Raza

In the early 40s, Franco looked at Hitler or Mussolini as his guides... he wanted to achieve the same that his allies during the Spanish civil war have attained in their own countries. Franco also wanted his own Riefenstahl-like propaganda. So this film tries to be that, filled with the distorted and Manichean view of reality that was the rule in Spain under Franco's rule. The film has some historical interest, not for historical facts, but for the people interested in fascist propaganda during the 40s. It might shed some light into the simple-minded view of the world of the Spanish dictator, who was responsible for the script. The facts shown here are post war half-trues and lies, typical "history written by the victors"

The movie was filmed when Spain, after the Civil War, was suffering a brutal genocide carried out by the victorious fascist and dictatorial side. And this movie is one of the first attempts to justify that genocide.

In any civilized country, after a civil war, there are amnesties and agreements in order to rebuild the country. That did not happen in Spain: the fascist dictator Francisco Franco, author of the pseudonymous novel, decided that it was necessary to exterminate all the republican, democratic and constitutional side survivors. This Spanish sad history period is known outside Spain as "The White Terror". In fact, Spain is the second country in the world with more mass graves. Those were years of forced labor camps, mass executions in villages, abuses and tortures, not to mention rotten justice and politics. How to justify all this postwar barbarism in the years to come? Starting with this movie.

This film represents, in a not very disguised way, an attempt to justify the unjustifiable, while fascist values are extolled.

The characters are linear, mono-neuronal. Or white or black. Villains or angels. Of course, the opposites to the fascist regime represent the perfidious, evil and demonic characters.

Nobody should be surprised about the simplicity of the script. The genocidal dictator Francisco Franco was not exactly a brilliant person, apart from being uneducated and suffering from delusions of grandeur. He could be considered one of the most awkward military men in history. And the script is hand in hand with his intelligence: ridiculously simple and tendentious, wich, in the film, is reflected with declamatory dialogues and rigid performances.

Some years later, Spain became an ally of the United States. During the talks it was evident that it was necessary to erase the all the traces of genocide and crimes. A Ministry of Information and Tourism was created (euphemism of the Ministry of Censorship) and, as you can see by reading some user reviews, it worked. Many Spaniards are unaware of the genocide that occurred in Spain after the civil war. Some Spaniards swallowed fascist propaganda. And a few ignorant or mean Spaniards consider this movie/pamphlet an art masterwrok.

The political and judicial corruption, as well as some executions, lasted until the end of the dictatorship, in 1975, but the lies, the pain remain, as this eyesore film remains, considered the greatest disgrace of Spanish cinema.

And now I ask you: Would you watch a plain simple film based on a novel and script by Adolf itler justifying the Holocaust and extolling nazism? It's the same case.

Although perhaps this film helps you understand why the Francoism direct heirs, actually in government, refuse again and again to investigate the crimes of the Franco's fascist and genocide dictatorial regime and help the families of the victims to find the remains of their loved ones in the common graves.

Very interesting work to know the point of view of spanish national ideology. Franco supposedly wrote the script of this mediocre film. Indispensable to understand certain things of the Spanish Civil War.

Reading some of the comments about this truly awful and pathetic piece of fascist apology, I was considerably shocked.

'Raza', written by the dictator Franco himself, is nearly a Freudian reconstruction of the Franco family history mixed with a really difficult to stand glorification of the fascist, falangist version, symbolism. Nevertheless, one has to admit that the screenplay has splendid, unintentionated, humor moments (the comments about the almogaveres are really one of those moments to be present in any compilation of absurdities).

Even recognizing that Saenz de Heredia was a good director, in the technical way of speaking, he was not Leni Riefenstahl. More than sixty years later this film just can be look as an interesting piece of archelogy.

Absoluty awful. Pure fascism