Guernica (2016)

Simply A Masterpiece

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

This interesting film results to be a romance story along with an exciting dramatization of the bombing of Guernica (26 April 1937) , it was an aerial bombing of the Basque town of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War . It was carried out at the behest of Francisco Franco's nationalist government by its allies, the Nazi German Luftwaffe's Condor Legion and the Fascist Italian Aviazione Legionaria, under the code name Operation Rügen . The town was being used as a communications center behind the Frontline . Advances by Nationalist troops led by Generalísimo Francisco Franco had eaten into the territory controlled by the Republican Government . The Basque Government , an autonomous regional administrative body formed by Basque nationalists , sought to defend Biscay and parts of Guipuzcoa with its own light Basque Army. Meanwhile , a journalist Henry (James D'Arcy) writes news that are strongly censored by rigid censors as Teresa (María Valverde) in charge of overseeing the news that reporters can send abroad and Vasyl (Jack Davenport) . Then , their fates are tragically crossed during the Gernika massacre . There are also Stalinist advisers (Burn Gorman) who following Joseph Stalin's orders pull off bloody purges . As in love and war the first casualty is truth . The plot is plain and simple , an enjoyable as well as intimate love story in war times . This dramatic film about an unresolved romance , is well narrated and reminisce about a triangular love story , including an intense dramatization of the Gernika bombings . Breathtaking final scenes when there takes place the bombing , being confined to the film's last fifteen minutes and the ending images will determine the surprising denouement . The movie utilizes an often-used plot of the war movie genre which has two young people , here the cynical American correspondent James D'Arcy and the jealous Jack Davenport in love with the same woman , Maria Valverde , one of the Republic's censors from leftist wing government . It contains an atmospheric and thrilling musical score by Fernando Velázquez . Colorful and evocative cinematography by the splendid director of photography Unax Mendia . The movie was professionally directed by Koldo Serra (The backwoods , Distopia). The film had several nominations ASECAN 2017 as Nominated Best Editing , Best Sound ; Gaudí Awards 2017 Nominated Gaudí Award Best Costume Design : Millor Vestuari and Goya Awards 2017 Nominated Goya Best Special Effects : David Heras . The picture is based on real events , these are the followings : At the time of the raid, Guernica represented a focal strategic point for the Republican forces. It stood between the Nationalists and capture of Bilbao. Bilbao was seen as key to bringing the war to a conclusion in the north of Spain. Guernica also was the path of retreat for the Republicans from the northeast of Biscay. Prior to the Condor Legion raid, the town had not been directly involved in the fighting, although Republican forces were in the area; 23 battalions of Basque army troops were at the front east of Guernica. The town also housed two Basque army battalions, although it had no static air defenses, and it was thought that no air cover could be expected due to recent losses of the Republican Air Force. It happened on Monday 26 April , there was a noisy market day ; there were more than 10,000 people in the former Basque capital . The attack gained infamy because it involved the bombing of civilians by a military air forcé . The number of victims is still disputed; the Basque government reported 1,654 people killed at the time, while local historians identified 126 victims . An English source used by the Air War College claims 400 civilians died. Russian archives claim 800 deaths on 1 May 1937, but this number may not include victims who later died of their injuries in hospitals or whose bodies were discovered buried in the rubble. The bombing is the subject of a famous anti-war painting by Pablo Picasso, commissioned by the Spanish Republic. It was also depicted in a woodcut by the German artist Heinz Kiwitz, who was later killed fighting in the International Brigades. The bombing shocked and inspired many other artists, including a sculpture by René Iché, one of the first electro-acoustic music pieces by Patrick Ascione, a musical composition by René-Louis Baron and poems by Paul Eluard : Victory of Guernica , and Uys Krige : Night of the Fascist Bombers . There is also a short film from 1950 by Alain Resnais entitled Guernica.

Here in Spain, every time we see a movie about the Civil War the first thought is "oh no, same old story". Well, this is broken by this story made by Mr. Alba, Mr. Clavijo and Mr. Serra. Without paying attention to political issues, the film describes the happenings of that awful day of the bombs in Gernika through a love story and being respectful to the real events. It is wonderful to see a film carried out so carefully, with so much passion and looking for the spectator's heart. It is impossible not to see this movie without throwing a tear at the end. Furthermore, the Original Soundtrack is awesome, it lays under the story always making the perfect accompaniment; it is worth to listen to it while reading a book ;)

James D'Arcy plays an American journalist who is stationed in Guernica in 1937. The German Condor Legion is active and the war is raging all around, but the Republic have strict orders to only allow good new3s out and as such all journalists are censored to the point of mere mouths for propaganda. Meanwhile he sort of falls for Teresa who is one of the censors, but her Soviet boss, Vasyl (Jack Davenport) is also romantically committed to her and does not take kindly to the dalliance. We also have the brilliant Burn Gorman playing a NKVD agent who is deliciously ruthless (great piece of casting too) and he brings some welcome spice to the proceedings. What follows are the events that put Guernica on the map – 'for all the wrong reasons'.This is a really well made film with some great performances (accents aside) and high class CGI and a nice attention to detail. The love interest is good but not really going to be legendary and some could say that the bombing was under done, but I found it to be about right – we don't need loads of screen time of people suffering to make the point. In English, Castilian, Basque and some German with good to average sub titles, this is a film that is very much worth checking out.

Guernica could have been one of my all time favorites but unfortunately, as it happens too often these days, the culmination was badly executed. The first act is wonderful, a perfect setup for the upcoming events in the movie, with breathtaking cinematography, decent script and superb acting. The sets and the costumes were top notch, whoever could pull this off with 5 million deserves utmost respect. The first 30 minutes really feel like you're watching one of those great classics and I was pretty convinced that this movie is going to be ten star material. Unfortunately, as the movie progresses past the second act, it starts to lose its charms. The focus turns on the love story, which somehow manages to be underdeveloped, despite the huge screen time that it has. From there on, we have a cascading chain of blatant clichés which, combined with a final act that feels disjointed, really ruin the whole experience. Now if you pay attention, you'll notice that the final act is where we lose the German perspective. A scene on a bomber, a pilot reaction or even the German colonel watching the ongoing bombardment from a far would've kept this perspective alive and could've added some needed dramatic effect. Instead, the focus falls entirely on the events occurring in Guernica, which wouldn't be so bad if the whole act wasn't filled with severely overused clichés. All in all, this is a pretty decent war drama, which could've been something really special, had the writers come up with more original ideas.