El Lobo (2004)

Director:

Miguel Courtois

Writer:

Antonio Onetti (writer)

Release Date:

5 November 2004 (Spain)

Genre:

Thriller

Plot:

Based on a true story. In the 70's, during the last stages of Franco's dictatorship, Txema, a basque construction worker...

Awards:

2 wins & 10 nominations

Cast

Eduardo Noriega	...	Txema
José Coronado	...	Ricardo
Mélanie Doutey	...	Amaia
Silvia Abascal	...	Begoña
Santiago Ramos	...	Pantxo
Patrick Bruel	...	Nelson
Jorge Sanz	...	Asier
Manuel Zarzo	...	Matías
Fernando Cayo	...	Txino
Juan Fernández	...	Comandante Palacios
Roger Pera	...	Mediometro
José Luis García Pérez	...	Mejía (as José Luis García-Pérez)
Chema Muñoz	...	Arrieta
Antonio Ferrera	...	Reto
Juan Polanco	...	Gordo

Also Known As:

Wolf (International: English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, language and a brief scene of graphic sexual content.

Runtime:

125 min | Argentina:123 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival) | 134 min (extended version)

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Ireland:15A | USA:R | Spain:18 | Brazil:14 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Barcelona, Cataluña, Spain

Company:

Castelao Producciones

Goofs:

Anachronisms: On chapter 5 of the DVD, almost at minute 19 of the film, a caption says it's 1973. There's a wedding and while Amaia sings (00:20:33) we can see a cymbal in the background, whose brand is Sabian. This brand was founded in Canada in 1981.

Quotes:

Nelson: You know what's that?
José María Loygorri, 'Txema': A bullet.
Nelson: I always keep one of these... for traitors.

Movie Connections:

References Ultimo tango a Parigi (1972)

Soundtrack:

Highway Star

You can use all of your bullets except for this one. This one... is for Lobo.

You cannot live in Spain and not know about ETA. I lived there for six years, and often heard about their never-ending war against the high ranking Spanish military, police, and others. This film is about a spy that managed to infiltrate ETA.

As a political thriller, it is a good film that shows how bad both sides can get when there is tension. They even put a hit out on El Lobo to get good press. In fact, they kill one of their own to get at him.

Amidst the intrigue, El Lobo (Eduardo Noriega) manages some fringe benefits with Amaia (Mélanie Doutey), including one balaclava-clad tryst that was interesting. But, she proves to be fickle, and joins one of the leaders in his bed. Meanwhile, Noriega is getting in so deep that he forgets he has a wife (Silvia Abascal) waiting at home.

And, now he is a pariah to the good guys. His own wife considers him a traitor to his people.

They got the job done, but at what cost. Very good story, and Noriega was excellent.