Jesus said: "Take away the stone"
“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man,
“by this time there is a bad odor,
for he has been there four days.” Then Jesus said,
“Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
John 11:39-40
THE MURDERED HOUSE
BASED ON THE NOVEL BY LUCIO CARDOSO
Dedicated to
Put the flowers in the window, my dear.
Put the flowers in the window.
Is that you, André?
Don't you know that the doctor recommended complete bedrest?
What do you want in my room?
Bring me the mirror.
A comb and some face powder.
It doesn't matter.
One day I will have to accept that I'm not beautiful anymore.
Do they know I'm at death's door?
No.
It's not this time that I'm going to leave them alone.
Yes, mom.
You never called me mom, why now?
Yes, Nina.
Do you think it all ends this way?
No. They still haven't taken everything from me. Look...look at me.
We're going to a big city.
Where people don't care about our lives.
André, how quickly it all ends.
You're right. We'll go to Rio de Janeiro,
where no one will care about us.
Do you believe in miracles? In the resurrection?
You promised to never lie to me.
Miracles do exist.
No, miracles don't exist.
We're going to a big city.
André, all of this makes me sick.
This city, this family, this house.
This is so you never forget. So that you say one day:
She slapped me to punish my indifference.
So that you don't lie. May you say,
"I have sinned, but I am proud of my sin."
I want you to never forget. I want you to remember the first kiss.
I want you to remember the heat of my body.
I want you to remember all of it.
From when you took me in your arms for the first time.
Betty, don't mind if Mrs. Nina doesn't immediately understand your position
within our family.
With the arrival of Mrs. Nina, the housekeeper will have less to do.
Has anything changed with Mrs. Ana?
Well, it will be even worse with Nina.
She has no idea what it's like to be a housekeeper.
I think you will have to resort to violent means to domesticate
your bride from Rio de Janeiro.
Betty. Betty.
Sit down there, Betty. Sit there.
If you still like me.
And why wouldn't I want to, Mr. Timoteo? You never did anything wrong to me.
No, I didn't.
But I don't know...
After I decided to be independent...
...and follow the pure voices of the blood.
I am dominated by the spirit of Maria Sinhá.
- Ever heard of her? - Never.
Talking is not a custom in this family.
It was the noblest. The purest.
The most misunderstood of our ancestors.
She was my mother's aunt and was the wonder of her time.
She dressed as a man.
She did long stretches on horseback. And she went from Fundão to Queimados
in less time than the best horsemen on the farm.
She used a whip with a golden handle and with it she whipped
all the slaves she encountered on her way.
No one in the family ever understood her.
And she died abandoned.
In a dark room in the old farmhouse.
I had never heard of it.
Apart from me, who in this house would dare talk about this?
For many years, when I was a boy,
there was a picture of her in the living room.
And I kept imagining her fast horse on the roads of Vila Velha.
Envying her with her abusiveness, her freedom and her whip.
After I started to manifest
what they called "my manners",
Demétrio hid the portrait in the basement.
However, she would be the honor of the family.
A famous warrior.
An Anita Garibaldi.
If she didn't live here,
in this dusty background of Minas.
What do they say about me, Betty? What do they accuse me of?
Reason is on my side, you'll see.
There is no truth that doesn't come to light.
After all, my God, it doesn't matter if we dress this way or that.
There was a time when I thought I should follow everyone else's way.
I wore ties.
I took part in trivial conversations.
Until the day I felt that I couldn't go on.
Why follow common laws if I wasn't common?
Why pretend to be like everyone else when I was totally different?
My clothes are an allegory.
I want to show for others
the image of the courage I didn't have.
And this is the only full freedom we possess.
That of being monsters.
For ourselves.
They turned me
into the portrait of a convict.
But one day, one day I will free myself from the fear that holds me back.
And I will show them, the world, who I really am.
That will happen when the last of the Menezes
lets his arm hang in a gesture of cowardice.
Only then will I have the strength to shout: "Do you see?
Everything they despise in me is the blood of the Menezes."
What is this world without passion.
The truth.
The truth can be grotesque.
Absurd. Deadly.
But it's the truth.
And truth is essential to this world.
Do you understand me, Betty?
No, Mr. Timóteo. I cant' understand.
We're friends,
aren't we?
We are.
