MovieChat Forums > Gernika (2016) Discussion > disappointing,not very good. SPOILERS AP...

disappointing,not very good. SPOILERS APOILERS

posted 8 years ago by ib011f9545i
3 replies | jump to latest

I saw this in a shop and being obsessed with the Spanish Civil War and aviation history I had to buy it.

But I am sad to say it is a poor film.

If you don't know the background I will let you do your own research but if you are not already interested or moved by the bombing of Guernica I did not feel the film explained the shock of the attack or its impact on the world in 1937.

The film is made with backing from the Basque regional government,the spin on the story is that the basques in 1937 were trying to voice their national identity within the Spanish republic,which had granted them an amount of autonomy.

But the USSR under Stalin was the main supporter of the Republic (Mexico also helped)and the Spanish communist party got more and more influence as the war went on,a fulfilling of what the fascists always said,the republic was communist,which was not true at the start.

George Orwell's Homage to Catalonia and his other writing on Spain will give you background.

So when we see the USSR secret police bullying the reporters and holding people in secret police cells it is true that these things happened,but the friction between communists and non communists in the Spanish republic is not shown.

There is no depiction of how evil the fascists were,or how liberal the republic was until the Stalinists took over.

So little background and the events of the bombing are not well explained either.
I don't know if the reporter in this film is based on a real person,he is an American reporter,most sources say a British reporter called George Steer broke the Guernica story,he also wrote about Ethiopia.

There is a well reviewed book about Steer,it might have made a better film,or else just make a film about Guernica that is less of cliched romance?

[–] gapeach1 8 years ago

ib011f9545 I appreciated your review. I watched it yesterday on cable. I am not much of a history buff and the only thing (don't laugh) I remember about the Spanish Civil War was that Ernest Hemmingway was there and reported on it. I was thinking that Henry Howell was the Hemmingway character. My sister who knows about history filled me in some. It helped a little.

I really agree with what you said:

If you don't know the background I will let you do your own research but if you are not already interested or moved by the bombing of Guernica I did not feel the film explained the shock of the attack or its impact on the world in 1937.

It seemed to me that the movie spent time with the censoring of the news but the "love story" seemed more prevalent. The bombing scenes were very realistic but once it was over the most important thing was that Henry find Theresa.

I didn't hate the movie but after reading what you posted I realize it could have been better.

[–] ib011f9545i 8 years ago

thanks for the comments.

I liked that the film showed that the Republican side was not perfect and not very democratic but the film was a wasted chance.

The film could have shown that the bombing caused outrage around the world,inflamed by Republican propaganda.

The Germans regretted the bombing and denied it was them for many years.

[–] 8 years ago

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