1
(ominous music)
(guns firing)
(machine buzzing)
(machine buzzing)
(buttons clanking)
- [Ryszard] It's 1975.
The Vietnam War is over but
the Cold War still rages.
The two powers, USA and USSR,
are tearing the world apart
to expand their influence.
That same year,
the Portuguese colonial
empire has collapsed.
After five centuries
of domination,
Portugal is leaving her
African colonies.
The last and most coveted,
Angola.
This crown jewel will soon
be an independent country.
Independence Day has
been booked.
It's in the calender.
November the 11th, just
a month away.
But as usual, it's
never that simple.
While the Portuguese flee,
taking as much as they can,
a civil war erupts between
two Angolan factions.
For the winner, a land
rich in diamonds and petrol
which is why the two world
powers have picked their sides
and just like that,
Angola has become the
new Cold War chessboard.
(weapons firing)
Russia is backing the
socialist MPLA,
while the capitalists,
FNLA and UNITA,
they have America
watching their backs.
Armed to the teeth, they
want power at any price.
Most often, the price of
their brother's blood.
(upbeat music)
Many are convinced the
country will turn into a hell.
Those who could, were
fleeing Angola.
Me, I was bent on going there.
(car horns honking)
(chattering)
- [Cab Driver] This
country won't last,
40 years of work I put in here!
- [Woman] Please, could
you hurry up?
- [Cab Driver] Who's
gonna pay me back?
- [Man] Faster, we need
to get others here.
- [Woman] Give me a break,
do you see any soldiers?
- Do you really want to
wait here until they come?
- [Man] They say they
will kill tonight.
- [Ryszard] Calm down,
calm down, my friend.
- They say they are
planning it.
- They won't attack today.
Nobody's coming, okay?
I have information, okay?
It's a cosmic mess and they
have a word for that here.
Confusao! Confusao! Confusao!
(speaking in a foreign language)
It's a good word, a
synthesis word,
- Excuse me, there's no water,
- an everything word.
- In my room, the water
does not work.
- Water I don't know.
Confusao! Yes.
- But if the FNLA, really are
are backed by the Americans,
won't that end the war?
- I don't know! Confusao!
- [Man] Ah, forget it!
- I don't know!
Confusao!
Haven't I told you already?
Only Confusao!
- [Ryszard] Hey, Dona Cartagina.
- Ricardo, hi!
(chattering in foreign language)
- [Ryszard] My name is
Ryszard Kapuciski.
I work for the Polish
Press Agency,
their only foreign reporter,
covering 50 countries
around the world.
A new Africa is being
born in Angola.
There is no way I was not
going to be here.
And this is Luanda,
city of paranoia,
city of chaos, my favorite.
Welcome to my cage.
(chattering in foreign language)
- It's him again, are
you kidding me?
(speaks in foreign language)
(phone ringing)
Good morning, you're a pain
in the ass, Mr. Kapuciski.
- Nelson, hello.
- And what is it this time?
- [Ryszard] I want to go south.
- (scoffs) Are you crazy?
You are not taking a step
out of this city.
- Come on.
The southern front, your
only outpost down there.
Pereira d'Eca, that
place is the key.
South Africa's really close...
- The last thing
the MPLA needs...
- And we all know it's got
America's backing.
- Is a dead reporter.
- Come on, whose your
commander in the south?
Just a name.
- Farrusco.
- Good, Farrusco.
- Oh, no, no, no.
It's 1,500 kilometers away.
- Pereira d'Eca.
- No!
How many different ways
can I tell you no?
- There's my story.
(speaking in foreign language)
Yes. (speaks in
foreign language)
Why are you smiling, man?
- I will get my permit.
- You think so, huh?
- And I'll be back tomorrow.
- [Nelson] Great,
bring your smile.
- Oh, I will, my wife
says it's the first thing
she noticed about me.
(Nelson laughs)
- [Artur] I'm talking about
the free country, Friedkin.
- [Friedkin] A free country?
You're wrong.
(chattering)
(mellow music)
- November 11th,
Independence Day for every...
- Here we go again,
MPLA dailies.
- Our patrols will be
placed here, here.
- Excuse me, is that
with Soviet help
or Cuban, Mr. Nelson?
