The Endless Trench

When the Spanish Civil War finally ended, there were no signs of any amnesty from the Francoists towards their former Republican adversaries, and with no shortage of people prepared to settle old scores, life proves increasingly perilous for "Higinio" (Antonio de la Torre). He had fought on the losing side and had hoped to wait until the dust had settled a little before leaving their Andalusian home with wife "Rosa" (Belén Cuesta) and heading to somewhere safer. His neighbour "Gonzalo" (Vicente Vergara) has an axe to grind, though, and when he discovers that there's a bounty to be had too it means that "Higinio" is going to have to take drastic steps if he is to remain at liberty. Those steps actually don't deliver liberty so much as a more personal form of incarceration. He is forced behind the walls of his late father-in-law's home with his wife going through the daily motions of life as if he were dead, whilst living quite a full life with him behind closed doors. That results in a pregnancy that she cannot just explain away, so she has to visit her sister for a while and leave him alone to fend for himself - and that's when their hitherto simple arrangement starts to become compromised. Add to this complexity the return of "Rosa" and newborn "Jaime", and the conflict of WWII that encourages the family to hope against hope that it might destabilise Franco's regime, and we now have the template for a life that sees "Higinio" remain a prisoner in his own home with his increasingly idealistic son believing him an uncle and his suspicious and vengeful neighbour still convinced that he isn't dead, but living in secret. After almost three decades behind the plasterboard, is he destined to never step from his home in safety or might the new Juan-Carlist government offer him an eventual olive branch? De la Torre really does manage to imbue his role with elements of a really uncomfortable claustrophobia and his character's frustrations as his wife has to defend herself from accusations, interrogations and even some unwanted attentions is well captured by an actor who has little dialogue to support his really quite potent performance. It's Cuesta, though, who really steals the plaudits as her effort sees "Rosa" juggle plates throughout, especially as the inquisitive "Jaime" (Emilio Palacios) begins to rock the boat - however unintentionally. Though there are elements of joy here, and it does have some aspects of a peculiar love story to it, this is by no means a very cheery film - but that's what makes it a more convincing observation of what really happened to scores of Spaniards forced into this almost survivalist scenario across the country well past the end of the war. It takes it's time but that augments the story rather than strings it out, and if you're in the mood for something challenging and uncomfortbale to watch, then this is well worth 2½ hours.