and rejoiced over our blood.
We buried our dead and, defeated, returned to the mainland.
Our officers hid us in the barracks.
We were forced to stay silent.
Why not talk about the Malvinas?
Who thought we were heroes?
Who hailed our homecoming?
Our return to life?
When I got home I was expecting banners,
people welcoming us with hugs and tears.
A dog was barking in the empty night,
and at the end of the street
only my mother was waiting with open arms.
Doctor!
- Doctor! - Calm down, ma'am.
Nurse, take her outside.
Come on.
- He's in ventricular tachycardia. - Start C.P.R.
150... Go!
Right, let's go!
Right, once again.
- What'll we do? - Nothing, that's it.
Nothing else?
- Will I turn off the ventilator? - Go ahead.
I'm so glad I called you.
You really helped me.
You helped me too, Marta.
Honestly.
He wore it to the very end.
Take it with you when you go back to the Islands.
Leave it in the Malvinas.
We shall shortly be landing at the Falklands/Malvinas airport.
We have now entered a military area.
The use of cameras is strictly forbidden.
Thank you for your cooperation.
The sea is measured by waves.
The sky, by wings.
And we are measured
by our tears.
The air rests on leaves.
Water, on eyes.
And we rest
on nothing.
It seems that salts and suns,
we and nothing.
Argentineans, you will be welcome
when you stop claiming sovereignty
and accept our right to self-determination.
The old loves that are gone,
the dreams of those who lost,
all the promises that fade
and those who fell in any war,
everything is stored in our memory,
the dream of life and history.
The deceit and complicity
of the genocides who are walking free,
the "Reprieve" and the "Full Stop" law
to the beasts from that hell,
everything is stored in our memory,
the dream of life and history.
Memory awakens to wound
the sleeping people who will not let it live
free as the wind.
The missing who are sought
along the paths of their origins,
the hunger and abundance that come together,
cruelty and its painful memory,
everything is nailed in our memory,
a thorn of life and history.
Two thousand could eat for a year
on the cost of a military moment.
So many would cease to be slaves
for the cost of a bomb dropped in the sea.
Everything is nailed in our memory,
a thorn of life and history.
Memory stabs until it draws blood
from the people who tie it down and won't let it walk
free as the wind.
To the conscripts who fought in the Malvinas.
To the dead of the Belgrano. To those who fought with dignity.
I'm sitting here
under the tiny sun,
the one that gave us the eagle
and also the sparrow.
What can you do with the silence
when your head explodes?
How can you stop the impotence
of not being able to do anything?
Why do you want to kill your children?
Your suffering will last for years.
Yesterday, for not loving the homeland,
today, for loving it too much.
Old laws and genocides,
a bad omen for life.
With the light filled with shadows
and with the sun deep in suffering,
I went back home on my knees
and left my dead friends here.
In a country that's sick,
all the cards are on the table.
We play perverted games
between soccer and war.
Blood of glory, hatred against love,
gods and beasts, madness and pain.
I'll open the doors of this emptiness
because fate threw me upwards.
Old laws and genocides,
a bad omen for life.
I'll insist with a sea of roses
and I'll build on ashes.
I'll have a new dream in my hands
and I'll fight for justice to be done.
My children's cheeks against my lips.
And I'll find rest again in their eyes.
Old laws and genocides,
a bad omen for life.
Old laws and genocides,
a bad omen for life.