A German director hunts ghosts in Madrid's sunlit streets and finds himself instead.
Hans, a German director, is in Madrid to film a television production about the capital and the Civil War, 50 years after it occurred. Accompanied by Lucía, his editor, and Goyo, his cinematographer, he films shots of the modern city, searching for spaces and people related to its past. At the same time, he views materials related to the past. In this search, Hans questions the point of his project, and disagrees with his producers until he discovers a project that he is passionate about.
Cinematography
Madrid itself becomes a living, wounded character.
Direction
Patino blurs documentary and fiction with surgical precision.
Acting
Vogler's weary idealism anchors every scene.
Director
Basilio Martín Patino
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Made during Spain's 'memory boom,' the film interrogates how 1980s democracy packaged Civil War trauma for television audiences.
Rüdiger Vogler was Wim Wenders' muse—his casting deliberately evokes the 'road movie' tradition, then traps that energy in historical stasis.
ES
