The Teacher Who Promised the Sea
(M, 105 minutes)
4 stars
The centrepiece of this fine film set mostly in rural Spain in the 1930s is a journal produced by children who had never laid eyes on the sea. Their teacher had promised them a trip to the coast in the summer, but his promise could not be kept in that time of political turbulence. It wasn't just a trip to the coast on offer but so much more in this story of an inspiring teacher who tried to show his pupils the best way forward.
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Making this solemn film was a delicate project for all involved. The art department was tasked with reconstructing the mass gravesite discovered in Burgos province in 2010. More than 100,000 supporters of the Republic went missing in Spain, executed and buried in unmarked graves during the coup d'etat of 1936-39 that saw General Francisco Franco rise to power.
Our way into this turbulent past is Ariadna (Laia Costa), a troubled young woman who wants to grant her grandfather, Carlos, his dying wish. The body of his father (and Ariadna's great-grandfather) Bernardo Ramirez, who disappeared during the military coup, has never been found. As the ailing man passes his final days slumped in a wheelchair, gazing out to sea, his granddaughter sets off for Burgos to visit the unmarked mass grave, recently discovered, that might be his father's resting place.
After driving to the gravesite, Ariadna is shown a map of Spain by a forensic anthropologist. It shows the locations of graves across the entire country. Executions were carried out everywhere.
When the search for the body of her great-grandfather fails to find any trace, she becomes interested in the teacher who was at his village school, the unorthodox and charismatic Antonio Benaiges (a very engaging performance by Enric Auquer). Antonio introduced progressive teaching methods, based on the Freinet pedagogy that emphasised giving pupils the opportunity to express themselves.
The moment Antonio arrived in the village of Banuelos de Bureba, he shook things up. He bought a printing press, banished rote learning and dispensed with the large crucifix that clung grimly to the classroom wall. The class of children aged between six and 12 basked in his nurturing approach. The daughter of the mayor, Josefina (Alba Hermoso), shows a talent for drawing. Emilio (Nicolas Calvo), whose illiterate father thinks his son is wasting his time at school, becomes the best reader. Carlos (Gael Aparicio), whose father is a political prisoner, is settling down.
It's a shocking moment when the military arrive, making a bonfire of what they deemed subversive books, and dealing with that "communist teacher". No doubt elements in the community that were suspicious of outsiders and their revolutionary ideas formed a fatal partnership with the Catholic Church to be rid of the meddlesome left-winger. The isolated village where Antonio was assigned to teach was a long way from the sea and a long way from progressive thinking.
Albert Val's screenplay is based on the novel of the same name by Catalan journalist and broadcaster Francesc Escribano.
This is a low-key, impressively restrained piece from director Patricia Font, with beautiful, subtle cinematography by David Valldeperez, and intense but restrained performances from the cast. The exuberant Antonio is the exception to the solemn mood, as one of those special teachers everyone remembers.
While Costa offers an impressively subtle portrayal of a contemporary, troubled young woman on a lonely quest, with issues that are never really specified, it is Auquer whose gentle, roguish character lifts the film.
