El viaje de Carol

"El viaje de Carol" is one more in the series of Spanish films devoted to depict the Spanish Civil War from a child's point of view. However, this film does not reach the quality of similar-themed films such as "Secretos del corazón", possibly because the plot is diffuse and it fails to stick to any of the subplots. The best of the movie is certainly the cast, which includes the very best of Spanish veteran actors, but also a bunch of very promising young actors. Specially remarkable is the chemistry between Clara Lago, who plays Carol, and Juan José Ballesta, who plays Tomiche. In a nutshell, "El viaje de Carol" is good but not great, although it remains as a good watch for a rainy Sunday.

Drama with historical and romantic elements ; including enjoyable performances and adequate set design . Carol (Clara Lago), a twelve-year-old Spanish-American girl , daughter of a Spanish mother (Maria Barranco) and an American father , travels to Spain in the spring of 1938 in the company of his mummy . Separated from her father who is helping to fight Franco's military regime near Madrid , he is a pilot in the International Brigades who she adores, as her arrival in a little town transforms maternal family environment full of secrets and dangers . She soon journeys into adulthood through a friendship with Maruja (Rosa Maria Sarda) , the village teacher and forming bonds with old and new friends. Armed with a rebellious nature, opposes life lessons from his grandfather (Alvaro De Luna) and his love for Tomiche (Juan Jose Ballesta) will open doors to a world of adult feelings that will make her trip turns into a tender, vital and unforgettable experience but also tragic . The screen livens up as love blossoms between Carol and Tomiche and as a love of daughter for a daddy becomes evident and finally risked .

Imanol Uribe , also writes the script along with with Angel Roldan , novel's author titled "A Boca De Noche" , filmed in his usual formal and stylistic scholarship , without leaving a trace the thought-provoking issues , in terms of dramatic and narrative excitement . The flick can be defined as a realistic tragicomedy , a romantic history , a historic fresco and a socio-political fable . The main problem has to face "Carol's journey", beyond not being able to avoid falling into the politic pamphlet is precisely derived from the coldness of its staging . Because the story needs a vibration more real than the one offered in this sometimes slow-moving flick , though also contains humorous and sensitive moments as when the children gang is gathered and play and enjoy themselves . Anyway, its is compensated with the great performances from Clara Lago and Juan Jose Ballesta , interpreters who provided a considerable boost to the result . Imanol is a great director of actors and the main players are complemented by a good cast of secondaries as Alvaro De Luna , Rosa Maria Sarda , Maria Barranco , Albert Jimenez ,Carmelo Gomez , among others ; all of them forming a powerful human group of support cast and giving excellent interpretations . Special mention to magnificent musical score by Bingen Mendizabal who composes an evocative as well as sensitive musical score . Including a spotless pictorial cinematography by Gonzalo Berridi and a willingness , almost perfect of the elements of each shot , every sequence , every space . The original story was set in Castile, but Uribe decided to move on north of Spain, where have been shot the gorgeous landscapes , filmed on location in Cantabria, Estación de Puente Taboada, Pontevedra, Galicia ,Palacio Hornillos, Las Fraguas, Santander, Cantabria, and Ponte De Barca, Portugal . The film won three Goya nominations 2002 for Best Production, Actress (for the girl Clara Lago, who made ​​his film debut with this film) and costume design . And won Crystal Bear , Special Mention Best Feature Film for Imanol Uribe in Berlin International Film Festival .

This Fernando Bovaira production was professionally written by Angel Roldan and Imanol Uribe who also directed , though has some flaws and resulted to get an acceptable success at Spanish Box office . Uribe who lived and had a son with actress María Barranco , gained fame early in his career for his controversial socio-political portraits of the Basque people such as ¨Fuga Segovia¨, ¨Muerte Mikel¨ and he turned to thriller as ¨Adios Pequeña¨, ¨Running out of time¨ , ¨Plenilunio , ¨Carta Esferica¨ and drama as ¨Bwana¨ , ¨Rey Pasmado¨ and ¨Extraños¨ .

Carol, the young girl at the center of the story, is transplanted to a foreign land, Spain, at the height of the Civil War conflict in the late 30s. For this girl, everything is new, in it's foreignness. The war and her father are her constant worries, while she has to immerse herself in a provincial culture that is years behind what she has in New York.

Imanol Uribe directs this film by the numbers. Carol's family is obviously divided, while Carol's mother is married to someone that is an air force pilot with the leftist faction, the rest of the family's sympathies are with the Franco and the fascists that won the conflict.

The story adds nothing to what has already been told, much better, but it's an easy film to watch. Northern Spain's magnificent landscape is shown. Don't expect a lot of action since most of what happens revolves around Carol and the young boys she befriends.

Clara Lago plays Carol with sincerity and innocence. Maria Barranco is Carol's mother Aurora, the one that went away to America. Rosa Maria Sarda is Maruja, the teacher who befriends Carol. Carmelo Gomez, plays Alfonso, the man that Aurora left behind when she left for America. This actor, who usually has lead roles in most Spanish films, doesn't have anything to do, as he remains an enigma throughout the movie.

Another Spanish movie about the 1936 Civil War. This time we're told about the story of Carol (lovely played by débutant Clara Lago), a little girl which comes to live to a little Spanish village from New York. It is such an initiating trip, and soon she'll find about the injustices of the human race, their stupid fights and conflicts, their contradictions.

Imanol Uribe makes his best film since "Días Contados" (1994) with such a sober pulse, a beautiful photography, and a nice script. He tries not to take part in the conflict, he just shows us some facts and let us decide (ok, the facts are explicit enough to make us decide in which band are we in) and he takes a huge advantage of the presence and the freshness of the young starring couple: Clara Lago and Juan José Ballesta.

A well cared production.

My rate: 7/10

I was deeply moved by this movie in many respects. First of all, I just want to say that Clara Lago was the most precious little thing! Such a pretty little girl. Her acting was superb as well. True to life and very human. Though I don't like the part where she had to smoke; I hope it was only a fake prop. Either way, she was absolutely wonderful and the story was so moving. I found myself immersed in the story and her character.

It's quite interesting how I came to discover this movie actually. I was walking in blockbuster and I just happened to notice her pretty smile on the cover as I was walking by. Luckily I glanced in the downward direction that this movie was in! I thought to myself, 'Awe, look at her!' So I picked it up and saw that this movie was described as such wonderful things as "A Little Gem." I read the plot on the back and then thought that, well, maybe I'd look it up on IMDb first and then come back and rent it at a later time. I'm glad I didn't, because I certainly would have been missing out. After searching for a movie with my friend, I knew that I would end up regretting not renting this film, so I went back to the spot in which I originally found it and snapped it up.

It had been on my dresser for a week, since school started for me this week and I really hadn't any time to watch it, but tonight was the perfect opportunity. I popped it in and was glued to the beautiful cinematography, delightful score and moving plot from beginning to end. I was so captivated and must say, some parts nearly moved me to tears.

I would also like to make a special mention for the young boy in this film, Juan Jose Ballesta. He was remarkable. Also the actor who played Carol's father, who's name is unfortunately not listed on the site. His voice was just so loving and gentle that I could really sense his love for Carol. Even though his appearance is not prominent, I really felt his character's presence.

This is truly a wonderful movie. If you are a person who is moved by light, but emotional films, then this is definitely one for you.