Patria

... Unless you've read the book and then the difference, as usual, is huge. Anyway, performances are accurate and idiosyncratic as actors are Basque and don't need to pretend being one of them. Both women help giving strength and drama to their portraits. Scenery is perfect as well.

Terrible miniseries, adapted by Aitor Gabilondo from the book, which they say is very good, "Patria" by Fernando Aramburu.

Two friendly families who later find themselves confronted by ETA terrorism, one because they kill the father of the family, a small businessman who refuses to pay the "revolutionary tax", the other because the eldest son is part of the command that murdered him. .

In a coming and going of 2011 that is the present, with two broken families each in their own way and coping with their dramas and complexes, at the beginning of the 90s with the maelstrom of blood and terror in which the organization had embarked, with many Basques supporting the cause for an independent Euskadi ..

The performances are impeccable (also the makeup work), Bittori (Elena Irureta) the widow dying of cancer, exiled from her own town for being the wife of an "exploitative oligarch" Txato the executed, her son Xabier who could never remake his Life or smile and Nerea, the daughter with bad choices of a partner who can't wait to move and leave everything behind. On the other hand, the Garmendias, Miren (excellent Ane Gabarain) the mother who is invested in the Basque cause, who defends her son above all else; Joxian the somewhat cowardly husband, Joxe Mari the imprisoned ETA member who participated in the attack and it is not known until the last if he was the one who fired, Arantxa married to an anti-ETA and who to top it off suffers a stroke and remains bedridden in wheelchairs and Gorka the gay younger brother.

In 8 episodes it is enough to show those two sides of the same coin, the same Basque society divided between those who wanted independence at all costs, even if it were killing left and right, and those who did not agree, at least in the methods. The other side is also shown, that of the torture of the security forces who were also no saints, even after being imprisoned with that policy of deliberately sending them to prisons far from their villages.

Hard, with an accompanying photograph that never changes the shade of gray, added to a constant rain that apparently is a registered trademark of the area, all filmed in the town of Elgoibar, Guipúzcoa in the heart of the Basque Country. A production that shows hopes, fears, bitterness and the pain of the weight of decisions, an obligatory appointment with history ... another full of HBO.

Amazing series on a harrowing subject...the fact that I lived in Bilbao a few years before the central part of the story happens affects me of course, but the acting, the drama and the characters as well as the cinematography is deeply authentic and hugely moving...

Homeland (Patria) the book is an extraordinary exploration of terrorism and community. The HBO series has captured the mood and impact of the book with great effect. An excellent cast and terrific direction and film craft have combined to a create a brooding, emotionally claustophobic atmosphere in which all sides are depicted with sympathy and depth. For Spanish and Basque people, Patria is an emotional and possibly cathartic experience in which all lose.

This is not a series for viewers who like stuff to happen quickly and the plot to gallop on. For viewers who relish depth and development: this is for you

So, I have reached the end of the series. We have sat down together each week and watched this series and discussed afterwards. What we have discussed: that the story is driven by the women. More than anything this is a series about women: about their resolve, their passions, their commitment and the role they play. The men, by contrast, are not cyphers but shades. The extraordinary silences: in the culture, in the family and how these are represented and enacted in different ways. How spoken words are rarely answered or heard, how we are cut off in our dialogue.

In its final resolution we see both the power of silence and the power of gesture.

Thank you HBO for this series.

This series is a landmark in Television, having as much to say about Northern Ireland and Cataluña as the Basque Countries. It speaks so eloquently about the iniquity of violent separatism that would see countrymen, neighbours, even friends sacrificed to petty vendettas in that precarious slope from idealism to complete moral bankruptcy. The series focuses on senseless death of Txato, a countryman, innocent, brave and beloved. The killing scene is revisited several times but always from different perspectives, always in the rain, but each time shedding just a little more light, in a discovery-trip to a well-reasoned but explosive climax. A production of true genius, a must-watch. Embarrassed to be just the 23nd reviewer here.