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Maixabel

Maixabel is the name of the wife of an assassinated Basque local governor, Luis Mari Juaregi. He was shot in a cafe in 2000 by a member of the Basque separatist group, ETA. One thread of the film is based on the events in the years following this crime, specifically the effects it has on Maixabel and her daughter, Maria. The other, arguably more developed strand consists of two of the ETA members responsible, Ibon and Luis (both doing porridge), and their attempts at some sort of redemption.

11 years after the killing, ETA is slowly breaking up and many ex-members (imprisoned or not) are distancing themselves from the actions of the group. Cue Luis's invitation to meet with Maixabel. Oddly, she accepts, much to the initial chagrin of Maria. Ibon slowly comes around to the idea and also requests a meeting, again agreed to by Maixabel - this time with the blessing of her daughter.

The film is incredibly well-intentioned and worthy, and its adherence to documenting the facts is admirable, but it loses something along the way. It lacks tension and really needed a tighter edit - crucially, and I feel bad for saying this, I was a bit bored. Such a heinous crime and intriguing history should lend itself to a more gripping cinema experience but it wasn't to be here.

Potential disclaimer here: this was the worst crowd I've been in at the movies for years, at least the crew surrounding my seat - constant chatter, giggling at really inappropriate moments, loads of walk-outs and ins, phone screens catching the eye, one woman in front even made a big deal out of saying goodbye to her friends, 10 MINUTES before the film ended. This was not a film crowd, more like a bunch of pissed-up Spaniards out on a free jolly. It's quite possible all this shite had something to do with my lack of satisfaction with the film.

On the positive side, the locations were great, likely shot in the town of Tolosa, in northern Spain (or somewhere standing in for it) and some of the clutch points were pretty emotional - a highlight was the conversation between Maixabel - "I'd rather be Luis Mari's widow than your mother" and Ibon - "I'd rather be Luis Mari than his killer". Powerful stuff.

Luis Tosar as Ibon is fantastic and Blanca Portilla as Maixabel turns in a restrained and stoic, Goya-winning performance. The excruciatingly awkward finale is almost painful to watch, but shows the levels some people will reach for to do the right thing - wrong-doer and wronged alike. Director Icíar Bollaín has previous with 'political' films and she holds a steady, if risk-averse hand here. [Apologies to Bollaín, by the way - I referred to her as 'he' on the accompanying podcast. Schoolboy error.]

Maixabel is showing at the Spanish Film Festival from Apr 27 to May 18.

See also:

Bollaín directed a great little film about the Cochabamba Water War called Even the Rain (2010), again with Tosar in a lead role. Another Tosar cracker was at last year's festival, Out in the Open (2019), directed by Benito Zambrano.

GRIPES IN POD!!

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