Undescribable Perfection

Please don't spend money on this.

How sad is this?

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

The film is a fictionalized drama of a true story, based on the events that took place April 26, 1937 in Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. The movie follows the life of famed American reporter Henry Howe (James D'Arcy) as he attempts to get out stories while being censored. He is embedded with the rebels in Basque country, aided by Russian communists. The rebels are fighting for a Democratic Spain against Franco, supported by Germany and Italy. A new war technique is going to be used on that said day as the film starts a week earlier, giving us enough time to develop a love story.This is a film on the Spanish Civil War that doesn't involve Hemingway, the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, or a labyrinth...although Hemingway was mentioned. Like a Hemingway novel on the Spanish Civil War, the film is a bit laborious to get through and there is a bell that tolls. This is not a documentary it is a historical novel and does not involve zombies.The film is done in multiple languages, English, Spanish, German, Russian, and maybe Basque, French, and Italian. You might want to make sure you get something with subtitles. It is mostly a drama with a protagonist that wasn't that likable and sees the war through his hip flask. Not for everyone.Guide: No swearing (In English anyway). Brief nudity (María Valverde).

The goal of the film was to put a human face on the tragedy of Guernica, the market town in Northern Spain that was destroyed by German bombers during the Spanish Civil War. Unfortunately, the romantic narrative was far-fetched, and the dialogue was often strained in this labored, slow-paced drama.The filmmakers were successful in conveying the complexity of the Spanish Civil War. The opposition of the fascist "loyalists" supporting Franco versus the "republicans," who were allied with Stalin, was well presented. But the film failed to convey the idealism of the Republicans. It was the passion of the Republicans to preserve their government against a military coup that captivated the world in the 1930s. Yet the passion was inexplicably missing in the film.The main character was an American journalist named Howell, who was evidently modeled on the British writer George Steer who broke the story of the atrocities at Guernica. But Steer, along with other like-minded writers like Ernest Hemingway and George Orwell, also witnessed the passion of ordinary people resisting the forces of fascism in the 1930s. Where was the passion in this film?The character of Teresa, who was a censor, was essential for demonstrating the uses of propaganda. But her character did not demonstrate to Howell why the cause of the Spanish Civil War was important in taking a stand against European fascism. The filmmakers seemed unaware of how important it was in the 1930s to resist another nation turning to fascism. That SHOULD have been the main focus of this drama.In the final analysis, the romantic intrigue was not compelling or believable. And despite the beautiful photography of Northern Spain, the true soul of the nation was not captured in "Guernica."

James D'Arcy plays an American journalist who is stationed in Guernica in 1937. The German Condor Legion is active and the war is raging all around, but the Republic have strict orders to only allow good new3s out and as such all journalists are censored to the point of mere mouths for propaganda. Meanwhile he sort of falls for Teresa who is one of the censors, but her Soviet boss, Vasyl (Jack Davenport) is also romantically committed to her and does not take kindly to the dalliance. We also have the brilliant Burn Gorman playing a NKVD agent who is deliciously ruthless (great piece of casting too) and he brings some welcome spice to the proceedings. What follows are the events that put Guernica on the map – 'for all the wrong reasons'.This is a really well made film with some great performances (accents aside) and high class CGI and a nice attention to detail. The love interest is good but not really going to be legendary and some could say that the bombing was under done, but I found it to be about right – we don't need loads of screen time of people suffering to make the point. In English, Castilian, Basque and some German with good to average sub titles, this is a film that is very much worth checking out.

"Guernica" is a very good film and it's well worth seeing. However, I also assume that most folks just aren't that interested in seeing a film about a town leveled in 1937 during the god-awful Spanish Civil War. Not exactly a crowd-pleaser of a topic for a movie in 2016...but still a well made and interesting film.To really understand the movie, you should know a bit about this war--things you may not clearly understand when you watch. In 1936, the Spanish people elected a socialist government (often called 'Republicans'). However, a coup soon broken out when right-wing nationalist generals decided to depose their leader and create their own government. It wasn't a quick nor easy process, however, and the bloody war raged on for several years. Soon the Soviets began aiding the government and the Axis powers (Germany and Italy) began sending support to help General Franco and his Nationalist forces ultimately win the war. The destruction of the town of Guernica by the Luftwaffe was soon made famous by Picasso's enormous mural named after this city.When the film begins, Henry (James D'Arcy) is an American news correspondent who working in Spain during this war. He soon finds frustration in covering the events, as often the Republican Spanish government heavily censors his stories--making them, essentially, bland propaganda. What he doesn't realize is that the Soviets advisers in the country are essentially running both this propaganda campaign as well as a Stalinist system by which 'enemies of the state' are ruthlessly purged...whether or not they are guilty of anything. Because Henry has a habit of stepping on toes, he soon is the subject of one of these purges...and this ends up not only affecting him but his lady, Teresa (Maria Valverde). But just as this trap is sprung, the infamous bombing begins.While this is a romance, I must emphasize that the romantic portion is not primary. Additionally, the plot will not satisfy romance junkies--it doesn't follow the formula of a romance and is more tragic than heartwarming. Instead, the film is more about the events leading up to the carpet bombing of the town of Guernica as well as a vivid recreation of this...and this fictional romance is woven into this. History junkies, however, will be happy with this choice in focus, as the film did an excellent job trying to get the look right of the German planes, uniforms and costumes. It also didn't portray either side as the good guys or bad guys--a mistake many films often make when they discuss the war. Think about it...Stalin on one side, Hitler and Mussolini on the other! About the only thing that didn't work for me in the film was having Henry knowing absolutely no Spanish...none...which was very odd for a news man living in Spain and investigating what's going on in the war. Odd...but not a serious problem with the film. Overall, an interesting and occasionally powerful film about a seldom discussed topic.