Spain Again
(Espana Orta Vez)
Picture:
C Sound: C Extras: D Film: B-
Dr. David
Foster (Mark Stevens) and his wife (Marianne Koch) are visiting Spain for a medical conference, but the
good doctor fought in the Spanish Civil War and it is that which haunts him in Spain Again (Espana Orta Vez) (1969), a drama that has him trying to go back somehow
and resolve some unsolved issues of the past.
This is further complicated by the young Flamenco dancer (Manuela
Vargas) who looks much like a lost love from a generation ago. It is even possible that it is his daughter.
The film
is somewhat about regrets, yet he is a doctor and his job is about saving lives
and stopping misery, though this does not gel with his war years. The medical conference’s graphics cause him
to have war flashbacks as much as any of the locations, restored or rotted by
time as they are. Though not a smashing
success, the Jaime Camino-directed film is smart, intelligent and believable,
which is better than most such films of its kind that get made today. That is when they get made at all.
The letterboxed
1.66 X 1 image is off center and off of a sometimes-damaged analog video
transfer, but with all that, rich EastmanColor still manage to come though in
shots. Cinematographer Luis Cuadrado
brings a real and believable look to the film and its locations in Spain.
The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is as old, but dialogue and music are clear
enough, while subtitles are unique. They
are burned into the print and multi-lingual.
When English is spoken, they are Spanish and vice versa, though the
English is brighter and richer, not fading into the background like the
skinnier Spanish ones. The only extra is
a theatrical trailer.
Not long
before the making of this, the great Alain Resnais’ gave us his 1966 masterwork
The War Is Over (La Guerre Est Finie)
which involved a former revolutionary weary of is clandestine lifetime battles
and the changes that were about to happen to him late in life. Though not as good, Spain Again does come out of that same place of sincerity and
self-reflection. That is why it is worth
seeing, especially if you are looking for a smart back catalog alternative.
- Nicholas Sheffo
