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THERE BE DRAGONS Send This Review to a Friend
This is not the Spanish Civil War I know about. The mélange written and directed by Roland Joffé focuses on a few stories, but largely on a priest, Josemaría Escrivá, who was declared as saint in 2002. He is known as a founder of the controversial Opus Dei. Here he is played in a rather bland by-the-numbers fashion by Charlie Cox. The priest is depicted as selfless and believing that there should be forgiveness for all, but his views are hardly appreciated, even by some of his disciples.
In the raging Spanish Civil War, he must run for his life as the Republican defenders of the elected government are depicted killing priests, given the religions alignment between the Catholic clergy and the Franco forces and the right wingers who detest the left-wing government. Joffé’s take is seriously skewered as it concentrates more on such brutality than the overall brutality of the fascists embraced by the clergy.
But this is already taking the film too seriously. Its other elements include a young woman fighting as a revolutionary, the revolutionary hero she loves, and the jealous rival who loves her. The convoluted tale unfolds through flashback details stemming from the effort to write a book. It involves a father-son relationship, a traitorous deed against the Republican cause and—well, you name it.
I have admired past work by Joffé—“The Killing Fields” and “The Mission”—but this is a soap opera travesty on the Spanish conflict, except for the realism of some of the action scenes that reflect the horror of it all. A Samuel Goldwyn Films release.
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