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Reviews
Walking with the Enemy (2013)
A good film, but with some flaws
Based on true story, 'Walking with the Enemy' is a gripping tale of WW II Hungary. However, a couple of characterisations seem awry. In the first place, Otto Skorzeny is turned into a nasty Adolf Eichmann type character, when he was in fact a combat commando who was acquitted of war crimes charges. Also, Ben Kingsley's portrayal of Regent Horthy is probably too noble - Horthy may have been basically decent, but he was also opportunistic, particularly in the earlier stages of the war. .
¡El santuario no se rinde! (1949)
"The Civil Guard dies but does not surrender "
Interesting example of the 'cinema of La Cruzada'. By 1949 or more nuanced approach to the Spanish Civil War is possible. The director Arturo Ruiz Castillo was a former Republican and a friend and colleague of the poet Lorca.
The hero, played by Alfredo Mayo, is a moderate, non communist Republican who saves the life of a Marquis' daughter and journeys with her to the hillside shrine where pro-Nationalist Civil Guards and civilians have taken refuge.
Some effective scenes such as the aerial combat sequence and the chapel service under bombardment.
Franco Building with Jonathan Meades (2019)
Entertaining but utterly inaccurate
Meades has a certain style but his content isn't necessarily factual. He claims that thousands of Republican prisoners were worked to death at Valle de los Caídos. In fact, according to anti- Franco historian Paul Preston, the real figure of fatalities from building work there was 14. Meades seems to have the anti-Franco obsession common among British leftists (or pseudo-leftists) of a certain age.