BUSGOSU

Alber t o Campos

B U S G O S U • T r e a t m e n t

t r e a t m e n t

BUSGOSU

1. Ext. Twilight. A field of harvested wheat.Two men, (Oscar and Luis), are chatting as they pour petrol over a hayfield. A match falls onto the ground. The field starts burning. A beetle is eagerly carrying a mud ball. The flames are about to reach it. A fly swoops down and carries off the mud ball and flies off towards the woods. (Title credits run over the following images)The fly drops the ball onto a spider's web. The spider places the ball into a hollow hazelnut shell and protects it by wrapping it up in its silky thread. A bat grabs the ball from the web, flies into a cave and drops it into a deep chasm. A shiny flying insect picks up the ball. The insect places the nut into a recess carved into the rock. The hazelnut falls down a helterskelter of volcanic magma, until it finally ends up in a bowl.The volcanic activity of the place lends a reddish hue to the scene. A hand with long nails picks up the false hazelnut.It is a thin old red figure, with horns, goat´s legs and a tail. This Pan-like creature, a "faun" (Silván), goes up to a river of molten lava. As if from nowhere a child of the same species (Busgosu), who seems to be six or seven, grabs the seed from Silván and runs off.

2. Int. Grottoes, underground.Silván chases Busgosu climbing stone walls, jumping over a river of molten lava, and crawling at high-speed through small shafts until he finally catches the child. From the way Silván acts it is clear this is a game of theirs.Busgosu runs off again and hides behind a giant stalagmite. Silván passes by without noticing his presence. Busgosu sets off a heavy rockfall which forms an unassailable wall between the two of them and flees.

3. Int. An enormous ice cavern.Sheltering himself Busgosu breaks the shell of the hazelnut and the dry mud. Inside the mud ball he finds a silk chrysalis containing six seeds. Behind him Silván appears, asking him about his find.Busgosu looks carefully at the seeds and chooses a seed which is new to him. Silván stores this seed within a waterproof clay box which he inserts into a niche in the ice. Afterwards he orders Busgosu to germinate the remaining seeds for supper. Busgosu hesitates and confesses his inability to do this, but Silván insists.

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4. Int. Circular volcanic grotto.Now inside what seems to be his living quarters, Busgosu prepares to germinate the seed. Busgosu uses water from a stalactite, his hand contact and a chant.

Fades to.. 5. Int. Frozen grotto. Silván breaks off a piece of ice and steps into a cold water pool. He seems to be tired. He closes his eyes and murmurs words of encouragement to Busgosu.

Fades to6. Int. Circular volcanic grotto.Busgosu starts playing with the lava, both frustrated and angered by his inability to germinate the seed. At that moment Silván returns. Busgosu runs back to the seed and pretends to be still trying to germinate it; as Silván gets closer he apologizes with a clear and simple: "I can't do this".Silván tells him that at his age he should be able to germinate seeds and if he can't he'll end up starving to death. Busgosu replies that he, Silván, can do it, but the old man answers that very soon he will no longer be able to germinate the seeds because of the fact he's “changing”. The seed in Silván's hands then starts germinating, growing into a deformed twisted root with a few leaves.Silván offers it to Busgosu who begins chewing hungrily on the plant.Silván looks at his hands and sees that his fingers are growing as if they were the branches of a tree. Both of them realize that his metamorphosis “has begun”.

Fades to7. Ext. Night. Forest.10 months later.....

A car drives up to a small town which is practically in ruins, and with the lights on in only two houses. The car pulls up next to a house whose window we approach.

8. Int. Night. House, kitchen. A dark-haired boy (Dani), who is about eight years old and wearing a blue tracksuit, is finishing up his supper. His mother (Adela), who is forty-five years old, wearing grey tracksuit bottoms and a light blue fleece jacket, is clearing the table. The grandmother (Vicenta) dressed in black is next to the fireplace. The father (Juan), enters the house. He is a big man with a fat stomach, and he doesn't look happy.

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When Adela asks him what's wrong, Juan answers, half-reading an official document, that the residents of Lubios have won the trial and will get to keep the lands of the Quintala mountain. He swears, frustrated. Grandma Vicenta quickly takes Dani off to bed.

