8/10
Involving Spanish family-tragedy set in the Franco-era.
3 November 2020
I liked it. It has passionate and complex characters, the historical context is interesting, the locations where they filmed are impressive, and the fifties, in the midst of the fascist Franco regime, are flawlessly brought to life. The story is original and involving, like in a classical Greek tragedy all characters concerned are irrevocably steered by Fate to an unavoidable downfall.

In my opinion the acting was fine by all major characters, with Carmen Maura in the pivotal part of mrs. Amparo, the autocratic grand old lady of the manor, she dominates the screen with her arrogant demeanor and her scathing remarks. Cecilia Suarez as her tragic daughter in law is very touching, and I especially liked Alejandro Speitzer as the ill-fated son Gabino, who finds himself suddenly in the eye of an emotional family-storm, he's very convincing in at first his disbelief and indignation and later in his mortal fear. Maybe Isaac Hernandez isn't that good an actor but as a skilled professional ballet dancer (and thanks to his good looks) he is exactly right for his part.

If any, my only reservation concerns the last 10 minutes of the last episode, the writers went a tiny bit overboard there, at the expense of realism, it became something like a Tarantino movie. But otherwise: very recommendable.
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