- Alejandro Amenábar evokes a figure from the history of Spain in "Letter to Franco".
- It evokes both the future dictator and the man of letters Miguel de Unamuno who adhered to his ideas before rejecting them.
- This historic film allows the director to reflect on the current rise in extremes.
In Letter to Franco , the Chilean director Alejandro Amenábar returns to a controversial figure in Spanish history: the writer Miguel de Unamuno (1864-1936). The director also evokes the takeover of General Franco in the 1930s but this gripping film is also a warning against the extremes that threaten today's Europe.
"Today, we are witnessing a resurgence of fascist movements in Europe," says Alejandro Amenábar. In this sense, the film speaks as much of the present as of the past. The "letter to Franco" evoked by the French title of the film is the speech that Miguel de Unamuno read in front of the fascist leaders to denounce the "celebration of the race" that they promoted before the Second World War.
Courage in the face of extremes
First convinced by Franco's ideas, the novelist gradually discovers the excesses to which they lead. "I believe that the film is a faithful portrait of what Unununo felt: trapped in his house in Salamanca, rejected by his friends and adored by his future enemies," insists the director of Mar Adentro . The reflection of the man of letters, nourished by various meetings, leads him to commit to freedom at the risk of his life. His historic words "You will win but you will not win" long resonate in the mind of the spectator who knows that Spain will plunge into dictatorship until 1977.
Far from the authoritarian figure of his liberticide reign, the Francisco Franco shown by Alejandro Amenábar is a discreet, almost effaced man. “It was impenetrable even for his closest collaborators, insists the director. He built an image through the propaganda of the regime. This cold and silent character is all the more disturbing because we hardly hear him. He lets those around him speak, waiting for his time to seize power. "In my opinion, very few saw it coming," comments the filmmaker.
The filmmaker took advice from a military consultant and a historical adviser to avoid falling into ideological manipulation. "I don't think we can be completely impartial," he admits. As a viewer, I like movies that give me room to think, which I try to offer as a director. This is what Lettre à Franco manages to do, an instructive work without being didactic.
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