La colmena

Due to the recent death of Nobel Prize Winner Camilo José Cela, the Spanish TV showed this wonderful film as an homage. It's an adaptation of one of his most famous novels, "La Colmena" (The Beehive) and what an adaptation!

A terrific cast with the best of Spanish cinema then (early 80's): José Sacristán, Paco Rabal, Victoria Abril, José Luis López Vázquez, José Sazatornil "Saza", Agustín González and in brief appearances a lot of excellent secondary actors like Luis Ciges, Miguel Rellán or Paco Algora.

The movie follows several characters who live in the same city, Madrid, and whose problems are more or less the same. Spanish Civil War has just ended, Franco rules the country and the poverty, the hunger and the repression affect the entire population. This can be seen on the sad character played by Sacristán, a homeless writer who's forced to spend the nights in a miserable brothel.

Besides, those from upper classes (mostly, Franco followers) are also well described in the character of Agustín González, who smoke expensive cigars while others near to him live in a complete poverty.

A wonderful film, one of the best spanish movies of the 80's, made by someone with real talent (Mario Camus) who 2 years later directed an astonishing masterpiece called LOS SANTOS INOCENTES (The Holy Innocents).