La pelote basque, la peau contre la pierre

There has been a lot of controversy about this documentary in Spain, basically coming from the conservative side. In my opinion, the film gives a real, sincere view of what the Basque problem is and what it means, and is at the same time, as objective a view as one from a Basque director can be.

It mixes beautiful shots of landscapes with old archive images from the dictatorship and early-democracy days, parts of films (including Orson Welles "Around the world") with Basque traditions etc. But above all this, the "confessions", the views that about 70 people of all sorts give about the matter: politicians, singers, priests, ex-terrorists, etc.

I have to say that I got emotional and I´m not Basque. Food for thought of the best quality, worth seeing whatever is your positioning about the Basques. Don't forget we're talking about the maker of beautiful films like "Tierra" ("Land"), "Sex and Lucia" and "The red squirrel".

This is the most thorough, balanced and entertaining video i have seen about the Basque question. It doesn't avoid any of the topics that make of this ancient people's history such a contentious subject for debate. Instead, he interviews almost all actors in Euskal Herria today, providing a complete array of perspectives. Very instructive and entertaining at the same time. The camera is captivating and the editing is very effective. The music by Mikel Laboa is out of this world, and gave me goose-bumps.

The only problem is that it is apparently done for an audience that knows a lot more about Basque history than the average foreigner like me, so at times it was hard to follow the chronology. In fact, i watched the longer (almost 7 hours...i think this was the TV series) version from a Spanish friend, and it helped me understand the movie better.

The nationalism can be and should be understood. What do I mean by that? In our period of globalization there is a danger of cultural disappearance. Like the wife of the one of the Basques being in jail said, that he is very kind at home, and it sure he had serious motives to involve in terrorist acts. I believe that, he had serious reasons.

There was mentioned that may be this aggressive movement appeared because of the fear of loosing it own cultural identity. I do believe that the methods used by ETA are wrong, but the underlying cause should be taken in consideration.

It is interesting that there are not used translations in the movie, so, knowing English and Espanol, and not understanding Euskara, I was initially a little bit frustrated. But, after that I realized that this movie was dedicated to all the Basques, and to each of them.

There are no outside comments in this film, only the comments of participants. And it was fine.

If you want to know more about the Basque area of France/Spain, the deep political problems (which have echoes of Northern Ireland) and get to the bottom of something that is glossed over by the media and the Spanish government, go and see The Basque Ball. But be warned, it is a film that requires much attention and dedication - it's no easy viewing. There are so many points to assimilate that your brain may well ache after the first half hour. But if you stay on track the effort is worth it - you will have learnt a lot (even if a 'lot' is little more than scratching the surface) about an issue on our doorstep that is not being made public (the Spanish Government, predictably, I understand, tried to have the film banned) .

The only real reason I give this excellent documentary an 8 is because Julio Medem was unable to get the key players in the conflict, ETA and PP, to participate, which I felt was a crucial loss to the movie. Also, it was a LOT of information to process, and although I watched it with English subtitles, I had to replay scenes very often.

I had only some very shallow, not even basic, knowledge of the Basque conflict before watching this. I am studying abroad in Spain, and a professor here recommended this, and I wanted to learn more. I didn't even bother testing my Spanish and watched it in English to understand it the best. Even then, it is not a movie made for beginners. But beginner or not, I still recommend this movie to anyone interested, just as long as they read up a little on the Basque Country and Spanish political parties first as background info.

However, despite the confusion and incomplete variety of interviewees, as a journalism student, I say the documentary was beautifully, intriguingly, insightfully, and ingeniously done. Even though it was confusing, it was INCREDIBLY informative, and my goal of learning more about the history, culture, and conflict in the region was met and surpassed. It was deemed very controversial for showing such an array of perspectives, but I felt this was best and very raw and as objective as one can get, especially for a Basque director. And despite the crazy amount of information, it still kept me glued to the screen.

The artistic aspect was brilliant, too, especially for an independent film. I really loved the flip flop, from interviews in beautiful Basque landscapes to clips of the metaphoric pelota vasca to the old black-and-white film by Orson Welles to clips of old historical videos to Mikel Laboa crooning his sometimes beautifully melodic and sometimes strikingly dissonant music. I want to especially applaud the music: it is absolutely stunning and perfect!

I highly recommend this documentary.