Soldiers of Salamina movie storyline. When the professor and writer Lola Sánchez is assigned to write a column in the newspaper about the Spanish Civil War, she researches and finds for the first time about the shooting of Rafael Sánchez Mazas. Lola has lost her passion for writing, and she becomes intrigued about Rafael, who was a writer and journalist that returned to Spain from the Italy of Mussolini and founded the fascist party Spanish Falange, becoming advisor of the leader Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera.
When the lefts won the election in 1936, the Falange became illegal, and later there was a military coup d’stat. Rafael miraculously escaped from the shooting and was spared by an unknown soldier. Lola decides to write a book about the historic event and to disclose the identity of the unknown soldier. But her acquaintance Conchi advises that her work is affected by her lack of passion. When Lola reads a work of a student about the heroic former soldier Miralles, Lola becomes obsessed to find him and see of he is connected to the event.
The Soldiers of Salamis (Spanish: Soldados de Salamina) is a 2003 Spanish film directed by David Trueba, based on the book by Javier Cercas. Starring Ariadna Gil and Ramón Fontserè, the film was nominated for eight Goya Awards in 2004, and won the award for Best Cinematography. It was also screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. The exteriors of the film were shot in Girona, (Spain).
Film Review for Soldiers of Salamina
Civil War is one of the most sensitive and risky topics an author can write about, especially in the case of the Spanish Civil War, since everything is quite recent and vivid. Soldados de Salamina was written by Javier Cercas in 2001, praised by critics, loved by readers and subsequently became a best-seller in Spain. Two years later its film adaptation was released and the following year the novel won the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize in the UK.
Soldiers of Salamina (2003) by David Trueba – Unsung FilmsIt’s set at the turn of the 20th century and Lola (Ariadna Gil) is no longer the young and promising writer she’d started out as. Her passion in writing has run dry and she’s found herself working as a professor at the University, submitting the occasional piece to the newspaper. Her personal life is a mess, her father is dying and nothing seems to be working out for her. Until she decides to write a piece about the fascist Rafael Sánchez Mazas, a historical person, a journalist and a writer who, after spending some time in Italy, is strongly influenced by Mussolini’s politics, and returns to Spain to become the leader of the Spanish Falange.
Soldiers of Salamina (2003) by David Trueba – Unsung FilmsSánchez Mazas’ life story fascinates Lola and she decides to dig deeper with her research, in spite of everyone’s opinions regarding her fascist subject. She is swept into the story. But bad memories are better kept hidden and forgotten; and nobody is eager to go back and remember families being divided and brothers killing each other. But there is something in Sánchez Mazas’ story that Lola can’t let go of.
In 1937 Sánchez Mazas was arrested and kept imprisoned for a whole two years waiting for his execution. On that very day, on his way to be executed, Sánchez Mazas managed to escape into the forest. The soldier that went after him found him hiding behind some bushes in a state of pure terror. He raised his weapon, pointed at him and after a split second decided to set him free. There is no doubt that the Republican soldier knew exactly who he’d set free, and did so anyway, despite the consequences of his mercy. Lola’s mission becomes to find that soldier and ask him why he chose to do what he did; what he was motivated by, what his feelings were, what the repercussions will be.
Soldiers of Salamina (2003) by David Trueba – Unsung FilmsSoldiers of Salamina is quite faithful to book’s narration and there is a constant link between the present and the past. It’s a delicate story, balanced nicely between fiction and reality, managing to take the audience through time and demonstrate how a single decision can make history. We will never know why the soldier let Sánchez Mazas go and how history would have played out had he chosen to shoot him on the spot.
Soldiers of Salamina (2004)
Soldados de Salamina
Directed by: David Trueba
Starring: Ariadna Gil, Ramon Fontserè, Joan Dalmau, María Botto, Diego Luna, Alberto Ferreiro, Lluís Villanueva, Vahina Giocante, Joaquín Notario, Éric Caravaca
Screenplay by: David Trueba
Production Design by: Salvador Parra
Cinematography by: Javier Aguirresarobe
Film Editing by: David Trueba
Costume Design by: Lala Huete
Set Decoration by: María Clara Notari, Gustavo Suñer
Distributed by: Lolafilms
Release Date: September 10, 2004
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