- Jesus, stop it, Friedkin,
it's boring already.
- No, it's not...
- The only foreign power
trying to take hold here
is your very own CIA.
- No, no, no, no,
no, no, no, no,
- Backing the cannibals
of UNITA.
- No, no, no, no.
The Cubans are already here.
- Write that in your newspaper
- Admit it, Artur.
- It's rumors!
- Just like the CIA.
- No, no, no, the CIA
is not rumors.
- [Friedkin] Rumors, yes,
they are rumors.
- You know what, no more.
This is my country, that is
what you don't understand.
- Come on, guys, all
you talk about is rumors
the whole time, what's
really going on?
Not Luanda, not Benguela, here.
Pereira d'Eca, the
southern front.
This is where the war
will be decided.
This is where I'm gonna go.
- Good luck.
- The MPLA commander down
there is called Farrusco.
- Farrusco, I heard of him.
- Holding the entire
southern front.
One man, the entire front.
- You're chasing ghosts,
Kapuciski
- You think Nelson's
news is any more real?
We don't have facts here.
- [Artur] Just confusao, huh?
- Yes, and everybody is
afraid to say anything
in case the CIA...
- Ah, CIA!
- And how could you know
all this, huh?
Oh, yeah, Ricardo
likes to play spy.
- I just like to get
to the heart of things.
Farrusco, he's the story.
- I know him!
Fucking bastard, piece of shit.
- [Man] Wow, smells
like a brewery.
- Motherfucker!
Farrusco, fucking traitor!
- A traitor?
- Yeah, he's fucking
Portuguese, just like me.
We came together to Angola.
Portuguese paratroopers.
But he is a deserter, he
joined the MPLA
and now that fucking
son of a bitch,
he will die for those
Communist bastards.
- [Friedkin] Yeah,
Communist bastards.
- If I see him again, I'll
cut his fucking throat
from ear to ear.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, hey,
hey.
Is this your friend?
Take him home, teach
him how to drink.
- I guess you call that
a reliable source, huh?
- The only MPLA man in the
South protecting Angola
is a Portuguese traitor?
Excellent, too good to miss.
- No, no, no.
Nobody's gonna give you a pass.
- So come with me, Artur.
You're Angolan, I don't
need the permit
if you take me there.
- You fuckin' crazy.
- Couldn't be more serious,
my friend.
- The South, it's different.
You don't know the enemy
from a friend down there.
They're not even
wearing uniforms.
It's Russian Roulette, Ricardo.
- Come with me, Artur.
- You know what?
Let's go to the best
place in town.
Let's go!
- Let's go!
(upbeat music)
(men laughing)
- With Angola independent,
that's the whole continent now.
Africa's waking up, huh?
- Ah, feels good, huh?
- But you know what?
She needs names.
- Names?
- Slave traders took
millions of people,
but can we name a single victim?
- Africa doesn't need victims.
- No, no, no, but her entire
history has been anonymous.
Now she needs a voice.
- (groans) Yeah, what, like
an African Che Guevara?
- Why not?
- Yeah, why not?
God, help us, come on, Friedkin.
When Che Guevara
arrived in the Congo,
the command structure
was in numbers.
First-in-Command, number one,
Second-in-Command, two and
Che took only number three.
- Three, number three?
- Yes, just a translator
because that way,
he stays low, under the
net, finds the truth
and puts the black man
above the white man.
- Ah, so the bullet takes
the black guy first, genius.
- Enough!
Enough, enough, enough talk.
Now, we dance.
Come on, Friedkin, dance!
(upbeat music)
- Free Angola!
(Ryszard laughing)
- Ricardo, I've been
through the whole hotel.
Every room is such a mess.
It's the FNLA.
Please, Ricardo, go
back to Poland.
You are not safe here.
(Ryszard sighs)
- No.
- My dear students,
who can tell me what draws
a man out into the world?
Curiosity, hunger
for experience?
The man who ceases to
be astonished is hollow.
Possessed of an
extinguished heart.
If he believes he's seen it all,
then something most precious
has died within him.
The delight in life.
(tense music)
(people shouting)
(sirens wailing)
The city is dying, disappearing.