I wanted to know if she already arrived.
Not yet. Mr. Valdo received a telegram. I think she will arrive tomorrow.
I want to see her. I need to see her as soon as she arrives.
It's urgent.
Valdo, help me with the bags.
Go get the bags.
My brother, Demétrio.
My sister-in-law, Anna.
You are never right. And you'll never be convinced of it.
Is that why you called me here? To chase me with your jealousy?
I told you that I had friends and that I needed to say goodbye to them.
The Colonel. I never saw him again.
- Now if you think that... - You don't understand, Nina.
So that's why you didn't send me money.
So that I could hurry up and take the road to Minas.
These ugly, silent people I saw on the train.
It's my favorite flower.
They're very pretty.
Who takes care of the garden?
His name is Alberto. Looks like he's a good gardener.
Although too young for the job.
Excellent.
Precisely because he is young, he is more likely to know new methods.
You can talk about me but don't mess with this house. It comes from the time
of the empire and represents several generations of the Menezes.
The facilities aren't perfect, Demétrio.
You surprise me, Valdo.
Since when have you been interested in the facilities of this house?
- Today I was looking... - Today?
The house has been falling apart for so long.
Congratulations, Nina. For the miracle you're doing.
In fact, it takes total irresponsibility to...
We must make some renovations, Demétrio. The garden's pavilion, for example.
Renovations? The garden pavilion. This is great, Valdo.
- Why? I don't understand. - You don't?
You know what we are, Valdo.
A ruined family from the south of Minas.
There's no more cattle in our pastures.
Without production, there's nothing to replace the money that's long gone.
You're kidding, Demétrio.
If you're planning renovations,
I hope you're counting with a loan from your lady.
But I married a rich man.
Rich? Is that what he told you?
It was.
He doesn't have a penny to his name.
We owe the bank, the employees, the pharmacy.
No, this is too good.
Don't worry, Nina. My brother always overreacts.
Am I overreacting? Then it will be easy to explain why you didn't send
the money Nina expected.
As well as why you didn't paint the room in which she's going to live.
And how are you going to get the money to pay for all
the dresses and shoes she brought?
Don't worry about my bills. I know very well how to pay...
Excellent.
That way I won't have to resort, like other times,
to my wife's private savings.
Sorry, Nina...
But all those dresses and hats are useless here in the countryside.
Here, the women dress like Ana.
We're off to a bad start. Did you see it?
Mr. Demétrio is always like this.
Why did Valdo deceive me like that?
Mr. Demétrio always overreacts.
I'm surrounded by enemies inside this house, Betty.
I just hope you're not one of them.
I'm not. But now I think you're the one overreacting.
These old families, deep down, always retain a rancidness.
I think they can't stand what I represent.
A new life, a new landscape.
And maybe they're afraid.
But even ruined, this farm must be worth a lot.
I noticed that in the back, there are pastures that go to the mountains.
What would the older Menezes say,
if one day I gave them an heir.
Betty, I need you.
Please do not leave me.
I have a message for you. It is a matter of the utmost importance.
My God, how beautiful they are.
But why so many dresses, Mrs. Nina?
Do you intend to use them all?
People over here go out rarely.
What do I care if people here go out or not. I will do exactly what I want.
There's no fun in the city? Cinemas, parties, theaters, meetings?
No ma'am.
Here we don't have bars or theaters.
Sometimes the Baron brings together some families.
But we never attended those meetings.
But why?
It's Mr. Demétrio way of life.
I don't want to live by Mr. Demétrio's way.
Betty, who is this Baron?
Ever since I came to work here, I always hear about the Baron.
It looks like Mr. Demétrio would like him to visit the farm.
But so far he's never been here.
As I write this, I am reminded of old scenes and events.
That afternoon, for example, at a bar where you offered me a wrist watch.
There was another friend close to us, and it was his. I don't know
for what mad whim I expected that kindness.
I even believe that I had mentioned days before,
in his presence, the need for a watch.
So you hurried and brought the gift.
This, precisely this, is what irritated me.
I couldn't even show a simple desire
and you ran to satisfy it.
And it was not on your part that I wanted this fast decision.
Disdainfully, I closed the case where the gift was and,
in an uncontrolled gesture, I threw it in the street.
The case opened and there was the jewel sparking on the asphalt.
