One of the lamentable things in the Gulf region is that there is not much interest in movies if they don’t end with ‘-wood’: Hollywood, Bollywood and Arabwood. Annual film festivals are the only chance where we’d get a glimpse of the international movies.
In Oman we have the annual Muscat Film Festival, yet I don’t know many people who have watched a movie during it. Due to the lack of organisation, publicity and bad timings, many good movies are missed out by the public. And it’s a real loss as good movies by great directors are considered a visual literature to many. All these thoughts came to mind last weekend while watching Alejandro Amenábar’s — best-known for Vanilla Sky and The Others — newest movie: Mientras Dure la Guerra (While at War). As the title suggests, the movie talks about the unrest that occurred in Spain in 1936 and brought General Franco into power from 1939 till his death in 1975. What makes this movie different from other war movies — hence interesting — is that it’s viewed from an intellect’s side represented in the figure of Miguel de Unamuno, the celebrated Spanish writer and the rector of Salamanca University at the time.
Unamuno (played by Karra Elejalde) publicly decides to support the Spanish coup of 1936 believing that it would bring more stability to the country that’s been under the rule of the second Spanish Republic. He is removed from his position as the rector immediately but that doesn’t last long. When General Franco’s faction — the Nationalists — take control of the city of Salamanca, Unamuno is restored again to his former position. However, when Unamuno’s colleagues are incarcerated for no reason — and later executed without a trial — he starts questioning his initial position.
The master scene of the movie that left us viewers in awe comes from a real event that occurred in the University of Salamanca while celebrating Columbus Day. The crowd included Franco’s wife, the archbishop of Salamanca, writers — including Unamuno — and army commanders such as Franco’s associate Millán Astray. In this scene, Pemán the Falangist writer offends the Basques and Catalans calling them “cancers on the body of the nation that Fascism will heal” which offends Unamuno greatly.
He gives a moving speech that makes Millán Astray shout out his famous slogan in defence: “Long live death!”, to which Unamuno famously responds with: “You will win but you will not convince”. As the crowd roars in protest, Unamuno has to hold Franco’s wife’s hand in order to leave the hall unharmed. A few months later, Unamuno dies of a heart attack.
This movie is Amenábar’s first historical attempt and it’s executed to perfection. His attention to details is admirable, especially when it comes to characters. Karra Elejalde’s impersonation of Unamuno is outstanding. The old man’s emotions are easily felt through his looks that mixes fear, guilt and old age helplessness. It contrasts beautifully with the scenes of the younger Unamuno — the way that older Unamuno still see himself.
Santi Prego — who plays General Franco — perfects the vacant stare which Franco was known for (and generally confused his speakers). Each scene of the movie is a visual treat that reflects Amenábar’s distinguishable capabilities admired by many.
I really wish that in the future we’d get to see more movies of this genre, that discusses different aspects of history unknown to many of us. We’d been saturated with World War movies (American and English takes) and the Hollywood version of other wars. This movie might never reach our cinemas but you should never miss it when it streams online.
(Rasha al Raisi is a certified skills trainer and the author of: The World According to Bahja. rashabooks@yahoo.com)
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