Broken Silence () is a 2001 Spanish drama film directed by Montxo Armendáriz which stars Lucía Jiménez and Juan Diego Botto. The plot depicts life and repression in a Spanish village in the years 1944–1948.
Cast
Plot
Starting in Navarre in 1944, The plot begins with Lucía, a young woman, returning to her village after nine years. The year is 1944, and Francisco Franco has already won the war. Lucía explains that she has to come back - supposedly to earn money - because her mother has five other children. We get to know Teresa, Sebas, Manuel, and Hilario, who has just returned from jail. We can also see the soldiers' office, which has the phrase “Todo por la patria” (All for the Fatherland) painted above the door. After arriving, Lucía lives with Teresa and starts working at her bar.
From the first frame, you can see the oppression that the soldiers exert on the town. In one scene, the sergeant orders Sebas to drink a whole bottle of castor oil because he has said a curse word. Soon after, the Boss's wife (Sole) runs to tell Lucía and Teresa that the soldiers are coming for Manuel. Manuel runs to the mountains to join the maquis (the guerrilla fighters who live there), so instead of him, the soldiers punish Rosario, her mother. After that, Lucía brings Genaro some papers to the mountains to help the maquis, and her relationship with Manuel becomes romantic again.
The seasons change, and 1946 begins. The maquis invade the church during mass and capture several soldiers. Matías goes to "talk" to Cosme, but insults him for being a Francoist. Lola explains that when she returned from the war, Cosme found out that Hilario and Teresa had lived together, and that is why she betrayed Hilario and Matías.
The maquis won and took the town, and everyone celebrates, but soon after more soldiers are coming and the maquis flee to the mountains again. The soldiers make everyone stand in the plaza while Alfredo indicates who the collaborators are, including Lola, but not Lucía. Some days later, Alfredo is killed while he is driving to pick up Lucía. Lucía is supposed to have planned it.
As punishment, the soldiers come to take Rosario, but she has already killed herself. Very soon after, Lucía says that she is pregnant, and Manuel says that his father has been killed by the maquis because he did not agree with them. Among all the death, Lucía decides to return to her mother's house to bear her daughter.
The seasons change again, and the winter of 1948 begins. Lucía returns, and discovers that Sebas has died, Hilario is hiding in the attic of her house (that of Cosme and Teresa), and Teresa is leaving food for the maquis. Lucía decides to see Manuel, and shows him photos of her daughter. Lucía has false documents so Manuel can leave, but Manuel doesn't want to. Suddenly, a group of rebels arrives with a spy who is killed in broad daylight. Lucía, stunned, runs back to the village.
The soldiers discover that Hilario was hiding in the attic, and Cosme lets them arrest Teresa, Hilario, and Lucía. While they are in jail, other soldiers arrive with Manuel and another maqui. The lieutenant asks the prisoners to give them the names of other maquis in exchange for a sentence reduction. Hilario elbows the lieutenant and tries to escape, but the guard at the door shoots him and kills him. The lieutenant sees that Lucía and Manuel have a relationship, and so he orders the soldiers to kill Manuel and Teresa, while Lucía can hear the shots.
Upon returning, Lucía tells Lola that she thinks she betrayed them, but Lola responds ambiguously. At last, Lucía leaves by bus, under a rainbow in the mountains.
Topics
Hope
Hope is the most important theme in the movie. All the characters in "Broken Silence" seek it. The guerrillas try to keep it, Genaro cannot have it without the letters from his son who is already dead, and Rosario and Lola finally lose it. The most powerful message of the film is that there is always hope, even if it sometimes seems otherwise. At the end of the film, Lucía recognizes the importance of this fact. She continues to write the letters to Genaro, instead of Hilario, her dead friend. As Hilario said, that is what allows Genero to continue to live, and that is the most important. As Lucía leaves the village of sadness, a rainbow is seen which reinforces the feeling that there is still hope.