Terra queimada Page #5

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Let's go down and have a look.

So there are no more plantations,

they're all burnt to the ground.

- They'll rise again.

- In 10 years, Sir William.

Well, you have another 89 years

to exploit them. Renewable.

Doesn't your contract specify that?

Your contract specifies

that you are to defend our interests.

Instead, you're destroying them.

Well, that's the logic of profit, isn't it,

my dear Shelton?

One builds to make money.

And to go on making it...

or to make more,

sometimes it's necessary to destroy.

Yes, I think perhaps it's inevitable.

Then why didn't you say so before?

- Well, why didn't I say what?

- Where is it going to end?

As I told you...

with the end of Jos Dolores.

At this price, it's no longer profitable.

It isn't you who pays, or even Royal Sugar.

Do you remember him?

There is Tin-Tin, too, one of the old ones.

But there is no Jos Dolores.

And you're sorry?

No. I wouldn't want to find him like this.

Well, you might have thought of that before.

No, I say, as long as Jos Dolores lives...

I have work, and good pay.

Is it not the same for you?

No, on the contrary,

I work for an overall sum.

I must report to London.

Do that, Mr. Shelton.

I'll tell them how things are.

Yes, I hope so.

I'll have to inform them

that the island has been completely burnt...

and Jos Dolores has once again

broken through the encirclement.

Tell them that, Mr. Shelton.

And tell them also that you make me sick.

Sir William!

Do you know why this island

is called Queimada?

Because it was already burnt once,

and do you know why?

Because even then, it was the only way

to conquer the resistance of the people...

and after that, the Portuguese

exploited the island in peace...

for nearly 300 years.

Yes, but I was merely trying...

You know that fire can't cross the sea

because it goes out.

But certain news,

certain ideas travel by ships' crews.

Have you any idea how many islands there

are on which Royal Sugar has concessions?

You should know.

And have you the vaguest notion

of what would happen to our employers...

if the example of Jos Dolores

reached those islands?

Senhor?

Mr. Shelton, I...

I don't know, I'm not...

just quite sure what I'm doing here.

Money is important, but then...

my salary is small compared to yours.

Therefore, it's less important.

I'm also not sure just why I do

what I'm doing.

Perhaps it's only for the pleasure of it.

Or perhaps...

I'm unable to do anything else.

Perhaps I've nothing else to do, but I do

know that whenever I try to do something...

I try to do it well.

And to see it clearly and through to the end.

Do you understand?

Bugler.

Bugler's here, sir.

Bugler, sound your cease-fire.

There, that's Jos Dolores.

At the bottom where the soldiers

are running. Do you see him?

Yes.

A fine specimen, isn't he?

You know, it's an exemplary story.

In the beginning he was nothing.

A porter, a water carrier.

And England

makes him a revolutionary leader...

and when he no longer serves her,

he's put aside.

And when he rebels again...

more or less in the name of...

those same ideals

which England's taught him...

England decides to eliminate him.

Don't you think that's a small masterpiece?

And you're the author, Sir William.

No, only the instrument.

Giddy up.

No, it is not true that

fire destroys everything.

A little life always remains.

Yet in the end, a blade of grass...

So how come the white invaders win?

How come they win in the end?

Someone of us will always remain.

Still others will be born later.

And others, too, will begin to understand.

In the end, you also will understand.

And the whites, in the end,

will be maddened by you.

Madder than a white beast becomes

when he finds he's closed in...

and the mad beast'll run for the last time...

pursued and hunted all over the island...

till he falls into one of the great fires

that he himself has made.

And the groans from this dying beast

will become our first cry of freedom.

One that will be heard far,

far beyond this island.

Come on, get ready, we're going back.

War is unavoidable, Jos.

Thanks to heaven

that you and I remained alive.

You know, it's inevitable that someone has

to lose. In this case, it was inevitably you.

Otherwise, how could I have won?

I see that you've lost everything,

including power of speech.

Tie him up!

Oh, I see you actually

don't drink anymore, do you?

Are you sure you're not thirsty?

I'd think your throat would be dry

from all that talking all day.

I see no reason for you to walk.

You can remain silent even on horseback.

Soldier, give the prisoner your horse!

We must go, General.

What are you waiting for? Go and get him!

Now, listen to me, you black ape!

Listen to me.

It wasn't I that invented this war.

And furthermore, in this case,

I didn't even start it.

I arrived here and you were

already butchering one another.

Thank you.

But, anyway, sooner or later,

they are going to kill me.

Maybe not, General.

Maybe they will let you live.

If they let me live

it means it is convenient for them.

And if it's convenient for them,

it is convenient for me to die.

Why?

Because the hunter lets the hawk live...

only when he wants a decoy

or to hunt in his place.

He's kept alive, but in a cage.

But then, after a while,

maybe they will free you.

No, little soldier.

It doesn't work like that, friend.

If a man gives you freedom,

it is not freedom.

Freedom is something you,

you alone, must take.

Do you understand?

Well, you will one day, because

you've already started to think about it.

Well, all that remains now

is to settle what to do with him.

Well, let's see,

we certainly can't use the garrote.

It's too reminiscent of Portugal.

Either we shoot him,

as we did Teddy Sanchez...

or we hang him as you do in England.

All things considered, hanging is better.

It's more solemn.

- More definite.

- Right.

Right.

But you see the man that fights for an idea

is a hero.

And a hero who is killed becomes a martyr...

and a martyr immediately becomes a myth.

A myth is more dangerous than a man

because you can't kill a myth.

Don't you agree, Shelton?

I mean, think of his ghost

running through the Antilles.

Think of the legends and the songs.

Better songs than armies.

Better silence than songs.

And that is?

A hero that betrays is soon forgotten.

Well, we'll have to see

if he's willing to betray.

Well, now let's see,

against whom did Jos Dolores rebel?

Against Teddy Sanchez.

And you, General,

have eliminated Teddy Sanchez.

Now that... I think

that gives you a position in common.

See, there's the beginning of a rationale

which I think Jos Dolores...

could make public without too much shame.

Do you think he will do it?

Would you do it in his place?

Me? For God's sake, Sir William.

I would do anything to stay alive.

But, Jos Dolores...

You can't tell

what a man will do to stay alive.

Until you put him to the test,

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