1853 , Lugo , Galicia , during Isabel II kingdom , a Camino Santiago walker arrives in a small location , and he asks for lodging , but the villagers think of being an envoy of Satan , that's why they deny him . After that , the suspicious pilgrim (Francisco Balcells) , who travels throughout country , meets a gorgeous girl shepherdess named Adega (Eliana De Santis of short career) and sleeps one night in a barn of a village . Then , the orphan girl is pregnant and on the one hand some villagers (as the blind beggar Ismael Merlo) considerate her future baby to be born from God , adoring her as a Saint Virgin , and on the other hand other natives of Galicia deem to be born from devil . Meanwhile , the mysterious as well as diabolical outsider will react by cursing the superstitious people with evil , misery , badness , plagues and wicked things . At the end takes place a trial led by authoritarian Inquisitors (presided by priest Antonio Casas who is also Carlista rebellion leader) against the wretched Adega nicknamed ¨La Santiña¨, judging , and condemning her ; motivating them to consider as a possessed girl and suspicious of witchery.
A Galician fiction crammed with witchery as well as mysterious touches and based on traditional oral legends and allegedly actual facts happened during the ¨hunger year¨ , 1853 , in the impoverished and superstitious Galicia of the nineteenth century . Set in Mondoñedo , Lugo , Galicia where this film was filmed , there took place an ¨Auto De Fe¨ in which some witches were judged . Based on the novel by Ramón del Valle-Inclán and writing credits by Pedro Carvajal and Adolfo Marsillach . The tale bears remarkable resemblance to ¨El amor¨(1948) an episode directed by Robert Rosselini , but based on Sicilian legends . Director/writer Marsillach describes the overwhelming fanaticism of the villagers as well as the military clashes between the liberal Isabelinos and the Ultra-Catholic Carlists following to throne pretending , Carlos Maria De Isidro , Fernando VII's brother . The yarn seems to be a metaphor about the terrible consequences of the Civil War . At the end occurs the witches imprisonment , adding some surprising scenes shot in ¨Furia Del Baus¨ performance style , including firing parties , little orgies , popular dances and a weird swimming/fishing ceremony with brief nudism . Entertaining though slow-moving superstition and witchery film with abundant sensationalistic scenes and provoking style . The film displays a strong criticism against the Spanish Inquisition , arresting , judging and torturing to extract 'confessions' . Other film dealing with witchery are the followings : the classy ¨Haxam¨ by Benjamin Christiensen and ¨Dies Irae¨ by Carl Theodor Dreyer . In Spain was shot ¨Inquisition¨ by Jacinto Molina , ¨Akellarre¨ and ¨Leyenda Del Cura De Bargota¨ by Pedro Olea . The movie has engaging frames and some spectacular ¨mise in scene¨ , being well set with acceptable production design , including noisy markets , eerie forests full of fog , impressive battles with lots of extras , and several other things . Atmospheric musical score by Carmelo Bernaola along with evocative and colorful cinematography by Fernando Arribas , being filmed on location in Mondoñedo , Lugo , Galicia .
The motion picture was regularly directed by Adolfo Marsillach and it failed at box office , that's why it was heavily censored , the flick had several cuts that makes it confuse and hard to follow . Here Adolfo plays a cameo and his wife Teresa Del Rio has an essential role . Marsillach was good cinema and stage actor , if fact when he was acting in ¨Sócrates¨ was hired to direct this film , as he brought all stage actors to play ¨Flower of holiness¨. Marsillach was son and grandson of journalists and theater critics . He studied law in Barcelona finishing his career in 1951 . He debuted in cinema and theater in 1947, and as a theater director in 1956 . In 1965 he became the director of the Teatro Español de Madrid , and in 1972 directed his first and last film , this Flower of holiness . He married three known actresses as Amparo Soler Leal , Teresa del Río and Mercedes Lezcano . And father of Cristina Marsillach and Blanca Marsillach . Adolfo starred successful and prestigious films of all kind of genres , such as : Sesión Continua , La Ciutat Cremada , Paz Empieza Nunca , Mi Calle , 091 Policía Al Habla , Maribel Y La Extraña Familia , Salto a La Gloria , El Frente Infinito , Torrepartida and Tulipan Negro . And TV Series as La Señora García Se Confiesa and Ramon Y Cajal .
