Revisionist Left Wing Propaganda

Rating: 5/10 (24 November 2012)

Great story, acting and special effects.
Only two problems.
1. Its a story about children's fairy tales and contains graphic war violence. Definitely not for children. For adults that like fairy tales, I guess.
2. The second issue is the political message. Gratuitous violence (murder and torture) is perpetrated by the fascist military in the film. The good guys are the communist rebels. Looking at the history of Spain in 1944, each side was equally violent. The film does not portray a balanced view and has the communist side winning, which was not the case.
The Franco regime was authoritarian, locked up, killed and exiled thousands of political prisoners. The other side was just as barbaric however, but lost. Spain was neutral, favouring Germany in the 2nd World War, ostracised by the UN in 1945, allied with the US against communism in 1953, experienced an economic boom in 1959 and became a democratic and constitution monarchy in 1975 (Franco's death after anointing the King). In the end the Franco regime fizzled out, but was not overthrown.
The film is an attempt to adjust Spain's history to say that the Fascist regime was the only side to commit human rights atrocities.
The DVD should contain a warning label: "This film contains material that is Revisionist Left Wing Propaganda"