9. Int. Night. Dani's bedroom.Juan is very angry and from Dani´s room we can hear him shouting.Vicenta starts telling Dani the story about the Demons of kain, mainly so as for him to not hear his parents' argument. But Dani is fed up of hearing the story, even if he's fascinated by the Kain caves. What's worse is that this time his grandma insists on the story being true, and that it has been passed down from generation to generation in his family. As a matter of fact, his grandma says, the demons didn't kidnap a princess but a young girl from the town. The hero Ikum never arrived and the dragon with his fiery river of breath burnt down the forest and the whole town killing many men. Nobody had ever killed the dragon and rescued the girl and even though many tales say they did, they never found her. After a moment's silence we can again hear Juan and Adela arguing, ending in a: “well in that case let's go and live in the city and that's it!”

10. Ext. Dawn. A deserted place in the country.Oscar and Luis, the firestarters from the first sequence are waiting alongside a Land Rover. A luxury SUV arrives. The tinted window opens and a conversation takes place between the two men and the owner of the luxury vehicle. He is giving orders to his stooges to burn down the woods. On the map he offers them we can read the names “Quintala Woods”, “Kain Caves” and the town of "Bustalte".

Fades to 11. Ext. Dawn. The mouth of Ekain cave.Dani, wearing a headlight and a backpack, enters the total darkness of the kain cave. The little light from his headlight shines out like a lone star. A bat swoops over him, frightening him. We follow the bat which drops another ball into the deep chasm in the ground.

Fades to 12. Int. Underground.The ball falls into a rock bowl. A small hand with long nails grabs it. It's Busgosu yet he is skinnier, more squalid. He looks around. Silván's not there. Busgosu lets out a sigh, sad and longing for the old games, and he slowly leaves.

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Fades to13. Int. Circular grotto.A drop falls onto a kind of fossilized tree. This is a transformed Silván. His body and face have only gotten older but his hands have become long bundles of vine shoots. The hair on his back and head has grown tangled like twisted brambles and his legs are now like two large dry tree roots. Busgosu arrives and stands by his side. He extracts the seeds and calls to his friend to wake him up but the old man doesn't answer. Busgosu looks at the seeds, his stomach rumbles. He wets a seed in a drop of water and tries to germinate it, this time much more enthusiastically but in vain. In the end he takes the seeds and stuffs them all into his mouth. As he chews nervouly he looks over at Silván. Suddenly Busgosu lifts Silván up as if he were a large cork statue and leaves.

14. Int. Underground tunnelsBusgosu carries Silván through grottoes with damp rock walls and stone columns, until they get to a huge opening where we can see a large black lake.Silván awakes from his long sleep as Busgosu lays him down and puts his branch-like limbs into the dark liquid. Busgosu asks Silván to germinate a seed but the old man replies that he can no longer do this. Suddenly Silván seems to hear something: the woods crying out for help, he thinks. Busgosu can't hear anything but he confesses to his mentor that they are going towards the woods. Silván reminds him that it is forbidden to go up to the woods due to the presence of the humans. And he starts talking about the old times, when the humans didn't use to live in the woods, when they were considered gods of fertility and they used to live in harmony with nature. But all too soon, says Silvan, humans learnt to control fire, to kill and enslave nature for their own good, and the fight between the two species began.

Fades to15. Ext. Edge of the woods. (Flash back) Silván tells that humans burnt down the woods in order to trap them. And how some of the humans that still respected them where also prosecuted and burned sometimes. He goes on to tell how they had to hide in the caves and later in the depths of the Earth. As Silván keeps talking, flash back starts, we can see a medieval mob made up of monks and farmers entering the woods carrying torches. Two creatures, half-goat, half-man escape agilely moving into the cave. One of them is a much younger-looking Silván, who looks on as a strange imposing tree burns. This tree is in fact one of the "elders" of his species.

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16. Int. Underground tunnels (back to the present) Busgosu insists that they should go back to the woods to get something to eat. Silván prohibits this again and urges him to germinate the seed. Suddenly we can hear faraway cries: "help... help... help...". This time Busgosu hears them too. Believing it is the woods crying out for help, Busgosu goes to the rescue. Silván warns him to come back, for it is not the woods he can hear now, but Busgosu is already far away. Silván stands up with some difficulty, and limps off to follow Busgosu.

17. Int. Chasm.Busgosu quickly climbs up the face of a large chasm. We see Dani hanging dangerously by the hood of his jacket off the edge of the chasm, he's the one crying out for help. Busgosu, unseen by Dani, approaches Dani and picks him up. Dani turns his head and his headlight blinds Busgosu, who hides rubbing his eyes, in pain. The child looks for his saviour in the shadows. Dani is frightened by his appearance and steps back. From within the chasm Silván's branch-like hands reach out and grab Dani. Silván seems decided to throw Dani into the chasm, but Busgosu stops him and Dani manages to escape. A frightened Silván orders Busgosu to chase after the child and capture him to avoid them being discovered and hunted down by the humans.

