Songs for After a War

This documentary begins when the Spanish civil war has finished, that is in 1939. We can see a destroyed and hungry country trying to survive. What Mr Patiño chooses in the popular path, the then pop icons that in a way or another helped Spanis people, the survivors that is, to overcome the crisis.

In this curious parade there names of singers -from Imperio Argentina to Lola Flores or Miguel de Molina-, actors -from Jorge Mistral to Aurora Bautista or Fernando Rey-, writers -Camilo José Cela-, magazines, radio programs, advertising, movies.

The whole mechanism of Franco's propaganda is displayed carefully. It is worth to notice that the movie, finished in 1971, was banned and could be released after Franco's death Not curiously, the end gives us the image of the present King of Spain, the "gift" Mr Franco gave to Spain for the Opus Day to go on with its economical policy abel posadas

I watched this film as part of a university class on Spanish National Cinema and 30 minutes into the film, only a brave few were left in the room. It is hard to grasp it on first viewing, especially if you don't understand Spanish (because not everything, especially words beyond newspaper headlines, are translated in the subtitles) or know a bit about Spanish history. Another thing that makes it a challenge to concentrate all the way through is the lack of voice-overs - essentially the film is a montage of images and footage paired with popular songs and/or tainted with different colours.

But I found that watching it a second time(and subsequent times after) and doing some research on the events mentioned in the documentary, I really enjoyed the film because it really does do a good job in subtly criticising Francoist Spain (and getting away with it because it passed the censors and was only banned because it was a documentary), at the same time encapsulating a lot of the emotions that the people felt.

Plus it has some really catchy songs! A must-watch for the adventurous (and studious) but not really for those merely looking for some light entertainment.