Downbeat and sad drama with intrigue set post Spanish Civil War about the relationships between a distressed soldier , a lieutenant-colonel along with his niece . Henry or Enrique (Iban Garate) carries out his military service as a Judge assistant , as he is the underling to a nasty lieutenant-colonel called Don Eladio (Karra Elejalde) . At the same time Enrique is boyfriend to the beautiful Carmen (Blanca Suárez) , Don Eladio's niece . Enrique grows tired of witnessing injustices , and he engages in dangerous actions with the freedom fighters , attempting to flee inmates from imprisonment and executing other risked undercover activities .
Intense drama set in the fifties , dealing with the consequences of Spanish war (1936-39) about a soldier whose family has been deceased during the bloody war and his mother is living at an asylum , and meanwhile communists and undercover resistance are pursued by the Francoist authorities . The flick can be defined as a realistic drama , a romantic story , a historic fresco and a social-political fable . This one turns out to be another film upon Civil War and Francisco Franco period , usual themes in Spanish Film history . But the story needs a vibration more real than the one offered in this sometimes slow-moving tale . The main cast gives so-so interpretations as a the unknown Iban Garate as a confused soldier who arrives in a military tribunal and Blanca Suarez as a gorgeous young woman who falls for him . There are interesting scenes , especially the provoking dialog between the stiff-upper-lip colonel/Elejalde and his subordinate soldier . However , some scenes between Iban Garate and Blanca Suarez result to be embarrassing . Both of them do not deliver the necessary chemical . Support cast is frankly excellent , plenty of familiar faces who give magnificent performances , such as : Eduard Fernández , Carlos Santos , Nora Navas , José Manuel Poga , Antonio Dechent , Ángela Molina and Bárbara Lennie . Special mention for Karra Elejalde as Don Eladio , providing an awesome -though histrionic , overacting at times - acting . Evocative settings , being perfectly set in its period . Colorful and atmospheric cinematography by Gonzalo F. Berridi . This great cameraman has photographed successes as ¨Airbag¨, ¨8 Apellidos Vascos¨, ¨Amantes Circulo Polar¨, ¨ Camaron¨, ¨Plenilunio¨ , ¨Ardilla Roja¨ , among others . Being shot on various locations in Linares De La Sierra , Huelva , Andalucía , Toledo , Castilla-La Mancha , Jerez De La Frontera, Cádiz , Andalucía and Madrid .
This ¨Miel De Narajas¨ achieved several awards , as 5 wins and 2 nominations , such as : Montréal World Film Festival 2012 Won Special Grand Prize of the Jury Imanol Uribe , Nominated Grand Prix des Amériques Imanol Uribe ; Málaga Spanish Film Festival 2012 Won Silver Biznaga Best Director Imanol Uribe , Best New Screenwriter Remedios Crespo , Won Special Mention Best Supporting Actress Ángela Molina ; Nantes Spanish Film Festival 2013 Won Audience Award : Imanol Uribe . "Orange Honey" or ¨Miel De Naranjas¨ was professionally directed by Imanol Uribe , though has some flaws and resulted to get a flop at Spanish Box office . Uribe who lived and had a son with actress María Barranco , gained fame early in his career for his controversial socio-political portraits of the Basque people such as ¨Fuga Segovia¨, ¨Muerte Mikel¨ and he turned to thriller as ¨Adios Pequeña¨, ¨Running out of time¨ , ¨Plenilunio¨ , ¨Carta Esferica¨ and drama as ¨Bwana¨ , ¨Rey Pasmado¨ and ¨Extraños¨ ; and also made another Civil War film titled ¨Ciudadano Negrin¨.
