Hollywood Movie There Be Dragons 2011
Movie Plot Summary:
There Be Dragons follows the story of controversial Opus Dei founder, St. Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, in a sympathetic portrayal of the Catholic organization, bravely contradicting the sentiment set by Dan Browns The Da Vinci Code. In this action-packed film, Director Roland Joffe surrounds the priest with fictional characters and deals with universal themes of love, betrayal and redemption.
The film begins when a young journalist begins investigating his estranged fathers relationship with Escrivá during the tumultuous times of the Spanish Civil War and uncovers a compelling drama of the two men’s complicated lives and the dark secrets of his family’s past.
Faced with the hardships and injustices that are tearing Spain apart, these two friends paths diverge when one pursues a life of faith and the other is swept into the brutality and horror of the Spanish Civil War.
As personal and national battles rage, the characters lives collide and their deepest struggles are illuminated. Only then can they face the ultimate choices that will result in tragedy or triumph, and a chance for final redemption.
There Be Dragons reveals the importance and timeless power of forgiveness in a story of loss between a father and son, of revolutionaries fighting for freedom, of a woman’s search for love and meaning and the struggles of a man whose life impacts them all.
Storyline:
A young journalist long ago rejected by his now aged and dying father finds himself investigating one of his father’s former friends, a candidate for canonization. Uncovering the two men’s complicated relationship from childhood through the horrors of the Spanish Civil War unveils a compelling drama filled with passion, betrayal, love and religion. An action packed story set during a murderous time in history that ultimately serves the present by revealing the importance and timeless power of forgiveness.
Movie Review:
The film is technically quite interesting. It starts with a short sequence that shows the deepest Spanish soul in a lost village near France. This sequence has an impeccable cut and setting, and works as introduction of the characters and situation. In my opinion the best sequence (speaking as cinema “freak”). The best thing in the film is the photography, which takes the viewer 1920s Spain.
The script is also quite interesting. Although the main character in the film is the Spanish priest Josemaria Escriva, he is not the protagonist of the story. This makes the film more interesting, as it plays with 2 people weighting their importance by their personality and their role in the story. Josemaria is the alter-ego Manolo, both are attractive persons that keep the attention of the viewer, which at the end should judge. Another success of the script is the usage of time. The main story happens in 1920 and 1930, but it is told as memories in the 80s, when the son of Manolo has to write an article about Josemaria, which is going to be canonized by the Catholic Church. Robert discovers that his father came from the same little village of Josemaria, and asks to his father about him. The answer give the title to the film “there be dragons”.
Now let’s go with the dragons. The makers knew that the film was going to be surrounded by dragons. Opus Dei, communism, revolution, Catholics and the Spanish Civil War… this film has all the ingredients to be a big scandal. The film has the collaboration of some members of the Opus Dei (at least 2 of the producers are) and the organization has given information and access to the documentation about Josemaria. The film also shows a period of the Spanish history which still is a taboo in this country. In Spain, still today, there are mainly 2 opposite streams: pro-franquists and pro-republicans. The film success- in my opinion- to show that as in any war there were no good and bads (which has shocked the Spanish population), that in both sides there were good and bad people, good goals but bad means. My personal opinion is that it success to show the real left of Spain, breaking with the franquist propaganda of the left as communist criminals, but also breaking the view given to Americans by Hemingway that the left in Spain was the advocate of Democracy and freedom. Maybe the film fails to show the right-side of the war, but nevertheless is- in my opinion- the best representation of the civil war that I have seen in art.
Main Cast And Crew
Cast: Charlie Cox,Wes Bentley,
Dougray Scott,Unax Ugalde,
Olga Kurylenko,Pablo Lapadula,
Golshifteh Farahani,
Rusty Lemorande,
Ana Torrent And Others
Director: Roland Joffé
Producer: Roland Joffé
Release dates: 6 May 2011
Genres: Biography | Drama
Country: USA | Argentina | Spain
Language: English
Also Known As: Encontrarás dragones
Filming Locations: Luján,
Buenos Aires, Federal District, Argentina
Runtime: 120 min
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