AN UNCERTAIN TIME
All right, that's good. No.
I'll wait.
Who is she?
French. Caught this afternoon downtown with her brother.
No visas in their passports. The smack of fake big time.
- Where was she taken? - Number two.
Is Madalena on duty?
She should be.
Is it hers?
Have Madalena frisk her. "Make it rough", tell her.
What about her brother?
You do it.
Pockets. Everything out! Come on!
Listen, I'm a refugee.
I haven't committed any crime.
Save your breath, I can't understand you.
Pockets. Everything out!
You need help?
What brand is this? Abdullah?
What's this? Is it Frenchie?
Egyptian.
Never smoked it.
May I try?
Tobacco for girlies. And you smoke it...
You can laugh, you clown, but you'll be crying your eyes out soon.
The mouth, fuck it!
Mouth.
You got teeth, no doubt about that!
And these, what are they?
Silver?
Rich bastards...
Enough, Madalena. You can go.
- It was Jasmim who told me to... - That's enough. You can go.
You can get dressed.
Diabetes. I'm diabetic.
Insulin.
Jab.
Confiscated.
Tests.
The way I see it, you got a junkie's mug.
I haven't got a bomb under my skirt.
Okay? Are you happy?
Oh, that, yeah, sure, they're fake.
Where did you buy them?
Marseilles? Tangier?
Casablanca.
That's an offence.
You knew that, of course.
Here, just like anywhere else. That's an offence.
- This is war. - Not here.
Not yet.
In the meantime what are you going to do to us?
We'll investigate.
- You'll be sent back, for sure. - Sent back?
That's preposterous. Why?
Why what?
You could be spies, I don't know, agitators.
You could be anything.
Don't be ridiculous. We're just refugees.
That's what we're going to find out.
- Your names, for instance. - They're our real names.
We haven't changed them. They're real.
- Laura. - Laura.
It's my real name. And Boris too, that's his real name.
It's Russian, right?
- It was his dad's name. - And yours?
What do you mean, mine?
Your father. You're brother and sister, right?
Or husband and wife?
Or maybe both, who knows...
Adam and Eve had the same father.
You'd do well to take this seriously.
We'll investigate.
We'll find out in the end.
If it's a question of money, I've got plenty.
You want to bribe me?
Or if it's something else, well, I've got that too.
- Where will you put her? - Number five. With the other.
My lipstick is missing.
- With her brother? - Yeah, the other...
Was it Vargas who asked you to put them together?
Of course.
That figures...
- Shall we meet outside? - I can't tonight. He arrived yesterday.
Did you put them together?
I did.
And have you given him his wallet back?
That's right.
And you? What about the other one?
Morphine.
Well, well, well...
I showed the doctor. He confirmed it.
Interesting...
What do we do now?
The usual: hotels, consulate, the routine.
But don't bother, Jasmim. I'll deal with it.
You've got enough on your plate.
- You'll deal with it? - Yeah, me.
You're the boss.
That's right. I'm the boss.
"They took all my clothes and put me in the middle of the room, barefoot,
"just with my slip on.
"They wouldn't let me sleep or use the toilet.
"I resisted for almost three days,
"but in the end I had to do it on the floor.
"The two police women who had pulled my clothes off,
"wanted to make me clean the floor with them.
"I spat on their faces.
"They pounced on me, punching and kicking me.
"After God knows how many days without sleeping,
"I completely lost my sight
and all the hair on my body turned white..."
Why does he keep all these newspapers?
Lock them away in the safe, mum... In the study. It's full of them.
You think he hides them? He reads them in secret?
But why, mum?
You never told him anything?
And you never suspected?
He probably wouldn't have done this when you were still alright...
Otherwise, you'd have known...
Oh, they've changed the movie!
This one is German.
No... it's French.
Are you listening? It's the French anthem.
Dad. It's dad, mum. I'll be right back.
Dad?
Bloody hell, Ilda! You scared me!
- Where's dad? - How do I know!
- I heard him come in. - Well, I didn't.
I'll check outside.
Don't do that, Ilda! You know he doesn't want you to go out there!
Stay out of it, will you?
Mum is smelly again. You should clean her.
...Following three concerts at São Carlos,
the orchestra played for an audience of six thousand at the Coliseu dos Recreios.
