''La forja de un rebelde'' () is a Spanish-German television series directed by

Mario Camus Mario Camus García (20 April 1935 – 18 September 2021) was a Spanish film director and screenwriter. He won the Golden Bear at the 33rd Berlin International Film Festival with '' La colmena''. His 1987 film ''The House of Bernarda Alba'' wa ...

adapting the autobiographical book trilogy ''

The Forging of a Rebel The Forging of a Rebel is an Autobiography, autobiographical trilogy of books written by the Spanish author, broadcaster and journalist Arturo Barea. They were first published during the author's exile in the United Kingdom after the Spanish Civil ...

'' by

Arturo Barea Arturo Barea Ogazón (20 September 1897 – 24 December 1957) was a Spanish journalist, broadcaster and writer. After the Spanish Civil War, Barea left with his wife Ilsa Barea to live in exile in England where he died. Biography Barea was ...

. It originally aired on

TVE1 La 1 (, ''The One'') is a Spanish free-to-air television channel owned and operated by Televisión Española (TVE), the television division of state-owned public broadcaster Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE). It is the corporation's flagship te ...

in 1990.

Premise

The plot is an adaptation of the autobiographical book trilogy ''

'' (''La forja'', ''La ruta'' and ''La llama''). Tracking the life of

(a left-wing Republican), it spans from 1907 to the Fall of Madrid to the Francoist forces in April 1939, in the last rales of 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 ...

. It also accounts for the period when the leading character was destined for

military conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day und ...

in the midst of the Moroccan War. The story is the account of a man defeated in the Civil War who went on into exile, entailing a homage to the victims of

Francoism Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...

Cast

Production and release

The production costed around 2,300 million peseta, the highest budget ever for a TVE production up to release date. Promoted by

Pilar Miró Pilar Mercedes Miró Romero (20 April 1940 in Madrid – 19 October 1997 in Madrid) was a Spanish screenwriter and film director. She was the General Director of RTVE from 1986 to 1989. In the 1990s, she directed the television broadcasts of th ...

and described as "the last great super-production" of the Spanish public broadcaster, the series made use of around 20,000 extras. Filming took 20 months. Besides set-filming in

Pozuelo de Alarcón Pozuelo de Alarcón () is a municipality in the Community of Madrid, Spain. Bordering the Moncloa-Aravaca district of Madrid proper to its west, Pozuelo de Alarcón is surrounded by large Mediterranean pine-tree forests: the Casa de Campo, the ...

and

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, the series was shot in multiple locations across the Spanish geography such as Brozas,

Aliseda Aliseda is a municipality in the Provinces of Spain, province of Province of Cáceres, Cáceres and autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. The municipality covers an area of and as of 2011 had a population of 2013 people. In 1920 a treasure ...

, Santiago del Campo, Talaván, Jaraicejo,

Aranjuez Aranjuez () is a city and municipality of Spain, part of the Community of Madrid. Located in the southern end of the region, the main urban nucleus lies on the left bank of Tagus, a bit upstream the discharge of the Jarama. , the municipality h ...

Alcalá de Henares Alcalá de Henares () is a Spanish city in the Community of Madrid. Straddling the Henares River, it is located to the northeast of the centre of Madrid. , it has a population of 193,751, making it the region's third-most populated Municipalities ...

Arganda del Rey Arganda del Rey () is a municipality and city of Spain located in the Community of Madrid. Geography Located in the central part of the Iberian Peninsula, the city lies at roughly 613 metres above sea level, not far from the junction of the J ...

Boadilla del Monte Boadilla del Monte () is a Spanish town and municipality located in the west of the Community of Madrid, inside its metropolitan area. It has the second highest level of income per capita in all of the country of Spain. In 2017, it had a popula ...

, Morata de Tajuña,

Navalcarnero Navalcarnero is a municipality in the Community of Madrid, Spain, located about from Madrid. Sights include the church of Inmaculada Concepción. History By the end of 1499 the city of Segovia founded the location of Navalcarnero, to put an en ...

Arenas de San Pedro Arenas de San Pedro is a municipality located in the province of Ávila, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2006 census (INE), the municipality has a population of 6,682 inhabitants. Its seal Seal may refer to any of the following: ...

, Mombeltrán,

El Puente del Arzobispo El Puente del Arzobispo is a municipality of Spain located in the province of Toledo, Castilla–La Mancha. The municipality spans across a total area of 0.98 km2 and, as of 1 January 2020, it has a registered population of 1,225. Together with nei ...

, Méntrida, Alcabón,

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

Santander Santander may refer to: Places * Santander, Spain, a port city and capital of the autonomous community of Cantabria, Spain * Santander Department, a department of Colombia * Santander State, former state of Colombia * Santander de Quilichao, a m ...

, Sierra del Torcal ( Antequera),

Tarifa Tarifa (, Arabic: طريفة) is a Spanish municipality in the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. Located at the southernmost end of the Iberian Peninsula, it is primarily known as one of the world's most popular destinations for windsports. Tarifa ...

Écija Écija () is a city and municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Seville, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is in the countryside, 85 km east of the city of Seville. According to the 2008 census, Écija had a total populat ...

, San Carlos del Valle, Villanueva de los Infantes, Manzanares,

Oliva Oliva () is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of La Safor in the Valencian Community, Spain. To its east lie of coastline and beaches fronting the Mediterranean Sea, and eight kilometres to the north is Gandia. The ''Passeig'' (promenade) run ...

and

La Manga La Manga (), or La Manga del Mar Menor (meaning "The Sandbar of the Minor Sea") is a seaside spit of Mar Menor in the Region of Murcia, Spain. The strip is 21 km long and 100 metres wide (average), separating the Mediterranean Sea from the ...

as well as in Morocco: Tetouan,

Asilah Asilah (; ar, أزيلا or أصيلة; pt, Arzila; es, Arcila) is a fortified town on the northwest tip of the Atlantic coast of Morocco, about south of Tangier. Its ramparts and gateworks remain fully intact. History The town's history da ...

, Chaouen and Mdiq.

directed the series. He also co-wrote the screenplay together with Juan Antonio Porto.

Reyes Abades Reyes Abades (25 July 1949 – 1 February 2018) was a Spanish specialist in special effects. He won nine Goya Awards. Abades worked on more than 300 productions. He contributed to the opening and closing ceremonies for the 1992 Summer Olympics in ...

was responsible for the

special effects Special effects (often abbreviated as SFX, F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the imagined events in a story or virtual wor ...

whereas

Javier Tusell Javier Tusell Gómez (26 August 1945, Barcelona - 8 February 2005, Barcelona) was a Spanish historian, writer and politician who served as a professor of modern history at the National University of Distance Education (UNED).Lluís Llach Lluís Llach i Grande (; born 7 May 1948) is a Catalan singer-songwriter, novelist and politician from Spain. He is one of the main representatives of the ''nova cançó'' genre and an outspoken advocate of the right to self-determination of ...

. The series, consisting of 6 episodes with a running time of roughly 90 minutes, premiered on 30 March 1990. The weekly broadcasting run ended on 4 May 1990. It earned high viewership figures.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Forja de un rebelde, la Television shows set in Spain Television shows set in Madrid Television shows set in Morocco Television shows filmed in Spain Television shows filmed in Morocco Spanish Civil War fiction Television series set in the 1900s Television series set in the 1920s Television series set in the 1930s Spanish biographical television series 1990s Spanish drama television series 1990 Spanish television series debuts 1990 Spanish television series endings La 1 (Spanish TV channel) network series Spanish-language television shows Melilla in fiction