''The 7th Day'' ( es, El 7º día, links=no) is a 2004 Spanish-French rural drama and tragedy film directed by

Carlos Saura Carlos Saura Atarés (born 4 January 1932) is a Spanish film director, photographer and writer. Along with Luis Buñuel and Pedro Almodóvar, he is considered to be one of Spain’s most renowned filmmakers. He has a long and prolific career th ...

and written by

Ray Loriga Jorge Loriga Torrenova, better known as Ray Loriga (born March 5, 1967), is a Spanish author, screenwriter, and director. His first novel ''Lo Peor de todo'' (''The Worst Thing of All''), was published in 1992, and was followed by ''Héroes'' i ...

. Its cast features

Juan Diego Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, also known as Juan Diego (; 1474–1548), was a Chichimec peasant and Marian visionary. He is said to have been granted apparitions of the Virgin Mary on four occasions in December 1531: three at the hill of Tepeyac a ...

José Luis Gómez José Luis Gómez may refer to: * José Luis Gómez (actor) (born 1940), Spanish actor and director * José Luis Gómez (footballer) (born 1993), Argentine footballer * José Luis Gómez Martínez (born 1943), Spanish professor * Joselu (footba ...

, José García, and

Victoria Abril Victoria Mérida Rojas (born 4 July 1959), better known as Victoria Abril, is a Spanish film actress and singer based in France. She is possibly best known to international audiences for her performance in the film ''Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!'' by ...

, among others. Based on the Puerto Hurraco massacre, the plot follows a bitter rivalry between two families that started with an ill-fated love affair, and grows over three decades.

Plot

In an isolated village in

Extremadura Extremadura (; ext, Estremaúra; pt, Estremadura; Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is an autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central-western part of the Iberian Peninsula, it ...

, the Jiménez and Fuentes families have a violent history of land disputes, jealousy, envy, and violence. The hatred between the two families begins in the 1960s as a love story, between Amadeo Jiménez and Luciana Fuentes. Their romance ends when the fickle Amadeo drops Luciana, when she already has prepared for marriage. Feeling betrayed, Luciana expresses a vengeful wish on her seducer in the presence of her fragmented, devoted brother Jerónimo who, in turn, executes his sister's wish, resulting in the young man's cold and brutal murder in an open field. Despite Jerónimo's capture and 30-year prison sentence, the shame on the Fuentes family still proves to be terrible burden as the townspeople continue to treat the siblings with open contempt and derision, culminating one day in a suspicious fire that engulfs the family home with their mother still inside. The Fuentes siblings move to a nearby village to avoid direct contact with the Jimenez family headed by Amadeo's brother, José, who feels the two families are now even. Humiliated, forcibly driven out of town, and struggling with Luciana's delusional obsession over her broken engagement, the Fuentes's harbored animosity festers with each passing year, awaiting Jerónimo's release and pondering the inevitable day of reckoning against the community that had turned its back against them. Two decades later when Jerónimo is released from jail, he rushes to look for José and stabs him. José survives. Carmen, José's wife, deeply affected by the attempt on her husband's life, pressures him to leave the village and move out to a big city, but Antonio is unable to sell his butcher shop for the money he is asking, and refuses to leave town out of fear. The events are narrated by Isabel, the oldest of José's three young daughters. A summer romance develops between the teenager Isabel and Chino, a young rebel who goes around town riding his motorcycle. He is sincere in his affections and she falls for him. With his help, Isabel is determined to discover the seed of hatred that has tragically marked the story of the two families for more than thirty years. There is a

village idiot The village idiot in strict terms is a person locally known for ignorance or stupidity but is also a common term for a stereotypically silly or nonsensical person or stock character. Description The term "village idiot" is also used as a stereo ...

("El Tonto"), that watched José light the Fuentes house on fire. However, Isabel dismisses the testimony of the slow-witted, drug-addicted witness, the child of an incestuous relationship. Isabel's love for Chino ends, before it has time to deepen, when Chino is forced to leave town abruptly fleeing the authorities that have discovered his illicit drug dealing. He gives her a gold chain as a farewell gift. Upset, she throws the chain into a swimming pool then dives in to retrieve it. "On the seventh day of creating the world, God rested", Isabel notes, and that is why the most horrible things happen on Sunday. One Sunday the two aging brothers Antonio and Emilio Fuentes come to town with shotguns and ammunition. Their revenge engulfs the entire village and its inhabitants pay with their blood. Systematically and in cold blood, they gun down every person that cross their path beginning with the three young Jiménez sisters. Nine (9) are killed, 12 are injured. When the killing spree is over, Isabel is among the wounded survivors, but her two sisters Antonia and Encarna are, like many others, dead. When the police look for the two Fuentes brothers, they find them in a field and they do not struggle to be arrested. The two Fuentes sisters go to an asylum. The next day, the Fuentes brothers are captured and sent to jail for life. Their two sisters, Luciana and Ángela, are also found guilty, but regarded as mentally unstable, they are locked away in a mental institution. Isabel Jiménez and her mother (Carmen) move to a city on the coast, leaving José behind. He has refused to leave the village. Isabel beholds a picture of happier times in which she is with her sisters.

Cast

Production

The film is a Spanish-French co-production by

Andrés Vicente Gómez Andrés Vicente Gómez (Madrid, 16 September 1943) is a Spanish film producer, head of Lolafilms, with more than 100 films to his credit. Career Gómez is the winner of an Oscar in the category of Best Foreign Language film for ''Belle Époque'' ...

's Lola Films and Artedis. Shooting locations in the

province of Segovia Segovia () is a province of central/northern Spain, in the southern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is bordered by the province of Burgos in the north, Soria in the northeast, Guadalajara in the east, Madrid in the south, ...

included

Otero de Herreros Otero de Herreros is a municipality located in the province of Segovia, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a ...

Zarzuela del Monte Zarzuela del Monte is a municipality located in the province of Segovia, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of ...

Vegas de Matute Vegas de Matute' '' is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the Segovia (province), province of Segovia, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2021 census (Instituto Nacional de Estadística (Spain), INE), the municipality has ...

and Segovia's old prison. The film was produced by

, scored by

Roque Baños Roque Baños López is a Spanish music composer. Baños graduated from Boston's Berklee College of Music in 1995 and has since scored both Spanish and English-language films. He has received numerous awards for his compositional work, including t ...

, lensed by , and edited by .

Release

Distributed by Lolafilms Distribución, the film was theatrically release in Spain on 23 April 2004. It also screened at the 28th Montreal Film Festival on 1 September 2004.

Accolades

, - , align = "center" , 2004 , , 28th Montreal Film Festival , , Best Director , , Carlos Saura , , , , align = "center" , , - , align = "center" rowspan = "6" , 2005 , , rowspan = "4" , 19th Goya Awards , ,

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 ...

, , Carlos Saura , , , , rowspan = "4" , , - , Best Supporting Actor , , Juan Diego , , , - , Best Supporting Actress , , Victoria Abril , , , - , Best Art Direction , , Rafael Palmero , , , - , rowspan = "2" , 14th Actors and Actresses Union Awards , , Best Film Actor in a Secondary Role , , Juan Diego , , , , rowspan = "2" , , - , Best Film Actress in a Minor Role , , Victoria Abril , ,

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:7th Day, The 2004 films 2004 drama films 2000s Spanish-language films Films directed by Carlos Saura Films scored by Roque Baños Spanish drama films LolaFilms films Films shot in the province of Segovia 2000s Spanish films