En brazos de la mujer madura, loosely based on the novel ''In Praise of Older Women'', is a 1997 Spanish coming-of-age film set during and after the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

. As well as recounting the amorous education of a young man, it evokes the political and social conditions of the time.

Plot

When war breaks out in 1936, the boys at a Catholic boarding school in

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

territory are sent home. Andres is one of these boys. Finding that his widowed mother's flat in Gerona is requisitioned and she is far away in

La Coruña LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...

, he decides to rejoin her by bicycle. Reaching the Aragon front, he is stopped by an

Anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...

unit under the charismatic commander Dávalos and is conscripted to help the cook Honorio, who is having an affair with a peasant woman Pilar. Also stopped are a wealthy Englishman and his American wife, la Condesa, for whom Andrés acts as interpreter and is rewarded. He is then sent to safety in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

where he starts an affair with Julia, the virgin daughter of the house, but is evicted before consummation. To live, he starts dealing on the black market and one night tries a prostitute, but she is so bored that he leaves in disgust. The war over, his mother comes back and is set up in a flat by her

Falangist Falangism ( es, falangismo) was the political ideology of two political parties in Spain that were known as the Falange, namely first the Falange Española de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (FE de las JONS) and afterwards the Fal ...

lover Victor. Above them lives a married woman Marta, who lends Andrés books and starts an affair. But she and her well-off husband were Republicans and are taken away by the secret police. In the street, Andrés sees Pilar, the working-class girl from the front, and they have a night together. Then at a concert he falls for Bobi, an Italian violinist, and they have a brief idyll. Her orchestra's next engagement is in

Vichy France Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its ter ...

and at the frontier station of

Canfranc Canfranc () is a municipality in the Aragón Valley of north-eastern Spain consisting of two villages, the original village and ''Canfranc Estación'', which developed with the establishment of Canfranc International railway station to serve railw ...

Andrés rejoins her.

Cast

Juan Diego Botto Juan Diego Botto Rota (born 29 August 1975) is an Argentine-Spanish film, stage and television actor. Born in Argentina, he moved to Spain together with his mother (the actress and acting coach Cristina Rota) in 1978. Following early film appe ...

- Andrés * Miguel Ángel García - Andrés (15 yrs) *

Faye Dunaway Dorothy Faye Dunaway (born January 14, 1941) is an American actress. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Faye Dunaway, many accolades, including an Academy Awards, Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, three Golden ...

- la Condesa *

Joanna Pacula Joanna is a feminine given name deriving from from he, יוֹחָנָה, translit=Yôḥānāh, lit=God is gracious. Variants in English include Joan, Joann, Joanne, and Johanna. Other forms of the name in English are Jan, Jane, Janet, Janice, ...

- Marta *

Carme Elias Carme may refer to: * Carme (given name) * Carme (moon), a moon of Jupiter * Carme (mythology), a figure in Greek mythology * Carme group, a group of satellites orbiting Jupiter * Carme, Barcelona, a village in Barcelona province, Catalonia, Spain ...

- Irene *

Rosana Pastor Rosana Pastor Muñoz (born 7 August 1960) is a Spanish politician and actress. Biography Pastor studied at the School of Dramatic Art of Valencia (ESAD). She had classes under Antonio Díaz Zamora, Antonio Tordera and Francisco Romá (director ...

- Pilar *

Ingrid Rubio Ingrid Rubio Ruiz (born 2 August 1975 in Barcelona, Spain) is a Spanish actress. She won the Special Mention Award at the 1996 San Sebastián International Film Festival for her performance in the film ''Taxi (1996 film), Taxi''. Career She h ...

- Julia *

Florence Pernel Florence Pernel (born 30 June 1962) is a French actress. Early life Pernel was born on 30 June 1962 in Paris. She began her acting career at the age of 10 with the TV serial ''Plein soleil'' and two years later she made her film debut with Just ...

- Bobi *

Ángel de Andrés López Ángel de Andrés López (23 October 1951 – 4 May 2016) was a Spanish actor. He appeared in more than 60 films and television shows between 1977 and 2015. He died at his home in Miraflores de la Sierra from natural causes. Selected film ...

- Víctor *

Ramón Barea José Ramón Barea Monge (born 13 July 1949), known as Ramón Barea, is a Spanish actor. Biography José Ramón Barea Monge was born in Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , ...

- Peciña * - Miss Mozar *

Nancho Novo Venancio Manuel Jesús Novo Cid-Fuentes (born 17 September 1958), known as Nancho Novo, is a Spanish actor. He studied medicine at Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, but stopped halfway to move to Madrid, where he studied acting at the '' ...

- Honorio *

Ralph Riach Ralph McKenzie Riach (26 January 1936 – 20 March 2022) was a Scottish actor from Elgin, Moray. Early years Riach was born on 26 January 1937 in Elgin, Scotland. He He was educated at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow, and he work ...

- Conde

External links

* 1997 films 1990s English-language films English-language Spanish films 1990s Italian-language films 1990s Spanish-language films Films based on Hungarian novels Spanish Civil War films Spanish coming-of-age films Spanish remakes of foreign films Remakes of Canadian films Films with screenplays by Rafael Azcona 1990s coming-of-age films 1990s Spanish films {{SpanishCivilWar-film-stub

Plot

Cast

See also

External links