While at War

Great story, great acting, great direction. Maybe it did not happen exactly as it is told (it is a film not a documentary) but the portrait of that Spain, of those days, of Unamuno, of the militars is perfect. The reasons of the caracteres, of all of them, not only Unamuno or Franco but also Millán Astray, the friends and family of D Miguel are a perfect mirror tonlook at and think over. After enjoying this film I started reading again some of Unamuno's books I had already read many years ago when I was younger.

This is a very simple story and I think Amenabar wants to warn us about the dangers we are facing today. Our intellectuals, not only academics, are watching, without any big unrest, the rise of fascism in our countries and aren't clearly going against it. Miguel Unamuno was one of them, he thought their current regime (the republic) wasn't going good enough and he believed that those right wingers bringing some force and order could solve the problems of Spain. He even financed them! Meanwhile, he closed his eyes to the reality, despite warnings from very close friends, and all the signs around him, but then, when he woke up, it was already too late. See any resemblance to what is happening today? What are our intellectuals doing? Think about it, soon it might be too late again.

But what i do know ,and do know how, to appreciate a marvelously made and brilliantly acted movie like this, don miguel is just fantastic. my next mission in life are to devour all i can find on the subject spanish civil war, it mustve been a quagmire like the balkan story in the 1990's.

the grumpy old man gives a 10 with a recommend

Well directed, well acted, As always Alejandro Amenábar has done an excellent job.

The story follows Miguel de Unamuno who was the rector of the university Salamanca before the war. As with happens with many intellectuals he was blind to the consequences of what was happening around him.

The dictatorship's rise and time in power is still a hot potato here in Spain. The transition to democracy, though smooth, did not manage to heal the wounds of seventy years of dictatorship.

This story is timeless: we cannot see the reality of something until it is too late. But even if we can, are we able to change things? Or is it the man with the gun and all the bullets that decides who is in the right?

This is a very good movie, well-acted, well directed and with a nice photography, but the most important is its message and the reflection it causes.

The movie is about Spain in the 30s, but I see its importance in the actual context I'm living right now in my country as a brazilian.

The people who supports or simply doesn't stand up against fascism are not necessarily fascists as we can see in the main character. The brutality, fanatism and absurd could be right in front of your eyes and you still are not able to see and comprehend it, specially if the context you are living is confusing and complex.

Spain paid a very high price because of this and suffered for 40 years in the hands of a fascist - an upholder for the "good spaniards".

That's a movie that should be shown to people like Miguel de Unamuno before it's too late, like it was for him.