Dragón Rapide

Dragon Rapide was an ordinary, small private De Havilland DH-89 aircraft that played an important role in the outbreak of the 2nd Spanish Civil War in July 1936. It was chartered in London by the part of the military conspirators who were about to rise in rebellion against the legitimate Republican government (communist, de facto, since the advent of the Popular Front) with the mission to fly discreetly to the Canary Islands to take General Franco from here to Spanish North Africa (Morocco nowadays) to meet the bulk of the rebel faction of the army he'll eventually lead through three dramatic years of civil war until the rendition of the capital, Madrid.

The movie opens showing the weeks prior to the military uprising and how the conspirators react and complete their plans. Some of the highest ranked generals (Franco, Mola, Goded, Fanjul) are of course men who were conservative, religious and raised in the traditional values. They (as about half of the Spanish population and Military) are growing increasingly worried about the reign of terror that is becoming Spain under the atrocities made by the armed and uncontrolled communist militias and the lack of interest and authority of the Republican government to stop them. Finally, the generals make the decision to go ahead with the uprising and to protect the Nation... even against the legitimate Government.

If you are not Spanish, just consider this: In your standard Civil War there is a geographical factor: North against South, East vs West and so on, but in the case of Spain it was mostly a political and moral gap that made the difference: It was lefts vs rights and that implied religion versus laicism/atheism... so in many many cases the civil war divided tragically families, cities and neighborhoods, fathers against sons, brothers vs. sisters.

The Spanish politic and social factors involved in the Civil War and its causes and consequences are much too complex to be fully analized in the film or in this humble synopsis. Even today the wounds of the Civil War (1936-39) and the subsequent 36 years of military government/dictatorship under Franco (1939-1975) are so fresh in every individual, in every family on both sides. It is still a hot and conflictive subject where little objectivity is achieved: There is no political "center" on Spain, just Lefts and Rights. I was born 34 years ago, just when Franco died, and even many people of my generation have grandfathers and elder relatives who fought and/or died and/or were imprisoned in both sides, so opinions use to be so HOT.

Due to the complex background of the Civil War some very important factors on it are not shown at all and others are shown or explained only slightly, but that's not the intention of this movie - it's not a documentary after all. In general terms I must say it is a quite impartial, fair version of both sides' points of view - just a little bit lefty, but definitely far more impartial than the bulk of movies made about Spanish Civil War in Spain and abroad. It is the only film that I can recall that reflects the very important fact that Franco was not the only high-ranking General that was involved, and he had roughly about half of the military and the people with him The depictions of Generals Franco and Mola are well portrayed and their motivations are seen and explained with a fair objectivity. In the average lefty Spanish movie all the National side from Franco to the last soldier are just insane nazi bad guys with the only interest of killing and causing terror withour reason - just like Freddy Krueger or Leatherface. That's totally unfair and that's ABSOLUTELY not historically true and that's not funny or interesting neither. Right or wrong, they were exceptionally prepared generals and intelligent individuals and their decisions were so complex and painful - to go to war against half of their own country, which they swore to protect. All those movies done from political resentment lose that juicy main point from the very beginning, considering only one side of the story (THEIR side, of course).

In all, the main, "high-level" political and historical facts are well intertwined with the smaller layer composed by the individual characters and their minor stories, helplessly caught in the unstoppable spiral of violence of a divided country that they know will lead to a civil war. The costumes and props also show a good job, without excess - the atmosphere created looks like an adequate recreation of the Spanish 1930's. A nice, clean, well-balanced movie in general terms, in my humble opinion.

The movie title origin is the British plane , ¨De Haviland¨ , that Franco traveled from Las Palmas De Gran Canaria to Tetuán , in the Spanish Protectorate of Morocco , for becoming himself leader of the uprising Julio 18 , 1936 . General Franco is in the Canary Islands and asks for hire a Dragon Rapide in London to help him station in Africa . Being financed by magnate banker Juán March (Pedro Del Rio) , then Luis Botín (Santiago Ramos) hires a plane to go hunting lions in Atlas mountains when really his aim to be to transport Franco (Juán Diego , married to Carmen Polo : Vicky Peña) towards Tetuán and lead the impending military uprising . For this he has the support of a large group of soldiers of the Spanish Army of Africa .

