MovieChat Forums > El laberinto del fauno (2007) Discussion > Great movie but the political slant is a...

Great movie but the political slant is annoying

posted 9 years ago by aldiboronti
15 replies | jump to latest

Franco's nationalists are painted as almost cartoon villains while the rebels are saintlike heroes. In reality Franco prevented Spain from becoming an Iron Curtain country and falling under Soviet domination for the rest of the century, with all the suffering that brought to other countries under Communist Russian domination.

OK, Franco was right-wing and a Falangist but let the results speak for themselves. He shepherded Spain into a democratic future, leaving a constiitutional monarchy behind him after his death. It's just ridiculous to portray the Communist rebels as freedom-fighters. They were nothing of the sort.

[–] latin_buddy 9 years ago

Spain was already a democracy before Franco's coup d'etat. And the Spanish Republic became dependent on Russia only after the democratic powers turned their backs on it. Finally, groups of maquis like the ones portrayed at the movie were pretty much leftovers from the Spanish Civil War fighting for their survival, with little or no political agenda.

[–] infodogg 9 years ago

"He shepherded Spain into a democratic future, leaving a constiitutional monarchy behind him after his death."

There is so much wrong about this comment I don't even know where to begin. His military triumph over a democratically elected government led into 40 YEARS of national-catholic dictatorship, whose early years saw the mass execution, internment in concentration camps and forced labour of anyone who wasn't on his side.

The Spanish Constitution wasn't approved until 1978, 3 years after his death, and appointed his designated successor - the king - as head of state. A king who recently had to abdicate as a result of being an embarrassing, profligate, womanising drunk who can barely stand up straight in public and was booted of the WWF board for shooting elephants.

Cartoon villains, you say? What, exactly, do you think was going on around that time? Tap-dancing?

[–] justwrite3 9 years ago

This notion that the film has an overt political slant gets posted from time to time, but I don't see it. I think it reveals more about the political slant of the posters than the film.

[–] liutenantsalt 8 years ago

Except there's something to be said about del Toro's constant whitewashing of the Reds and their comparable bloodlust and militancy.

[–] lpadr009 9 years ago

This x 100

[–] peter-376-761113 9 years ago

Yes, the results really do speak for themselves. 40 years after Franco came to power Spain was a social, cultural, economic & political backwater in western Europe. The circumstances of the Spanish civil war were very different from the situation after the carnage of the Second World War that led to the Soviet domination of Eastern Europe.

It's true that the movie creates extreme characters & certainly the political reality was more complex, but Del Toro was not creating a documentary, but rather a fictional movie invested with powerful & archetypal characters. The politics strike me as more of setting for the expression of those fundamental archetypes.

You might want to read George Orwell's "Homage to Catalonia" for a more nuanced view of the extraordinarily complex political machinations that took place during the Spanish civil war.

[–] spookyrat1 9 years ago

It's just ridiculous to portray the Communist rebels as freedom-fighters.

I must have missed the part where the guerrillas were identified collectively as ... "Communist rebels". 🐭

[–] liutenantsalt 8 years ago

You clearly did.

[–] fountaincap 9 years ago

Agreed, but we really can't expect much. The entertainment industry is dominated by the left. Not that I fault them for having or expressing opinions in their films, but I just wish it wasn't so lopsided.

[–] latin_buddy 9 years ago

Maquis were not good or bad. They were just trying to survive, as capture or surrender would mean immediate death. On the other hand, Franco was using all the state power and resources to keep people oppressed.

[–] Scaar_Alexander 9 years ago

It's best ignoring that, if you want my advice. It's like Serbians portrayed as homicidal maniacs in Hollywood movies. These simplistic representations of historical realities bother mean, but when the movie is SO brilliant, and the bad guy SO memorable, I prefer to forget about it.

___________
- Booker, are you afraid of God ?
- No. But I'm afraid of you.

[–] rixter 9 years ago

Let's not forget that Franco allowed Hitler to tune up for WWII in the civil war. But what difference does it make? Fascist,Communists, they're both dictatorships. Both oppressive.

[–] pelagius-14590 8 years ago

Last i heard, Franco was great friends with Hitler, and guess who destroyed the Iron Curtain? Hitler. Russia wasnt going anywhere close to Spain as long as Hitler was around.

Franco is a dictator, some people still like him in Spain but a lot of people dont. His tomb is on the floor at Valle de los Caidos (Valley of the Fallen) for people to step on.

[–] pelagius-14590 8 years ago

Oh and an FYI, Franco executed many famous artists and poets in Spain, and he spared Salvador Dali only because he was a fascist himself, unless all his statements were lies in order to stay alive. Hard to say which side he was on.