First, the Portuguese
police left,
and the country fell
into anarchy.
Then, the firemen left,
then the garbage men,
finally the colonials saying
good-bye to their African homes
with a mixture of
despair and anger.
In the docks of Luanda, a new
wooden city begins to rise.
Portuguese lives boxed
up in crates.
The richer the people,
the bigger the crate.
Everything has to be
squeezed in.
All that remains to do is
to lock the door
and say your final goodbye.
(seagulls squawking)
All they wanted was to save
their lives and their property.
They didn't want Angola anymore.
- It's one hell of a news
report, Polish.
(boat horn honks)
Did ya put all that
in your telex?
Oh boy, your bosses
must love ya.
Come on, we gotta go, Nelson's
called a press conference.
(Artur coughs)
- Huh?
Artur, come on.
This guy, he's a fake.
He's running after this
imaginary Francesco.
- Farrusco.
- Artur!
You know what I've seen?
I've seen his reports, Artur,
there's nothing there,
absolutely nothing.
Now he wants you to
drive him to the south.
Are you both crazy
for Christ sake?
You'll get yourself killed!
Ah, damn it.
(guns firing)
(men shouting)
(Artur laughing)
(Ryszard laughing)
Ah, hello, no really?
- Pack light.
Yeah.
- Hey!
You can't do this to me!
- [Artur] Bye, bye, Friedkin.
Bye, bye, Luanda.
- Assholes.
America
Do you ever think this
world is yours
And you, Russia, yeah, yeah
Do you ever think this
world is yours
- Remember what I told
you at the bar.
About Russian Roulette?
- Yeah.
- Well, there is one thing
you can do at the check point.
You can give the right greeting.
We, the MPLA, we salute
each other with
- "Camarada".
- "Camarada".
Uh-huh, our enemy, they
call each other
- "Irmo".
- "Irmo".
Choose the wrong one, you can
start digging your own grave.
- Heads or tails.
- Yeah, and you know what?
- What?
- They never salute first.
America
Do you ever think this
world is yours
(guns firing)
America
Do you ever think this
world is yours
And you Russia, yeah, yeah
Do you ever think this
world is yours
(ominous music)
(woman breathing heavily)
- Help!
- Stop, stop the car.
- It could be a trap.
- Shit.
(birds squawking)
(Ryszard groaning)
(insects buzzing)
FNLA and UNITA are cruel armies.
They are cannibals.
Artur told me some days ago
and I didn't believe him.
(birds squawking)
(insects buzzing)
(baby crying)
(people shouting)
(weapons firing)
(Ryszard shouting)
Artur, there's one alive,
there's one kid alive.
(insects buzzing)
(Ryszard breathing heavily)
(monkey shrieking)
(ominous music)
(lightning rumbling)
(guns firing)
- Put your head down!
(guns firing)
(speaks in foreign language)
Remember what I told you.
"Irmo" or "Camarada".
- Yeah, yeah.
- Heads or tails.
(soldiers speaking in
foreign language)
- Press, press, we
are from press.
Let's say something, huh?
- Camarada.
- MPLA.
(soldiers speaking in
foreign language)
Shit, they're the FNLA.
(guns firing)
Get down, get down!
(tense music)
- [Carlota] You two,
sons of bitches!
Up, now!
Put your hands up!
(speaks in foreign language)
- Just be still, I will talk.
Be still, just be still.
- Put your hands up.
- Okay, okay, don't shoot.
- MPLA.
- Please don't shoot.
Camarada.
We are from the press,
reporters.
- What the fuck are
you doing here?
- [Artur] We have a permit.
- Bring me some medicine and
bandages from the truck, now.
Shove it up your ass, reporter.
You, what's your name?
- Kambale.
- How old are you?
They pay you to fight?
- They give food, they
pay if we win the battle.
- So do you win any?
- I never fire a gun, they
promise me school after war.
- Take the injured and the
bodies to my truck, now.
(speaks in foreign language)
(tense music)
- Alright, come on,
Ricardo, get in the car,
we have to go.
Ricardo.
Ricardo.
Ricardo, tomorrow
morning, the FNLA is gonna
put all of this in the papers.