18. Interior/exterior. Day. Cave mouth. Busgosu chases Dani and is about to catch him at the mouth of the cave but as he goes outside, the sunlight blinds him and makes him stop in his tracks. Busgosu feels dizzy and falls back in the foetus position. The sun and the contact with the grass start up a metamorphosis in him: the skin on his face comes off, like a vampire being burnt by the Sun and cinnamon coloured hair grows on his face, chest and legs and a dark reddish fleece on his head and all the way down his back. His eyes also change colour and form. Now he looks more like a small woodsprite than a little devil. Once he recovers, he goes after Dani again ... but he can't help being surprised at every step he takes. It's the first time he's seen the sunlight and the woods and fascinated, he becomes distracted by the birds and different animals (deer, wild boar, squirrels, ...) he sees, shouting as if they were greeting him. Dani escapes up to the road, scared by all those cries. For him the wood has gone crazy. Meanwhile, Busgosu gets back on Dani's trail and when he's about to catch him again, Dani leaves the edges of the woods and goes into the pasture fields which separate the woods from the village. He takes his bike which is lying next to the asphalt road and agilely rides off down the hill. Dani rides past a Land Rover which is coming up the road. Busgosu hides and afraid looks on as the noisy old Land Rover drives past.

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19. Int. Day. Kitchen.The radio is on, they are telling of a wave of forest fires in Galicia and Asturias, Spain. They're interviewing a member of the recently-created forest helicopter brigade. For a brief moment we hear the said person (Miguel) speaking about the procedures to be followed in the case of forest fires. He is directly referencing the action of back burning. Adela is cooking and Vicenta is sitting down shelling peas. Dani comes in shouting: I've seen the devil in the Kain caves! Adela and Vicenta are afraid, not because of naming the Devil but because of the dangers in a cave for a child. Adela angrily forbids Dani to go near the caves. Vicenta tries to fully convince him by mentioning the demons of Kain who she says she has seen first hand. If you go back they'll eat you up, kid. At that moment there is a noise from the roof of the house and some soot falls down the chimney. A frightened Dani says that the devil must have followed him. Juan comes in from the hall, scolding grandma for filling the child's head with nonsense. ..... here we go, just the same as great-grandma, who went mad. Juan joins Dani at the fireplace and throwing some logs on, explains to his son the only devils who exist are the bad people in life. But Dani is right, because Busgosu is hiding behind the fireplace listening to everything. The kid insists repeating that he really did see the devil in the Sugar caves. Juan takes advantage of the moment to speak about his own problems. The horned devils of the stories of Vicenta and great-grandma don't exist!! The only evil ones are those from Lubios who took advantage of the war to destroy the property documents and boundary stones and who have finally stolen their land and woods and are selling what is not theirs.

20. Ext. Day. Quintala woods.A cheap alarm clock reads a quarter past one. Luis explains to Oscar how the plan works. The wild boars love wallowing in fuel to get rid of parasites. They tripped over the wire at a quarter past one and they pulled out the battery. This means they'll be back at the same time every night. Luis pours a barrel of fuel over a large pile of dry logs, joking about the coming menu of roast wild boar. The preparations for the fire have begun.

21.Interior/exterior. Day twilight. Cavemouth. Silván is inside the grotto, but very near the cave mouth, smelling outside. He calls Busgosu, in vain. He knows he can't leave the cave as it's forbidden, but he feels a great desire to have a look at the sun and the woods. Finally he slowly leaves the grotto. He takes a few steps and tries to get used to the light, breathing in. The clean air makes him dizzy and he falls to his knees,The woods spin around him. Silván goes through a metamorphosis in a similar way as what happened to Busgosu, his hair and his arms grow like branches. He painfully stretches out. His feet sink into the ground and take up roots. He tries to move and he goes back into the cave but it's too late, he's anchored to the ground.Night is falling. The clouds are flying across the sky. Silván is turning into a large imposing tree.

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22. Int. Night. Dani's bedroom.Busgosu contemplates a sleeping Dani. A clock on the bedside table reads quarter past twelve at night. Busgosu's scalpel-sharp nails silently rip through the bedsheets. Busgosu ties a strip of sheet over Dani's mouth, who then wakes up. Busgosu spins around Dani like a spider wrapping him up at lightning speed among sheets and blankets. Dani is trapped, wrapped up in a large chrysalis of sheets, and he can no longer move or shout out. Busgosu frees Dani's nostrils so he can breathe and the two of look at each other. We can see pure terror in Dani's eyes. We can see in Busgosu's eyes a “I have no alternative”. Then he lifts up Dani with great ease and carries him off.

