Reviews

I totally agree with Posadasabeladelmar's review, a great film encapsulating the consequences of being unmarried because of prevailing values during Franco's Dictatorship. This film compares well and is a lesson for Jose Antonio Bardem's 1956 "Calle mayor" and Miguel Picazo's 1964 "La tia Tula". I read that the original feature was completed in 1939 and not released until 1951 due to discussions with the Censorship Office. Twenty-five minutes were cut from the original, dialogue was changed and a different ending provided, which explain the Italian release of the film. As well as powerful long takes, look out for the blurred point-of-view shots from the protagonist's perspective. This is a little gem worth watching.

I wonder if previous contributors watched the dubbed mono-lingual Castilian version rather than the original bi-lingual version (subtitles available on the DVD). I have always mistrusted dubbed films, because the dubbing voice always betrays and frequently contradicts the characters, and at times even the actor (it is said that when Humphrey Bogart visited Madrid, fans believed he was a look alike sent to Spain because the pitch of his voice did not match his dubbed Spanish voice). As mentioned by previous post the Castilian dubbed version is painful to watch, saw it last night on International TVE.es. But give the film the chance it deserves. I first saw the film in its original bilingual version and loved it... Under-rated, it is a delightful romantic comedy between opposites, chalk and cheese, emphasised by the Catalan-Castilian contrast of the soundtrack, which all beautifully conveys the contradictions of the relationship that defies all logic (but when was "love" logical?). Ventura Pons keeps us wondering how will this boy-meets-girl will end. Without discussing the implicit details of regional identities and stereotypes, or the tradition of Calderón's sword and dagger plays, where intelligent girls win their inept and incompetent galanes (The House with Two Doors, The Phantom Lady, My Lady First and Foremost, etc), this film has much to offer if only the original version is viewed. The characterisation works. And indeed, Ventura Pons so often manages to stretch his spectators' preconception to see relationships in a different light. And if you do eventually enjoy the story of this looser, who does find a girl, try "O ano da carracha / El año de la garrapata", Jorge Coira's first film –recommended to me in 2005 by the salesman at the DVD counter of the Corte Inglés in Santiago de Compostela, one of the most informed cinephiles I have ever met.

"Hay un camino a la derecha - There is a Path to the Right" is a black-market related crime drama set in a gritty Barcelona and its docks. It focuses on Miguel (Paco Rabal) and his circumstances, also using "street urchins" who were frequently included in urban films of the time, especially those dealing with the difficulties of the (un-)employment situation. Much of the film is shot on location, and thus visually chronicles the city in the early fifties –this was in itself frowned on by the censors. The film is introduced with a typical moralistic voice-over, confirming the title's Biblical resonance, introducing with its flash-forward the resolution of the drama and emphasising the family values of the regime, which sets up the suspense of how will the plot get the spectators to its conclusion. This morality is however questioned by the harsh reality of the setting, Inspector Tormo's tie and suit, covering an over-sized and ill-fitting white shirt, and the excessive introduction. Both Rivera Boleta and Paco Rabal went on to make more films, implicitly critical of the Regime's values and the implementation of these values. The film is released on DVD by Filmax, but does not provide subtitles.

A needed perspective Whilst not disagreeing with all the previous harsh comments, a sense of historical perspective is useful when trying to understand, over thirty years later, a film made and released in 1973 and thus make the most of the experience. With this more cautious perspective cinema becomes a powerful reflection of the past in need of interpretation. Iquino made his first films during that potential Golden Age of Spanish Cinema in 1934. After the war he set up "film factories" in and around Barcelona, predominantly for crime films, usually made on small budgets within the limits of strict and, by our standards, frequently puerile censorship. As a producer, screenwriter and director he none the less often raised implicit questions about the imposed values of the regime and their frequent hypocritical implementations. The early seventies were socially very difficult and as political dissent became more vocal and violent in Spain and the authorities more repressive, so film censorship became more permissive in sexual matters perhaps to provide a safety valve for pent up testosterone and re-locate it from street protests to cinema theatres –period referred to as the "destape". Iquino is adapting to the changes with this criminal investigation of abortion practices, all illegal, with the presence of an affluent and limited hippie culture. The perspective adopted earned the film the official "Interés especial" –the seal of approval from the Establishment. Iquino, however, also points the finger at preferential treatments based on economic differences and the final sequence does raise the silent question, where does the responsibility lie? Were the real culprits found guilty? (Keep a discrete eye for the road-worker and his pneumatic drill.) It must also be remembered that the regime would not tolerate the representation of its police force as ever failing in its responsibilities (hence the power of José Antonio Zorrilla's 1983 "EI arreglo").

A delicate and personalised exploration of the effects that can sometimes be caused by the rigid indoctrination of the official puritanical, and too often hypocritical, family and sexual values of the Franco Dictatorship. A vulnerable "Agony Aunt" Irene Galdos (Marilina Ross), who lives with her elder sister (Mary Carillo), comes to terms with the advice she gives daily on her radio programme sponsored by feminine beauty products, when a troubled Soledad (Adolfo Marsillach, in one of his few cinema performances) writes in with his problems to the programme. The years of the Dictatorship are beautifully evoked through the controlled performances, the mise-en-scene, and colour photography, as well as the Galician setting and the ever present radio, which capture a previous decade.

Spanish crime films in the fifties and sixties had to be scripted under the limiting scrutiny of the Censorship Board (JSOC), and the Police could only be presented as efficient and exemplary in all circumstances. The ending was therefore predictable, but script-writers could focus on the suspense of how the police got there. This is not really explained in the film which, through the action, focuses on the criminals' psychology and relationships. If the film glosses over the police investigation, not to upset the censors, this is compensated by the fragments it offers of urban Spain (Barcelona) in the late fifties (high-rise buildings in the blue colour outskirts and Jazz Club or pelota matches in the centre). The film was re-re-released as a DVD in 2008, Spanish language only, as one of a six-pack collection of films all starring the always impeccably dressed leading man Arturo Fernández. (bpeb)