**Parts of Plot Revealed*
The beginning of this film had some motion to it but when it couldn't decide if it was a comedy or an attack on Franco, it lost the steam and everyone became confused. It didn't even work because it was dull and monotonous also. The plot concerns a comedy acting troupe who was hired by the Republican officer corps to entertain enlisted troops. We see Carmela, who is a robust and an attractive older woman who can dance the flamenco. Her husband, a weak, tired former opera singer who is so dull he can't even make love to her and their companion, a young mute who is always reprimanded. We follow them as they attempt to go to Valencia and away from the war. When they are captured by Nationalist troops, everything goes insane, they are locked up in a detainee camp and they witness communists and other prisoners of the "evil" nationalists get executed. Problem here is, the Republicans, and more so the communists executed just as many prisoners but obviously this is supposed to be an "anti-Franco" film and it attempts to criticize the regime in a satirical way that doesn't really look like satire, just boring confusion.
The husband is a character that is highly annoying and overbearing, he whines and slobbers all over the place because he is being dehumanized by so-called 'barbarians'. Carmen is just a cheap floozey who flounces her breasts, her breasts were shown once and every man in the film either touched or wanted to grope them. Silly. The troupe is made to perform in front of the Nationalists and it is one of the most boring endurances ever. Carmela shouts out against tryanny in a scene that looks like an exaggerated "Julius Cesear" and she signals the death of the Republic. How are we, the intelligent audience, supposed to believe that such a bunch of selfish, pestering middle class nit wits were out for Democracy in the first place? Thing is, we can't and that is the problem with this film, we don't have reason to believe anything it tells us.
The beginning of this film had some motion to it but when it couldn't decide if it was a comedy or an attack on Franco, it lost the steam and everyone became confused. It didn't even work because it was dull and monotonous also. The plot concerns a comedy acting troupe who was hired by the Republican officer corps to entertain enlisted troops. We see Carmela, who is a robust and an attractive older woman who can dance the flamenco. Her husband, a weak, tired former opera singer who is so dull he can't even make love to her and their companion, a young mute who is always reprimanded. We follow them as they attempt to go to Valencia and away from the war. When they are captured by Nationalist troops, everything goes insane, they are locked up in a detainee camp and they witness communists and other prisoners of the "evil" nationalists get executed. Problem here is, the Republicans, and more so the communists executed just as many prisoners but obviously this is supposed to be an "anti-Franco" film and it attempts to criticize the regime in a satirical way that doesn't really look like satire, just boring confusion.
The husband is a character that is highly annoying and overbearing, he whines and slobbers all over the place because he is being dehumanized by so-called 'barbarians'. Carmen is just a cheap floozey who flounces her breasts, her breasts were shown once and every man in the film either touched or wanted to grope them. Silly. The troupe is made to perform in front of the Nationalists and it is one of the most boring endurances ever. Carmela shouts out against tryanny in a scene that looks like an exaggerated "Julius Cesear" and she signals the death of the Republic. How are we, the intelligent audience, supposed to believe that such a bunch of selfish, pestering middle class nit wits were out for Democracy in the first place? Thing is, we can't and that is the problem with this film, we don't have reason to believe anything it tells us.