Chema Mazo

Spain, 1950s. The corpse of an unknown person appears in the town square of Bocentellas, within the mythical territory of Región. The inhabitants will ask for help to Captain Medina, young officer in command of a nearby military fort, until the arrival of the judge.

After the Second World War, the United Nations has declared the blockade of Franco's Spain. In this historical context, for a time little known, lies the story of the widow of a Spanish army captain.

Paulino and Carmela are husband and wife, troubadours touring the countryside during the Spanish Civil War. They are Republicans, and with their mute assistant, Gustavete, they journey into rebel territory by mistake. They are arrested, fear a firing squad, and receive a reprieve from an Italian Fascist commander who loves the theatre. He arranges a performance for his troops, bargaining with Paulino to stage a burlesque of the republic in exchange for the actors' freedom. Will the fiery and patriotic Carmela consent?

Two students are arrested for painting revolutionary graffiti on the university walls. They escape from the camp and flee with two American girls, disguised as rich young men who are showing Spain to two tourists.

Marco Vallez (Antonio Banderas) is possessed by the beauty of a circus sharp shooter, and from the second they meet he is willing to give up everything to be with her. But one horrifying night sends them both down a road of revenge leaving behind a trail of bodies to the ultimate showdown with justice.

Hypocrisy and betrayal are the two dramatic pivots in this effective, emotionally gripping tragedy about the life and death of Paco (Antonio Banderas), a Spanish peasant who had been fighting against the feudal landowning system that kept farmers impoverished. Paco's life is told in flashbacks by a priest (Antonio Ferrandis) who is seen officiating at an anniversary mass attended by three wealthy landowners and no one else. The priest recalls Paco's baptism, his communion, his marriage ceremony and then his work for the peasants as he advocated and led them in a land-reform movement. The rest of the story will rest heavy on the priest's conscience, as he looks out at his empty church.

Jose Luis is an executive at his parents underwear factory where his girlfriend Sylvia works on the shop floor. When Sylvia becomes pregnant, Jose Luis promises her that he will marry her, most likely against the wishes of his parents. Jose Luis' mother is determined to break her son's engagement to a girl from a lower-class family, and hires Raul, a potential underwear model and would-be bullfighter to seduce Sylvia.

Recounts the experiences of a middle-class family, the Alcántaras, during the last years of the rule of Francisco Franco and the beginning of the Spanish Transition to democracy.