Soldados de Salamina

The film examines the apathy that generally exists among Spain's youth regarding the civil war, which ended in 1939 leaving wounds that in many cases still have not healed. Few people who fought in it still survive today, and those who lived during the post-war era learned not to speak openly about it. The result is that most of today's youth are indifferent to it.

Lola, the main character, reacts with disdain and exasperation when asked to write an article inspired by the civil war for the newspaper where she works. However, a reader's response to that article puts her on the trail of a mystery and as she learns more she becomes more and more interested in what motivated those who fought. The things Lola's interviewees tell her serve as a sort of CLIFF's NOTES for those that have not studied this history. The fact that the movie does not openly take a side with respect to the war is a first in Spanish films about it.

The scenes of Lola's modern life juxtaposed with those of the events she investigates accentuate the changes in Spanish society nearly seventy years later. The slow pace and detached manner of interaction used for today also seems to make a statement about how we live our lives versus the boisterous NODO footage and apparently handheld shots of the past.

The plot itself is not overly intriguing; however, the things that the characters say are extremely moving and hopefully might even inspire a few to start talking to their grandparents before it is too late. Anyone who learns even a little of what happened cannot remain indifferent.

David Trueba makes a lot more sense of the novel than did Javier Cercas when he wrote it. The novel is like an endless loop of the author telling the story of how the fascist Rafael Sánchez-Mazas escaped execution. In the novel, this brief historical episode is repeated endlessly, to the point of it being maddeningly repetitive. The film spares us this repetition just as the fascist's life was spared.

The pity was that the fascist Rafael Sánchez-Mazas didn't die in a firing squad. The typical path of cowards is to foment war and then conveniently side-step and actual combat. Dick Cheney, Donald Trump, George Bush are only a few modern examples.

The movie, like the book, chronicles a reporter's investigation into how the above-mention fascist escaped a firing squad in the waning days of the Spanish Civil War, and the story about how a Republican soldier spared his life when he was discovered in the woods near the site of the failed execution. Why did the soldier not kill or capture the fascist? I don't find that a particularly interesting question, certainly not enough for a novel, bit almost enough for a decent film.

when we went to the cinema, I didn't know anything about the movie except for that it was about the civil war and that I was really bored that night and we had to choose between Soldados de Salamina and some Hollywood films so naturally we went for the Spanish civil war. watched it again last night. still don't know much about the civil war, but it's not the purpose of the film nor is it a requirement for enjoying this movie.

we arrived late, got in when Conchi got kicked out of the hospital. not so interesting at that moment, but as as the story unfolded itself, it was intriguing and when I left the cinema on the way home, my mind was still lingering on the story. what touches me was the obsession of the protagonist towards the event and her quest to find out the truth. maybe I'll try to get hold of the novel.

The Javier Cerca's book in which this film is based was already an excellent material to make a movie, and director David Trueba doesn't deceive at all the expectations generated.

Trueba's screenplay introduces a lot of significant changes (the main one is the gender of the protagonist, now a woman, a role wonderfully performed by Ariadna Gil), and far from betraying the novel's spirit, all of these changes add a lot of deepness to the story.

As far as the direction is concerned, Trueba mixes admirably fiction, the recreation of historical events and archive material. The main character's investigation about a surprising event at the end of the Spanish Civil War is filmed under a realistic light and with a documentary approach, and that is in harmony with the rest of the textures used to recreate historical facts.

The whole cast deserve special mention, too.

All in all, "Soldados de Salamina" is one of the most interesting Spanish films shown to date. Not only a notable cinematic work, but also a touching story about the nonsense of war and the little acts that ordinary people do in order to redeem our imperfect human condition.

David Trueba's film is somewhat different from other Spanish movies about the Civil War of the 30s. Usually the stories are about the heroes of the left side, who were defeated at the end, while this story is about one of the Fascists whose life is spared by a militiaman that in theory was his enemy.

I must confess that not having read the original novel, I have no basis of comparison, but the theme about knowing what really happened in that particular episode the young reporter is trying to discover is intriguing.

This is a part documentary, part fiction and a tale from the real survivors of the conflict. We don't get to know what really happened until the very end of the film as the old soldier in the nursing home meets the writer who has gone to him to find out first hand the truth.

The director seems to be saying that heroes were the ones that had the decency to live by what their conscience dictated, rather than by what they were told to do.