INTRODUCTION
He comes from Buenos Aires.
He is bringing the plague.
He claims for our help.
I feel this call, father, please.
No, your place is here, not in Buenos Aires.
The Lord is asking me to make this sacrifice, now.
And I'm an instrument of the lord.
What are you looking for out there, Aparicio?
I know I have the strength to save them.
Save them? Whom?
Each hour that passes by is another body dying without blessings.
Aren't we priests? Aren't we here to save souls?
You are a deacon and your ordain is in a few days.
-He showed it to me, father. -Visions,
we should see to what sort of need they answer.
Chapter I - PASSION.
Why do you neglect the entrance?
I don't know why you're here, sir, you'd better go back.
A servant is telling me I can't get into my own house?
I'm sorry, sir. I did not recognize you.
Believe me, you wouldn't want to go in there.
Pardo.
Pardo!
Let's go, let's go, man!
Eugenio!
Pardo!
Out!
Out! I've got a gun!
It's uncle, mom! I told you I saw him.
Lucía, it's me, Aparicio.
Aparicio.
What are you doing here?
I was heading for Buenos Aires as a volunteer.
I thought I'd meet you there.
What's going on?
No one is going to spread the disease to us.
Uncle, I want to leave this place.
Remedios.
What about Edgardo?
He left us.
The city was not ready for so many immigrant plebeians.
He went to assist those people instead of taking care of us.
Edgardo took an oath on his profession, Lucía.
He also took an oath to God of taking care of us!
This fools' plague, he brought it home!
Three servants died and... a little girl.
He banished his family and I punish him for that.
We live here now.
-This is a special circumstance. -This is the devil's work!
There they were, all those bad people, dancing in obscene parades.
No, Aparicio.
We're cursed!
This house is cursed!
No, mom! Mom, please, I want to get out of here!
Go away! You're late!
-Lucia! -Go away! Go away!
Lucía!
I'm willing to use it.
She told you to leave.
Quispe?
Sir?
This is a miracle!
Where's my brother, who allows this madness?
Where is Edgardo?
Please, we don't have time to waste.
The master needs you more than ever.
-Why didn't anyone tell me about it? -It was too fast, sir.
Nobody knows anything.
It started in January.
The outbreak spread from the lower part of San Telmo,
from the immigrants' tenements and nobody could control it.
Quickly, sir, before it's too late.
Those were very hard days.
Before running away, several servants ransacked the house.
I felt compelled to leave only one entrance.
And you?
Hey! Wait!
-Who are you? -He is a stranger.
I don't know how he got in again.
He says the master called for him, but it isn't true.
-I've just sent him out. -Liar! You know me.
I've got to see him. We cannot wait any longer.
Where do you think you're going?
Please, let me talk to him.
I worked with the doctor, he'll recognize me.
This comes from the Paraguayan war.
-I can cure him. -Yes?
And how are you going to cure him? With this?
Gods do not exist.
Only the faith we put in them, that makes the difference.
And that man has a faith problem.
There is always a scavenger ready to take advantage of desperation.
You also have a problem of faith.
Take him out, Ernesto.
Out! Out!
Don't you touch me!
Don't let him fool you! He knows me!
He called me on his master's orders.
Ernesto, did you bring him?
It can be quite a shock to see him.
Your brother has changed a little.
Ernesto!
Only for you to know,
nobody is sure how the contagion takes place.
The Lord guides me.
Sorry, I thought you'd better know.
This is not a nice way to receive you, but...
Welcome to Paradise Farm.
When was this place nice?
Ernesto!
Ernesto, did you bring him?
Ernesto?
It's me, Edgardo.
Aparicio, your brother.
Ernesto, I want the healer.
Bring me the healer.
Ernesto!
-I sent him away. Control yourself. -What gives you the right, you fool!
That man was going to deceive you. Wake up!
You?
What are you doing here?
I'm going to Buenos Aires.
I didn't know anything about this.
To Buenos Aires?
Everybody is running away and you come here?
It wasn't my decision.
It was God who gave me the order.
God?
It was also God who brought me here.
It wasn't God. It was your arrogance.
Don't be afraid to die.
I don't want to die.
Let the healer in,
I beg you.
I did something awful.
You have to save them.
Everything was my fault,
Save them.
-They are fine. -Save them.
I beg you.
Sir.
Tell Mrs. Lucía that Mr. Edgardo has died.
She mustn't be afraid.
After the service, they will go to Córdoba.