23. Ext. Night. Quintala woods.Oscar looks at his wristwatch, it's one in the morning. Luis and he are vigilant, hiding near some branches which have been soaked in fuel.

24. Ext. Night. Cave mouth.Busgosu gets closer to the cave carrying Dani as easily as if he were carrying a feather. Silván the tree sees him coming but instead of greeting him he hides his body in the profile of the tree. Busgosu goes into the cave and begins to ask about Silván, but the only anwer he gets is the echo back from the cave. Busgosu notices the footprints in the mud leading outside the cave and disappearing into the grass. He observes the large tree which Silván has turned into and it catches his attention. He leaves Dani at the cave mouth and goes up to the tree, smelling and touching it. This tickles Silván and his laughing face appears in the bark on the other side of the tree, but he keeps quiet. Meanwhile Dani begins dragging himself along like a worm, trying to escape. Once Busgosu reaches the treetop he shouts out Silván's name a couple of times, there's no answer. Dani begins rolling down the hill. Silván sees Dani fleeing and using one of his bigger branches he wraps it round the child's legs, holding on tight to him. A frightened Dani tries to get free. Busgosu sees all this from the treetop. He speaks to Silván the tree and tells him that he doesn't need to hide any more, that he's recognised him. Silván greets him and confesses that his metamorphosis is the result of his own carelessness. He shouldn't have left the cave. Silvan then orders Busgosu to leave the forest and return back inside the earth. We can hear shots in the distance.

25. Ext. Night. Woods, next to the diesel-fuel soaked stacked logs.Oscar and Luis are shooting at the wild boar that have arrived punctually to get rid of their parasites. Luis laughs at Oscar's bad shooting. Busgosu gets closer and a bullet whistles by and embeds itself in a tree. Busgosu inspects it. Another shot rings out. Oscar has hit a wild boar, which limps off and falls to the ground. Busgosu and the men approach the animal.Oscar is amazed at not finding the animal. Luis orders him to forget the hunted animal and light the fire. They'll have time enough to shoot at animals as they flee from the fire and they'll be waiting for them at the next fire spot.Busgosu is up the tree with the boar in his arms listening and watching as the two bad guys talk and he removes the bullet from the wounded animal.

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26. Ext. Night. Next to Silván's cave.Dani looks like a child climbing a tree who has been trapped by the branches. He is completely trapped in the branches and roots of Silván the tree. Silván's outline appears next to the child and a half-funny, half-disturbing conversation starts between the two of them, somewhat reminiscent of that of Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf. Dani expresses his fear of being eaten alive. Silván plays with this fear but ends up jokingly reassuring him that he has nothing to fear from them.

27. Ext. Night. Woods, near the stacked logs.Luis is about to light some papers with a lighter when a pine cone hits him on the head. It's Busgosu attacking him. Luis �res up the lighter again but quick as a �ash, Busgosu takes away his lighter. Oscar catches a glimpse of Busgosu, it's a comic sequence where Luis can't understand how his lighter fell and gets a few knocks, while Oscar is astonished to �nd ........... a wild boar looking down at him from the treetop. Finally an angry Luis lights the �re with a shot from his gun. We can see the fuel going up in �ames in Busgosu's horri�ed eyes.28. Ext. Night. Next to Silván's cave. Silván the tree.Silván observes the �re which is spreading in the woods from two di�erent points. We can hear music. Busgosu arrives carrying the boar, followed by several animals which are moving to the tune he's playing on some improvised panpipes, like the rats following the Pied Piper of Hamelin. Busgosu asks Silván to cure and protect the animals. Silván replies that he can't protect anything or anyone since his last metamorphosis. He advises Busgosu to go back underground. Busgosu pays no attention. He wants to take care of the two men responsible for the disaster. Dani tries timidly suggesting that they call the �re�ghters, but Silvan and Busgosu don't understand this concept at all and they go on with their conversation. Silván wants Busgosu to protect the seeds underground but Busgosu wants to save the woods. Dani insists on them phoning the �re�ghters, but they don't listen to him, until Dani explains that �re�ghters put out �res. This gives Busgosu another idea. Suddenly he runs o� down the hill. Abandoned, Dani again explains to Silvan what �re �ghters do. This time Silvan seems more interested and asks more about present-day humans. Dani explains that he needs a telephone to warn them and he uses an mp3 player he has hanging round his neck to help Silván understand the concept. They end up listening to music together. The music is playing over the following sequences in which Busgosu �ghts the �re.

