In 1939, in a French prison camp, José Garcés of the defeated Spanish Republican army raises the spirits of his fellow prisoners by telling the story of the year he was 8 years old, 1911, in a small town in northeastern Spain. He was a rascal, baffling his father, always in trouble, and in love with Valentina, a neighbor girl. On his roof top at night he sends semaphore messages to her. He writes poems. He gets them into trouble, killing her father's breeding pigeons. When the two families camp at a decaying castle, his tutor, a sympathetic priest, tells him about the most valiant men, the saints, the heroes, and the poets. Already a poet, he learns a lesson about being a hero.
Acting
Jorge Sanz's luminous, mischievous child performance.
Cinematography
Golden-hued Spain that feels half-remembered, half-dreamed.
Writing
Frame story gives devastating weight to childhood romance.
Director
Antonio José Betancor
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Jorge Sanz became Spanish cinema's golden boy after this, later starring in Belle Époque and Alatriste. Anthony Quinn reportedly took the small priest role because he loved the script's humanity.
The film captures the specific tragedy of Spanish Republican memory—framed narratives of childhood innocence were common in post-Franco cinema as coded political commentary. Garcés tells stories to survive fascist imprisonment.
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