Some sad events will take place in a small village in the mountains of Asturias, after the arrival of Abel, a young doctor, shortly before the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. This begins with the arrival of the young doctor Abel Garrido (Tamy Saad) who returns to his hometown to stay after his medical studies. There he will meet the children's school teacher Marina (María Mahor), Mingo (Gonzalo Cañas) and his girlfriend Rita (María Elena Arpón), with whom he establishes a good friendship. But when, in 1936, the 'Spanish Civil War' broke out, he was forced under the barrel of a gun to work as a doctor for the 'Popular Front' side. A series of events will then occur that will lead him to confront Mingo.
A good drama set in the Asturian mountains -Picos de Europa- during the years earlier the Spanish Civil War, as well as during this and subsequent events. It faces the development of life in a small Asturian town, the so-called 'vaqueiros', showing some village customs, agricultural tasks, livestock fairs and popular festivals. There live the teacher, well played by Maria Mahor, the young doctor and the beautiful peasant Rita, - who has a boyfriend with whom she is about to marry - but with whom the doctor is in love.
When the civil war happens, numerous dramatic events take place, with successive intense dramas, tragedies, shootings and vengaful deaths. All this until reaching a surprising and somewhat twisted ending. The casting is passable, starring the unknown Tamy Saad with a brief film career as the good-spirited young doctor who inevitably falls in love with an already engaged girl, the always capable Maria Mahor as the kind teacher whose love is unrequited, the very pretty María Elena Harpón and the also somewhat unknown Gonzalo Cañas. Standing out is a great secondary casting full of familiar faces, in which Ángel Álvarez stands out in his usual role as a priest, the truly Asturian José Suárez as a brute blacksmith, Tomás Blanco as a fine leftist authority, Rafael Hernández as a cruel militiaman, the then indispensable Xan Das Bolas as an old hermit living in the mountains, among others.
The film is quite acceptable and never boring, this is due to the variety of events that happen, among which are: unrequited loves, tragedies and revenge, and of course the always fateful and violent events that the Civil War (1936-1939) always brought with it. This remarkable film can be defined as an authentic and profound drama.
In 'The Rebel Mountain' (1971) the picturesque and spectacular photography by cameraman Manuel Hernández Sanjuán stands out, being filmed in the colorful mountains and lakes of the Picos de Europa (Asturias). To this we must add an evocative and exciting musical score by composer Alfonso Santisteban. The story was competently written and directed by Ramón Torrado, here he made a mostly decent, colorful and entertaining film, but not without some flaws, but compared to other films in his mediocre filmography it stands out markedly. However, the film failed at the box office, it turned out to be really obscure and unknown, in fact I found it on YouTube by chance, since I had never heard of it. The artisan Ramón Torrado was born in 1905, Galicia, Spain. He was a director and writer, known for directing some vehicles for well-known Folkloric Cinema stars such as Peret in ¨Amor a Todo gas¨ (1969), Manolo Escobar in ¨Un Beso en Puerto¨ (1966) and Paquito Rico in ¨Malvaloca¨ ( 1954). The previous ones being successes sufficient, and Torrado continued making other musical films of a similsar style. And he even made four Paella Westerns: ¨Los Cuatreros¨ de 1965, ¨La Carga de la Policía Montada¨ de 1964, ¨Relevo a Pistolero¨ de 1964 y ¨Bienvenido, Padre Murray¨ de 1963. Rating: 6.5/10.
