El Lobo (2004)

Note des utilisateurs:

7.0/10   

Réalisateur:

Miguel Courtois

Scénariste:

Antonio Onetti (writer)

Release Date:

5 novembre 2004 (Spain)

Genre:

Thriller

Plot:

Based on a true story. In the 70's, during the last stages of Franco's dictatorship, Txema, a basque construction worker...

Awards:

2 wins & 10 nominations

Avis des utilisateurs:

a very good Spanish thriller

Ensemble

Eduardo Noriega	...	Txema
José Coronado	...	Ricardo
Mélanie Doutey	...	Amaia
Silvia Abascal	...	Begoña
Santiago Ramos	...	Pantxo
Patrick Bruel	...	Nelson
Jorge Sanz	...	Asier
Manuel Zarzo	...	Matías
Fernando Cayo	...	Txino
Juan Fernández	...	Comandante Palacios
Roger Pera	...	Mediometro
José Luis García Pérez	...	Mejía (as José Luis García-Pérez)
Chema Muñoz	...	Arrieta
Antonio Ferrera	...	Reto
Juan Polanco	...	Gordo

Autre(s) titre(s):

Wolf (International: English title)
El Lobo (France) [fr]

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, language and a brief scene of graphic sexual content.

Durée:

125 min | Argentina:123 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival) | 134 min (extended version)

Pays:

Spain

Langue:

Espagnol

Couleur:

Couleur

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Son:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Classification:

Argentina:13 | Ireland:15A | USA:R | Spain:18 | Brazil:14 | UK:15

Emplacements De Pelliculage:

Barcelona, Cataluña, Spain

Company:

Castelao Producciones

Goofs:

Anachronisms: On chapter 5 of the DVD, almost at minute 19 of the film, a caption says it's 1973. There's a wedding and while Amaia sings (00:20:33) we can see a cymbal in the background, whose brand is Sabian. This brand was founded in Canada in 1981.

Guillemet:

Nelson: You know what's that?
José María Loygorri, 'Txema': A bullet.
Nelson: I always keep one of these... for traitors.

Movie Connections:

References Ultimo tango a Parigi (1972)

Soundtrack:

Samba Pa Ti

a very good Spanish thriller

"El Lobo" tells the real story of a government agent that during the 70s (during the time when Franco is dying and a time of change is coming in Spain) infiltrates the ETA (a separatist terrorist organization). It's a very dangerous mission and this film succeeds in portraying the tension and perplexity of the agent (codename Lobo - wolf in English) and the doubts that the new times to come arouse inside the ETA and in Spain.

This is a fast-paced thriller that unlike its American counterparts doesn't tell us who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. We see the idealism in ETA militants that lead them to indiscriminate killing and the opportunism of the government circles. Instead of giving us a ready-made solution the film poses questions that linger in our mind. For instance: with the coming of democracy wouldn't it be better to give up armed struggle and become an organized party? This generates conflicts inside ETAs leading circles and the agent Lobo is inside this turmoil.

Today with the crescent European integration these questions are still valid. Is it necessary to fight for old ideals that have lost its reason of being or wouldn't it be better to adapt to the new times where integration is the password? In a few sketches, the agent Lobo, the ETA militants, the government officials, the mood in Spain, are drawn in a realistic way and give us a feeling of real persons and events.

Rent this film. "El Lobo" is very intense and sometimes desperate (like the 70s in Spain). New times are coming. What shall we do? What will happen?