Guernica (I) (1950)

On April 26 1937 the small Basque town of Guernica was bombed without warning by the German aviation. Two thousand people, all civilians, got killed. Like millions all over the world, Pablo... See full summary »

Directors:

Robert Hessens, Alain Resnais

Writer:

Paul Éluard (poem)

Stars:

María Casares, Jacques Pruvost

Cast

Cast overview:
María Casares	...	Récitante / Narrator (voice) (as María Casarès)
Jacques Pruvost	...	Récitant / Narrator (voice)

Storyline

On April 26 1937 the small Basque town of Guernica was bombed without warning by the German aviation. Two thousand people, all civilians, got killed. Like millions all over the world, Pablo Picasso was shocked and he translated his emotion into a magnificent but terrifying picture bearing the name of the martyred city. This film does not only comment on the painting, it also gives it a new life through frantic camera and sound effects.

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Genres:

Short

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

8 October 1971 (Finland)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Panthéon Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

13 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

User Reviews

Sorry attempt

To be fair, this isn't a high budget film, so I was generous in giving this a 3/10. There was no action, just visuals, like a slide show, and most of us are quite bored with slide shows, unless you have majestic scenery. There was no majestic scenery here. Some paintings of gorgeous women, and some paintings of other people, that was it.

The film is about a war atrocity, and I can forgive the low budget effects, but not the direction. It was poorly concocted. It turned into many minutes of tedium. And therein was the greatest goof. You can't make a full length film out of boring paintings, but anything over 2 minutes is insane. In fact, you can tell the story much better by merely compressing it into a minute. It's like those bible verses in Leviticus and Numbers that just repeat the same stuff over and over, and make the reader or listener know that the person who is delivering this message is attacking the reader, is trying to make the reader suffer, is trying to do something bad to the reader or listener, and therefore the creator of this piece loses the trust of any sane viewer. And that is a horrendous mistake.