La desaparición de García Lorca

Like the very mixed reviews one finds here, this movie struck me as a curious mix of bad, clunky acting and directing and poignant, even haunting , moments. It's as if the movie had a talented script writer and poor director...but probably vice versa. The basic story line - a young fan returns decades later to try to discover the truth of Lorca's death - is artificial and implausible,while the depiction of the violence and ambiguities of Spanish Civil War is most effective.I watched it with interest, while at times I couldn't imagine how such a bad scene could have made on film in an apparently serious movie. Overall worth watching but be forewarned....

I was living in Granada when they were shooting the film on location and I was really looking forward to seeing it. It wasn't worth waiting for. The direction was dull, the actors uninspired and the plot just plain silly. Perhaps it would just have been a boring film if it was a fictional story but the makers of the film claimed that it was based on the books about Lorca written by Ian Gibson. And since it was full of historical errors it was not only a boring but also an irritating film. The only good thing about it is the view of the Alhambra. An interesting note is that the fascist bull fighter is the real life bull fighter who appears in the Madonna videos.

Ricardo Fernandez (Esai Morales) and his family escaped the Spanish Civil War to Pueto Rico 18 years ago. He wants to write about his childhood hero political writer Federico Garcia Lorca (Andy Garcia). He goes back to Spain to investigate Lorca's disappearance despite his father's concerns. As a child in Granada, Ricardo brought his family to Lorca's play. It is the start of the Spanish Civil War and Lorca is seen as a leftist agitator. Young Ricardo is taken with the charismatic Lorca.

This is an interesting historical drama. There is a bit of melodrama. The acting is good for the most part. It may be more compelling to concentrate more on Lorca and his life instead of the back and forth between the two time lines. It may also have more tension if the movie doesn't basically give away Lorca's end right from the start. I don't know anything about the real life of Lorca and it's nice to get a version of it here. The location shoots don't hurt either.

I didn't know much about Garcia Lorca or Spanish history; I was interested in this movie just because some of my favorite actors are in it.

The plot itself is not very intriguing, and the main character can hardly keep one's interest to keep on watching. But I'm glad I saw the film because of its incredible camera work. Most of the scenes were so beautifully lit and filmed that I could not get my eyes off the screen.

So, if you're interested in Spanish history or Garcia Lorca, this is a must. If you like to see films with excellent camera work, this is also a must.

For everyone else: forget it.

All in all: 6 out of 10.

Right off the bat, let me confess, I know nothing about Garcia Lorca beyond the fact I had heard one of his stories being acted out on BBC radio... So, sitting down to watch this movie, I was prepared for anything, but essentially the worst. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised!

At the start of the Spanish Civil war in the 1930's, a famous poet and playwright, Garcia Lorca goes missing. The story takes up when a fan who was a child when he met Garcia Lorca, returns to find out at whose hand did the venerable poet die at.

You have to assume that the story is more or less completely fabricated - because no one knows what happened to Garcia Lorca. So, that said, the storyline was pleasantly paced leading up to the gripping twist at the end.

Strong performances were turned in by all the cast - in particular, Esai Morales (Ricardo - the grown up child wondering what happened to his hero), Andy Garcia (Garcia Lorca - albeit, I will admit that at times, Andy Garcia came across as a smooth talking mafia dude rather than a writer...) and Miguel Ferrer (Centano).

I enjoyed this film and recommend it to anyone who likes action-based drama's centred in history!