Where are you going? What are you doing here?
Don't get cross. I was looking for you.
I've told I don't want you out here.
- Don't you dare go in there. - I know. The floor is dangerous.
Don't fret, I'm not going in.
I don't want to break my leg again like in the basement, remember?
I heard you come in. I came to fetch you.
- How's mum? - She's been all right today.
She recognised me. She looked at me.
She did? Are you sure she recognised you?
I read the newspaper to her when I got back from school.
She looked at me twice. - What newspaper?
Yours. The Diário da Manhã. War news to entertain her.
What about school?
The usual. Fifteen in French.
Oh, and I recited a poem! Want to hear it?
Wait! Stay there, dad.
I'm going to recite a poem for you... It's beautiful.
"Lovely is the flower at birth to bloom, If it is not plucked out in the bud;
So the virgin is born and lives pure, If vice does not drag her in the mud..."
Was it the nuns who told you to recite that?
I'm not sure it's that suitable for your age.
For my age!...Oh, dad! I'm not a child any more.
I must have a word with those nuns.
Dad... please, don't do that! Please, dad!
A delegation of graduates
of the Portuguese Youth and the Female Portuguese Youth...
She swallows almost everything.
- She's eating better, don't you think? - Yes, I do.
Dr. Felix said yesterday she's making progress.
"Encouraging", he said...
- Encouraging... - That's what he said.
I can't wait to see her well again...
At the front desk, serving customers like before.
And the hotel full of people again. Huh, dad?
Well, that's enough. She's had it.
She's soiled herself again. I'll call Deolinda.
No, let me deal with it.
Take her plate to the kitchen and go to bed. It's late.
And switch the radio off. Enough of war.
...The German troops, backed by Italian and Romanian units...
And don't you stay up reading all night.
You'll end up blind.
Marta?
- What's this? - This, what?
Your back.
It's nothing.
The war.
The war? What war?
June 17th. Flanders.
- Ah, the other war... - What other war?
There's only one. It's always the same.
There's always a war going on somewhere..
It never stops.
It's cold.
It's dead.
A mortar shell... ours.
A mistake.
It took the whole platoon.
I stayed a night and a day under the bodies.
Alive though.
Well... more or less.
And your own war, what was it like?
It passed us by, really.
When they entered Paris, we were holidaying in the Midi, in Hyères..
So we stayed there.
And you, the police? Why?
Bloody stupid. I was young. I was scared stiff.
I wanted to be safe.
But it wasn't safe.
Try not to make any noise during the day.
Don't worry. You'll have your visas for England.
"And off he went spitting,
in true Portuguese fashion."
It's okay, I heard you. I know you're there.
He does lay it on thick, your cop, with his war.
Ah, leave him alone...!
Come and give me a massage. I'm dead.
...The political changes that shook nearly all of Europe over the last few years,
the civil strife in the Peninsula, today's world war.
Order has not changed; national unity prevails; work intensifies;
the country manages to obtain supplies almost satisfactorily in an impoverished,
starving Europe;
it has been possible to maintain neutrality
with dignity and keep the peace...
"Lot and his two daughters lived in a cave.
"One day the older daughter said to the younger:
"Our father is old, and there is no man around here to give us children -
"as is the custom all over the earth.
"Let us get our father to drink wine
and then sleep with him and preserve our family line through our father..."
That's not true! You're making it up. That's not written down there.
I'm not making it up at all. It's all written down!
In the Bible?! I don't believe it.
Yes, in the Bible, illiterate woman.
"That night they got their father to drink some wine,
"and the older daughter went in to lay with him.
He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up..."
That's not true!
"The next day the older daughter said to the younger:
"Last night I lay with our father.
"Let's get him to drink some wine again tonight,
"and you go in and lay with him so we can preserve our family line
through our father..."
What nonsense! With her father! Stop it. It's disgusting!
Shut up!
- You hurt me, you brute! - Serves you right!
Shut up and listen!
"Let us get him to drink wine again tonight,
"and you go in and lie with him
so we can preserve our family line through our father."
Are you listening?
Yes, yes, I'm listening.
But it goes in one ear and out my asshole.
Don't be a mule. It's all written down. Honestly.
"So they got their father to drink wine that night also,
"and the younger daughter went in and lay with him.
Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up."
How can that be? How could he do it without noticing?
Because he was drunk, you silly-billy.
"So both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father.
"The older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab;
he is the father of the Moabites of today..."
Are you listening, stupid woman?
"Of today..."
"...The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi;
he is the father of the Ammonites of today..."
You think I'm capable of making up the Ammonites?
You think I'm capable of making up something like that?
Let go! You're hurting me! Let go!
Then say I didn't make anything up!
Go on, say it's all true, or I won't let go!
All right! You didn't make anything up! It's all true!
If you do that again, I'll tear your tongue out. Swine!
Really, true or false, I don't like all that drivel
about fathers and daughters doing it together...
Why don't you read me a passage with the Baby Jesus?
Or the Virgin Mary?
Don't be daft, that's in the New Testament, not this one!
So what, can't you read the New?
I prefer the Old. There's more blood.
In your father's bed?!
Ilda!
You're crazy!
Ilda, what's got into you? Didn't you go to school?
Your father will kill you! Are you ill?
Yes. Go away. Let me sleep.
No other country today could allow itself the honour
of bringing together in the same room, side by side,
representatives of nations which are now enemies.
A wonderful prize for a policy of truth...
You scared me, naughty girl.
...Which would suffice to immortalise the name of Salazar.
I'll be back in a moment to read you the paper. I'm just going to change.
You're mad! He's back! He's inside.
Leave him be.
We don't need him.
You're really twisted.
I knew he couldn't have arrived, you silly woman.
It's report day. It'll go late into the night.
But it's late already. He's here, he's there...
Always trying to get away.
Why? You always end up asking for more.
Jesus, no-one understands women. Not even themselves.
Listen, come here.
Come closer, tell me something. Has he brought anyone here lately?
Who? Who would he bring?
No-one comes here since she became ill.
No? Some French people, didn't he?
A "toff" French girl?
Oh, French... What French?
Oh, that's him now for sure!
For God's sake, Mr... Mr Jasmim, go away!
Please. If he sees you here, he'll kick me out.
Take it easy... I'm going.
But let me drink the last drop first.
To quell the grief f leaving you.
Come on, Mr Jasmim, go away, please. Just go.
Only if you give me a kiss.
Go on, just a peck. Last one.
Dad!
I saw you with Jasmim yesterday, don't think...
Snitch! You're a fucking spy!
Was it good?
No. It hurt.
Really?!
No, silly! Go on then, read...
In a minute, wait. Why do you do it like that?
Why don't you do it... well, normal?
That's what he wanted! But I won't let him.
Only the one who walks me down the aisle.
Yeah, sure! When the cows come home.
Do you really like him?
Jasmim?! No! Not to marry, no. God forbid!
Look...
Could you do it with my dad?
With your dad?!
Are you nuts?
What's the problem?
Don't you like him?
He's a lot more handsome than Jasmim, don't you think?
Get off!
You're sick in the head!
You should see a doctor... Better still, a priest.
I see enough of those at school.
What's with the French?
What French?
That's Jasmim being silly.
Have you seen any French?
Not really... But I might have sensed one...
They changed the movie... This one's American.
A nigger's voice...
A nigger's voice!
What do you know about voices, you ignorant woman!
Enough reading.
You've got time to read during the day.
The night is for sleeping. Switch that lamp off, now!
Let me just finish this chapter. Come on, don't be mean.
Tomorrow. Finish it tomorrow.
And don't make me come back here.
Dad! Give me a kiss. Just one.
Let go. You're too old for this.
What am I not too old for then?
To sleep.
- You don't like me! - Don't talk nonsense. Sleep.
No you don't, no... But I'll make you like me, you'll see.
Mum!
You're late again! Everything is cold.
- What's this? - It's nothing!
It's for me to practise, for when we open again.
Practise?!
"Practise?!"
Have you taken her dinner up?
Who to? Don't be daft. I was tidying up.
Ilda, let me through! Come on, I've got a lot to do.
Give me the key.
No, no way!
Ilda, don't do that. Your father will send me to Tarrafal!
Tarrafal... You're out of your mind.
Your father's there.
What does she look like?
I don't know. I've never seen her. I leave the tray outside the bedroom.
Which room is she in?
I'm not telling you! Give me the keys!
