The movie is based in the real Balmis Expedition , funded by the king of Spain , Charles IV , and his favorite , Godoy , to bring the smallpox vaccine to Spanish America. It is starred by three good actors who give excellent interpretations as María Castro , Pedro Casablanc , and Octavi Pujades . It packs colorful cinematography Nestor Calvo and sensitive musical score by Luis Ivars . Lavish and nice production design , in fact the ship shot in the movie is the Russian frigate Shtandart, replica of the man-of-war built by Peter the Great in 1703 in Saint Petersburg. Modern Shtandart was built in 1999 and is a fully-functional training tall ship.
Interesting and thought-provoking screenplay based upon Almudena de Arteaga novel 'Ángeles Custodios' . This TV motion picture was well directed by Miguel Bardem who belongs a notorious actors family , as he is son of director Juan Antonio Bardem , aunt is Pilar Bardem , cousin of Carlos Bardem, Mónica Bardem and Javier Bardem . He has written/directed some entertaining films , such as comedy as ¨Twelfth night¨ , ¨Mas Amor Que Frenesi¨ , ¨Mortadelo and Filemon , mission : save the planet¨ , suspense as ¨The ugliest girl in the world¨ and ¨Incautos¨ at his best and results to be his most successful picture .
The film is based on historical events , these are the followings : The Balmis Expedition (1803–1806) was a three-year mission to the Americas led by Dr. Francisco Javier de Balmis with the aim of vaccinating millions against smallpox. Vaccination, a much safer way to prevent smallpox than older methods such as inoculation, had been introduced by the English physician Edward Jenner in 1798 . Balmis was named head of the expedition, which sailed from Spain in 1804. He traveled to Puerto Rico, Puerto Cabello, Caracas, Havana, Mérida, Veracruz and Mexico City. The vaccine was carried as far as Texas in the north and New Granada in the south . The Balmis expedition set off from A Coruña on 30 November 1803. It may be considered the first international health-care expedition in history . The discoverer of the vaccine, Edward Jenner himself, wrote, "I don't imagine the annals of history furnish an example of philanthropy so noble, so extensive as this." King Charles IV of Spain supported his royal doctor Balmis, since his daughter María Luísa had suffered the illness. The expedition sailed on Maria Pita and carried 22 orphan boys (eight to ten years old) as successive carriers of the disease, Balmis, a deputy surgeon, two assistants, two first-aid practitioners, three nurses, and Isabel López de Gandalia, the rectoress of Casa de Expósitos, a A Coruña orphanage . The mission took the vaccine to the Canary Islands, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, the Philippines and China. The ship carried also scientific instruments and translations of the Historical and Practical Treatise on the Vaccine by Moreau de Sarthe to be distributed to the local vaccine commissions to be founded.In Puerto Rico, the local population was already inoculated from the Danish colony of Saint Thomas. In Venezuela, the expedition divided at La Guayra. José Salvany, the deputy surgeon, went toward today's Colombia and the Viceroyalty of Peru (Venezuela, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, and Bolivia). They took seven years and the toils of the voyage brought death to Salvany (Cochabamba, 1810). Balmis went to Caracas and later to Havana. The local poet Andrés Bello wrote an ode to Balmis . In New Spain, Balmis took 25 orphans to maintain the infection during the crossing of the Pacific. In the Philippines, they received help from the Catholic church . Balmis sent most of the expedition back to New Spain while he went on to China, where he visited Macau and Canton. On his way back to Spain , Balmis convinced the authorities of Saint Helena (1806) to be inoculated. Julia Alvarez wrote a fictional account of the expedition from the perspective of its only female member in Saving the World.