Okay, sir.
And you?
I must go to Buenos Aires.
I have nothing to do here anymore.
Okay, sir.
May God keep you in his glory, brother.
The weather is changing.
The house gets very cold.
Are you all right, sir?
What happened?
You fainted.
I warned you...
that it could be frightening to see him.
Edgardo?
You were there.
The master has died.
It was on his body.
There is no good news from Buenos Aires.
Everybody is running away.
They say that even president Sarmiento.
Many clergymen have died in service.
They need men of faith, like you, there.
If you decided to leave,
you could help a lot.
Mrs. Lucía has been informed.
She said she wouldn't leave the chapel.
She can't bear the fact that her daughter might be infected.
We have to get them out, Quispe.
I understand her panic, but she is terrified of something else.
It is said that infected people die in four or five days in Buenos Aires.
However, the cases here...
were awful,
devastating.
In what sense?
Mr. Edgardo didn't understand how,
but our first servant died in 24 hours.
And then...
it didn't stop.
I have to prepare everything for the final service.
Uncle.
I'm here.
Remedios!
Remedios, wait for me, Remedios!
He died, right?
Dad.
You're going to freeze.
Where is Lucía?
She's sleeping. I don't have much time.
She's sleeping less every time.
I prayed to Jesus for you to come, uncle.
Don't leave us,
I know you can save us.
No, no, no. Don't come closer.
I don't feel well.
Let's go inside, it's cold.
No! I can't go in. Mom is going to get angry,
she says the devil is there.
And he is helping him.
He wants to see us all dead.
Why are you in such a hurry to burn everything?
A storm is coming, sir.
My brother gave me a diary.
Sir?
A notebook that I kept in my cassock, now I can't find it,
After the service, I'll go back to Córdoba.
I'm taking Remedios and Lucía, forcibly, if necessary.
I'm afraid that won't be possible, sir.
Why?
The bordering provinces have locked their borders
and they don't let anybody coming from Buenos Aires through.
The port is in quarantine.
We just have to wait.
Now this is the safest place.
What is my family's portrait doing there?
You are going to put that where it was and we won't burn anything yet.
Sir, we have to burn him before it's too late.
Whose scream was that?
Sir!
Don't do anything until I come back.
Remedios!
She's fine.
I heard her scream.
Lucía, it's enough, open the door, will you?
I can take you both to Córdoba.
No!
You can't.
Why don't you explain to me what is going on?
This is the only safe place for us.
No, it's not. You're just afraid of suffering.
I'm not going to allow the plague to get to my daughter.
And you are doing her a worse evil.
The house is empty.
No, it's not empty.
The plague brought something more than death.
That is the first symptom.
Then comes the thirst, the vomit and the fever...
until the skin turns yellow.
Finally,
the black vomit.
Quispe.
How could you? Bastard.
I'm sorry, sir. The torch fell when I was taking the portrait.
I couldn't stop the fire.
Don't remember my sins, Lord.
When you come to purify the world in fire.
O Lord, my God, direct my footsteps according to your word,
When you come to purify the world in fire.
Eternal rest give unto them. O Lord.
And let perpetual light shine upon them,
O Lord, from the gate of Hell.
Wretch,
you can't leave us like this!
You have no right to escape!
You abandoned us and left us alone!
He is dead, Lucía.
He didn't mean it.
I curse you! I curse you wherever you are!
And may your soul rot in hell!
Chapter II - DEATH.
Remedios?
Uncle, please wake up.
Uncle, wake up.
Where are you?
Remedios?
Don't raise your voice.
You have to get me out, uncle.
I don't feel well.
Please. They want to kill me.
What?
She says she won't let the disease condemn us.
Who are you talking about?
Mom.
She changed.
I heard her talking to Ernesto.
He said that now that dad is dead, we're going to be better.
Who has her?
-Ernesto? -Who took my daughter?
I don't know what to do.
They were going to wait until I fall asleep.
Now they are looking for me.
Where's my daughter?
No, nobody is going to kill you.
Promise me, uncle.
Promise me you're getting me out of here.
I'm going to hide until you get better.
In the theater of cardboard figures in my room.
You'll find me there.
Quispe?
I'm sorry I housed you here, sir,
but it was the only livable room.
I'm very sorry, sir.
How long have I been like this?
The fever has diminished, but...
you have been delusional an entire day.
Today is Wednesday,
Holy Wednesday.
What's that smell?
Camphor, sir.
I have prepared you an elderberry infusion.