If you don't tell me, I'll tell my dad you gave them to me.
- The room at the end. - By the closet?
- You're a bitch. - I am, aren't I?
I'll give it to you later.
Laura?
Laura!
You're a pain, Boris.
I was sleeping so well!
The one who can't sleep wakes up the one who sleeps.
The universal law of insomnia. The same even in Portugal.
Talking utter rubbish at this ungodly hour should also be a universal law.
Give me one of your fags.
Your pal Vargas' cigarillos are making me seasick.
Did he give you something for me?
- Yes. - How many?
Just one.
He promised me two.
- And you promised to try and cut down. - Yeah, yeah, I will,
but you have to give me some more time.
Yes, but you already said that.
I was going to do it, only the Nazis got in the way, remember?
Have you mentioned the visas to him?
Yes, he's dealing with it.
- He gave me the keys. - For here?
For the hotel.
We can leave when we like.
Today even, if we want. Tonight.
To go where?
If we get caught again, we'll end up in Poland.
Here at least we're safe.
But is it safety or Vargas' morphine that make you stay here?
- Well, I'm going to my bed. - Sorry, stay here.
I'm not in the mood to listen to your insults.
I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you.
It's just that being locked in here all day is getting on my nerves.
Come on, lie down, don't be such a baby.
According to official British sources,
the capture of Singapore by Japanese troops at the beginning of the year
was followed by massacres perpetrated by the Japanese soldiers,
particularly among the colony's Chinese population.
More than ten thousand civilians died.
Benfica won the Portuguese football championship on 38 points,
ahead of Sporting and Belenenses.
Correia Dias, from Porto Football Club, was the championship's best striker...
Dad has got a mistress, mum.
Here's her picture.
She's French. She's almost my age. She could be his daughter.
You must get well, mum! You must!
Ilda. What are you doing here?
You missed school again.
You father will skin you alive when the nuns tell him!
I've already told you not to meddle in things that don't concern you!
- What about my keys? - I'll give them to you later!
- Did you go there? - No, I changed my mind.
Don't worry, mum.
If the French girl doesn't leave, I'll kill her.
What's that picture?
It's the picture of your nose stuck where it doesn't belong.
Abel dos Santos?
Abel dos Santos...
"Esteemed Director, personal reasons...
"Reasons of a private nature... Compel me to ask...
"To request my resignation...
My resignation from the police force under your command..."
What are you doing here?
Who are you?
Was it you who did these drawings?
Yeah, yeah, it was me.
Not bad, eh?
You like them?
Well, I don't know...
No, not really.
You've seen that, have you? Really?
No, I've seen nothing.
That's all...
The fruit of my imagination.
- So it's not true, it doesn't exist. - Of course it does.
If I imagined it, it's because it's true.
Boris! Come and have a look.
We have a visitor, Laura!
What? What visitor?
I don't know.
A little hotel mouse, maybe.
No, no, I'm no spy.
This is my home.
- I'm the daughter... - Vargas' daughter!
It's Vargas' daughter.
Vargas has a daughter, and she speaks French!
Is that true? You're his daughter?
What are you doing here? Does he know you're here?
No!
You can't tell him, he doesn't know I know.
You know what?
What do you know exactly?
That you're here. He forbids me from coming in here.
And that's why you came, huh? Because he forbids you?
Nice way of thinking, for a cop's daughter.
Stop it, Boris.
What do you want? Why have you come?
To see us, what else! To taste the forbidden fruit...
Stop it, Boris! Let her speak.
So?
I came to tell you you must leave.
You can't stay here.
- Why? - Because it's dangerous.
Because he'll hurt you.
Hurt us? I don't think so, no.
Rest assured, he won't do anything to us, I'm sure.
I'm not...
Yes, he will. Look...
I'll read this to you. I'll translate. You'll see, you'll understand.
What's that?
A newspaper. An article. It's not very long.
What's your name?
Ilda.
In that case, we'd better go to my room, Ilda.
We can sit down, it'll be more comfy for some reading.
Come. You coming, Boris?
No, I'll stay here, I'm knackered.
Boris, please...
"After... I don't know how many days without sleep,
"I completely lost my...
"... Sight,
"and every hair on my body
turned white..."
Is that all? You're done?
Don't you think it's horrible?
