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for truth about the Spanish Civil War, but is tarnished by unnecessary lesbian and student/teacher affairs. Director David Trueba feels a compulsion to add some meat to the film by including these illicit romances, which only bog the film down.

Lesbian physic Miralles (Joan Dalmau) and student Gaston (Diego Luna) are both underdeveloped and non-essential characters that disappear during the course of the film and are not given a second thought. Indeed it would have functioned just as well, if not better, without them.

The 2003 film successfully examines the apathy that generally exists among Spain's youth regarding the Civil War, which ended in 1939 but has left wounds that in many cases have still not healed to this day. The plot revolves around teacher and journalist Lola (excellently portrayed by Ariadna Gil) who is in search of 'The Truth'. Lola's modern life is juxtaposed by the events she is investigating, nicely illustrating the change in Spanish society over a 70-year period.

The two most noteworthy aspects of the film are the atmospheric music, used to create the mood, and the several different camera styles. The film starts with a 'standard movie' style, but a sprinkling of documentary and handheld camerawork are added for good measure, creating an unusual and interesting overall look.

The film is all about pictures, with a lack of narrative structure (and a lack of narrative in general), images are required to tell what story there is. The flashback scenes could have been brilliant if they hadn't been rendered meaningless by the repeated use of the same image. The first couple of times are intriguing, illustrating the unfolding of the truth, but after a while they become too repetitive and somewhat annoying.

The plot itself is not overly intriguing; however, the few select things the characters do say are extremely moving, suggesting that the younger generation should start talking to their grandparents about the war before it's too late.

So in brief, historical films are generally on the uninspiring side. Films about the past do have the potential to be exciting, if only as much effort was put into developing decent plots and interesting characters than is presently spent on making costumes and sets look good.

Learn more about this author, Marilyn Justine.
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