29. Ext. Night. Waterfalls. River.Busgosu struggles to move a huge rock. The rock blocks the river holding back the water at the top of the waterfall.

30. Ext. Night. Woods, the music continues.Busgosu gets to the fire and tries in vain to put out the fire with his bare hands. He goes on to try digging a trench around the fire. However the fire is now reaching the treetops, breaking through his improvised firebreak. Busgosu tears down the trees around the burnt-out area.

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31. Ext. Night. Village.The lights are on in Dani's house. Grandma has found out about the child's disappearance and is desperately shouting out about her lost grandson. Adela comes in. The grandmother tells her that a loud noise woke her, that afterwards she went to say goodnight to Dani and he wasn't in his bed, or anywhere else to be seen. Juan arrives and all of them start searching for Dani all over the house, calling out to him. Suddenly Vicenta looks out of the window and sees the woods on fire. Adela calls the firefighters and the police.

32. Ext. Night. Woods.A sweet melody. Stars. A floating seed carried by the wind hits and goes into the Silván-tree. The seed literally goes straight through Silván's bark. At the roots of the tree a beetle walks into Silván's roots, the root opens up and the beetle goes inside, then disintegrates. Inside Silván we can see the genes of the seed and the beetle join together in a strange chemical dance. The Silván-tree begins to emit light and to grow. An astonished Dani watches the show. The song reaches its climax while the camera pans up to the treetop, where the bark twists and turns to form a type of rough hazelnut-shaped knot.

33. Int. Night. Dani's.In Dani's room, Juan is trying to console Adela. Vicenta, alone, is crying and mumbling. She feels guilty for having got Dani obsessed with her tales, passed down by generations of crazy old women like herself. Then she notices some footprints by the bed, in the shape of goats hooves. Frightened, she stands up and when Juan asks her if she feels alright she asks them to leave her alone. Vicenta sneaks out of the house with a torch and starts following the hoofprints which lead her to the woods.

34. Ext. Night. Woods, alongside a path. Busgosu is running very fast and jumps onto the spare wheel in the rear of Oscar and Luis's Land Rover, neither of whom notices anything. They arrive and stop the vehicle. As they get out Busgosu starts playing funny tricks on them. He shuts the door in their faces hitting both of them on the nose so fast that neither of them understands what's happened. Frightened, with bleeding noses and shotguns in their hands they go off to check the surroundings. Meanwhile Busgosu gets in the car and checks it out, sniffing around it and touching it like an animal. Oscar and Luis start relaxing bit by bit and start preparing the new �re. Busgosu gets out of the vehicle and pushes it down a steep slope. Oscar thinks that Luis has forgotten to put the handbrake on.... both run after the vehicle until a stone wall stops it in its tracks. Oscar seems to make out Busgosu again for a second but the little demon disappears into the ground, digging his way down at great speed. He reappears near Oscar and hits him in the face with a branch, leaving him groggy. Then he drags him o� moaning and groaning and buries him up to his neck in the ground. Luis is hiding behind a tree, as he has seen how the earth has swallowed up his friend and he can't believe his eyes. Suddenly Busgosu appears behind him. Luis turns and shoots but Busgosu avoids the bullet, diving head �rst into a hole in the ground.Luis looks into the hole and pushes his weapon inside, bends down and �nds Busgosu looking him in the face, Busgosu knocks him out with a blow from his horn.

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35. Ext. Night. By Silván's cave.The boar's wound is healed by contact with Silván's branches. We can see how the wild boar's cells divide and regenerate. Dani's arm also begins to merge with Silván's branches at that moment. Dani shouts out pulling his arm away and looking at his wound. Silván is sorry. The cell merging process is neither intentional nor consciously carried out. It's just his way of reproducing. Silván lets Dani move away slightly to avoid direct contact between his branches and the child's skin. Dani wants to know what Busgosu and he really are, but Silván doesn't know how to answer him. In the end he tells him that humankind has given them many names: Amen, Pan, Silvanus, fauns, satires... later Aker, Basajaún, Satan.

