Broken Silence

I saw this film in Madrid and experienced something I had never encountered in a Spanish cinema--- the audience was completely silent during the film. And the house was packed.

The beautiful setting of the film, in the north of Spain, stood in sharp contrast to the depressing circumstances of the villagers as they attempted to carry on the struggle against the Falange as represented in the film by the Guardia Civil. The drama of this well-acted film was steady and wrenching.

Always interested in the Spanish Civil War, this film made me more aware of the heavy price the Spaniards paid as a consequence of the fascists' victory.

After the end of the Spanish Civil War in 1938, Republican guerrillas continued to fight against the Franco government carrying out sabotage actions and executions of Francoist authorities and members of the hated Civil Guard guilty of crimes against civilians. During WWII they substantially contributed to the fight against Nazi Germany and the Vichy regime in France, both as members of the Resistance and as soldiers in the Free French army.

By 1944, with German forces in retreat, the guerrillas refocused their attention on the liberation of Spain. That year, there was an invasion by a maquis force through Val d'Aran and other passes in the Pyrenees with the hope of being supported by the invading Allied Armies in France. However, the Germans were still a formidable menace, the Allied command was wary of opening a new front, and help didn't materialize.

Guerrilla activities intensified right after the end of WWI in 1945. Due to its support for the Nazis during the war Spain was internationally isolated, its economy collapsed, and an uprising seemed imminent. However, the Franco government joined the nascent crusade against Communism and opened Spain to American bases. The enemy now was Communism, and Nazi crimes were discreetly swept under the rug. The Spanish government carried out a savage campaign against the guerrillas where civilians suspected of collaboration were tortured and murdered without trial. Savagery worked, and the guerrillas gradually faded away. All the while the regime suppressed every bit of information about this war, which may be the reason for the title Silencio Roto (Broken Silence).

The movie begins in 1944, with Lucía (Lucía Jiménez) returning to her birthplace, a village in Navarra and getting involved with Manuel (Juan Diego Botto), a blacksmith that acts as contact for the guerrillas and joins them shortly after. However the romance, realistically presented, is not the main subject. Navarrese director Montxo Armendáriz weaves an atmospheric tale of day-to-day life in the village, where guerrilla successes translate in savage reprisals, not reporting suspicious activities may be fatal and where neighbors denounce each other for survival or to avenge old grievances. Cinematography captures skillfully the melancholic landscapes and shady interiors and acting is excellent not only from the principals but from all the supporting cast, with special mention for Maria Sampietro. The movie can be found in the streaming services with the title Time of Honor.

I recently noted that one of the most forgotten men groups in the history about the terrible spanish civil war (1936-1939) are the "maquis". They were the fighters for freedom that resist in the mountains after the General Franco´s victory. They fought till nearly 1950, in several fast hits... they only wanted the liberty for the spanish people, then in the hands of the fascist ideology. But in more than 25 years of pacific democracy and progress, and a lot of movies about that war... very poor was the number of them that spoke about "maquis". Montxo Armendáriz, director of the 1998 Best Foreign Language Academy Award nominee "Secrets from the heart" has done it. It is a truly movie. With very good performances, specially Mercedes Sampietro and Lucía Jimenez, and a good screenplay he has done a spectacular movie for the heart. For the remenbrances. For the people who didn´t know nothing about this phenomenon, and for those that lived it... A song to the liberty... not only a movie.

Montxo Armendariz film about an episode of the Spanish history is interesting, but at the same time it is very confusing, as proven by the samples heard after the projection at the recent film cycle at the Walter Reade theater in New York.

Most of us in the audience obviously knew about some of the history that is shown in the film, but not enough as the first person, Ossanser, from Valencia, Spain who wrote the first commentary on the opening page . That is why at times we are lost in trying to think how was it possible to see the rebels fighting when both the Civil War and World War II were over.

The film was interesting to watch, but there are a lot of loose ends that are not resolved, as far as we are concerned.

Loved the women in this film the best. Lucia Jimenez, Mercedes Sanpietro and Maria Botto were very restrained. It's about the best quality I find with Mr. Armendariz's films, in contrast with some other Spanish directors, he's the captain of the ship and nothing seems to be out of place, contrary to other 'geniuses' from Spain who sometimes let the cast get away with murder.

One can only wish the best to this director in future films.

Well done film on the resistance against Francoist dictatorship in countryside Spain between 1944 and 1948. With beautiful historic reconstitution, It is a film focused on those characters, on those neighbors, and on the way they deal with reactionary authoritarian and abusive rule: armed struggle, conceived cooperation with rebels, coward betrayal, or systematic participation in repression. Fears, loves, concerns, it is more a movie about feelings than about action. Then, expect good characters' development and art direction, but not thrilling war action scenes. Those were hard times, as violent illegitimate regime would fall only three decades afterwards. The film express that, despite all the efforts of those brave people.