Lobos sucios (2015)

Two sisters turns in the center of a plot implying wolfram, Nazis, Franco's prisoners and British spies.

Director:

Simón Casal (as Simón Casal de Miguel)

Writers:

Carmen Abarca, Silvia Balanza (collaborator)

Stars:

Marian Álvarez, Noemí Auditore, Ricardo de Barreiro

2 wins & 12 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Marian Álvarez	...	Manuela
Noemí Auditore	...	Alba
Ricardo de Barreiro	...	Virutas
Rosa Álvarez	...	Rosalía
Mara Sánchez	...	Vicenta
Xosé Manuel Esperante	...	Márquez
Alejandro Martínez	...	Guardia entrada
Sacha	...	Trabajador ladrón
Isak Férriz	...	Miguel Peña
Pierre Kiwitt	...	Franz
Andreas Perschewski	...	Helmut
Hoss	...	Lord
Manuela Vellés	...	Candela
Sam Louwyck	...	Bryan
Luisa Merelas	...	María

Storyline

1944. In a Spain impoverished and almost annihilated by the Civil War, Manuela and Candela are two completely different sisters who live in a little town of the deep Galicia. Meanwhile Manuela just wanna live in peace and heal to her sick and little daughter Alba, her younger sister Candela steals little amounts of the wolfram (a mineral used in Second World War for tanks and fire weapons) she extracts in a mine to shell it in the black market, trying to get money. In addition, she helps Bryan, an English agent of British Intelligence living secretly in the town, in an attempt to close the mine used by the Nazis with General Franco's permission, to move all wolfram they can reunite to Germany, in order to expand their weaponry. Reluctant, Manuela collaborates with Candela to contact a former guerrilla called Miguel Peña to organize the mine workers (all them Franco's prisoners from the Civil War, condemned to penal servitude to avoid being executed) to cave a secret tunnel to steal ...

---

Plot Keywords:

mine | town | english | franco | nazi | 

---

Genres:

Drama | Thriller

---

Details

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish German

Release Date:

8 April 2016 (Spain)

Also Known As:

Dirty Wolves

Box Office

Budget:

€1,400,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

€44,343 (Spain), 8 April 2016, Limited Release

Company Credits

Production Co:

Agallas Films, Centre du Cinéma et de l'Audiovisuel de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, Dream Team Concept

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Manuela's necklace is a trisquel, an ancient Celt symbol for good luck. It's the same symbol used in the TV show Charmed (1998), where it's completed with a circle inside, receiving the name of triquetra.

User Reviews

Very gripping drama that didn't know how to end

I watched this film for the first time when I attended an event at my University. The film hadn't been released in cinemas yet, so we were one of the first to see it.

The opening sequences of the forest are amazing. They take your mind and point it towards Tarkovsky and Iñárritu. The forest is amazing and gives off magical vibes, and the color scheme really brings you in to the locations, with really warm firelight in closed spaces. The camera movements take a while to get used to - it's a bit nauseating at first, but it's a blast once you've grown comfortable with it.

Onto the story: it is very well written, fast paced, and gripping. But, as I said before, it doesn't know how to end. The last few minutes of the film might be interpreted as a metaphor, a cliché, or just an easy way to end it. But for me it took the credibility away. I'd love to watch the film with the last five minutes recut.

In summary, great acting on Marian Álvarez's part, prototypical musical score, very good story that falls short because of the ending, amazing photography and lighting, and many characters that are interesting to see develop.

Solid 8 out of 10.