''Soldiers of Salamina'' ( es, Soldados de Salamina, links=no) is a 2003 Spanish drama film written, directed and edited by

David Trueba David Rodríguez Trueba (born 10 September 1969) is a Spanish filmmaker and author. Biography David Rodríguez Trueba was born on 10 September 1969 in Madrid, the youngest of 8 siblings. His elder brother Fernando is also a filmmaker. In 198 ...

, based on the novel ''

Soldiers of Salamis ''Soldiers of Salamis'' (Spanish: ''Soldados de Salamina'') is a novel about the Spanish Civil War published in 2001 by Spanish author Javier Cercas. The book was acclaimed by critics in Spain and was top of the best-seller book list there for m ...

'' by

Javier Cercas Javier Cercas Mena (born 1962 in Ibahernando) is a Spanish writer and professor of Spanish literature at the University of Girona, Spain. He was born in Ibahernando, Cáceres, Spain. He is a frequent contributor to the Catalan edition of '' ...

. It stars

Ariadna Gil Ariadna Gil Giner (; born 23 January 1969) is a Spanish actress. She is known for her performances in films such as '' Belle Époque'' (for which she won the Goya Award for Best Actress), '' Black Tears'' and ''Pan's Labyrinth''. Career Film di ...

and Ramón Fontserè alongside Joan Dalmau,

María Botto María Florencia Botto Rota (born 10 February 1974) is an Argentine-Spanish actress. In 1978, she moved to Spain with her mother Cristina Rota and her brother Juan Diego Botto, also actors. She made her feature film debut at age 10, with a perf ...

and

Diego Luna Diego Dionisio Luna Alexander (; born 29 December 1979) is a Mexican actor, director, and producer. He is known for his portrayal of Cassian Andor in '' Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'' and the Disney+ series ''Andor''. Following an early care ...

. The film was nominated for eight

Goya Awards The Goya Awards ( es, Premios Goya) are Spain's main national annual film awards, commonly referred to as the Academy Awards of Spain. The awards were established in 1987, a year after the founding of the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sc ...

in 2004, and won the award for Best Cinematography.

Plot

Lola, a novelist who has abandoned her writing career, tracks down the details of a true story from the last days 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 ...

. The writer and

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 ...

honcho

Rafael Sánchez Mazas Rafael Sánchez Mazas (18 February 1894 – October 1966) was a Spanish nationalist writer and a leader of the Falange, a right-wing political movement created in Spain before the Spanish Civil War. Sánchez Mazas received a law degree at the Re ...

faced a firing squad along with fifty other prisoners, but managed to escape into the woods. A Republican soldier, apparently one of those searching the area for the escaped prisoner, found him but allowed him to escape. The novelist pieces together the fragments of the story, plagued by contradictions and mysterious characters, and comes to realize that her search for the truth is a personal quest of self-discovery.

Cast

Production

An adaptation of the 2001 novel ''

'' by

, the screenplay was penned by Trueba. In the transfer from novel to film, the character of Javier Cercas becomes Lola Cercas (changing the gender of the lead character) and Chilean writer

Roberto Bolaño Roberto Bolaño Ávalos (; 28 April 1953 – 15 July 2003) was a Chilean novelist, short-story writer, poet and essayist. In 1999, Bolaño won the Rómulo Gallegos Prize for his novel ''Los detectives salvajes'' (''The Savage Detectives' ...

is replaced by Gastón Elquiza, a Mexican university student with a family background of exiles of the Spanish civil war. The film is a Lolafilms and Fernando Trueba PC production. Shooting locations included

Girona Girona (officially and in Catalan language, Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter River, Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in ...

, Catalonia.

Release

Distributed by Lolafilms, the film was theatrically released in Spain on 21 March 2003. It was also screened in the

Un Certain Regard (, meaning 'a certain glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films w ...

section at the 56th Cannes Film Festival in May 2003.

Accolades

, - , align = "center" rowspan = "10" , 2004 , , rowspan = "8" ,

18th Goya Awards The 18th Goya Awards took place at the Palacio Municipal de Congresos in Madrid on 31 January 2004. The gala was hosted by Cayetana Guillén Cuervo and Diego Luna. ''Take My Eyes'' (''Te doy mis ojos'') won 7 ''Goyas'', the most awards in the ce ...

, , colspan = "2" ,

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

, , , , rowspan = "8" , , - ,

Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * BA ...

, , David Trueba , , , - ,

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

, , David Trueba , , , - ,

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress awar ...

, , Ariadna Gil , , , - , Best Supporting Actress , , María Botto , , , - , Best Supporting Actor , , Joan Dalmau , , , - ,

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

, , Javier Aguirresarobe , , , - , Best Special Effects , , Pedro Moreno, Alfonso Nieto,

Emilio Ruiz del Río Emilio Ruiz del Río (1923 – September 14, 2007) was a Spanish film set decorator and special effects and visual effects artist. Ruiz del Rio's career spanned over 60 years. Career Ruiz del Río's filmography includes work on over 450 fil ...

, , , - , rowspan = "2" ,

13th Actors and Actresses Union Awards The 13th Actors and Actresses Union Awards ceremony was held on 11 May 2004 at Madrid's Hotel Auditorium. Written by Luis Iborra and Antonio Albert, it was hosted by , and Mariola Fuentes. In addition to the competitive awards, obtained the '' ...

, , Best Film Actress in a Secondary Role , , María Botto , , , , rowspan = "2" , , - , Best Film Actor in a Secondary Role , , Joan Dalmau , ,

References

External links

* *{{Rotten Tomatoes, soldados_de_salamina 2003 films Spanish drama films 2000s Spanish-language films Spanish Civil War films 2000s Catalan-language films Films based on Spanish novels Films shot in Madrid 2003 drama films Films directed by David Trueba LolaFilms films Films shot in the province of Girona Films set in 1939 2000s Spanish films