- Don't you think it's horrible? - Yes, sure, it's ghastly.
It's a communist newspaper. Are you a communist?
Of course not!
Maybe that's him...
Why are you reading that to us?
To scare us. She wants to scare us.
Is that it? You want to scare us? To make us leave?
Is that it?
Yes. To show you what they do.
Who? Your father too, he does these things?
Yes. Him too.
All of them, they all do.
They also have a concentration camp.
Like in Germany.
It's called Tarrafal.
It's in Africa. In Cape Verde.
So, they do it too?
- It's not for us. - What?
- This camp, it's not for us. - Why not?
We're not communists.
It's not just communists down there, there's also...
- What's the time? - Late.
He'll be coming any minute now. I must go.
So, you're not leaving?
No, I don't think so, no. Not right away at least.
Are you going to tell him I came?
We don't grass on people.
You're going to take him with you, aren't you?
What a thought!
Why do you say that?
He has a fake passport.
With a false name.
He's going to resign.
Is he?
- Did you know? - No. He hasn't mentioned anything.
- It means nothing, a passport. - Of course it does.
Don't take him away from us, I won't let him go!
Ilda, wait!
That's all we needed...
She'll get over it.
- We were mean. - We had no choice.
It's quite funny.
We ran away from France to end up here,
and here it's the same thing.
This camp in Africa, torture,
deportation... - We had no choice.
This fake passport thing, you really didn't know?
No, I told you I didn't.
He's a real piece of work, this guy, isn't he?
Well, what do we do if he wants to come with us?
What do you want us to do? He's free, isn't he?
- And you, are you free? - Stop talking nonsense!
What's that dress? I've never seen it.
Of course you have.
It's what I wanted to show you earlier...
Don't you recognise it?
It's the dress you bought me in Nice.
Oh yes, now I recognise it!
I thought you'd returned it., you said it didn't suit you.
I changed my mind.
I wanted to give it to mum.
It's her favourite colour.
- You didn't tell me... - The Nazis didn't give me time.
Mum wouldn't have had many opportunities to wear it, where they've taken her.
Stop it. Don't punish yourself,
It's not your fault.
But it is...
Of course it's my fault.
I shouldn't have listened to you., we should have returned to Paris,
we left them alone.
Yes, and if we'd returned we'd be with them now.
In Poland, or worse.
But we shouldn't have left them.
I'm a coward.
No! You're alive! We're alive! Okay?
And while one of us is alive, they haven't won.
Hello, my beauty!
- How did you get in? - How did I get in?!
The police get in everywhere.
And don't start all over again babbling about the other one being here,
I know where he is.
It's just... I can't today. It's the wrong time of the month.
No, it isn't.
Anyway, that wouldn't bother me.
Doesn't matter...
That's not the reason I came.
Don't run off, little sparrow. Come here, I won't bite.
Don't be afraid.
Afraid?! Afraid of what?
Me...
You?!
No, that's not true! Honestly. I'm not afraid of you.
Yes, you are...
Everybody is afraid of me.
And so they should...
'Cause I'm really mean!
Really, really mean...
You're hurting me!
When I do hurt you, you'll see that I wasn't!
Where are the French? Which room?
- I don't know. - Yes, you do...
Keep quiet or you'll wake up the poor sick woman!
Where are they?
Where?
You know...
And you know I know that you know.
Don't forget you only have two wee arms.
After I break this one, I'll break the other.
And then how will you manage with men, little sparrow?
You won't even be able to jerk them off...
That's more like it.
I knew you were a smart girl.
So?
Where?
What are you doing here?
You're here at last.
I've been waiting for you for half an hour.
I was teaching her a few tricks
so she can defend herself from those thugs out there.
In war time, one can never be too careful.
Why?
Oh, no reason...
To while away the time.
Not that. Why were you waiting for me?
I need a word.
What about?
In private. About work...
Why didn't you talk to me there?
It's personal. Work, but personal.
OK.
Come with me.
But be warned I don't have much time.
It won't take a minute, you'll see. Well... it depends on you.
Don't forget what I taught you.
It might come in useful.
And I won't be here forever.
Do you know what they call the Suíça terrace, in Rossio,
because of all those foreigners showing their legs?
"Bompernaço". (good legs)
Montparnasse... "Bompernaço".
