''South from Granada'' ( es, Al sur de Granada, links=no) is a 2003 Spanish comedy film directed by

Fernando Colomo Fernando Colomo Gómez (born 2 February 1946) is a Spanish film producer, screenwriter and film director. He has also acted in small roles in his own and other's films. He is regarded as the father of the so-called '' comedia madrileña''. Fil ...

which stars

Matthew Goode Matthew William Goode (born 3 April 1978) is a British actor. Goode made his screen debut in 2002 with ABC's TV film feature '' Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister''. His breakthrough role was in the romantic comedy ''Chasing Liberty'' (2004), f ...

Gerald Brenan Edward FitzGerald "Gerald" Brenan, CBE, MC (7 April 1894 – 19 January 1987) was a British writer and hispanist who spent much of his life in Spain. Brenan is best known for '' The Spanish Labyrinth'', a historical work on the background t ...

(author of ''

South from Granada ''South from Granada: Seven Years in an Andalusian Village'' is an autobiographical book by Gerald Brenan, first published in 1957. Brenan, a fringe member of the Bloomsbury Group, moved to Spain in 1919 and lived there on and off for the rest ...

''), a

demobilized Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and milita ...

British soldier who in 1919 rents a house for a year in a village in

Alpujarra The Alpujarra (, Arabic: ''al-bussarat'') is a natural and historical region in Andalusia, Spain, on the south slopes of the Sierra Nevada and the adjacent valley. The average elevation is above sea level. It extends over two provinces, ...

, alongside

Verónica Sánchez Verónica Sánchez Calderón (born 1 July 1977) is a Spanish actress. She made her debut in theatre in 1996, and came to media attention as Eva Capdevila in the Telecinco series ''Los Serrano'' in 2003. Sánchez has since developed a successful f ...

and

Guillermo Toledo Guillermo "Willy" Toledo Monsalve (born 22 May 1970) is a Spanish actor and producer. Besides his stage career he is also noted as polemicist and for his political activism. Biography Guillermo Toledo Monsalve was born in Madrid on 22 May 19 ...

Plot

Brenan arrives at

Yegen Yegen is a village of the municipality of Alpujarra de la Sierra in the province of Granada. The village was the home of the British writer Gerald Brenan in the 1920s, and he described its customs in ''South from Granada'', one of his best-know ...

on foot, interrupting the funeral held for the daughter of the local

cacique A ''cacique'' (Latin American ; ; feminine form: ''cacica'') was a tribal chieftain of the Taíno people, the indigenous inhabitants at European contact of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles. The term is a Spa ...

. He collapses from

dysentery Dysentery (UK pronunciation: , US: ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications ...

and soon learns that the local cacique, Don Fernando, is leaving for

Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...

with his wife. Brenan rents Fernando's house for a year and soon enlists the services of María as housekeeper and cook and becomes friends with a local man named Paco. Brenan spends most of his time reading, walking, and trying to write poetry. His friends

Dora Carrington Dora de Houghton Carrington (29 March 1893 – 11 March 1932), known generally as Carrington, was an English painter and decorative artist, remembered in part for her association with members of the Bloomsbury Group, especially the writer Lytton ...

Lytton Strachey Giles Lytton Strachey (; 1 March 1880 – 21 January 1932) was an English writer and critic. A founding member of the Bloomsbury Group and author of ''Eminent Victorians'', he established a new form of biography in which psychological insight ...

(who is ill), and

Ralph Partridge Reginald Sherring Partridge, (1894 – 30 November 1960), generally known as Ralph Partridge, a member of the Bloomsbury Group, worked for Leonard Woolf and Virginia Woolf, married first Dora Carrington and then Frances Marshall, and was the ...

visit for a couple of days. Brenan, who has been maintaining a correspondence with Carrington, learns during the visit that Partridge and Carrington are engaged. He is crushed, as he had been in love with Carrington. One day, Carrington decides to paint the portrait of a local 16-year-old girl, Juliana. Brenan, who had previously seen Juliana bathing naked in a river, falls in love with her. Paco gives him advice on how to win her heart. Brenan, who is quickly learning

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

and who is called “Don Geraldo” by the locals, decides to make Juliana jealous by accompanying Ángeles, the daughter of María, to church. This backfires, as María now wishes for Brenan to marry Ángeles. Brenan then enlists the services of Juliana as a second housekeeper. Juliana, however, clashes with María. María believes Juliana and her mother are witches. María has a baby: it is Don Fernando's baby. Brenan is still unable to get close to Juliana and now has two angry women in his home. María sends a naked Ángeles to Brenan's bed in order to seduce him, but Brenan refuses to sleep with her. As the women continue to fight, Brenan becomes increasingly frustrated, and finally kicks María out of his home (at gunpoint). He and Juliana then finally embark on a relationship. When Ralph Partridge visits again, this time with his new fiancée, Brenan and Juliana join him on a day trip to the beach. Juliana feels that Brenan and Partridge are laughing at her. When Brenan leaves for Granada with his friends, he fears that Juliana will cheat on him in anger. He asks Paco to watch over her to prevent any of the village boys from seducing her. While Brenan is gone, Paco and Juliana sleep with one another. Brenan is angered when he discovers this, but Juliana convinces him that she still wishes to have Brenan's child, regardless of whether they are married or not. They resume their relationship and soon Juliana is pregnant. When Brenan is required to return to England temporarily, Juliana fears that he will never return and that she will have to give birth to, and raise, their child alone. Brenan returns three years later. He is now married to