Blaming the MPLA.
We have to report it first.
- Artur, I have to go south.
- What are you talking about?
That road leads only to hell.
- Artur.
I'll see you in Luanda.
- I hope so, my friend,
I hope so.
- [Carlota] Okay, come on,
let's go.
We have to reach Benguela
as soon as possible.
- Photo, please, photo, photo,
please.
- [Ryszard] They all
want to be photographed.
To leave a trace, to remain.
I was here, this is
how I looked.
This is the face I had
when I was alive.
(ominous music)
(speaking in foreign language)
- Hey, you, you, white man!
Welcome to Benguela.
You are in the wrong place,
there's nothing here.
Luanda that way.
- Well I'm going south,
Pereira d'Eca.
- Farrusco, huh?
Nobody is going to Farrusco.
- Don't listen to him,
he's crazy, he's nobody.
- Nobody, huh?
I'm Carlos.
- [Woman] Carlos, bring
that over here!
- [Carlos] Yes, ma'am.
(speaks in foreign language)
- Hello amigo.
- Hello, hi.
- Come upstairs.
(tense music)
(Daddy humming)
- Take me to the south.
(man laughing)
- No, no south!
I sent five supply trucks
two months ago to Farrusco.
No one came back.
We lost comms a month ago.
I'm wasting no more men
or supplies on Farrusco.
He's dead already, as
far as I know.
Look around you, soldiers
barely out of diapers.
(boy snoring)
No ammunition.
Maybe Poland will help,
you're socialist, right?
You help me, and I'll help you.
Weapons, mortars, machine guns,
tanks.
Write that to your readers.
- I will write, I can
get your story out there,
but what about one full
convoy to Farrusco.
- No!
- Come on, listen.
Not just another
defenseless truck.
But a proper, military
expedition
and if it will succeed,
I will have two heroes
in the South.
Farrusco and Daddy.
- So...
You want my best soldier.
- She drove me here.
(Daddy laughs)
- You like Carlota, huh?
- Yeah.
She saved my life.
- And then you will write
about Daddy, hm?
- And then I will write.
- Hm.
Deal.
(Ryszard laughs)
- How could you go wrong
with her in the frame?
She has a smile that the
world puts on magazine covers.
The face of Angola.
(easygoing music)
I would dive kills for you
- [Child] Carlota, Carlota!
And in the mind
Our strongest hold
To the battle
From my brother
Many reasons just
won't change
No time for pain
Marching to the valley
of the souls
Under red sky
Marching to the valley
of the souls
- Are you a spy or what?
- Relax Carlota,
he's our friend.
- Thank you.
- For what?
- You made Daddy Cool
help Farrusco.
- Do you know him?
- Everybody knows Farrusco.
- The Portuguese who
changed sides.
- He's everything the
MPLA stand for.
He took Lubango with
very few men.
He captured Pereira d'Eca.
He fired mortars himself,
no base.
Held them in his hands,
burning from hot barrels,
blisters and sores everywhere.
He's a great man.
He taught us how to fight.
He will see us to victory.
It is an honor to
fight beside him.
- When did you join the MPLA?
- I have always been
in the MPLA.
- Of course.
- I love my country,
do you not love yours?
- Yes, I do.
- Do you have war in
your country?
- There were some in
the past, terrible ones.
I remember at the beginning
of war more than the end.
- You fought?
- No, no, I was a child
and children didn't fight then.
(alarms wailing)
I was seven years old.
What's that grandfather?
- Remember this day,
Rysiek, remember, remember.
- [Ryszard] For a long time
I thought this was the world.
This is how it looks,
what life is like.
- But it stopped?
- What?
- Your war.
- Ah, yes.
Many years ago, yes.
But when you've lived
through war,
you can never be free of it.
Ah, I don't know.
- So why you come here?
- I tried many different jobs,
but war was my first
understanding
of the world.
(Carlota gasps)
(soldiers shouting)
(guns firing)
(tense music)
(camera whirring)
- Poland is in Europe?
- Yes, yes, yeah.
- So you miss your home?
- Of course, yeah.
But when I'm there, I
miss Africa more.
What about you?
- Hm?
- When the war is over?