You wanted to get up and I stopped you.
"If you touch that, I'll be gone," I said.
You were quiet, but your eyes filled with tears.
The other one, also sitting next to me, watched the scene in silence.
The jewel remained there until a tramp took hold of it, examined it
and quickly disappeared.
I don't know what happened next, Colonel.
But whatever it was, I can guarantee that was the last time I saw the man.
Are you feeling something?
I haven't felt well since I got here.
Maybe it's the environment.
Betty,
I'm afraid I can't stand this house.
I think you should get some rest.
I never rest, Betty. I don't waste time lying in bed.
Betty,
who sent that message when I arrived?
It was Mr. Timóteo.
And where is his room?
The first next to this one.
Where are you going now? What were you doing?
What were you plotting against me?
Mr. Valdo, how can you imagine such a thing?
Mr. Timóteo asked me to come get a bottle of champagne.
Go back, Betty. There will be no champagne. I have the cellar key.
What will they think, Mr. Valdo? Have you wondered?
Why do you need champagne? They want a whole party, isn't it?
How can you think such a thing about your wife?
It's just that Mr. Timóteo is glad to meet Mrs. Nina.
I'm not that innocent.
You can take the drink. And tell him I don't mind if he smears the family name
once and for all.
Timóteo.
I think I was born with a soul in grand gala attire.
My thoughts are full of sumptuous dresses, jewels, fans.
When my mother died, my first act was to take over her wardrobe.
Of her jewelry.
She had the most beautiful jewelry in the world.
Amethysts, topaz, diamonds.
I bet these jewels would pay off all the family debts.
Not only that. They would make a fortune.
Yes, but they will never leave this room.
Timóteo, you are terrible. Terrible.
Ah, my child, this family is very ugly.
Horrendous.
Oh, I love beauty.
Look at this side of the garden, for example. It's the most beautiful.
It is inhabited by Olympian Gods.
Oh my dear. My beautiful Nina.
Only with beauty we can destroy
lies and hypocrisy.
Do you ever leave this room?
We need to make a pact.
Pact?
What kind of pact?
Father Justino used to say certain truths at times.
Nothing too serious. Country priests don't know that much.
One day in the garden, he told me that sin is almost an intimate thing.
A nothing. A grain of sand.
But that it can destroy the entire soul.
And the soul is a strong thing. A force that cannot be seen.
Indestructible.
If a tiny bit of sin.
A nothing. A dream. An evil wish.
Can destroy it the soul, what won't do a massive dose of poison?
A guilt dropped little by little
in the heart that it wants to destroy.
Have you ever noticed a bed of violets near the pavilion?
Oh Timóteo, I'm sure I won't go back to Rio.
I will die here.
My angel, what sad thoughts.
I want you to promise me something.
Bring a bunch of violets to my coffin.
Oh, silly girl. You're not going to die.
The beauty.
Beauty is eternal.
You despise me, don't you?
What do you have today? I've never seen you like this.
I know very well that you love Nina. I see your looks...
Are you crazy?
Where did this idea come from?
Father,
I believe I felt the presence of the devil.
And more than that,
I've fed with my silence the destruction of the house and family
that have been mine for many years.
Since I was a child I was educated to be a Menezes.
I never went out alone,
never wore anything other than dull, dark dresses.
How beautiful she was. How different from me.
Everything about her looked lively and bright.
When she walked, she created an aura
of interest and sympathy.
- Do you like it? - I do.
I take care of it. Men love beautiful hair.
They like to stroke the hair like this. Bring it to their faces, to their lips.
How terrible men are.
You'd love to be like that, wouldn't you?
What wouldn't you give to have hair like mine?
I'm sorry.
Sometimes I forget who I'm talking to.
But the truth is that I didn't let her out of my sight.
I followed her like a shadow.
I've peeked through the cracks. Through the doors.
Always wondering what she was doing.
What would her thoughts be.
I had a sick curiosity to know what she dressed.
Trying to learn to choose those things that attracted men so much.
It was this curiosity that revealed the presence of the devil to me.
That led me to this fire.
Where I burn today.
What is it, Alberto?
What happened?
I already know what's happening. You're in love and you dream every night
with that skin, that hair and that body that doesn't belong to you.
Come on, confess that you're in love.