Slowly. Sip it slowly, sir, you may vomit.
And Remedios?
I saw Remedios last night.
Remedios?
Where?
These are the first symptoms.
No, I'm not delusional
I saw her.
That is impossible, sir.
Her mother never let her leave the chapel,
until she took her.
She took her?
You told me the borders were closed.
Speak.
After Mr. Edgardo's service,
Mrs. Lucía went back to the chapel and...
killed her daughter while she was sleeping.
Then she killed herself.
She went mad.
She was convinced they were ill.
She asphyxiated Remedios while she was sleeping
and then she hanged herself.
It's all been a great calamity.
I was supposed to watch over them, you, everybody.
And now, they are dead.
What are you doing, sir?
What do you think?
I don't know what your intentions are, Quispe.
Please, sir. This is insane.
We can't go out in this storm.
It will only make you worse.
I saw Remedios last night.
If they are dead, you are going to prove it.
At the beginning, the smell is unbearable, sir.
But then, you get used to it, you don't feel it anymore.
Lucía?
The girl preferred to sleep under the stairs.
After asphyxiating Remedios,
Lucía went up to the bell tower and hanged herself.
When Mrs. Lucía decided to lock herself,
I looked for all the old toys, for the little girl.
To minimize such horror.
I couldn't save her.
Save her?
Please, sir. Let's go back.
Miss Remedios.
Mrs. Lucía.
They don't rest in peace.
We have to bless the dead.
Please, sir.
This isn't a good sign, sir.
Let's go.
No, that's not God's purpose for me.
How did you do this to yourself, sir?
I was going to Buenos Aires,
to fulfill my vocation of surrendering myself to God.
I didn't think of passing by.
I got stuck in this house again.
Plans not always turn out in the way you think sir.
Your brother came from Buenos Aires,
running away to save his family.
And look how that ended.
You don't understand.
This was not predicted for me.
It's God's plan.
I had a vision in Córdoba.
I saw the plague in Buenos Aires.
I saw the empty houses, the bodies.
I know he needs me alive, Quispe.
You have just done something good, sir.
I know he is going to cure me, Quispe.
He is going to cure me.
Uncle, uncle, help me.
Uncle, I'm here.
They lie.
They are looking for me.
You must take me out of here.
Remedios.
Wake up!
You shouldn't have come.
Sometimes things go wrong.
Now, you're going to end up like your brother.
Quispe?
Ernesto?
Help me!
Ernesto, where are you?
Lucía?
Pardo! There goes one of them!
Pardo?
Don't touch him! He is infected!
I told you not to come back, shit.
You want to keep everything for yourself, you bastard.
What did you do with the bodies?
They are outside.
My god! What did I do?
I came to save these people.
You did what anybody would do to save his own life.
The house is at the mercy of any bastard's ransacking.
The house will soon be empty.
For a moment, I thought you had left,
that you had abandoned me.
Why did you stay?
Why didn't you leave with the rest of the servants?
I was born in the desert.
When I was 11 years old,
your grandfather, Mr. Mercedario Sepúlveda,
arrived with the defeated troops of the battle of Huaqui.
Without weapons, with malaria and hungry.
He got to our humble house, five kilometers from Yavi.
My father was kind of healer, he looked after him,
and your grandfather got well.
But my mother...
and my little sister...
didn't make it.
The old man buried them there, right in front of us.
No crying, no protesting, not a word.
He just listened to the wind.
And then...
he just went on herding sheep.
Your grandfather, in shock for what he had just seen,
dragged me with him.
He thought he had saved me
from a cruel and savage father.
But it was here...
where they changed my name.
From Quispe to Ernesto.
It was here where I learned your ways.
And it was here where your father despised me.
And where I also saw him die.
Here:
in "El Paraíso" farm,
where everybody wanted to run away from death,
uselessly,
trying to get hold of things.
Then I could see my father was more alive than all of you.
And that I had never left the desert.
I made this house my desert,
my place.
A place to be...
and to die.
Where could I go?
This is not your house, Ernesto.
How long do have I left?
If you throw up black vomit,
I don't think you'll see another day after tomorrow.
God, you have loved me first.
Your love has made you suffer the thorns
and nails from the calvary crosses.
Help me
to understand that this disease
is my cross,
this bed, my calvary.
Am I not your servant?
Give me a sign
to understand your purpose.
Quispe?
There's someone in the house.
Remedios?
Lucía!
No! I can't go in.
