Madrid , May 1939
Guard 1: This is the street , right ? Marqués de Mondéjar ..
Guard 2: Yes , stop there in front of number six .
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Guard 1: This one got it good .
{{BANG !}}
Guard 2: Bah , she must have done something
{BANG !}
{BANG !}
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Guard 1: What's that noise ?
Guard 2: Nothing , just an execution .. The Cementerio del Este is so close that you can hear everything from here .
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{BANG !}
Guard 1: Did you hear that ?
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Guard 2: Now come the coups de grâce.
{BANG !}
Officer: Now that Elisa Vázquez is here , we've got all of them . Everything's in order .
{BANG !}
Guard 1: It's so hot! There must be a storm coming .
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In Ventas Prison , we inmates counted each coup de grâce to keep track of the fallen .
{BANG !}
Prisoners: Eleven !
Prisoner: Elisa ! Is that you ?
Prisoners: Eleven !
Prisoners: Eleven !
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{BANG !}
Prisoner: Gosh ... What happened to you ? What did those thugs do to you ?
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{BANG !}
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Prisoners: Twelve !
We ate once a day
They handed out the gruel in shifts of five hundred at a time ,
Nieves: Are you okay , Elisa ? You haven't taken a bite or said a word .
Elisa: My head hurts , Nieves .. I don't want to eat , I don't want to speak .
Woman Guard: Let's go , let's GOOOO! Everyone to the chapel , quiiickly !
Palmira: Your friend's a little unfriendly
Nieves: What did you expect, Palmira ? The poor thing was at the Núñez de Balboa Police Station . They use gestapo methods over there : electrodes and all that ..
Nieves: Besides , she's still waiting to hear about the trial . Now do you
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" the heavens that you promised me do not move me to love you , my lord .. "
Nieves: Tonight we're going to hold a " private " concert in the bathrooms. Do you want to come ?
Elisa: No.
Nieves: What did they do to you to make you so fearful ?
{BANG !}
Prisoner: Nineteen
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Woman Guard: I don't want to hear anymore subversive concerts at night ! Is that understood ?
Man on street: That's the prison . they say it's full of whores ,
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Woman Guard: If it happens again , I swear thaaat ... i
Prisoner: That what? That you'll send us to prison ?
Prisoners: Ha
Prisoners: Ha
Prisoners: Ha
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Prisoner: Tramps , that's what the lot of you are .
Prisoner: What of tramps , that's what these new civil servants are . Ours didn't behave like that ..
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Elisa: No , it's just that you looked the other way .
Nieves: What's that all about ? Didn't you also look the other way ?
Elisa: I couldn't
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On March 6 , General Casado's Junta came to power , outlawing communists .
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On the 15th , they locked us up right here , in Ventas.
Prisoner: They're going to hand us over to franco , you'll see ,
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We weren't that far off , Casado's followers set us free on the 27th , one day before the rebels entered Madrid ..
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Elisa: And it didn't take them long to bring me back .Now do you understand
Guard: Elisa Vázquez , Elisa Vázqueeezi
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Guard: Get ready , you're going to court right now .
Woman Guard: For the last time , if I hear another night conceeerti
Prisoner: How do you think it's going for…
Judge: For the crime of treating enemies of the state at an international red aid hospital ...
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Judge:... sentenced to death
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Woman Guard: And Elisa Vázquez , everything is in order .
Guard: This heat is unbearable ! It has to rain ...
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The condemned could be executed immediately or it could take years .
Prisoner: I'm really sorry
Elisa: I know
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How do you measure time in a situation like this ?
{BANG !}
Prisoners: Twenty - six
Nieves: I heard that tomorrow there's going to be a “removal”.
Prisoner: If they take much longer , the water is going to be shut off
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Nieves: At midnight , they'll start calling you down to the chapel for confession and then ...
Elisa: Then what ?
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Prisoner: The water! They've shut it off again!
Prisoner: Nieves , wait!
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Prisoner: Tonight there's a " concert "
Nieves: Why don't you come with us , Elisa ?
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Elisa: Fine . What can they do to me now ?
Woman Guard: This had better be the last tiiime!
Prisoner: It's okay , come in
Prisoner: What are you talking about ? Stalin will never make a pact with Hitler ! Nevvver!
Prisoner: Yeah , that water tasted like gasoline
Prisoner: I think they sent her off to the Quiñones Psych
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Elisa: Now ?
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Without any warning , somebody started ...
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Prisoners (singing): " Ventas Prison , fabulous hotel , where one lives and dines so well ...
Prisoners (singing): Where there's no bed , no rest and you'd be better off in hell ,
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Prisoners (singing): For everything there's a queue even the loo , delicious cement passes for bread , with nothing but lentils one makes due one dish a day is what you're fed
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Prisoners (singing): Luxurious tiles a mattress make so when we wake our kidneys are a mess."
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Gliding and traveling , Elisa danced .
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She was happy , you could tell by the way she moved .
On the last day , we tried to look happy , as if nothing were happening .
Nieves: I'd like to give you ...
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Elisa: Thank you , nieves .
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Woman Guard: Elisa Vázquez , Elisa Vázquez , to the chapeeel!
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Elisa: I'm coming . Don't you see that i'm not done shrouding myself ?
They used to bribe the convicted : If they confessed , they were allowed to write to their families .
Elisa: I don't need to , Father : my husband died in the war ..
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Elisa: And I've already said goodbye to what is left of my family .
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The truck went to the Porlier Prison first , to pick up the men , and then to Ventas .
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Guard: And Elisa Vázquez everything's in order
Guard: It's going to rain today , for sure.
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Her fate , the concrete walls of the Cementerio del Este .
Nieves: I felt empty and lucid at the same time .
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Prisoner: Surely those bastards won't make her submit , Nieves , surely ...
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Nieves: I didn't have the strength to tell her that it didn't matter anymore , that I only wanted to see Elisa one more time .
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{BANG !} {BANG !} {BANG !} {BANG !} {BANG !} {BANG !} {BANG !}
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Nieves: Gliding and traveling as she danced .
{BANG !}
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Nieves: Happy .