I can't understand.
Every day I pick the most beautiful violets and place them
on her bedroom window, as she asked.
She said it's a lie, that I'm not doing it.
Timóteo.
Imagine my brother's face if he finds me here.
- I think he would kill me. - But you are tired.
Nina, what's happening is serious. They want to send you away.
Why?
Because of a gardener they found with you, at your feet.
And do you believe that, Timóteo?
Nina, Nina. I don't judge you. I accept you, good or bad.
Just the way you are.
For me, all the kings of the Earth should be at your feet.
Silly, silly, silly.
And what else did they say?
Demétrio and Valdo argued at the office.
It was Demétrio who spoke more, saying: "I always warned you
to be careful with this woman...
...she should be gone by now. Her place is not here, in this house,
to honor the Menezes, whether you like it or not, she will have to leave."
Is this what they want? Then I'll be gone,
I'll be gone forever from this house.
I won't return here, never.
Not even if all the Menezes drag themselves at my feet.
Nina, don't leave. Don't leave. That's why I came. Remember our pact?
We need your presence here.
No, by staying here I will be humiliated and placed under suspicion.
What's wrong, ma'am? What happened?
Betty, I'm leaving this house for good. Help me pack my bags.
How astonishing, Betty. What woman!
Was that the only wound?
It was. But I don't think it hit any major organs.
No one heard the shot? Where was he found?
My brother had been cleaning this old and jammed gun since earlier today.
No one in the house heard the shot.
I found my brother lying on the floor and brought him here,
with the help of the servants.
Everything indicates that it was a simple accident,
and any other conclusion would betray the truth of the facts.
My brother still can't comment on what happened.
He lost a lot of blood in that stupid prank. And his thoughts
aren't still very clear.
Yes I can, Demétrio. And you know what I have to say.
What?
Can you speak now?
This makes me very happy.
It means it was all just a stupid joke.
Come on, I think he needs more rest than anything else.
Later there will always be time for conversation.
Doctor, I need to talk to you. I really need to talk to you.
At your service, ma'am.
I was already leaving when this happened.
Is his condition serious, very serious?
Is it serious, very serious?
I heard it was just a bit of an oversight.
But I confess that whoever told me doesn't deserve the slightest credit.
That's exactly why, for hearing from a madman, that I thought
he was going to die tonight.
Tell me, is there any danger?
No, there is no danger. It was just a superficial wound.
Oh, so it's true. Demétrio was right,
it was just a flippant gesture, a staging.
Then that's it. That's how you're trying to deceive me.
He certainly don't know me, don't know who I am.
What did he say, did he lie about me? Tell me, didn't he mention a gardener?
Mr. Valdo still can't speak, he's lost a lot of blood.
Lost a lot of blood?
I believe that you, in your condition...
Don't give me advice.
I don't need advice.
I don't want anyone to worry about my life.
After what happened today, I decided to leave for good.
In fact, I had already decided to leave since the day you told me
that I was pregnant.
My presence in this house does not please my brother-in-law.
And after Valdo believed in his lies, all I can do is leave for Rio.
I decided to end this act once and for all.
There is no love between me and my husband.
There is nothing.
He found me in a difficult situation, with my father sick.
Since I arrived I realized that I could not live in this place for long.
I'm from Rio, I'm used to the big city.
I dislike everything here.
The silence, the habits, the landscape.
I miss restaurants. The cars and the sea.
How can I live without the sea?
If it wasn't love, what kind of feeling united you and your husband?
I don't know, an irritation mixed with fear and a little fascination.
Valdo represented things that I never had.
A family, a home, an education that I didn't know of.
Tell me, doctor. Is there really no danger?
None.
Isn't it possible that it was a murder attempt?
Yes, it is possible. I've even thought about that possibility.
I came to say goodbye.
You will not die from this wound,
nor from this silly act set up by your brother.
No, please, Nina. Nobody hates you in this house.
You have only friends here.
Friends? Don't you understand that this ridiculous accusation
your brother made about me has only one reason? To put you against me.
Demétrio has nothing to do with it.
Doesn't he? It was a lie, what he invented was a lie.
He made it up because he's jealous of me.
He just brushed his lips against my fingers,
and apologized for not placing a bunch of violets
at my window every morning, like he promised.