The film deals with the fifteen days leading up to the Spanish Civil War in 1936 are dramatized from many different locations in Spain , Morocco and London . It is narrated by some parallel stories , retelling historical as well as fictitious events . The picture is based on historic events , though it has some inventions and lies . It stands out the scenes of Franco with his wife and daughter . The flick is spoiled by its short-budget , interiors overusing and lacking exteriors .

The motion picture was regularly directed by Jaime Camino . Camino was a member of the ¨Barcelona School¨ . His films were strongly censored from ¨Los Felices 60¨ to ¨Largas Vacaciones Del 36¨. He directed several dramas as ¨Un Invierno En Mallorca¨ about Federico Chopin and George Sand in this island , ¨La Campanada¨ upon crisis of a middle-age man , ¨El Balcón Abierto¨ about poet Federico Garcia Lórca , a prestigious documentary titled ¨La Vieja Memoria¨ and finally ¨El Largo Invierno¨ about the end of the Spanish Civil War in Barcelona .

The actual facts of this tale were the followings : The republican government had been attempting to remove suspect generals from their posts, and so Franco (Juan Diego) was relieved as chief of staff and transferred to command of the Canary islands . Goded was replaced as Inspector General and made general of the Balearic islands ; Emilio Mola (Manuel de Blas) was moved from head of the Army of Africa to be military commander of Pamplona in Navarre . However, this allowed Mola to direct the mainland uprising , although the relationship between him and Carlist leaders was problematic . General José Sanjurjo became the figurehead of the operation, and helped to come to an agreement with the Carlists. Mola was chief planner and second in command . José Antonio Primo de Rivera was put in prison in mid-March in order to restrict the Falange. However, government actions were not as thorough as they might have been: warnings by the Director of Security and other figures were not acted upon. On 12 June , Prime Minister Casares Quiroga met General Juan Yagüe, who was rightly accused of masterminding the growing conspiracy in North Africa , but Tte. Coronel Yagüe (Damián Velasco)managed to convince Casares of his loyalty to the republic . Mola held a meeting between garrison commanders in the north of Spain on 15 June, and local authorities , on hearing of the meeting , surrounded it with Civil Guards . However, Casares ordered their removal , saying he trusted Mola. Mola began serious planning in the spring, but General Francisco Franco hesitated until early July, inspiring other plotters to refer to him as "Miss Canary Islands 1936" . Franco was a key player because of his prestige as a former director of the military academy and as the man who suppressed the Socialist uprising of 1934 . He was well respected in the Spanish Moroccan Army, Spain's strongest military forcé . He wrote a cryptic letter to Casares on 23 June , suggesting that the military was disloyal, but could be restrained if he were put in charge Casares did nothing, failing to arrest or buy off Franco, even if placing him in overall command was impossible. Franco was to be assigned control of Morocco in the new regime, and largely sidelined . On July 5, an aircraft was chartered to take Franco from the Canary Islands to Morocco. On 12 July , in Madrid, a member of the Falange named Jorge Bardina murdered Lieutenant José Castillo of the Assault Guards police forcé . The next day, members of the Assault Guards arrested José Calvo Sotelo (José Luis Pellicena) , a leading Spanish monarchist and a prominent parliamentary conservative; the original target was Gil Robles but he could not be found. Calvo Sotelo was shot by the Guards without trial . Franco's plane landed in Gran Canaria on July 14, but , based in Tenerife, he would have been unable to make the plane without the death of General Amado Balmes , military commander in Gran Canaria, who was killed in a shooting accident on July 16 . The rising was intended to be swift, but the government retained control of most of the country including Málaga, Jaén and Almería. Cadiz was taken for the rebels and General Queipo de Llano managed to secure Seville. In Madrid, the rebels were hemmed into the Montaña barracks, which fell with much bloodshed . On 19 July the cabinet headed by the newly appointed prime minister José Giral ordered the distribution of weapons to the unions, helping to defeat the rebels in Madrid, Barcelona, and Valencia, which led to anarchists taking control of large parts of Aragon and Catalonia . Rebel General Goded surrendered in Barcelona and was later condemned to death.