El Lobo (Wolf)
Originally published at Susan Hated Literature. You can comment here or there.
Dit: Miguel Courtois
Writ: Antonio Onetti
- Eduardo Noriega …. Txema
- José Coronado - Ricardo
- Mélanie Doutey - Amaia
- Silvia Abascal - Begoña
- Santiago Ramos - Pantxo
- Patrick Bruel - Nelson
In the 1970’s, as Franco’s dictatorship of Spain was slowly coming to an end, Txema finds himself getting involved with some Basque terrorists. In the middle of the night some ETA members show up at his door, and, friends with one, he allows them stay the night. As he chats with them he discovers that they are out to kill an informer. A man that Txema knows, a local taxi driver. Feeling guilty, Txema leaves a warning note on the Taxi, but it comes to late, and in the aftermath of the murder Txema is arrested.
And the Spanish secret service want to use him as an undercover agent. At first he refuses, but financial pressure, and the collapse of his business mean that he turns back to the police. It is suggested, but never said that it was police intervention that lead to his financial problems.
The rest of the film details Txema’s life with ETA as a mole, with the code name Lobo.
When I headed into the cinema, I had no idea what I wanted to watch, and this was on at just the right time, so despite not knowing anything about it, I decided to go see it. And I’m glad did. I know very little about Spain’s recent history, so it was interesting to see this film. The film opens with Txema running through the streets, carrying a gun, clearly fleeing the police. We have no idea who he is, or what is going on. but through flashbacks Txema’s backstory is revealed.
The acting is all great, you get a clear picture of Txema as uncertain and unsure through much of the film. He is doing what he thinks is right, but he doesn’t know if it is. And as he gets closer and closer to the leadership of ETA he can clearly sympathise with their positions, if not their methods. But although politics are clearly the driving force behind this film, they aren’t really investigated. Maybe I should say they are never overtly investigated, but the actions of both sides are shown. Both the terrorists and the police seem equally as violent as each other. This of course makes Noriega allt he more sympathetic, he is caught between both worlds.
Overall I enjoyed this film, it is well paced and keeps you entertained, and although over 2 hours doesn’t feel that long.
IMDb | Empire