He's such a kind boy.
How can you believe Demétrio? In my state, expecting our son.
I don't know what kind of punishment made me fall in love with a prostitute.
No one is fooled by you face.
It's written and spit on it.
Only you can't see that it wasn't a suicide attempt, but of murder.
He left the gun within your reach trying to induce you to commit suicide.
Or even...
I tried to kill myself.
It's no use.
It's no use, Valdo, you'll never know what demon you have inside your house.
Is it forever, Nina?
It is forever.
Goodbye, Mrs. Nina. May God be with you.
She left because of me.
- What did my husband say to you? - He fired me.
You couldn't fool my husband any more than you fooled me that day, remember?
I just kissed her hand and apologized.
I couldn't understand how the violets I placed in her window disappeared.
I was grateful to have known her.
You lie, you lie, you keep lying.
you li....
It's Nina, my love. It's Nina.
My love, love, love.
It's Nina, my love. It is Nina who is here besides you.
How did that happen?
He killed himself. He killed himself.
That's what they say. But for me it was murder.
It was Nina who threw the gun through the window, allowing him to get it.
She left. She knew he was going to kill himself.
How was that, my child?
He died. He is dead.
Dead. Dead.
Child, everything that happens is by the will of God.
He's gone. Gone forever.
Forever.
We never know what he wants from us, not forever.
It is written that we will resurrect one day.
Beautiful young men, so much younger and more beautiful.
The lesser the lament of our sin.
- Immortality... - Father, Father.
I want him alive now, in front of me.
You need to understand. God wanted you to lose him.
Father, do you know what they say about you? That you are a saint.
A saint.
And not just here in Vila Velha, but even further.
In cities like Rio Espera and Ubá.
Everyone says you are a saint. And I believe you really are.
There is one thing more important than believing this or that.
Do you believe in God?
- I believe what I see. - This is not believing in God.
Father, Father, do a miracle.
I know that only you are capable of performing a miracle.
- You are crazy. - No, I'm not crazy. I know you can.
Just raise your hand.
It is not me, but God's mercy that you must turn to.
Father, do a miracle, Father. Please, Father, do a miracle.
Resurrect him. Resurrect him and I will believe in God and in everything.
You will raise your hand,
he will get up,
and everyone will say that you are a saint.
Your name will travel across the state, across the whole country.
A saint from Brazil, a saint.
A saint from Brazil. A new Jesus Christ.
May God forgive you. May God have mercy on you, lady.
The Christ you're talking about is a lie.
When I left the farm, I wasn't expecting that I would find Ana months later
knocking on my door.
Yes, she was the one you sent for our son.
It was her, all in black.
To whom I gave the only possible answer.
That I would never bring the offspring of the Menezes with me.
He's somewhere in the hospital where he was born.
But I wasn't sincere when I spoke like that.
And not even Ana, coming to Rio only for this,
had the right to steal my son.
I am ready to return to the farm and occupy the place that belongs to me.
And I'll be there as long as I live, as long as I have the strength
to fight against Demétrio. And even against all the Menezes gathered.
You're definitely crazy, there's no hope.
Do you forget what happened, Valdo? Because I have a good memory.
What is the use of remembering these things?
Nina is here again, and wherever I go she'll go with me.
I ask you, Demétrio, do not bring back unpleasant memories.
What about the others, what will they think? The Baron...
Seventeen years. Seventeen years.
Are you still awake?
Didn't you say you were coming to see me? I was waiting for you.
You waited for me all this time?
Poor thing, if only I knew.
It doesn't matter, you said you were going to the Baron's house first.
I changed my mind. I won't go anymore.
You're never going to be against your mother in any situation, are you?
It's like they've given back my son.
Turn on the light, I want to see you.
When I first left here, André,
you didn't exist yet.
I don't know what memories or feelings
I could keep from the time I lived by your side.
Don't you remember anything?
- Anything? - What do you want me to remember?
Anything.
Were you looking for me?
Look, no one else can steal you from me now.
We already know each other, we already know who we are.
I want to know everything.
A son should never hold a secret from his mother.
Cold, dry lips.
It looks like you have a fever.
Have you ever kissed a woman before?
- Don't you know? - What?
It's like that.
Don't move away from me.
- Don't be afraid. - I'm not afraid.