You don't think it's funny?
I knew you wouldn't.
It's a shame such a classy establishment is closed.
Especially with those hordes of foreign refugees out there,
all looking for accommodation.
Pockets stuffed with cash!
Dollars, pounds, Swiss francs...
Gold! Jewels!
Marta's illness is preventing you from making a killing...
Tough luck, ain't it?
Was it to give me business advice you came to see me?
No...
Or rather... In a sense, yes...
What sense?
Could I cadge a cigarillo from you? I left mine down there.
Sorry, that was my last.
No cigarettes, no vice, right?
What sense?
You were saying you came to give me advice "in a sense".
What sense?
Old man Vargas!
You never lose focus, do you?
It was about your clients...
The brother and sister... The French.
I don't know what you're talking about.
The two smart asses you should be taking care of.
Remember? They're gone.
As if by magic. Didn't you know?
And the funny thing is that their file's gone too...
Plus the fake passports...
Plus the report of the agent who grabbed them downtown...
Don't you find it odd?
Yes, I do. It's really odd.
Ah... You're a joker, you are.
But honestly...
I'm beginning not to find you at all amusing.
Let's stop playing games, Vargas.
I know they're here. And you know I know.
I saw straight away how you were taken with the girl.
Honestly, I don't understand why.
But after all, there's no accounting for taste.
As far as I'm concerned, you can keep her all to yourself.
And take her poof brother as a bonus. It's all the same to me.
But not their dosh. I want my share.
I still don't know what you're talking about.
I see.
So that was the last?
Listen.
I asked Bolas to take photos of all the paperwork:
files, fake passports, reports... the works.
Call it a hunch.
You know I'm stupid, but I've got an instinct...
And that's not all... I also went to the guesthouse where the siblings were.
The landlady says she remembers very well
the police gentleman who went by to fetch their things:
some suitcases, a trunk full of fancy labels...
So, be warned.
Though I don't want to pressure you...
I'll give you, say... three day to think it over, to make your calculations.
I'll come and collect in three days' time.
You know, sir?
You should never have allowed me to address you so informally.
I saw then you weren't up to the task.
A superior who doesn't respect the pecking order deserves no respect.
Three days...
Mum.
...Richard Heydrich,
Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia, passed away tonight,
as a result of the injuries sustained in the attack perpetrated against him
in Prague by a group of Czechoslovak terrorists.
Mum!
Deolinda!
I went up to see her less than half an hour ago.
She was exactly as always. Not moving an inch.
I washed her this morning and all. The same!
How could she, huh? By herself? How could she?
It's black magic!
Shut up! Stop whining! Enough, hell!
Go that way.
I'll go round and we'll meet on the other side.
D'you think there are mice?
You should call your dad.
She's not in the house for sure.
She can only have gone out.
What if she woke up suddenly, not remembering a thing,
not knowing where she was?
She could well have gone into the street,
like that, in her nightgown.
She must be roaming about, lost, poor thing, barefoot...
The annex...
Are you crazy?
The French...
The French bastards!
Ilda! Don't go there, don't be daft! Your father will kill you!
Ilda! Ilda!
Ilda! What's going on?
It's my mother.
She's ice cold.
She's dead.
She's... dead.
The whole family together, at last.
Well, almost all...
About time.
So, this is where the two doves have been nesting.
Thanks for your phone call, my angel.
You called him?
You told him, Ilda?
How could I guess, stupid woman?
She was afraid her dad would run away with the French slut.
Right, my dove?
Run! Go inside! Lock the door!
You're not as smart as I thought after all...
Luckily, your mistress told me you're the one who has the key.
Will you give it to me the easy way, or the hard way?
I don't have the key. I don't, I swear!
It's the hard way then...
I don't have the key.
A very, very hard way...
Stop!
Stop, Ilda, stop! Stop!
Go away.
- No, Ilda, wait. - Go away!
Ilda, wait.
Take them away from here! Go away, all of you!
Go away!
Get out of here!
Leave me alone! Out!
Out! Go away! Go away, all of you!
Go away!
Tomorrow at ten.
Ilda! Deolinda!
Mum's dead, dad.
I killed Jasmim.
I threw Deolinda out.
And the French left.
It's just the two of us, dad.
You and me.