''Blood in May'' ( es, Sangre de mayo, links=no) is a 2008 Spanish film directed by

José Luis Garci José Luis García Muñoz (born 20 January 1944), known professionally as José Luis Garci, is a Spanish Film director, film director, Film, producer, critic, TV presenter, screenwriter and author. He earned worldwide acclaim and his country's fi ...

and starring

Quim Gutiérrez Joaquim "Quim" Gutiérrez Ylla (; born 27 March 1981) is a Spanish actor. He won the 2006 Goya Award for Best New Actor for his performance in ''Dark Blue Almost Black''. Life and career Joaquim Gutiérrez Ylla was born in Barcelona on 27 Ma ...

and

Paula Echevarría Paula Echevarría Colodrón (born 7 August 1977 in Candás, Carreño, Asturias, Spain) is a Spanish model and actress. Career In the year 2000 she made her television debut on series such as ''Al salir de clase'', ''Policías'', and ''Compa� ...

. The plot is inspired on work by

Benito Pérez Galdós Benito Pérez Galdós (May 10, 1843 – January 4, 1920) was a Spanish Spanish Realist literature, realist novelist. He was the leading literary figure in 19th-century Spain, and some scholars consider him second only to Miguel de Cervantes ...

and takes place around the events of 2 May 1808, when the people of Madrid rose up in rebellion against French occupation. The film was one of three films Spain submitted to be nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

. The film was disappointing in terms of audience and critical reception.

Plot

Year 1808. The young Gabriel Araceli is working as a typesetter in a modest printing of

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 ...

. His girlfriend, Inés, is a pretty orphan girl living in

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 ...

, hosted by his uncle, the evil Don Celestino Santos. During his visit to the Royal Site to see the bride, Gabriel coincides with the historic uprising of 19 March against Godoy, whose palace is assaulted by the mob. Thinking about the girl's sake, Don Celestino consent to Inez moved to Madrid to live with their relatives also Don Mauro Requejo and sister Restituta. Gabriel, to be near his girlfriend, in response to a notice is provided as a waiter in the shop. With the help of the boy John of God, who is in love with the girl, tries to kidnap Agnes, for Don Mauro seeks nothing less than to marry her himself. And after many vicissitudes, Gabriel gets away with taking advantage Ines tumultuous reception that the people of Madrid surrenders to the new King Ferdinand, the Desired. They plan to flee to

Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...

, the birthplace of the boy, but times go scrambled because, under the pretext of their way to Portugal, Napoleon's troops entered Spain. The French soldiers are not popular among the population of Madrid, which regards them as invaders. And on 2 May, the popular revolt against imperial outposts breaks out. And, incidentally, Gabriel Araceli is involved in the fierce battles taking place in the

Puerta del Sol The Puerta del Sol (English: "Gate of the Sun") is a public square in Madrid, one of the best known and busiest places in the city. This is the centre ('' Km 0'') of the radial network of Spanish roads. The square also contains the famous clo ...

and elsewhere in Madrid.

Cast

Production

The film is a free adaptation of

' novels ' and ', part of the ''

Episodios Nacionales The ''Episodios Nacionales'' (''National Episodes'') are a collection of forty-six historical novels written by Benito Pérez Galdós between 1872 and 1912. They are divided into five series and they deal with Spanish history from roughly 1805 to ...

''. The production featured a large €15 million budget. The public subsidies provided by the right-leaning regional administration of Madrid represented the largest ever for a Spanish film.

Release

Distributed by Alta Classics, the film was theatrically released in Spain on 3 October 2008. It proved to be a massive box-office failure, only grossing €0.7 million in the first month of its theatrical run.

Reception

Critical response

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 "an ambitious, often intriguing 200th-anniversary retelling" of the

Dos de Mayo uprising On the 2 and 3 May 1808 the Dos de Mayo or Second of May Uprising of 1808 took place in Madrid, Spain. It was a rebellion by civilians alongside some military against the occupation of the city by French troops, provoking a heavy-hand repress ...

in which Garci is seen "aiming for that grand, sweeping feel but failing to achieve it". Javier Ocaña of ''

El País ''El País'' (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. ''El País'' is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . ''El Pa ...

'' assessed that Garci (with help from Valcárcel) had managed to craft a "solid" work, finding himself comfortable in street conversations, also considering that he had found the "perfect" Gabriel Araceli created by Galdós in the naturalist performance of Gutiérrez, but, that, when the time for the outburst of violence comes, the film falls short.

Accolades

, - , align = "center" rowspan = "14" , 2009 , , rowspan = "7" , 64th CEC Medals , , colspan = "2" , Best Film , , , , align = "center" rowspan = "7" , , - , Best Director , , José Luis Garci , , , - , Best Supporting Actor , , Miguel Rellán , , , - , Best Supporting Actress , , Tina Sáinz , , , - , Best Adapted Screenplay , , José Luis Garci, Horacio Valcárcel , , , - , Best Cinematography , , Félix Monti , , , - , Best Music , , Pablo Cervantes , , , - , rowspan = "7" , 23rd Goya Awards , , Best Supporting Actress , , Tina Sáinz , , , , rowspan = "7" , , - , Best Cinematography , , Félix Monti , , , - , Best Art Direction , , Gil Parrondo , , , - , Best Costume Design , , Lourdes de Orduña , , , - , Best Makeup and Hairstyles , , Alicia López, Josefa Morales, Romana González , , , - ,

Best Sound This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow List of film awards, film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awa ...

, , José Antonio Bermúdez, Miguel Rejas , , , - , Best Special Effects , , Alberto Nombela, Juan Ramón Molina , ,

References

External links

* {{imdb title, id=1114715, title=Sangre de mayo 2008 films Spanish historical drama films 2000s Spanish-language films Films with screenplays by José Luis Garci Films set in Madrid Films set in 1808 Films set in the Community of Madrid Films directed by José Luis Garci 2000s Spanish films Peninsular War films 2000s historical drama films