Salvador (Puig Antich)

i can't help wondering what the point of this film pamphlet was. it seemed to veer towards naive heroism in the beginning and at the end again, meanwhile completely neglecting a discussion of what set these people apart from other 'normal' terrorists. and then we get a subplot of the last death penalty dealt in Spain with this kid who of course doesn't deserve to be murdered at the hands of the state, but who does really. it fails on this level as well as a level of human relationship, using the story of the guard merely to make a point of how the revolution lives on.

so i felt really ambiguous and detached from the film, which seemed so uncommitted to an involved and deep discussion of its story.

Historical memory films often tread difficult ground, and Salvador (Puig Antich) does so with uncommon intensity. From the start, Manuel Huerga applies a powerful visual style that gives weight to the story of the Catalan anarchist executed by the Franco regime in 1974. The film doesn't hold back, throwing us directly into his inevitable fate, but before that, it presents Salvador as a human being-one with ideals, flaws, and a life that was taken away without mercy.

Daniel Brühl delivers an exceptional performance, portraying a character who feels alive even in the quietest moments. His evolution throughout the film is brutal, and when the final moments arrive, the anguish he conveys is difficult to shake off. Huerga's direction is another strong point, though the first section, centered on the heists, has a stylized approach reminiscent of Argentine cinema rather than raw realism. Fortunately, once the film shifts focus to the trial and the days leading up to the execution, everything becomes much more visceral, direct, and devastating.

One of the film's greatest achievements is how it avoids empty idealization or forced nostalgia. There are no one-dimensional heroes or villains here-just a story that hurts because it was real and still echoes today. The script masterfully builds tension, making every scene in the final stretch feel like a punch to the gut.

Despite some questionable aesthetic choices in the opening, Salvador is an incredibly powerful film. It doesn't just retell Puig Antich's story-it does so with a sensitivity and precision rarely seen in Spanish cinema. A sharp, unforgiving dose of reality that leaves its mark.

I was really caught by the story - a story which I didn't know, and which is hardly known outside Spain and even Catalogne, as the director explained in a festival here in Italy where the film was presented. The last years of life of Salvador Puig Antich, the Spanish anarchic activist, who became the last prisoner of the Franchist regime to be executed. The rhythm is fantastic, energetic and dynamic, thanks to a very suggestive photography and the use of vivid images. The music supports the high tone of the events. The last part involves the spectator in a "crescendo" of emotions, slowing down the rhythm while approaching to the inevitable end. No political claims, no moralistic lessons. A well shot, thrilling, emotional movie!

This movie is in fact two movies. The first one tells Salvador Puig Antich's life. Explains how he became involved in the resistance against Franco dictatorship and his beginnings in the criminal life. This way, the movie doesn't try to make him look like a saint, because he wasn't, and at the same time justifies him somehow, realistically showing the cruelty and repression that take place in the last years of Franco's life.

The other movie tells Salvador's last 12 hours. The relationship with his family, his friends and his enemies. And his cruel execution. This part is 100% Drama, and very well made one. Its almost 45 minutes of holding tears, jumping from a touching scene to a more touching one. Some of the weak points of the first part are finally justified to help this last devastating dramatization.

The main actors make a great job, specially Leonardo Sbaraglia, Daniel Brühl and Tristán Ulloa. Although the last one sounds a little too weird when he talks Catalan. The main problem of the movie is that the plot isn't thick enough. It tells a simple story of a simple boy and don't get to fully explore the characters minds. But it gets close.

By watching Salvador you can move less than thirty years back and discover or remember, depending on your age, Spain during the latest days of Franco's regime. Those were times where things were changing, but to some others of them it had to take longer.

Salvador Puig Antich will be forever remembered as the last person to be executed in Spain. In the movie, the anarchist Puig Antich is played by the German actor Daniel Brühl. The fact that his mother is Spanish allows him to act speaking in both Spanish and Catalan. Nonetheless, one of the greatest achievements of the film is that it shows how both languages are used in Catalonia. Daniel Brühl's performance is flawless, you could sense his fears, passions,...

The rest of the cast, including Leonardo Sbaraglia or Leonor Watling among many others, adds up quality to the film.

"Salvador" is a great movie. 9 / 10.