La pelota vasca. La piel contra la piedra (2003)

Director:

Julio Medem

Writer:

Julio Medem (writer)

Release Date:

3 October 2003 (Spain)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

Documentary about the Basque nationalist movement in Spain. |

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Xabier Arzalluz	...	Himself
Bernardo Atxaga	...	Himself
Txiki Benegas	...	Himself
Txetxo Bengoetxea	...	Himself
Julen de Madariaga	...	Himself
Odón Elorza	...	Himself
Iñaki Gabilondo	...	Himself
Carlos Garaikoetxea	...	Himself
Anika Gil	...	Herself
Carmelo Gómez	...	Antonio (archive footage)
Felipe González	...	Himself
Juan José Ibarretxe	...	Himself
Fermín Muguruza	...	Himself
Gemma Nierga	...	Herself (archive footage)
Arnaldo Otegi	...	Himself
Gregorio Peces Barba	...	Himself
Alec Reid	...	Himself
Ana Torrent	...	Yoyes (archive footage)

Also Known As:

Euskal pilota. Larrua harriaren kontra (Spain: Basque title)
The Basque Ball: Skin Against Stone (USA)

Runtime:

Spain:110 min | Spain:417 min (extended version)

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish | Basque | English | French

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Spain:T

Company:

Alicia Produce

Movie Connections:

Features "Around the World with Orson Welles" (1955)

Flawed, but worth it if you have an interest in the subject

There's been a trend in recent years for documentaries to tell their stories simply through the testimony of a bunch of talking heads. This film follows that trend and, like most such documentaries, it becomes a bit dull and repetitive after a while. The attempts at creativity toward the end, such as the flipping back and forth between the prisoner's wife and the widow of the ETA victim, or the camera zooming over the interviewees, seem clumsy and self-conscious when they do occur. A bit more variety throughout the film wouldn't have gone amiss.

The technique of introducing interviewees in groups of three or four and then having them speak is confusing. By the time you hear what the person has to say, you've forgotten who they are and what perspective they're coming from.

It's interesting that people who oppose Basque independence seem to think the film is biased in favour of it. I'm in favour of it and I didn't see that bias at all. It certainly is not apologetic of violence. At most it seems to suggest that the Spanish Government is wrong to engage in its own violence, and wrong to not talk even to moderate nationalists. One hardly has to be an ETA supporter to agree with that.

For all the flaws mentioned above, the subject matter was covered in a thorough, coherent and generally balanced way. I wouldn't recommend it as an introduction, but it's a worthwhile exercise for those who already have some knowledge of the conflict.

(Note: this review refers to the 2 hour version)