Review by ma-cortes

At the beginning of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) , a group of inmates of a psychiatric hospital took advantage of the confusion caused by the arrival of "national" troops to escape from the center, whose control they had already taken after the abandonment of the medical director , who had delegated the responsibility to the nuns. In their flight, the patients meet a group of anarchists with whom they will share bloody episodes of war.

Manolo Matji's directorial debut, "La Guerra de los Locos", results to be an intense and febrile rural drama of oppressors and oppressed with tragi-comedy edges about the Spanish Civil War, inspired by events that occurred in a Toledo psychiatric hospital at the beginning of the 20th century. War conflict, when the Francoist troops rose from the south of Spain to the capital and to vanquish the Government of the Republic . It depicts the encounter between a group of insane people who have recently escaped from an insane asylum, with a group of anarchist guerrillas in the Sierra de Guadalupe . The fortuitous meeting of anarchists and madmen offers the filmmaker the possibility of enriching the internal discourse of the film, both groups are persecuted and have the germ of impossible madness, since both pursue the dream of freedom. From here the film gains in narrative intensity, wandering through arid dry lands, the visual dramatization of the events becomes denser. The struggle for power in the region has unleashed a fratricidal struggle, from the postulates of the reason of state, Don Salvador, the doctor and cacique that Galiardo embodies, inspires and directs the repression in the rear. It turns out to be other of the innumerable stories to deal with dramatic deeds regarding the Civil War background . A familiar theme about the global horrors of a fratricide war , impossible to forget to our cinema . Matji also writes the script, filmed in attractive way with a lot of incidents , without leaving a trace the stylistic scholarship and thought-provoking issues , in terms of dramatic and narrative excitement . Including a spotless pictorial cinematography by Federico Ribes and a willingness , almost perfect of the elements of each shot , every sequence, every space , adding a thrilling and evocative musical score by José Nieto . The main problem has to face " La guerra de los Locos¨, is its extreme manichaeism, not being able to avoid falling into the politic pamphlet. There are some flaws and gaps , but anyway, its is compensated by nice performances from a nice main cast , such as José Manuel Cervino and Alvaro De Luna interpreters who provided a considerable boost to the result . Supported by splendid secondaries , such as : Francisco Algora , Luis Marín, Maite Blasco , Pedro Díez del Corral , Pep Munné , Joan Potau , Alicia Sanchez, Cesáreo Estébanez , José Vivó, José Yepes and special mention for veteran actors Juan Luis Galiardo as a Fascist doctor and Emilio Gutiérrez Caba as a Francoist officer.

The motion picture was professionally directed by Manolo Matji , being dedicated to Daniel Suero. Manolo Matji started out as a screenwriter adapting works by Miguel Delibes in films as suggestive as "Los santos innocentes" or "El disputed vote of Mr. Cayo" in which he dealt with rural themes. . Matji has filmed with all of the power and realism at its command . Manolo Matji was born in 1943 in Madrid, as Manuel Matji Tuduri. He is a prolific writer and occassionally director, known for Réquiem por Granada , Río Negro , A solas contigo , La guerra de los locos (1987), El sueño del mono loco (1989) and this Horas de luz (2004) . It has several Awards and nomination such as Toulouse Cinespaña, Turia Awards , San Sebastián International Film , Goya Awards 2005 Nominee and Cinema Writers Circle Awards . Rating : 6.5/10.