36. Ext. Night. Woods, next to the Land Rover.Oscar and Luis are buried up to their necks. Oscar comes around and wakes up Luis. Luis, still half-afraid, remembers " a reddish horned beast" ....Then both of them see the woods burning far away, like a red storm. A far off woman's cry is heard. This is Vicenta, calling out to Dani, and getting closer to where the bad guys are. They shout out to get her attention, asking for help. Vicenta is very surprised to find the two men in this situation and asks them if they've seen her grandson. Luis promises he'll find her grandson if she helps them to get out ...

37. Ext. Night. Forest fire.Busgosu gets on with his rescue work: he picks up an animal which is about to be crushed to death by a large tree trunk, pulls up a few trees, digs a trench.... Suddenly he hears a whirring noise and looks up. A helicopter is flying across the sky.

38. Ext. Night. Helicopter.A man is talking on the radio. He states that the fire is huge, with several fronts, probably caused by arson. The fire is moving north up Ekain Hill. If it passes this barrier the fire will be uncontrollable and will affect one of the oldest woods in the region.

39. Ext. Night. Woods, by the Land Rover.Oscar and Luis have vainly tried to get the Land Rover out and are exhausted.Luis rips off the registration plates and puts them in his backpack while Oscar holds Vicenta who doesn't seem to understand what's happening. She fights and shouts but Oscar covers her mouth. Luis is furious and wants to have revenge on the "creature" responsible for all his misfortunes.... so he shoots at the Land Rover still full of petrol. The vehicle explodes.

40. Ext. Night. Woods.Busgosu hears the explosion.

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41. Ext. Night. Woods.The helicopter sees the explosion from the air too, but gets back to work. Everyone around the map. Miguel explains; Towards the East, the river serves as a natural firebreak so the fire is contained in that direction. The road teams will evacuate the nearby town and will attack the fire from below. The great danger is that the fire might get past Sugar Hill, flanked by two bare rock hills. If the fire passes this point it will be out of control as it spreads through the Balza valley. Miguel the group leader states the possibility of creating a back burn, because the wind is blowing south from the hill, however it is a very dangerous procedure.

42. Ext. Night. Woods, by Land Rover.Oscar and Luis are hiding; Vicenta, tied up and gagged. Oscar wants to run away but Luis wants vengeance and to hunt the "creature". The ground moves as if someone was traveling below the earth. It's Busgosu, who innocently puts his head up in the place where he had buried the two bad guys. Luis points and shoots. The bullet lodges in Busgosu's right shoulder. Wounded, he turns, sees Luis hiding and flees. Oscar and Luis look for him in silence. Busgosu is right behind them, silently setting granny free. Vicenta, although afraid, understands that this strange creature from her childhood stories is helping her and remains silent. Busgosu then uses the lighter that he took from Luis and starts burning Oscar's bottom. Oscar jumps up and runs out of his hiding place. Vicenta escapes. Luis shoots, twice hitting Busgosu who disarms his opponent and hangs him up from a tree.. but at that moment he is shot again by Oscar. Busgosu turns around and slowly walks up to Oscar, being hit one time and he takes the weapon. Oscar is frightened, covering his face with his hands and waiting to be hit. Then Busgosu notices that his fingers are starting to grow, fusing with the wood of the weapon. His legs are changing too. He hesitates, not knowing what to do and flees. When Oscar finally dares to look out from behind his hands, there is nobody there any longer. Busgosu, now far away, falls and starts turning into a small dry tree, half-dead. Luis lowers himself from the tree, picks up the shotgun and chases after Busgosu., Oscar follows him. Now they are surrounded by fire. Granny flees upwards, Oscar and Luis too.

An insect tries to pull up Busgosu, who is putting down roots, with little effect. Then thousands of insects and birds led by a large eagle appear and they all finally manage to pull Busgosu out of the ground and transport him through the air. Some insects enter Busgosu's spindly body and slowly extract the bullets

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43. Ext. Night. Mountain top.Not far from there the rangers' helicopter flies down over the Sugar crags and eight men get out and unload the material: Backpacks, shovels, picks.

44. Ext. Night. Near Silván's cave. Silván-tree.Busgosu lands next to Silván. As soon as he sees him, Silván leaves Dani on the ground and puts his arms-branches on the dry tree trunk which Busgosu has now become. Immediately Busgosu starts to give off green shoots. Silván speaks to him softly while he rocks him. It's a pity that the fate of Busgosu is so strongly linked with fire..... ... Busgosu, you were born in a fire just like this 400 years ago......

