To my way of thinking, nothing seems more inappropriate and inconsistent than labelling "Raza" as laughable or as a simple political pamphlet. OK, Sáenz De Heredia was no Leni Riefenstahl - and, in my humble opinion, and with all due respects to Riefenstahl and her work, he didn´t need to. Some people try to scrutinize each and every corner of both Generalissimo Franco´s book and Sáenz De Heredia´s film in a frantic search for data which can be degrading and negative to Franco without ever noticing a little bit of light, a little bit of ideals or at least something that is not mean or ridiculous. For most of these people, the great concepts that provide the backbone of the life of a military man - country, honour, sacrifice, ideals, etc. - are hollow and old-fashioned words without any value in these so-called modern times. That´s the characteristic point of view of the "progressive" who don´t know what to do or say when they get to the power or expose their alternative.
Those who think that this is a pro-Nazi film should notice that there isn´t any allusion to Hitler or the Nazism in the whole context of the movie (apart from the fact that they seem to be completely unaware of: Franco clipped Hitler´s wings when the latter tried to introduce his army in Spain). The Council of Spanishness took charge of the production of the picture and entrusted its direction to one of the best film directors in the history of cinema, José Luis Sáenz De Heredia, who was, effectively, cousin of the Founder of the Falange, José Antonio Primo De Rivera, but I don´t think this is a discrediting to make a movie, is it? Franco chose him from several directors and let him work with absolute freedom. The film was an outstanding success in those years of remarkable patriotism that followed the end of the Spanish Civil War. The greatest actors of the era were in it: Alfredo Mayo and the extraordinary Ana Mariscal were the leading performers alongside José Nieto, Blanca De Silos, Raúl Cancio and a terrific Julio Rey in the brief but pivotal role of the father.
"Raza" (both the novel and the film) must be placed in their time. And for their time they were what they had to be. The cinematic rubbish perpetrated by Ken Loach and Vicente Aranda ("Land And Freedom" and "Libertarias", respectively), about the heroic anarchist conscripts of the other side, seem much more grievous to me, who, as a war veteran born in 1919, lived that era. The purpose of "Raza" was to explain to the whole Spanish people the real history of a third of the century and many people believed in it because they had lived the history that way. So the film, seen with hindsight, is not anachronistic or ridiculous; it reflects perfectly the ideas and the feelings than made millions of Spaniards vibrate at that time. (Is there anything preposterous in the fact that a military man considers that dying for his country is something beautiful? Do the people of these days have the slightest idea of who the Almogavars were?).
The Churrucas, the family depicted in the film, is not Franco´s real family. The leading male character, José (Alfredo Mayo) is a frustrated sailor and an infantry officer with a brilliant career, but his adventures during the Second Republic and the Civil War don´t have anything to do with Franco himself. The antagonist, Pedro (José Nieto) may have some element that reminds us of Ramón Franco, but it is not a portrait of Franco´s younger brother, who was anything but an intellectual. Anyone who knows accurately Franco´s biography is perfectly aware that this is not an autobiographical work, but a labour of love which must not inspire us with despise but be considered a reliable portrait of a forgotten Spain that nevertheless is a part of historical memory and roots. (By the way: do you think it´s laughable to see how a whole group of monks are murdered by the sea? These things really happened, believe it or not.)
The film, as a work, is magnetic; one of my favourite sequences is that of the front near Bilbao, when Capt. Echeverría (Raúl Cancio) is about to desert to see his wife and children but his brother-in-law, José Churruca, arrives in time to avoid it. And I like very much the scene in which José gets to arrive to the National zone after having been shot and presumed dead (there were more than one of those cases in the war), especially the moment in which we see a beautiful woman dressed as a man, who has had to pose as a male to be able to fight for what she believes in. (I think there is a sexy element in that segment.) And I like very much the scene of Pedro´s sacrifice and any scene Ana Mariscal is in.
If this film had been made in the United States and its action took place during the World War II, it would be considered more or less a masterpiece. But as it was made in Spain during Franco´s regime, it has necessarily to be a turkey. That´s the way it goes!
Those who think that this is a pro-Nazi film should notice that there isn´t any allusion to Hitler or the Nazism in the whole context of the movie (apart from the fact that they seem to be completely unaware of: Franco clipped Hitler´s wings when the latter tried to introduce his army in Spain). The Council of Spanishness took charge of the production of the picture and entrusted its direction to one of the best film directors in the history of cinema, José Luis Sáenz De Heredia, who was, effectively, cousin of the Founder of the Falange, José Antonio Primo De Rivera, but I don´t think this is a discrediting to make a movie, is it? Franco chose him from several directors and let him work with absolute freedom. The film was an outstanding success in those years of remarkable patriotism that followed the end of the Spanish Civil War. The greatest actors of the era were in it: Alfredo Mayo and the extraordinary Ana Mariscal were the leading performers alongside José Nieto, Blanca De Silos, Raúl Cancio and a terrific Julio Rey in the brief but pivotal role of the father.
"Raza" (both the novel and the film) must be placed in their time. And for their time they were what they had to be. The cinematic rubbish perpetrated by Ken Loach and Vicente Aranda ("Land And Freedom" and "Libertarias", respectively), about the heroic anarchist conscripts of the other side, seem much more grievous to me, who, as a war veteran born in 1919, lived that era. The purpose of "Raza" was to explain to the whole Spanish people the real history of a third of the century and many people believed in it because they had lived the history that way. So the film, seen with hindsight, is not anachronistic or ridiculous; it reflects perfectly the ideas and the feelings than made millions of Spaniards vibrate at that time. (Is there anything preposterous in the fact that a military man considers that dying for his country is something beautiful? Do the people of these days have the slightest idea of who the Almogavars were?).
The Churrucas, the family depicted in the film, is not Franco´s real family. The leading male character, José (Alfredo Mayo) is a frustrated sailor and an infantry officer with a brilliant career, but his adventures during the Second Republic and the Civil War don´t have anything to do with Franco himself. The antagonist, Pedro (José Nieto) may have some element that reminds us of Ramón Franco, but it is not a portrait of Franco´s younger brother, who was anything but an intellectual. Anyone who knows accurately Franco´s biography is perfectly aware that this is not an autobiographical work, but a labour of love which must not inspire us with despise but be considered a reliable portrait of a forgotten Spain that nevertheless is a part of historical memory and roots. (By the way: do you think it´s laughable to see how a whole group of monks are murdered by the sea? These things really happened, believe it or not.)
The film, as a work, is magnetic; one of my favourite sequences is that of the front near Bilbao, when Capt. Echeverría (Raúl Cancio) is about to desert to see his wife and children but his brother-in-law, José Churruca, arrives in time to avoid it. And I like very much the scene in which José gets to arrive to the National zone after having been shot and presumed dead (there were more than one of those cases in the war), especially the moment in which we see a beautiful woman dressed as a man, who has had to pose as a male to be able to fight for what she believes in. (I think there is a sexy element in that segment.) And I like very much the scene of Pedro´s sacrifice and any scene Ana Mariscal is in.
If this film had been made in the United States and its action took place during the World War II, it would be considered more or less a masterpiece. But as it was made in Spain during Franco´s regime, it has necessarily to be a turkey. That´s the way it goes!