- With the MPLA, Angola
will be free.
And then you'll see,
children will go to school
and be healthy and I
will be there,
working for my country.
- Oh yes, and what will you do?
- I trained to be a nurse.
Maybe I should become a doctor.
- You were really good
with that boy yesterday.
Really, could be a surgeon,
maybe.
- Maybe, but you know,
sometimes,
I faint when I see blood.
(Ryszard laughing)
- Ricardo, in two
months I will be 20.
I want my own children, but
first we have to win this war.
Maybe one day I will
read about myself, huh?
- I hope so, I'm sure.
- Ricardo.
Then they won't forget us.
- You have my word.
(camera clicking)
- [Man] Carlota, the
enemy waits in the forest,
next to Balombo.
- Okay, give me a minute.
We're aborting.
(speaks in foreign language)
- What?
- We'll resume the
mission tomorrow.
Carlos, take him back
to Benguela.
- Yes, ma'am.
- Why?
- No, Carlota, stay with us.
We'll have dinner
tonight and tomorrow
we can go together to Lisbon,
huh?
- What's going on, Carlota.
- Go, right now!
(speaks in foreign language)
(clunking)
(tense music)
- [Man] Now I'm gonna
kiss you there.
(woman moaning)
Oh yeah, you know what that is,
don't you?
(woman moaning)
Okay, that's right.
(soldiers laughing)
(actors moaning)
Oh, you know I like.
(machine clanking)
- You are not going anywhere,
Polish.
(tense music)
No escort.
There was an attack.
Everybody's dead.
- Carlota?
- Like I said, everybody.
(keys clanking)
You want my best soldier.
- [Ryszard] She saved my life.
- [Daddy] You like Carlota.
(voices mumbling)
(tense music)
- Where are you going, Ricardo?
No, please, stay, this is
not our fault.
We're just reporters, Ricardo,
we are just reporters,
there was nothing we could do.
Listen to me, Ricardo.
- [Ryszard] Carlos, wake
up, take me to Farrusco.
(solemn music)
- [Carlota] So why
you come here?
- [Man] No, no, no, no!
- [Carlota] You two sons
of bitches, get down!
What the fuck are
you doing here?
Ricardo, go back to home now.
Go right now!
(voices muttering)
- Ricardo, wake up, wake up!
Wake up, Ricardo!
(guns firing)
You wanna live, then, shoot,
shoot!
Shoot!
Yeah, we did it!
(laughs) I told you!
I know him, he opens the door!
(laughs)
He's my friend.
Commandante!
- Ammunition?
- So it's not that bad, yeah?
Look, I got you two cans of
gas, and several rounds of ammo,
I mean no ammo,
but I got flour
and the reporter, yeah.
He's from Poland.
- Ryszard Kapuciski
from the Polish...
- I need ammo,
vehicles,
supplies,
soldiers,
and you bring me
a fucking reporter.
(Farrusco grunts)
What the fuck are you
doing here, reporter?
(Carlos humming)
You want an interview?
So...
Ask me something.
- Now?
- Yes, now, before those
motherfuckers start shooting
again.
- [Ryszard] So, General
Farrusco, you are a hero,
a face of the cause.
- Come on, cause?
What cause, can you load
a cause into a pistol?
Next question.
Next question.
- How have you held the
southern front for this long?
- See these lines?
On the floor?
They're the nearest you
get to the front.
Stray over there and the
sniper's bullet is yours.
(speaking in foreign language)
- And what about South Africa?
- They want Luanda.
- What do you mean?
- I mean, they have their
tanks, armored cars,
their fucking CIA dollars
and they're on the border.
- So, they're already here?
That's just 100 kilometers.
- We're the only ones
who stand in their way.
You know how many of
us there are?
50, last count.
Write this.
We're a detachment
condemned to extermination.
Hey, come here, you gotta
see something.
(speaks in foreign language)
81 years old, she bakes bread.
For over 60 years,
she bakes bread
and she refuses to leave.
We love that woman, she's
not for us, not for them.
She's for life, life and bread.
That's enough.
More than enough.
That's the end of the press
conference, my friend.
I hope you got what you wanted.
Welcome to your grave.