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45. Ext. Edge of woods. (Flash back)We once again see the final images of sequence 12 of a Silván looking a lot younger observing while a strange imposing tree burns. Silván climbs up to the top of the tree and takes something from the treetop. A wooden baby red hot and giving off some flames. Silván regrets that Busgosu grew up alongside the underground fire and has only surfaced to see the woods burn again. He explains to him that his growing process was not yet complete when the tree which was feeding him was on fire. That's why Silván believes Busgosu's nature has been mixed with that of fire. This makes him more resistant to fire but it is certainly the reason why he can't germinate seeds.

46. Ext. Night. Near Silván's cave. (back to the present)Busgosu is recovering. Silván advises him to escape. Busgosu doesn't want to. He wants to put out the fire. Silván suggests that it was probably their return to the woods that caused the fire. He confesses that it was they who burnt down the woods four hundred years ago, by using it as a defense against the humans. Excited, Dani interrupts them with the tale about the kidnapped girl and the fire dragon which the demons used and which burnt the woods. Silván agrees and explains what the dragon is and how it works: A mechanism which makes a large stream of liquid from the black lake (the lake from Seq. 11) rise to the surface and catch fire. They used it when humans searched for them in the caves. At that moment Vicenta arrives, exhausted. Silván quickly hides in his hole in the tree. Relieved, the old women embraces her grandson. I knew I'd find you here in the Sugar caves! Then Busgosu jumps down from the tree and goes off towards the East, towards the river. Vicenta sees him and gestures to him thanking him for his help. Busgosu nods and goes off. Vicenta then tries to free Dani from the roots of Silván-tree, but as she tries she trips and pricks herself.

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. A drop of blood form the old woman falls onto Silván-tree and mixes in with it. Silván's happy face appears opposite her and he greets her. The old woman steps back, afraid and then a branch gets close to her mind and calms her down. Vicenta remembers: The images show us Vicenta as a girl entering the Sugar Caves holding her "mad" great-great grandmother's hand. They are carrying a basket and a bowl and they leave it inside the cave... The girl asks what the fruit and the milk are for. The old woman answers that they are for the gods of the woods and that this should remain a secret between the two of them for her own grandmother was punished for helping these creatures. At that moment, Silván tells Vicenta that one of her ancestors, a woman, died accused of witchcraft for helping them and thanks her for having kept their secret generation after generation. Once again, he asks her and Dani to keep the secret and they promise to.47. Ext. Night, Sugar Hill.The helicopter fire brigade team is creating a line of fire at the top of the hill. The eight men in are digging a trench, a firebreak using pickaxes and spades. At that moment, Miguel observes the fire with binoculars, the fire is rising at great speed. He shouts at the men to continue with the work for exactly ten minutes, no more no less, afterwards they must escape and climb the hill and stay on the hilltop until the helicopter comes back for them. .He will try to create a back burn, further down, but due to the risk, he doesn't want anyone to come with him. 48. Ext. Night. Waterfalls, river.With great difficulty, Busgosu moves the rock which had been previously blocking the river, (Seq 29). The resulting great torrent of water extinguishes a large part of the fire which was directly threatening Silván-tree, Vicenta and Dani. Afterwards in his descent towards the Sugar Caves he sees Miguel from behind, who is burning plants and bushes in order to carry out backburning. Busgosu can't control his anger at seeing another man setting fire to the woods and he jumps on top of Miguel, giving him a knockout blow with his horns.49. Ext. Night. Near Silván's cave. Silván-tree.A hate-filled voice frightens Vicenta who is next to Dani. It's Luis, followed by Oscar, both are pointing their weapons at Dani and his grandmother. Spitting, Luis orders them to hand over the "creature", he seems angry. Oscar hesitates, looking at the approaching fire, he tries to draw Luis's attention but he ignores him. Vicenta stands in front of her grandson, in a protective stance. A wave of fire gets closer. Oscar panics. Luis is about to fire when the Silván-tree's branches, like green tentacles take hold of his shotgun. The wood of the gun goes green and branches and leaves begin to grow from it. Luis fights, but in vain. A shout is heard and then a sharp noise. His branches take Luis's broken body and absorbs it inside the tree's bark. Vicenta hides Dani's face with her hands so that he doesn't see the sad end of the bad guy. Oscar throws his weapon to the ground, crying and asking for mercy. At that moment, Busgosu appears carrying Miguel and shouting that there are more fire-starters in the area. Vicenta recognizes Miguel as a forest firefighter. She remembers the radio interview and explains to Busgosu that perhaps he was creating a back burn which might stop or at Backburning, Busgosu understand the idea and quickly goes into the Sugar caves.

