Juncal

Certainly one of the most endearing TV series shown on Spanish TV, `Juncal' is one which would seem best to encapsule the set foibles in a traditional sense, as well as characterizing masterfully the one-time bullfighter and his nostalgic claims to past glory. In his shoeblack - Rafael Álvarez - the `maestro' matador Paco Rabal finds a sympathetic ear and simple adoration.

I cannot think of two actors who combine so magnificently in playing their parts as these two; if Álvarez is just the perfect epitomy of a simple boot-cleaner going from bar to bar, Paco Rabal's interpretation of the maybe once great bullfighter gone down somewhat in the world is simply sublime. I say this as he combines so many of the popular traits of characterization which might just be summed up as `Spanishness' in a unique and totally inoffensive way. There is good drama and plenty of humour, but not the heavy-handed kind: it is more `templado', deftly avoiding the ridiculous, skillfully interweaving so many complexities of just simply being Spanish, which audiences here immediately understand and feel so warmly for.

An excellent seven-part series which should be shown again. Frankly it is for me just about the most perfect `Paco Rabal' you will see - including his more well-known films.

"Juncal" simply makes a panoramic vision of how great the bullfighter life is. The series, along with Carlos Velo's "Torero" (Mex. 1957), is the mirror where every taurine fan and professional should reflect. Cause almost every space of the taurine culture is describe, "Juncal" is the perfect door to enter to the taurine world, even if you don't understand a word or you don't like the bullfights you'll find yourself in the series course.

In a way, "Juncal" is nothing but a life story. The father that leaves his family, the unfaithful lover or the young boy that dreams with glory. The great cultural achievement with the exposure of Cordoba, Seville, Madrid the music and, obviously, the taurine sequences gives a romantic but real vision of this "polemic" Hispanic phenomenon.