Gamel Woolsey Gamel Woolsey (born Elizabeth Gammell Woolsey; May 28, 1897 – January 18, 1968) was an American poet, novelist and translator. Early life and education Woolsey was born on the Breeze Hill plantation in Aiken, South Carolina as Elizabeth Ga ...

, an American poet. Paco announces he will sell his property to fulfill his dream of immigrating to

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

. He inquires after Lytton Strachey and Dora Carrington. Lytton has died, and Carrington has committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

as a result. Juliana's child, Elena (named after Brenan's mother Helen) is now three. She reproves Brenan for not returning to Yegen earlier, but in the end allows him to take their child to be educated and looked after. The film then fast forwards twenty years. An older Juliana runs into Brenan, Gamel, and a young Elena outside of a pastry shop. Brenan begins to introduce Juliana as Elena's real mother, but Juliana cuts him off and introduces herself to Elena as Brenan's former housekeeper at Yegen. Brenan and Juliana part ways rather quickly but catch each other glancing over their shoulders and share a smile.

Cast

Production

The film was inspired by Gerald Brenan's biography ''The Interior Castle'' by

Jonathan Gathorne-Hardy Jonathan Gathorne-Hardy (17 May 1933 – 16 July 2019) was a British author, known for biographies, including one of Alfred Kinsey, and books of social history on the British nanny and public school system. For his autobiography, ''Half an Arc ...

, who also collaborated in the screenplay.< Colomo was inspired to make the film after seeing the character of Brenan appear in the 1995 film '' Carrington'', about

. In that film, Carrington was played by

Emma Thompson Dame Emma Thompson (born 15 April 1959) is a British actress. Regarded as one of the best actresses of her generation, she has received numerous accolades throughout her four-decade-long career, including two Academy Awards, two British A ...

, and Brenan, by

Samuel West Samuel Alexander Joseph West (born 19 June 1966) is an English actor, narrator and theatre director. He has directed on stage and radio, and worked as an actor across theatre, film, television and radio. He often appears as reciter with orche ...

. The film was produced by Fernando Colomo PC and Sogecine, with the participation of

TeleMadrid Telemadrid is a public regional television station in the Community of Madrid, Spain, the flagship channel of the regional public broadcaster Radio Televisión Madrid (RTVM). It began its broadcast on 2 May 1989. History First years Telema ...

, Antena 3, and

Canal+ Canal+ (Canal Plus, , meaning 'Channel Plus'; sometimes abbreviated C+ or Canal) is a French premium television channel launched in 1984. It is 100% owned by the Groupe Canal+, which in turn is owned by Vivendi. The channel broadcasts several ki ...

. Matthew Goode did not know who Brenan was upon taking the role, since Brenan is more familiar to the Spanish than the English. Goode did not speak

, but read Brenan's biography and learned to imitate the phonetic sounds of Spanish.

Release

Distributed by

Warner Sogefilms Warner Sogefilms AIE was a film distribution label in Spain active from 1998 to 2005. It was created in January 1998 as a ''joint venture'' of Sogecable (Prisa) and Warner Bros., bringing the demise of Sogepaq Distribución (a previous joint vent ...

, the film was theatrically released in Spain on 10 January 2003.

Critical reception

Jonathan Holland of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' deemed the film to be "a lightweight but breezily effective" and "always enjoyable" film while pointing out "its lack of seriousness".

Accolades

, - , rowspan = "6" align = "center" , 2004 , , rowspan = "5" , 18th Goya Awards , , Best Production Supervision , , Pilar Robla , , , , rowspan = "5" , , - , Best New Actress , , Verónica Sánchez , , , - , Best Cinematography , , José Luis Alcaine , , , - , Best Original Score , , Miguel Bardem , , , - , Best Special Effects , , Reyes Abades, Alfonso Nieto, Pablo Núñez , , , - , 13th Actors and Actresses Union Awards , , Best New Actress , , Verónica Sánchez , , , , align = "center" ,

References

External links

* {{Imdb title, id=0349076, title=Al sur de Granada
Pictures of cast
2000s Spanish films 2003 films 2003 comedy films Films set in the 1920s 2000s Spanish-language films Films based on biographies Films directed by Fernando Colomo Spanish comedy films Films set in Andalusia Sogecine films