Is it necessary for this director to load up this film with so much political messages that for audiences outside of Spain are meaningless?
If the Spanish directors could take a chill pill with their "oeuvre" they would be much better off. Take a look at one of some of the best of the current ones: Pedro Almodovar and Alejandro Amenabar, just to mention a couple, they make films that are accessible, light, entertaining, and at the same time are commercially successful.
What is the sense to knock the spectator dead with situations only familiar to the Spanish that confuse the viewer.? If the director would have heard the public's comments after this film was shown at the annual Spanish film festival at the Walter Reade in New York, he would have taken the next Iberia flight to Spain!
Talk about unevolved people: that crowd! Not only that, no one had a clue what the main conflict in the film was. And these are the so-called intellectual minds that attend basically all the films that are presented.
The best part was the way the camera captures the majesty of Salamanca in all its splendor and beauty. The story and the execution of it were as baffling to me as it was for the rest of the audience. It's a waste to have people like Miguel Angel Sola who had a stellar career in his native Argentina, act in this piece, or not even give Margarita Lozano or Antonia San Juan an opportunity to shine.