50. Int. Underground galleries.Busgosu moves towards the black lake and following Silvan's instructions, activates the "fire dragon" mechanism. The earth opens up and the black waters flow down towards the mountain. Busgosu lights the river of fire. The flaming river spreads quickly pushed on by gravity and the wind. The rising flames reach the burnt land and are extinguished slowly. Fire puts out fire.... A firefighting helicopter observes all from above. They deduce that the fire has been contained thanks to Miguel, who has risked his life to create a spectacular back-burn.

51. Ext. Night. Next to Silván's cave. Silván-tree.The fire ceases it advance. Everyone is happy and when Busgosu returns, Dani runs to meet him. They both laugh and express their joy by jumping and playing like kids, which is what they are in the end. Vicenta looks at them, smiling. Silván comments that before both species lived that way, in harmony and that today is, in spite of all, a day of hope. Afterwards, he confesses that he can happily say goodbye to them in peace and without fear. On hearing this, Busgosu stops playing with Dani, he goes serious. Silván smiles and his face disappears forever into the relief of the tree. At that moment a baby's crying can be heard from the treetop. Busgosu, in a strangely mature manner, tells them that the new being has just been born.

52. Ext. Night. Next to Silvan's cave. Silván-tree.Dani looks up to the treetop. Busgosu's hand rests on his shoulder. He must also say goodbye now, but he has a present for Dani; a sheepskin tied to a basket with horns. Busgosu explains to him that before some humans used to meet up with them and wear this costume out of respect. That's why it seems only normal that Dani should receive this testimony of an old friendship. Busgosu and Dani say goodbye, moved by the situation.

53. Ext. Night. Next to Silvan's cave. Silván-tree.Busgosu discovers the new being: it's like a wooden baby with a tree branch instead of an umbilical chord; similar to the one we saw during Silván's story of the the origins of Busgosu....but this time he's a "healthy" green colour. Busgosu very carefully cuts the "umbilical branch" (it is removed like the stem of a tangerine), and tenderly takes the baby in his arms. The new-born green being stops crying immediately. The whirring of an approaching helicopter can be heard. Busgosu and his new brother hide as they watch the helicopter fly towards the summit.

54. Ext. Night. Next to Silvan's cave. Silván-tree.

Dani, Oscar and Miguel, who is unconscious. They come down with blankets and stretchers and rescue all of them.

55. Ext. Day. Woods.It's getting light. Busgosu, lulling to sleep the baby who he has named "Silvanito", sadly walks around the remains of the fire. So many ashes, so much devastation....

56. Int. Day. Kitchen.Dani, Vicenta, Adela and Juan are having breakfast. While he devours a slice of bread with chocolate, Dani explains that it was all a joke. He had dressed up as a demon to frighten the family, and that night he was preparing the joke in the Sugar caves. He then presents Busgosu's present as his "demon costume". Vicenta embarrassedly agrees and confesses that she was his accomplice in all this. It was an innocent game, she says, "who could have imagined that they would cross the paths of two dangerous fire-starters?" Juan says that those guys got what they deserved. One died in the heart of the fire that he had started and the other seems to have gone crazy.... since he was convinced that Dani really was a demon! Adela, still feeling emotional, makes them promise never to make her go through such fear. Juan and Adela then embrace their son. Vicenta winks at Dani, now they really are accomplices...

57. Ext. Day. Woods.In a sequence similar to that of the start, we see a beetle busily transporting a mudball. A fly grabs the mudball from the beetle and flies off, crossing the devastated woods. At a given moment, he drops the mudball which rolls downhill into a small hand with large nails: Busgosu's. Busgosu breaks up the mudball and inside finds a single seed which he places on the ground. Some animals surround him, as if they were waiting. Busgosu places his hands on the seed, closes his eyes and sings....... The seed grows, first slowly, then faster and more vigorously, becoming a huge majestic tree.

Fades to 58. Ext. Day. Woods.Ten months later.....

At the top of a large tree whose branches seem to have been made into a large living space, Busgosu tells a "Silvanito" the story of the fire and how humans helped them to extinguish it. We hear heavy breathing: Dani has just climbed up and says hello to the two of them. Busgosu presents "Silvanito" to Dani.The camera pans up and pans round to give us a shot of the whole of the woods....

The sun is shining and the woods have practically recovered.

Alber t o CamposTe l . : 606 235 781 • C/Flo r ida , 96-6 d cha • Vitor ia -Gas t e ize -mai l : a lb e r t o cm1@euska lne t .n e t