El padre de Caín

I started watching "El padre Cain" because I was sitting around with nothing to do one night, but I quickly got hooked. Eloy is a police officer, "guardia civil" in Spain, not sure if there's an equivalent here in the U.S., who goes to the Basque Country to deal with the ETA (Basque) terrorists in 1980, one of the worst years for Basque terrorist attacks.

He leaves behind in Madrid a wife who is pretty far along in her first pregnancy, and is confined to bed rest because of complications. San Sebastian is a beautiful little city where a lot of wealthy Spaniards spend their summers, but here it's portrayed as dark, gray, and always raining. The weather reflects the mood; this isn't a feel-good movie. ETA is out of control, killing about a hundred people a year. Eloy's experience in the Basque Country is intense, although he finishes his stint there with great success.

"El padre Cain" is interesting in that about 20 minutes before the end, you can figure out exactly what's going to happen, or at least I could. Usually you would describe such an ending as predictable, in the worst sense of the word. But I would describe the ending as more inevitable. You know this is how things have to turn out.

Quim Gutierrez, who won the Goya (the Spanish version of the US's Oscar) for best newcomer, really shows off his acting chops. Aura Garrido, who most know from her work in the cult hit "El Ministerio del Tiempo," is just as good. Everything about this production was first-rate. I gave it 10 out of 10 because as TV movies go, it's as good as it gets. Is it on par with works like "Citizen Kane" or "Casablanca"? No. But it was by far the best TV movie I've ever seen, or probably will ever see.

Drama/Thriller about sad events in Basque Country in which happened terrorism , threats and grisly killings . It contains interesting scenes , great vibration , thrilling images and sensitive moments . The Basque Country in the 80s was an extremely dangerous place , especially for the Guardia Civil . As a young lieutenant Guardia Civil called Eloy (Quim Gutiérrez) married to Mercedes (Oona Chaplin) leaves his pregnant wife in her town and is assigned to Cuartel Inxaustrrondo . It is set during ¨Años Del Plomo¨ or ¨Lead Years¨ , when Guardia Civil is really shot and killed , and the people threatened by the terrorists due to his political views . There Eloy meets a motley group of brave underlings as Sergeant Delgado (Patxi Freytez) and Bermejo (Luis Zahera) . His chief commandant (Luis Bermejo) assigns him to undercover operations and he then goes as a tenant at a boarding house run by Begoña (Aura Garrido) and a warm feeling of mutual affection grows between her and her lodger . Sooon after , Eloy is having an affair with the young innkeeper Begoña . The movie ends declaring the following : After 50 years of activity and almost 1000 killings , in October 20, 2001 ETA announced a definitive truce , but has not delivered the weapons .

Moving drama/thriller plenty of emotion , suspense , intrigue , delusions , plot twists , excellent action scenes and real events about the dangerous Basque Country . As the starring exposes : This isn't ¨Fort Apache¨ , this is Vietnam . The picture depicts a nice portrayal about Basque Country , despite being somewhat of a cinematic cliché , rarely has a feature been so aptly deserving of its description as a thriller picture along with some elements from action genre , politics , intense drama and bloody terrorism . This fiction is based on a novel by former Secretary of State for Security , Rafael Vera , and is recreated in the historic headquarters of the Civil Guard of Intxaurrondo in San Sebastian , but being really shot in Avilés , Asturias , to avoid possible problems in the Basque Country . The picture is pretty well , but also has a few conventional pitfalls and a twisted as well as little credible final . Anyway, its is compensated with the great performances from main cast , Quim Gutiérrez and Aura Garrido , and special mention for Patxi Freytez as an understanding sergeant . And great support cast such as : Oona Chaplin , Luis Bermejo , Mariano Venancio , Cristina Plazas , Teresa Hurtado de Ory , Patrick Criado , and , of course , Luis Zahera .

But some Guardia Civil agents have criticized the mini-series , as those agents assigned to that barracks or who were in the past have not liked what they have seen on television . First thing that catches their attention is the presence of controls in the so-called "entrances" in roadblocks to detain Etarras , in fiction it is observed that in these operatives they participate lieutenants or colonels , when it is not so . They don't agree with the image of supposed tortures that are reflected in the series in dependencies of the Civil Guard . On the screen it was seen that these tortures took place in the dungeons of Intxaurrondo , but they report that in the Donostiarra barracks these temporary cells were not built until about ten years ago . Civil guards also complain that the series has not had the help of the real professionals who spent decades to stop ETA . If they had asked for help , they criticized, they would have recommended that the feeling of persecution of the civil guards in the street should be reflected on the screen . "We were singled out and insulted," they complain, "and that's not reflected in the series" .

The film packs a colorful cinematography by Felipe Alba and a thrilling as well as evocative musical score by Victor Reyes . The mini-series was compellingly directed by Salvador Calvo who has made successful TV Series and episodes such as ¨Lo Que Escondían Sus Ojos¨ , ¨Mario Conde¨ , ¨La Duquesa¨ , ¨Askrana¨ , ¨Paquirri¨ , ¨Cuentame Un Cuento¨ , and has directed for cinema the hit ¨Los Ultimos De Filipinas¨ .