Drama about the consequences of Spanish civil war , Maquis or Republican guerrillas , the anti-Franco resistance and many other things . This slow-moving and intelligent picture is well set in Spain of the 40s . This historical movie tells the story of a little republican resistance during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and post-war . It's a dramatic and tragic story , like the Civil War was , and there are popular Spanish actors , such as Antonio Resines , Alvaro de Luna , Santiago Ramos ; but resulting to be an unknown and obscure film .The film is set in Spanish Civil War on the Northern front , there takes place a hard fight carried out by two extremely fighter armies : the Nationalist troops led by General Francisco Franco and Republican ones led by General Rojo and Negrin . Vanquished the Republican regime in Asturias , hundreds of escaped soldiers take shelter at the Cantabrian mountains and heavily wooded valleys . So they do not hesitate to throw themselves into the mountains before the Nationalist advance executing a clandestine fight . As a group of men, because of the Spanish civil war, has been trapped in the mountains persecuted by the army and the Civil Guard . Some Republican fighters continue to harass the victors with guerrilla operations. One of the zones of resistance were the mountains of León. In the region of Riaño, half a dozen maquis maintain a very unequal fight against the Civil Guard. Ramiro (Antonio Resines) , Santiago (Santiago Ramos) and Gildo (Alvaro de Luna) , three militiamen, are relentlessly chased by a patrol of the Benemérita under the command of a tough sergeant (Fernando Vivanco) who is in love with the same woman (Kiti Manver) as Ramiro. Along the way , the rebel soldiers uncovering terror , vengeance , fear , treason and isolation .To get enough money to cross the frontier to France , the Guerrilleros kidnap the owner of a mine in exchange for 150,000 pesetas , but the authorities don't aware of their demand and while a traitor informs about the whereabouts the resistance fighters .
Acceptable warlike movie is filled with thrills , intrigue , intense drama , and breathtaking confrontations .¨Luna de lobos¨ Or ¨Moon of wolves¨results to be other of the innumerable stories to deal with dramatic deeds regarding the Civil War background and Franco epoch . A familiar theme about the global horrors of a fratricide war , impossible to forget to our cinema .This interesting historical story is a passionate retelling and a touching as well as intense drama . Dealing with the "maquis", these brave , communist Guerrilleros go on battling for their ideas , even at the cost of their own existences . It has a message of sacrifice against a fraticide war and understanding the futility of a civil confrontation, and being acceptably paced . As the main issue of the movie is the peculiar reunion and subsequent fight of the three protagonists , as the circumstances make that both spend time under the same roof , which will lead them to talk , help each other better and to think otherwise ; subsequently together they will spend the last hours of their lives . The flick is benefited by adequate interpretations , some nice action scenes , nail-biting drama, and impressive battle scenes .The picture is partially based on historic events , though it has some inventions and including well recreated settings carried out by production designer . But it is not quite complete , neither as a portrait of a period and deeds , nor as an action film . Follwing the style of other ¨Maquis¨films , such as : "Broken Silence" (2001) by Montxo Armendariz and ¨Huidos¨ (1993) played/directed by Sancho Gracia . Director Julio Sánchez Valdés also writes the script along with novelist Julio Llamazares and filmed in his usual formal and stylistic scholarship , without leaving a trace the thought-provoking issues , in terms of dramatic and narrative excitement , including the reality of political repression , betrayal , accusation , pursuit and political facts by that time . In my opinion, what seems to be the director intention is to make an action war drama with a western atmosphere , accompanying the beautifully photographed Astuurias/León landscapes and the magnificent setting and the enjoyable list of actors who set the show in motion . This is a Spanish average budget production and obtained moderated success in the box-office . The main problem has to face "Luna de Lobos", beyond not being able to avoid falling into the politic pamphlet is precisely derived from the coldness of its staging , which eventually become monotonous over 107 min of footage . Because the story needs a vibration more real than the one offered in this slow-moving and sometimes boring film . But anyway, its is compensated with the great performances from main cast , such as : Santiago Ramos, Alvaro de Luna and Antonio Resines and a nice support cast specially from Fernado Vivanco , Kiti Manver , Cristina Collado, Jesús Cisneros, Frank Braña, Concha Leza , Cesáreo Estébanez , Estanis González , among others.
Atmospheric cinematography with colorful outdoors by cameraman Juan Molina Temboury , shot on location in La Ercina, Riaño, Cistierna, León, Castilla y León , but it turns to be too much murky in some video print , being necessary a perfect remastering . As well as sensitive musical score by Bernardo Fuster and Luis Mendo . The motion picture was well directed by Julio Sánchez Valdés , being realized with academicism and general coldness ; adding a splendid , luxurious photography with juicy atmosphere . Craftsman Julio Valdés is a director and writer, known for ¨La fuente de la edad¨ (1991) , ¨De tripas corazón¨ (1985) and this his best film : ¨Luna de Lobos¨ (1985) about the rebel Maquis in the Spanish Civil War , while ¨XXL¨ resulted to be his worst movie . He usually directs episodes in known TV series , such as ¨Querido Maestro¨ , ¨Petra Delicado¨, ¨Robles Investigador¨, ¨Ay Señor, Señor ¨, among others . Rating : 6/10 . Decent Spanish war film .
