Spain, 1956 . The corpse of an unknown person shows up in the town square of Bocentellas , within the mythical territory of a region between Comunidad Autonoma Aragon and Catalunya . The inhabitants will ask for help to Captain Medina (Chema Mazo) , a young military captain in command of a nearby fort in which is also a suspicious Colonel (Francisco Rabal) . Then , the captain decides to put the body into an Orujo barrel ; later on , the corpse is moved , appearing another person , being his identity uncovered at the end . Meanwhile , the captain falls for a young prostitute , ¨La Chiqui¨(Maribel Verdú) , living at a busy brothel run by a Madame , La Tacón , (María José Moreno).
Set in Spain of the fifties deals with a twisted intrigue starred by a doubtful officer/Chema Mazo and narrated by an overlong flashback along the film until developing the final arrival of the judge well played by Agustin Gonzalez . Based on the homonym novel by Juan Benet , ¨Planet prize¨ in 1980 , concerning about the corruption on the selling of valuable lands for reservoirs during the post-war in the Franco regime . It is set in 1950s , a mythic town between two regions with locations from Aragon and Catalunya . Here Isasi along with other screen-writers as Gabriel Castro and Jorge Alamo talk about autochthonous issues , regarding ambition and corrupt practices , against other international themes of Isasmendi's long career . Fabulous support cast full of familiar secondaries as German Cobos , Maribel Verdú , Miguel Rellán , Agustín González , Rafaela Aparicio , Ovidi Montllor , Terele Pávez , Ramoncin , Alfred Lucchetti , Antonio Gamero , Marta Flores , Luis Ciges and mention special for Fernando Rey who won Award in the prestigious Festival San Sebastian Festival . Evocative cinematography by the veteran Juan Gelpi , though a perfect remastering being extremely necessary . Shot in several locations from Carenas , Comunidad De Calatayud , Paniza , Nuévalos , Zaragoza, Aragón , Colmenar Viejo, Bustarviejo , Madrid , Prat De Llobregat, Garraf, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain .
The motion picture was professionally directed by Antoni Isasi Isasmendi (who recently passed away) , though it has some flaws and gaps and results to be overlong and tiring . This was his last film , as he previously made a lot of successful movies . Firstly , he directed several and mostly black and white films , comedies , dramas and thrillers as Tierra De Todos , Relato Policíaco , La Mentira Tiene Cabellos Rojos , Vamos a Contar Mentiras , La Huida , Sentencia Contra Una Mujer , Diego Corrientes , Pasión Bajo El Sol and Rapsodia De Sangre . In 1963 he started his international career with hits as La Máscara De Scaramouche , Estambul 65 , Las Vegas 500 Millones , Verano Para Matar and The Dog .