(insects buzzing)
(bird squawking)
(soldiers coughing)
(soldiers snoring)
- Why did you change sides?
- They shipped us in.
Elite Portuguese paratroopers.
And they showed us these boys,
these 12 year old boys.
They were the enemy we were
supposed to be fighting with.
12 year old boys.
That is not me.
But then, look at me
now, look at my soldiers.
Boys will die anyway.
So here I am again.
Confusao.
I have a son born to
me in Lubango.
Big, strong boy, they tell me.
Make his papa proud.
(Ryszard laughs)
I haven't seen him,
probably won't ever.
You know, Polish?
I'm not afraid of death,
but I don't feel any fear.
(Ryszard groans)
(solemn music)
(speaking in foreign language)
- Head forward, stretch.
Squats.
10 more.
C'mon, it's not the fucking
weekend, move it, lads, faster.
And jumping jacks.
Another day of life, Polish.
Hey!
Did I tell you to stop?
Move it, squats now, come on,
look alive!
They moved.
- South Africans?
- They were spotted
this morning,
they're crossing the
border right now.
- Then Luanda needs to know.
- That's what you're gonna do.
- Okay, but how?
- You will go with Carlos.
They're slow, they've got
tanks, armored carriers,
heavy artillery, columns
of heavy stuff.
You go there now when we
have at least a couple
of days advantage.
- Okay.
- Tell them I need
reinforcements, ammunition,
waters, you hear me?
- Yeah.
- Carlos, how much
time you need?
- Two hours.
- Make it one.
Have a look, Lubango is here.
It's 400 kilometers plus 350
and should reach Benguela
by this time tomorrow.
Then you'll have, silence.
Silence!
(tense music)
This is way too fucking soon!
(helicopter blade whirring)
- [Man] The South African
Army is on the move.
- Change of plan, you go now!
- But the car's not ready...
- Now, take your positions!
Behind the wall, to the roof!
Come on, boys, it's not
the fucking weekend.
(voices muttering)
- Ah shit!
- Do we have gas?
Do we have enough gas?
(Carlos grunts)
Come on, Carlos!
- [South African Soldier]
Any resistance, I believe,
is futile, surrender now.
We are here to free Angola.
Resistance is futile.
- Get inside, get back,
get inside!
- [South African Soldier]
(mumbles) on the move,
surrender now, now.
(weapons firing)
(Farrusco grunting)
(machinery whirring)
(speaking in foreign language)
(intense music)
- A green soldier
fears everything.
He shoots anywhere, just
so long as he can shoot.
He has an important
battle to win.
The war was his own fear.
He is killing his own terror.
(explosions booming)
(gentle music)
- Tell me he has to call
them, hold on, yeah.
Huh?
Ricardo?
Son of a bitch. (laughs)
Ricardo, Ricardo, my friend.
- Artur.
(both laughing)
- Oh, my friend.
(Ryszard sighs)
So good to see you.
You look like shit.
- And I feel like shit.
- What's been happening?
- South Africa's been happening.
- What?
They're here?
- They're south.
(tense music)
(thunder rumbling)
- I need to see Nelson.
- No, things have changed.
You need to see the Cubans.
- Listen, the southern
front no longer exists.
The South Africans are here,
they took Pereira d'Eca
yesterday morning, I
was there with Farrusco.
It's not just soldiers,
it's a regular army.
Two battalions, tanks,
armored carriers, artillery,
they have American support.
(speaks in foreign language)
So what are you going to do now?
Are you telling Russia?
- Russia won't support Cuba.
- So Cuba will go at it alone?
- Thank you, Ricardo, we are
not here, you understand.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Man] All men to the
front, all men to the front.
(mumbles), fight for the
future of Angola!
Only four more days for
Independence (mumbles).
- This is Cold War, Artur.
Forgot about the colonization
and independence,
this now is Cold War
and Cold War never ends.
(button buzzing)
(buttons clanking)
And I will have played my part.
- Ricardo, all you did was
tell the Cubans what you saw.
Is that your agency?
Why are you going to report?
- Artur, we are the only
journalists in the world
with this information.
Cuba getting involved like this,
I have to give them something.
(buttons clanking)
(button buzzing)
(buttons clanking)
- Ricardo, if you make
Cuba public...
