Bruc. La llegenda

Good film with stunning fights scenes and chases illuminate the full-blown feats with a plethora of engaging set pieces on the combats in which the action runs here and there . June 6 , 1808 . The invincible Napoleonic Army , ¨Grand Armee¨ rules over whole Europe , it has a main aim to destroy the gun-power supplies of the Spanish Army , but then about 25 kilometres its objective takes places a first defeat at the hands of a single man . As the victorious person turns out to be a drummer boy who used the Montserrat holy mountains to echo his drums and send the enemy troops into a panicked retreat and then taking place a crushing defeat . As the Grand Armee suffers the bitter taste of defeat on the Mountains of Montserrat . An important defeat that threw every nations submitted by Napoleonic Empire to battle for their freedom . When the news publicize ¨Le Diablo Du Bruc¨ , it reaches Napoleon , he furiously orders the Major Officer Marval (Vincent Perez) to bring back the head of the young hero responsible for his army's defeat . The captain gathers together a military squadron of his best and most deadly men (Santi Millán , Nicolas Giraud , Moussa Maaskri) and so starts the hunt to death of the soldier who was to become a legend . Later on , the avenger band takes the starring's girlfriend (Astrid Berger Frisbey) as a hostage and developing a merciless chase .

Bloody and violently version based on historical events with overwhelming battles and nice production values , being well starred by Juan Jose Ballesta as the partially-fictional soldier/countryman , and Vincent Perez as brutal leader of a motley crew of tough , battle-hardened warriors/underdogs who try to take him . The movie has great action sequences well staged with stylish and vitality , thrills , a little bit of romance and is pretty entertaining . Several action scenes are outstanding with spectacular battle images and thrilling fights . Unfortunately, on small house screens much of the splendor will be lost . As the movie makes a big deal out of the supposedly deathly rivalry between French and Spanish people during called ¨Independence War ¨ . The two leading men are magnificent in the hostile environment which the flick is set in . There are still fine scenes to see as Juan Jose Ballesta leaping from a cliff and several sparkling duels such as the final take on between the captain of the Imperial Guard and the young countryman . It also results to be surprisingly gory , including head-slitting , along with a handful of violent and breathtaking action scenes . It's a thunder stuff with a strong star cast such as Juan Jose Ballesta and Vincent Perez . They spend most of it running through the forests , hills , mountains , being tracked , chased and escaped . And a beautiful Astrid Berges-Frisbey as protagonist's sweetheart , Astrid is a young actress with great future , as she has starred Pirates of the Caribbean : On Stranger Tides and filming Knights of the Roundtable: King Arthur by Guy Ritchie . The actors supporting the lead roles are frankly excellent , such as Santi Millán , Nicolas Giraud , Moussa Maaskri and Jérôme Le Banner . Riveting cinematography by Juan Miguel Azpiroz , reflecting wonderfully the rocky landscapes in the ultimate unfriendly environment , being shot on location in Cerdanyola,Castellterçol ,Marganell,Collbató ,Barcelona,Aiguamúrcia, , Arnes, Tarragona, and, of course , in El Bruc and Montserrat , Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain . Suspenseful and appropriate musical score by Xavier Capellas . A must see for every enthusiast of a decent action/history movie . If you are a fan of this exciting genre , you'll want to watch this one.

Other films dealing with these historical events are the followings : El Tambor del Bruch (1948) by Ingacio F Iquino with Ana Mariscal , José Nieto , Juan de Landa , Rafael Luis Calvo , Fernando Sancho and La Leyenda del Tambor (1981) by Jorge Grau with Andrés García , Mercedes Sampietro , Jorge Sanz , Alfredo Mayo , Iñaki Aierra , Raúl Fraire , Vicente Parra

each legend has a large circle of expectations when it becomes subject of a movie. this case is not different. but if it is far to be remarkable, it remains a beautiful one. maybe for splendid landscapes but, in same measure, for the decent manner to present the story. love, fights, resistance against the powerful enemy, Vincent Perez in a not bad role- mixture of interesting nuances-, Juan Jose Ballesta in skin of a character who reminds his Paolo from Hispania. La Leyenda, the few characters who does the atmosphere more complex - first the reporter - are the good ingredients of a film who has not other desire than reminds old values, the pure taste of adventure, courage .

Why are they still making such movies? I cannot find anything good to say about it. Just a waste of time.

it is not chance to be more than nice. historical entertainment, old clichés, impressive landscapes, David against Goliath and the desire of national freedom. so, at the first sigh, nothing special. except, maybe, the manner to build his role of Juan Jose Ballesta who gives to Bruc seductive traits, good humor and realistic courage.adaptation of a well known legend, it is far to propose surprises. only a decent translation in image of fight scenes, memories about other heroic drummers, Vincent Perez as a French officer who rediscover his values and mountains as scene of great events. the great virtue of Bruc, the Manhunt - to be the perfect answer to the public expectation. nothing original. nothing out of classic recipes of the genre. and, sure, an useful introduction to one of Spanish modern history episode.

I wanted to watch 'Bruc' from the first time I saw in the news that a film about the Bruc legend was being filmed; it is only very seldom that we easily access films from outside the Angelo-Saxon sphere, but finding a film that is Catalan-specific (part of the production, the setting, the story) is seriously rare (this is setting aside those movies where you can see some kind of let's say touristy homage). But I was hoping for something more:

The plot has nothing much to it; Joan, a coal miner's son, defeated a whole French regiment by hiding in the sacred mountain of Montserrat, playing his drum and letting echo do the job. So the French can't bear the ridiculousness of their defeat and this French captain wants to go after him to restore l'honneur de la Patrie. This is the legend that everyone knows back home and that made me salivate for the picture. Then the film is about the hide and seek game that follows, with the poor coal miner's soon playing alone against the French, again. Oh, and there's a little romantic secondary plot: Joan is, of course, in love with a lady from the village. Classic.

Entertaining. Not a great movie, but still, it is nice to see how wit and brute force compete. Also, from time to time you get great panoramics of the mountain. Not that I'd watch a film for that only but the visuals also add up.