This is a drama dealing with a middle-age woman called Ana (Carmen Maura) ; she is a veterinarian and lives and works in countryside , Bermillo of Sagayo , a location in the province of Zamora , close Portugal . She was a member of terrorist organization ETA . His world is reduced to a few people , like her daughter Blanca (Sonia Martin) and her coworker (Fernando Valverde, her faithful friend and would be lover), a birds amateur , without that loving feeling between them never comes to fruition . But her cruel past , will return in all harshness to life of our protagonist , because of a special relationship casually engages with a Portuguese (Joaquim de Almeida) . As she meets Jose on bus and he confesses to her that has been a member of a police or paramilitary group , GAL , in charge of kidnapping and killing members of Ana's terrorist organization living in exile in France . This man also drags his own demons , and unfortunately for the veterinarian, they both fall in love . But both of whom having participated in terrorist acts and the unsettling past returns with unexpected results .
This is an interesting but slow-moving drama concerning on a few roles who suffer the consequences of their dark pasts . The script takes us into the human reality on these characters, victims of their own inner ghosts and distresses with which they must pay for his terrorist past , assassinations and betrayals . And with that appealing plot , I welcome the sublime simplicity with which the story is treated and in which stands out the gray atmosphere that provides photography . The main strength of the film, besides the adequate interpretations , -un nice trio : Maura , Aleida , Valverde- , is the way in which Camus brings to life the return of that tragic and ominous past ; as the appearance of a mysterious car , the threatening interrogation carried out by a couple of suspect men , the sudden encounter with an old friend , Ramon Langa , that was then feared , etc. The past returns as if it were a nightmare, forcing the starring to return to be one person who thought she had given up . But the whole film lacks aspects that I consider relevant ; furthermore , being slow-paced , and some boring . In their quest to remain in the political ambiguity -no initials are given at any time- and deals tangentially to avoid risks , Mario Camus does not provide data of the protagonists , their terrorist pasts, their political views , etc. It is a shame, but I understand the sensitivity of the issue and the controversy involved . And in any case, this movie flees the explicit denounce , especially for the hope of those individualistic beings who live in the shadow of violent fanaticism which always entail political battles .
Atmospheric though worn-out cinematography by Manuel Velasco ; however , a right remastering being necessary . Downbeat and sad musical score by Sebastian Marine , Mario Camus's ordinary , composed by piano . The motion picture was well directed by Mario Camus following his particular style . Camus was born in Santander , Cantabria , location in which often shoots his films . He worked with Carlos Saura in several screenplays during the early 60s Los Golfos (1960), Llanto Por Un Bandido (1964)), and also directed some shorts. His first feature films were Los Farsantes (1963) and Young Sánchez (1964), a movie about boxing which won the Best Film Award at the Buenos Aires Festival . Mario has an important career with film and television adaptations quite remarkable , as he efficiently directed yarns based on notorious writers such as Perez Galdos, García Lorca, Cela Camilo José Miguel Delibes . During various decades he touched styles varying from romantic comedies and musicals to splendid adaptations from famous novels, as is the case of the prestigious TV series "Fortunata y Jacinta" (1979) . In 1983 he was given the 'Medalla Oro De las Bellas Artes' (Arts Gold Medal), and one year later he prepared his most successful work both with public and critic : Los Santos Inocentes (1984), an adaptation from the novel by Miguel Delibes. Mario is an expert on interesting dramas as proved in ¨ The house of Bernarda Alba¨ , ¨La Colmena¨ which won the Golden Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival , ¨The days of the past ¨ and many others . Rating : Acceptable and passable ; it's a decent film though sometimes slow-moving .