- Yes, I know.
It will change the
course of events.
- Change the...
The CIA will
intercept your telex
and then America will want
to do a whole lot more
than just back South Africa.
They will erase Angola
from the map.
This is not about Cold War,
Ricardo,
this is about lives.
(Ryszard sighs)
(button buzzing)
(buttons clanking)
That's the future of Angola,
my friend.
(tense music)
- Cuba mobilizing against
South Africa is big
and I am a reporter.
I have a scoop here.
We, reporters, we wait
our whole lives
for an opportunity like this.
(button buzzing)
(keys clanking)
My dear students.
Who can tell me what draws
a man out into the world?
Curiosity, hunger
for experience?
The man who ceases to
be astonished is hollow.
Possessed of an
extinguished heart.
- Excuse me, Professor,
I've got a question for you.
- [Ryszard] Yes?
- Just by being there,
you change everything,
wouldn't you agree?
- Ah, change what?
- Fate.
The fate of an individual,
a war,
of an entire people.
- But if I wasn't there,
the world wouldn't learn.
- But if you weren't there,
the war would be different.
Exchanges of fire
might be shorter,
people might not die.
- People die in war.
It's important the world
reads about it.
- You haven't
answered my question.
(tense music)
(buttons clanking)
(plane roaring)
(speaking in foreign language)
- They're calling it a
"Operation Carlota".
The Cuban offensive.
Half of the Cubans are
descendants of Angolan slaves.
But you know the
story of Carlota,
the Cuban slave girl.
She picked up a machete
to lead a slave uprising
in the 19th century.
She died fighting for
liberation, Ricardo.
Operation Carlota.
- [Carlota] Maybe one day I
will read about myself, huh?
- Yes, one day, you will.
- Surrender now,
resistance is futile.
- Thank you, Ricardo,
we are not here.
(tense music)
- It's a special kind of
oppressiveness we feel now.
A vice tightening.
A growing sense of
danger and fear
because this is a lesson
drawn from history.
That blood will flow.
Crucial events cannot
occur without it.
In Angola, they have a
word for this, remember?
Confusao.
A state of anarchy and disorder,
absolute disorientation,
we see it raging around us
but we can't do
anything to stop it.
It can explode in a crowd,
sweep through a mass of people
and then there is fighting
and arson and death.
It can rain over an
entire territory,
sweep through
millions and then...
There is war.
(solemn music)
(weapon firing)
(dramatic music)
(weapons firing)
(upbeat music)
(people cheering)
- The war has changed.
It's no longer a civil war,
it's now an
international conflict
and it will last for years.
My money ran out a
long time ago.
I'm on my last legs,
I'm barely alive.
I ask you for permission
to return home.
- [Artur] Good times are ahead,
my friend.
- I sincerely hope so, Artur.
- What's the matter, Ricardo?
Passport.
Come on, my friend.
I know that face,
what's the matter?
- I had these students
asking me about journalism.
When we arrive, we
change things.
- We do, we do change
things and you did, Ricardo,
you helped us, you
helped Angola.
- Yeah, yeah, but.
- Ah, I know, my friend, I know.
Confusao.
- Thank you for everything.
(Artur speaks in
foreign language)
It is powerful, this confusao.
It steals into our hearts,
you cannot beat it,
you can only get through it.
And emerge exhausted,
satisfied that you managed
to survive, but
gathering strength
for when it comes again,
which it will, it always will.
But even then, it has
something we can grab hold of,
to avoid being sucked in and
that's how you get through it.
Save something, a memory,
a thought, a reflection.
I return in my thoughts
to those I met then.
What has become of them?
What happened to Artur?
What about the strong,
courageous Farrusco?
(solemn music)
- [Ryszard] You must save
something if you can.
Because people disappear
without a trace,
completely and irretrievably.
First from the world
and then from our memory.
I will write.
They will never be forgotten.
They will leave a trace.
They will remain.
I was here.
This is how I looked.
This is the face I had
when I was alive.
Look at me for a moment before
you turn to something else.
(speaks in foreign language)
(solemn music)
(upbeat music)
(tense music)
(soft music)
(intense music)