Mom is going to get angry,
she says the devil is there.
Mom,
she changed.
You have to get me out of here,
they want to kill me.
In the theater of cardboard figures in my room.
You'll find me there.
Uncle...
I beg you, Jesus.
Rescue me from all evils,
past, present and future.
Don't leave me here alone.
Remedios, it's me!
Aparicio.
Remedios!
For all the saints and the angels,
I beg you, Lord.
Don't abandon me.
Don't allow this.
Mom said you were going to save us,
that you wouldn't allow a little girl to die.
Remedios?
Don't let me suffer with them.
Don't let me die here.
Please.
Thy mercy I implore.
Don't leave me alone.
Don't let me die.
Remedios.
Remedios?
Uncle?
Help me.
Uncle, please!
I can't move.
-Remedios! -Down here.
My God.
We have to leave the house.
I'm dying.
This is what Ernesto wants.
He was here, he looked for me,
but I could hide down here.
Now I can't move, I can't go out.
Uncle, please help me.
No, no, I'm going crazy.
This is not real.
Stretch your hand, uncle.
I'm going to get you out, Remedios.
No! Don't leave me here alone.
Calm down, we're leaving this house.
I'm coming back.
Uncle!
What are you doing, sir?
What are you doing?
You lied!
What's going on? Where is Lucía?
She's dead.
She's alive!
You both want to kill Remedios!
What demon are you serving?
You're delusional, sir.
That's the fever.
This?
This is a delusion, eh?
I'm going to take Remedios out of this place.
You're not going to kill her!
Why are you doing this to us?
Too long living in this house!
Now you want us all dead.
Uncle, help me!
Uncle!
Remedios!
Leave that on the table.
One move and I'll slit your throat.
What are you doing, sir?
Where is she?
-I don't understand. -Where did you put her, bastard?
Please, sir, calm down.
This fever started after I began drinking that poison.
Do you want the house?
You stole the medal.
She is, or was, alive
and I'm going to show you where.
Sir, you were delusional all day long.
Let's go!
What's this?
Your grandfather had it prepared,
so that your family could hide from the raids.
You lived in this house,
you knew of this place.
You hid here when your parents were looking for you.
Don't you remember?
No, I don't remember.
I never knew about it, no.
What did you do?
To the chapel.
Walk!
Is it weird for you?
This is what you and Lucía couldn't understand, isn't it?
How she managed to escape.
Remedios came to see me after Edgardo's cremation.
You always lied.
You knew the healer.
You brought him on my brother's request.
Talk!
Yes, sir, that's true.
I brought him at the request of Mr. Edgardo.
You lied!
That man was going to trick you, sir.
And I can't let this house be contaminated with that trickery.
This house?
This house is mine and my family's.
I know, sir.
I only look after you. It's always been like that.
And how is it that you didn't get infected?
I ask myself the same thing, sir.
It must have been God's will.
I guess.
God's will?
Or you used the plague to poison us?
Are you waiting for me to die?
So that you can keep everything?
In the end, I am the last link of the family, right?
You're going to open the coffins.
Look.
Mrs. Lucía and Remedios have been dead for three days.
What is it you can't see?
No, that's not true.
There's the girl's body!
Come on! Look at it and let's get it over with.
Enough!
Sir.
What day is it today?
Saturday, sir. Holy Saturday.
They have always been dead.
I'm cold.
Don't do it sir, please..
This is a mockery!
-It's not your right, sir. -No?
Who's going to stop me?
God?
We are alone, Ernesto.
I can't stand it.
Sir, give me that gun.
What are you doing?
You're going to bring the healer.
You brought him for Edgardo, you're going to bring him for me.
I'm not going to do it sir.
Give me the keys.
That man is a liar.
I'd prefer to be the one who decides.
Give me the keys.
Don't come back without the healer.
I'm not going to let you in.
You.
You got infected too?
This house has a lot of pain that could have been avoided.
Don't let him in.
You heard him.
You can't leave me out of this house.
Why not?
If I don't survive, this house will be free of your services.
My brother...
was a man of science.
He didn't even believe in the Church.
Why did he believe you?
Your brother saw results.
He also helped a lot of people.
But he didn't have my tools.
Sometimes, reason is not enough.
In Corrientes they call it "payé" .
He won't let you die.
That?
I lost my faith in God.
Am I going to believe in this?
You are going to believe because I have one on.
Your brother found me saving men in the lodgings of San Telmo,
and was surprised I did not get infected.
