The Sleeping Voice

The movies I have chosen above are not Spanish. So this time, I would like to talk about a Spanish movie to refer to Spanish cinema. The title of the movie is "The Sleeping Voice" (the original title in Spanish is: "La Voz dormida"). It’s a moving Andalusian production set in the troublesome times following the Spanish Civil War during the dictatorship of Franco. It is produced by Benito Zambrano and is based on a contemporary novel by Dulce Chacón.

The movie talks about Pepita (played by María León), a young woman from Cordoba, going to Madrid after the war to be near her sister Hortense (played by Inma Cuesta) who is pregnant and in prison.

Pepita know Paulino (played by Marc Clotet), a Valencian who belongs to a middle class family. He fights with his brother Felipe (played by Daniel Holguin) in the Sierra de Madrid. Despite the difficulty of their relationship, fall in love passionately.

Hortensia is tried and sentenced to death. The execution does not take place until after delivery. Pepita tries by all means, avoid foreclosure. Go every day to the prison in order to deliver you the future son of Hortensia. She begs him not to give up for adoption or be admitted to an orphanage.

The director of the movie is famous for making movies of similar themes to this movie. The director Benito Zambrano is a man from Sevilla, Andalusian that made a famous movie whose name is “Solas” in which won five Goya awards. The movie explores the lives of a mother and daughter and their struggle for survival and happiness. Both of the women in the story are portrayed as alone “Solas”, each in her own way.

He filmed a serie called “Padre Coraje” his argument is based on real events in relation to a murder in a gas station in Jerez de la Frontera (Sevilla) and the efforts of the family of the victim to get justice.

His next project was “Habana Blues”, a musical filmed in Cienfuegos (Cuba). Benito Zambrano was nominated for the Goya too, but in this occasion he just won 2 Goya awards: the best editing and best original music.

In 2011 he made the second film “La voz dormida” which received 9 nominations at the Goya, including best film and best director. Benito Zambrano shows in his movies their political ideology. In the movie, we can watch one of the most important sequence, the execution, because sums up the reality of the history of Spain. This movie is dramatic with feeling of pain and sadness. Zambrano uses symbolism as the first element and combines elements such as colors and lightings to express feelings.

I choose this movie because it is reflected in the history of Spain in the postwar era in a clear and detailed.