El misterio Galíndez (2003)

On March 12, 1956, Basque Nationalist Jesús de Galíndez Suarez disappears from his apartment in New York, never heard from again. He had been working with the FBI and was about to publish a... See full summary »

Director:

Gerardo Herrero

Writers:

Ángeles González Sinde, Luis Marías,

Stars:

Saffron Burrows, Harvey Keitel, Eduard Fernández

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Saffron Burrows	...	Muriel Colber
Harvey Keitel	...	Edward Robards
Eduard Fernández	...	Galíndez
Guillermo Toledo	...	Ricardo
John Furey	...	Norman Radcliffe
Reynaldo Miravalles	...	Don Angelito
Chete Lera	...	Diplomático
Miriam Learra	...	Rosa
Carlos Padrón	...	Leon María Jara
Jacqueline Arenal	...	Gloria Moral
Mario Limonta	...	Areces (Old)
Joel Angelino	...	Don Angelito (Young)
Enrique Almirante	...	Trujillo
Hugo Reyes	...	Areces (Young)
Jorge Alí	...	Rivera Maculeto

Storyline

On March 12, 1956, Basque Nationalist Jesús de Galíndez Suarez disappears from his apartment in New York, never heard from again. He had been working with the FBI and was about to publish a book critical of Dominican strongman, Trujillo. In 1988, a graduate student, Muriel Colber, wants to make Galíndez the subject of her dissertation. She's in Spain doing research; finding little, she goes to Santo Domingo. At every turn, the CIA, in the person of agent Robards, tries to thwart her; and, at each turn, as she considers abandoning the project, someone offers new information, often contradictory. She wants the truth behind the Galíndez mystery; will she find it?

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Plot Keywords:

based on novel

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Spain UK Italy Portugal Cuba France

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

26 September 2003 (Spain)

Also Known As:

Galíndez mysteriet

Filming Locations:

Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

DMVB Films, Ensueño Films, Greenpoint Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min 126 min 116 min (IFC library print) 116 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

When Radcliffe is talking with Robards at the restaurant, his hand position on the beer glass changes.

User Reviews

Terrific picture, though somewhat overlong

This movie showed here in Los Angeles last night as part of a festival of New Spanish Cinema. Jesus de Galindez was a Basque nationalist who lived in the Dominican Republic after leaving Spain. And then after leaving the Dominican Republic for the United States he wrote a book exposing the Trujillo dicatorship. For this he was kidnapped and taken to the Dominican Republic where he was brutal tortured and killed.

The movie uncovers his life through the oddysey of a young woman from the United States who does research on his life, only to find doors blocked everywhere, and false open doors as well. Harvey Keitel plays the US government agent (it's unclear if CIA or FBI) whose assignment is to prevent the facts about Washington's role in the disappearance of Galindez from coming out. Keitel plays this role to a T.

At 126 minutes, it's somewhat overlong, and the performance by the actress playing protagonist is a bit goggle-eyed and wooden, but it's a fine movie. Interestingly, it's a bilingual movie, with parts of the dialogue in English, with Spanish subtitles, and in Spanish with English subtitles. It's also fascinating to listen to the different accents in Spanish by many of the characters.