Iris (Silke), a beautiful young photographer, flees an unhappy marriage and returns to her mother in a village in Spain. The Spanish Civil War is raging and this is a time when life often dangles by a thread. Iris's story is shaped by the twists of fate during armed conflict and the choices she makes as she tries to follow her heart. When capricious violence claims Iris's mother (Jesusa Andany) and the young woman takes refuge with others in a shelter during a bombing attack, she also takes comfort in the arms of Oscar, a handsome doctor (Gines Garcia Millan). She builds a new life in her childhood village, embarking on a passionate love affair with Oscar and forging a fateful relationship with Magdelena (Ana Torrent), a young nurse at his hospital. Iris enjoys but a brief season of relative peace and happiness, however, as her worlds collide. Her ex-husband, Julian, reappears briefly about the same time her new husband is called away to treat wounded -- and never returns. The old husband heeds the call to arms, and when Iris gives birth to her daughter,Agata, Julian's mother, Rosario (Martirio) enters the story to assert her parental rights, contending that a divorce never occurred. Iris' attempt to resist only results in unhappy legal complications under a system that regards adultery as a crime. Iris's struggles to reunite with her daughter (Aida de la Cruz as a child, Merce Pons as an adult), and to find Oscar become a trans-generational quest as she tries to fulfill her heart's destiny. This production, directed by Rosa Verges, is put over with earnest performances from a strong cast, but staging of key plot points is awkward, bordering on amateurish. Most American viewers, for instance, probably will cringe at the demise of Iris' mother. And the scenes showing the raging passion between Oscar and Iris seem overplayed to the point that they make the final resolution feel as if it oddly misfires. Even so, Silke is radiant in the title role and Torrent, as Iris's loyal friend, speaks volumes with her extraordinary eyes. Aida de la Cruz is enchanting as the young Agata.
Review of Iris