I want you to promise me something.
No.
I want you to swear.
No.
Don't swear now.
At least not now.
I need to go. I need to go inside.
Betty, Betty.
A boy like you. It was her, wasn't it?
Don't worry, life goes on.
It's strange, she talks to me and looks at me as if she doesn't see me.
I didn't even understand what she was saying,
it was as if someone else was in my place or if she was talking
to someone other than me.
Don't joke, this is serious.
This time I won't allow the same things to happen again in this house.
Tell me. What's the charge?
What have I done now?
This is not an accusation.
Coming from you or your brother? It can only be an accusation.
Come on, say it!
Your son.
How far will go?
What about that you? How far will you go?
Weren't all these years enough to suppress your jealousy?
After you've done what you've done.
He's not your son, but our son.
I'm not accusing you of anything, Nina. I just ask you to be careful.
- André is still a child and... - What are you implying now, huh?
No, you wouldn't be capable of such cruelty.
It's your jealousy, it's your terrible jealousy that devours you.
That kicked me out of here. That stole my son.
That made Ana go to Rio to steal it from me.
And now, you suspect your son. Your own son.
If I had known I'd never come back to this house.
You will never stop, for the simple reason that you don't know how to stop.
My, my my my my my, that's all you understand.
Timóteo.
How happy I am! Your presence pleases me.
You know how many times, right here,
I imagined seeing you again?
I wondered to myself, I wondered,
did she change?
Or will she be the same Nina as before?
And have I changed? Have I changed a lot, Timóteo?
No, it's still my Nina.
The same eyes, the same hair.
Oh, Nina. When you start something, you have to go all the way.
And we started something, do you remember?
Yes, we started, Timóteo.
When you left, it was all over for me.
Even this garden, which was my solace.
Ended.
It was empty.
You.
You were my only hope.
And since you left, the Menezes,
the Menezes became big again.
Nina, this house must be destroyed. We have to end them all.
No stone shall be left unturned.
Calm down, Timóteo. Don't exalt yourself.
When you left, I realized
I would never see my work completed.
That they were stronger than me. That all these years of renunciation
would be useless.
And that I would end up buried
in this room.
Sometimes I hated myself.
I hated my ugliness.
My weak blood. My unworthiness.
I knew what was devouring me.
It was the absence of fire. Of fire.
The unpunished heart. It was all me.
White and useless.
Soft and chaste flesh.
Chastity,
this is what devoured me.
I cried, I cried.
Nothing else, I thought, could make my blood burn.
And it was in this soft ruin
that the Menezes built the empire of their lies.
Do you understand now, Nina? Why did I want you back?
Timóteo, Timóteo.
Open it. For God's sake, open that door, I want to see him.
He's not sick at all.
- Come on, boy. Get out of there. - She's in there with him.
You all fooled me, he doesn't have any contagious disease.
Is the boy entirely mad?
You don't know how to raise your child,
you're destroying the future for all of you.
Your mother lost her mind for good. Timóteo hates us and...
... I don't want you to go in there. - You lied to me.
You are sick my son, you cannot live like this.
I live as I want, nobody rules me.
At your age, nobody lives the way they want to.
What do I care about what you think? How can you know what I think?
You don't understand me, it's for your own good that I'm speaking.
Get out of here.
What are you going to do now?
It's too late.
- Why did you send me that note? - I needed to see you urgently.
You should not expose yourself in this way.
- Have you thought about your father? - I don't care about my father.
If you wanted to see me, if this was so important,
- why didn't you look for me inside... - It's impossible around them.
I hate manipulations. There's no one against you in there, these actions
can only be explained between lovers.
Listen, André. You're still a child. I know, I understand these things.
But this needs to end. Despite your age, you must behave like a man.
Like a man? This will never end, you know why.
It's you who wants it. It's you who calls for me.
- Me? - Yes, you. If you consider me a child,
why did you come? Why?
Mom.
Child, child. What do you expect from me?
What do I expect? What do I want? I love you, I adore you.
I want you for me, just for me. All of you.
Nina, my love.
Call me Nina. Say it.
- Nina. - Nina.
Nina.
I think there's someone here.
Are you afraid?
What if it's my father?
Whoever it is, it better not find you here.
I know you are there.
Come closer. I know you're following me for a long time.
