Bal-Can-Can

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Gennaro... Shhh, Gennaro!

Gennaro!

What's up, Carlo?

- A new guy just came in.

There, next to the

Norwegian.

I'm not Norwegian,

I'm Swedish!

And who's that?

- I don't know. Ask him.

Maybe he doesn't

understand Italian.

Look at his feet...

They look Spanish to me.

Shhh, Spanish guy...

Obrigado, hey! Obrigado...

"Obrigado" is a Portuguese

word, guys.

He's one of ours!

Hello, guys. It's a bit stuffy

in here...

Anybody got a cigarette?

No, smoking is not

allowed here!

He got you, he, he...

And how do you intend to

smoke, Carlo?

Hey, unknown... What's

your name?

Santino.

Hello, Santino.

We're Italians,

those guys there are

Frenchmen...

Enchante'!

The one next to you is

Knut the Dan...

I am Swedish!

Well, whatever! Then Kurt

the German...

Then sergeant John...

Thanks, guys. Where are

we, anyway?

This is a fridge. This is

where they store us, the

dead people, in these

compartments.

Oh, f***! - Hey, Santino,

how come they labelled

you "unknown"? - We all

have our ending, boys:

Some die from old

age, others from tumours,

I died because of my blood

brother!

Your blood bro' killed

you, eh?

No, I got killed because of

the son of the blood bro' of

my father... Ah, it's all

very complicated!

Use your own words,

Santino.

Ok, then! My story begins

a long time ago,

in Macedonia. Do you

know what Macedonia is?

Sure! It's a kind of salad.

Carlo! How can a person

be born in a salad?

"Macedonia" is the brand

of cigarettes that

Monica Bellucci smokes in

"Malena".

You don't know sh*t, guys.

Macedonia is a country,

down in the Balkans. Let's

start from the beginning.

Some fifty years ago...

After the Second World War,

Macedonia was a part of

Tito's Yugoslavia. Very

important historical period,

ruling of the proletariat... all

ideology, you know? Quite a

limited environment for a

dynamic young man

like my father Vitomir.

His blood brother Seraphim

was his best friend.

Vitomir and Seraphim were

like Little Caesars:

They dressed better than

Fred Buscaglione,

and boxed harder that

Rocky Marciano.

When they showed up to

parties, they immediately

broke the girls' hearts...

and also the jaws of their

jealous boyfriends!

Those were poor times, but even

poor people like to dress up.

Vitomir and Seraphim

started to make profit from

this human weakness, buying

goods in Italy and selling

them for five times their

price in Yugoslavia.

But the Yugoslav customs

showed no understanding

for their business

determination...

Anything to declare?

Well, personal luggage,

reference books...

Small stuff!

- Small stuff, yeah.

Down on your knees!

The search for easy money

against the limitations

imposed by the law

led these talented young men

to embrace their destiny:

Shefket Ramadani!

Good job, money easy.

Train arrive Friday.

Two.

In Dubrovnik get shipped on

boat...

Two hundred twenty

box! And in Dubrovnik:

My guards, my people, my

policeman, my engineer...

nobody touch you. We split

fifty-fifty!

Why fifty-fifty, eh?

Why not in thirds?

Why? Why because

f***ing sh*t why!

Whattya got?

- Two pairs.

Me better. Straight.

That's why!

F***ing why...

Can ya see anythin', bro'?

I can see sh*t, bro'.

Well, f*** it.

Watch the wire, bro'!

Ouch!

They've turned on

the electricity.

Wanna play hard, eh?

F***in' bastards!

Gimme them pliers.

Don't have 'em, bro'...

- So f*** ya, bro'...

So f*** me, bro', I didn't

bring them.

Never mind, bro'. I'll lift it

up and we'll go under.

Ready, set, go...

Arghhh!

Hold on, bro'!

Don't give up, bro',

I beg ya!

F***in' commies!

Eh, we should be stealin'

in America...

...even the electricity is less

powerful there.

Less powerful, ya say?

Eh, that West...

Is this the carriage, bro'?

Got no idea, bro', guess so.

- Gimme the crowbar, bro'!

Don't have it, bro', didn't

bring it.

Sorry to say this, bro', but

you're a real piece of...

Halt! You've been caught

in the act of stealing the

property of the Yugoslav

People's Army.

Better surrender, you're

surrounded!

Beat it, bro'!

- Get lost, bro'!

Comrade soldiers, fire!

We're screwed...

- Run to the sea!

Unleash the dogs, soldiers!

Wait for me, bro'!

I'll wait for ya on

the shore, bro'...

Don't waste the bullets!

Catch them alive!

Please wait for me, bro'...

Show some character, bro'...

Ouch!

Argh! Ya wanna play hard,

eh?

Hold on, bro'!

Don't give up!

That evening, while the

laments of his blood brother

Seraphim echoed in the night,

my father Vitomir

swam across the entire

Adriatic Sea,

with his eyes

full with tears...

The next day he swam

into Bari

and applied for asylum

in Italy.

Name and surname?

- Vito.

Don Vito... Genovese.

In Italy Vitomir continued to

pursue intellectual goals:

He worked as a gigolo,

smuggled cigarettes, fixed

football games, he built

himself a solid career,

got married... But never, not

even in the last moments

of his life, did he forget his

blood brother.

Santino, my son... My life is

coming to its end...

But don't you ever forget

what Pat O'Brien says

in the movie "Angels

With Dirty Faces"...

"Let us pray for the boy

who couldn't run

as fast as I could"...

That also goes for my blood

brother Seraphim...

I heard he died,

a few years ago...

But he has a son...

If you ever find that your

little blood brother

is in trouble,

help him!

Yes, daddy! I give you

my word!

Of course, I completely

forgot about the promise

I made my father. I moved to

Rome, as a real Roman,

and opened a nightclub,

a fancy place.

Until one day,

my phone rang...

Hello?

- Good afternoon.

May I speak to Santino

Genovese?

That day, for the first time in

my life, I heard the voice

of Trendafil Karanfilov.

- Who's Trendafil Karanfilov?

Trendafil is the son of the

blood brother Seraphim,

born out of wedlock between

Seraphim and an anonymous

female prisoner serving a

life sentence.

On the day of his birth, with a

sudden attack Israel declared

war to Egypt, Syria, Jordan

and Iraq.

By chance or not, little

Trendafil was born on the

day when a war began... and

wars shall mark

his entire existence!

Trendafil grew up in an

orphanage. His guardians

believed that watching war

movies best hardens the

child's spirit. But while all

the other children had fun,

little Trendafil was scared to

death!

Children, today we shall learn

the letter "A".

"A" is the first letter of our alphabet...

That feeling of fear

developed in the years that

followed:
On his first day at

school, General Augusto

Pinochet carried out a military

coup in Chile.

Trendafil! Don't tempt me!

He graduated when the civil

war in Nicaragua began...

Turn off the TV, you ass!

...He met the love of his life

on the day when

the conflict in Slovenia and

Croatia began...

...His first day at work was

the day when

the war in

Bosnia began...

...He got married when

NATO attacked Serbia...

As years went by, the gap

between wars

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