Believe me, you don't need more than that.
Help me.
Help me soon.
Chapter III - RESURRECTION.
The man left.
Left the door open.
What's up? Aren't you happy I'm alive?
You should have died yesterday evening, sir.
It must be God's will.
Where did he go?
I don't know.
He said he was coming back.
What's the date today?
Sunday, April 9th.
Resurrection Easter.
There is an evacuation in all the city.
They say Buenos Aires...
is dead.
My Lord.
My... God!
I confess, Father,
because I have gravely sinned,
in thought,
word,
and work.
It's my fault.
It's my fault. It's...
It's my great fault.
Lucía!
Remedios!
Quispe!
You know?
This plague was brought by mosquitoes,
from Africa.
This will be known in ten years.
The funny thing is you were not infected by mosquitoes,
or your brother.
In fact, nobody infected you.
You put your faith in the circumstance,
believed you were ill,
and your body believed you.
What did you do to me?
What you asked me.
-You didn't heal me. -No.
I told you you were not going to die.
The payé does not heal,
it becomes bone in your bones
and ties the soul to the body.
This is a resurrection from the flesh.
The pain.
The soul feels the weight of the dead body
that never dies.
Your body will lose substance.
It will be getting dry little by little,
but you will keep on living.
I don't want that filth in my body.
If I take out the payé , you are going to die suddenly,
and you have not paid me for helping you yet.
Take it out!
In fact, nobody in this house has paid me yet.
Is that what you want?
The house?
Keep everything,
but let me die.
Do you really think the house is what I'm interested in?
What sense would that make to me?
It's curious how long a burning candle lasts.
I recovered my faith.
That's why I'm here.
Out.
That has no meaning on you anymore.
Sooner or later the pain is going to be so unbearable,
that you will call me again
when that candle goes out.
Quispe?
I'm not going to let you get them out!
It was her will.
You buried them alive.
They are dead, this is their place.
It's not true, I hear the screams.
They are safe there.
He never left this house.
He's waiting for the right time. Don't come closer, sir.
Don't come closer.
I'm going to look after them until the end of my days.
Which are not going to be theirs or mine!
Don't come any closer.
Lucía.
Mr. Edgardo never realized how much damage he made.
He only thought of saving them
but he condemned them to a horrible state.
He brought the plague to the house,
and couldn't stand seeing his daughter trapped by the yellow fever.
This is your fault,
you know it.
A few days later, three servants died.
Mrs. Lucía was agonizing near her daughter,
then he asked me to bring the strange healer.
Go and look for "El Correntino".
Something bad was going to happen in there.
I could feel it.
Save them.
When the servants saw Lucía and Remedios alive,
they knew it was the devil's work.
There was little time for a mutiny to start.
Mr. Edgardo agonized
and the secret was leaving with him.
She knew something evil was done to them.
Their bodies did not work,
they were not hungry.
The girl got thinner and so did she.
Then she went mad.
Her screams were heard all over the house.
That night, the servants ransacked the house and ran away.
The lady hid in the chapel with Remedios.
They would stay in that sacred place,
waiting the agony of the body.
At dawn, you arrived.
Your brother gave you the diary with the facts.
When you fainted, I discovered the diary and gave it to Lucía.
Then she confirmed the horror.
How could you? Bastard.
You got sick, the girl ran away.
It was you that took us to her hiding place.
The girl only wanted to live.
She never understood what was happening to her.
Uncle...
Help...
No! No! No!
Quispe!
Quispe, open it!
Quispe!
I told you not to come in!
I'm not going to let you take their bodies.
He's out there.
Waiting.
Why didn't you tell me the truth from the beginning?
I'm not responsible for the destruction of your family.
I don't intend to keep your house.
I only serve.
It was Mr. Edgardo who decided on his cremation.
It was Lucía who begged me not to tell you the truth,
so that you did no surrender to the healer's will.
It was you who finally let him into this house again.
They are innocent,
they did not decide to be like that.
Quispe, don't leave me, Quispe!
Quispe, don't leave me!
I want to leave!
Don't leave me!
I want to leave!
Let me out!
Epilogue.
You know,
it's funny that they called it "The Paradise".
The scenery changes, but the play is always the same.
You look after this place,
and somebody like me tries to find out how to destroy it.
And so, we are trapped,
you and I,
condemned to repeat the same story,
each time someone new comes into the garden.
You know how it goes.
You close the door,
the devil opens it,
and man keeps it open.