What are you laughing at?
If I follow you, it's not because of you.
Why then? Why?
Because of him.
Him?
I didn't know you were interested in André.
It's not about him.
I don't care if you sleep with your son.
Hell is yours.
Misery is yours.
So why do you follow me? What do you want?
Because have I promised myself one thing since that time, do you remember?
You could come back, you could destroy everything, as you still do.
But to me you have already done all the harm that was possible.
You certainly represents to others the same as you do to me.
But I know your secret.
And I promised myself that no one would ever enter this room again.
Only me, do you understand?
- Only I have that right, you hear? - Only you have that right?
I don't want you to be in this room.
You can sleep with your son wherever you want.
But not here, this place belongs to me.
And why is that?
Because he belonged to me.
To you? Don't be stupid. Right here I loved him,
I loved him hopelessly.
He was a child and I made him a man. I marked him forever.
So that he would never forget me.
Those who imagine love from a distance.
How can you talk to me about love?
You, who lived your whole life next to a disgusting man.
How can you look at me, charge me for a sin you don't know the price?
Lies.
He was crying on my knees.
He begged for a kiss.
A gesture of affection.
It's strange to say his name out loud.
Alberto. Alberto.
Do you think he ever saw you? Never. I knew you were spying on us.
And such pleasure I had when you suffered.
I saw it on your face day by day,
hour by hour, minute by minute the signs of your sad passion.
There was a day where I waited you to touch him.
You know, I wanted to see him smeared by another woman.
I've been armed with a knife for a long time figuring out how to kill you.
But in his eyes there was no image other than mine.
I didn't know how to accept my sin.
That's why I ask André to assume his sin today.
So that others do not turn this into a torment and take responsibility
- for the sin he has committed. - Devil.
- Did you love him that much? - What does it matter to you?
- I know. But I wanted to hear you say. - What for?
Because I'd like to think just this once. To think that you are human.
- Did you notice him? André? - I don't care about André.
If you looked, you would see a certain resemblance,
the full lips, the thin fingers and the smell of the hair.
What do you mean?
Just what you already know. That André is Alberto's son.
Do you want to kill me? Kill me. Kill me.
That won't change that André is the son of his father.
No blood spilled will erase the memory
of the semen with which he was generated.
You cannot have loved Alberto.
You're a Menezes. You cannot love a gardener.
I'm not a Menezes.
Why don't you shoot? Because you are a Menezes.
Because the Menezes' blood contaminated you like a disease.
You would never break the sacrosanct peace of this house
by committing murder, an incest, an adultery, a shooting.
Or anything that would tarnish the honor they claim.
Make no mistake, you never loved Alberto.
What imprisons his image is not love, but remorse.
Not remorse for having been his, but for having been so little.
Of not having known how to be more.
You were never interested in him, but in his freedom.
You Menezes are doomed to disappear one by one.
Because your pride didn't let you look at others as human beings.
I don't need keys, these old doors open with just one push.
Nina.
You came.
Did you think it was Nina? It's not her.
Aunt Ana.
What does it matter that I am Aunt Ana.
Weren't you expecting a woman?
Aunt Ana.
I'm not Aunt Ana, I don't represent anything.
I'm just a woman, any woman.
I'm Ana, simply Ana.
If you sleep with your mother, why can't you sleep with your aunt?
Oh, André. If only you knew how much I need this.
Don't do that, are you crazy?
I want to feel the line of your nose. The strength of your lips.
Kiss me, kiss me, kiss me.
Kiss me like you kiss your mother, like you kiss any woman.
You will not betray my secret. You won't say anything, nothing.
You are not a child.
Look here, André. It's just one kiss, one kiss. One kiss.
Come on, André, one kiss. One kiss.
So I can feel your mouth.
Come on Betty, it's an order. When I wore this I believed in them.
- I was beautiful. - You are still very pretty, Mrs. Nina.
Today I know I was shot.
- These clothes no longer fit me. - You were shot?
Who wore these clothes...
...no longer exists.
Mrs. Nina.
Don't you feel it?
No. What?
Observe.
- No, I'm not feeling anything. - The smell coming from the hallway.
A medicine smell, perhaps.
- You better go inside. - What for?
To check what's going on.
No, it's not the end yet.
She won't die.
She is very young.
She's strong.
Ah, how it smells here, Ana.
We better open all windows.
- She's sleeping. - What is it?
She already noticed. Poor thing.
She said she was rotting and asked me, in case I wasn't disgusted,
to rub her back with eau de cologne.
And did you?
Of course. If you could see the poor woman's back.
- How is it? - An open wound.
What is this?
They're smeared with blood, I'll wash them.
No, let me do it myself. You better stay here.
Thank you, my God.
Now I know that you heard my prayers.
Thank you, my God.
Now I know that you're real.
André.
Why did you come?
Why did you call me back?
I was already gone.
Why did you call me back?
Why don't you let me die?
You promised me. Why did you do this? You said you were coming back.
That you would be mine, that you would always be mine.
What am I going to do? How unhappy I am,
I fell in love with a woman without a heart, without mercy, without anything.
What kind of woman are you? What creature are you? A whore?
Why should I care if you're dying? May yours be the worst of agonies.
I'm leaving here. I'm going far away. I'm leaving and I'm never coming back.
Why did you do this?
André.
Alberto.
I already told you I don't want to see any more of this here.
I want all of this in the trash can.
What he is doing?
What are you doing?
They're infected.
I want this all to be burned.
How?
You don't know what she died of, do you?
I do not know.
This is what always happens due to negligence.
A first time, a second, a third.
It is not certain that it is contagious.
There is nothing else.
It's all over.
- Drop it, let's go. - She is dead. Rotten.
You wanted to get rid of her, didn't you? You wanted this.
Lies. I was defending the house, the house.
Mr. Demétrio, the Baron has arrived.
Ana.
The Baron has arrived.
Father. Father.
Father, now I can say everything. She's dead, dead. The way she had to.
Rotting little by little. Now I know that God exists
because he heard my prayers.
But now that I know he exists, I'm afraid of my sins.
Father, I need to tell you everything so you can pray for me.
Father, I slept with Alberto, the gardener who worked here.
The one who killed himself, do you remember?
He didn't want to but I forced him and got pregnant.
Almost at the same time Nina became pregnant from Valdo.
How could I explain this to my husband? How to reveal this situation?
There were two pregnant women, but while she had everything
and was cared by everyone,
the other one, me, had to hide her secret.
Father, how I hated her because she could flaunt her sin.
Father, can a woman be aware of evil if she burns her own clothes
because she thinks they are infected by the disease that devoured her?
Demétrio pretty much kicked her out of the house.
So I had the idea to pick her up in Rio.
I left for Rio de Janeiro and had my son there.
I knew Nina wasn't coming back.
I came back and said that André was my son.
No, I said he was Nina and Valdo's son.
Father, André is my son, my son, my son. Mine and Alberto's.
Father, what do I care if he is my son? Does he not exist?
Doesn't he have everything he ever wanted?
How could I regard him as my son?
If this simple idea paralyzed me?
How could I face my husband? How to face his disapproval, his punishment?
Father, it is not with impunity that one joins the Menezes family.
Nina didn't want to know about her real son. She took him
to the hospital and left him with a nurse.
His name was Grael. All along she knew that André was not her son.
However, Father, he was deceived. Thinking he was committing
the most horrible of sins.
Father, of all the crimes, isn't this the worst?
It means that she was taking responsibility
for a sin that did not happen.
Or at least it was not that big of a sin,
she had a greatness that none of us....
Mr. Baron.
What a shame, Baron.
It is true. Excuse me, I have to attend to the other guests.
How are you doing?
Excellent.
Excuse me.
Thank you very much.
Tasty.
Look how her hair was so beautiful.
Did you see her shoes?
The baron is eating.
The promise is fulfilled.
The violets you asked for.
Here they are.
Violets over the cancer.
I return what I stole. In a pure gesture of gratitude.
For the daily vision I had of that man.
A little bit of blonde that made up that sun.
The truth, Nina. Only the truth matters.
Do you remember?
You must remember today.
On the day of our victory.
Bring me a miracle, Almighty God.
Bring me a miracle. So that I don't just become the guardian of a corpse.
Waiting for its time to rot.
It's him. It's him.
Is it true?
Is it a lie?
Our pact. It's a lie.
Only love is immortal.
God. God is a bed of violets,
whose season never ends.