''The Longest Night'' ( es, La noche más larga, links=no) is a 1991 Spanish historical drama film directed by

José Luis García Sánchez José Luis García Sánchez (born 22 September 1941) is a Spanish film director, screenwriter and producer. He has directed 30 films since 1968. He wrote for the 1973 film ''Habla, mudita'', which was entered into the 23rd Berlin International ...

which stars

Juan Echanove Juan Echanove Labanda (born 1 April 1961, in Madrid) is a Spanish actor. At Gijón International Film Festival in 2002, he received the Nacho Martínez Award. Selected filmography *''Manolete'' (Menno Meyjes, 2008) *'' Alatriste'' (Agustín D� ...

alongside Carmen Conesa and

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 ...

. Written by García Sánchez alongside Carmen Rico Godoy and

Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón (Torrelavega, Cantabria 2 January 1940) is a Spanish screenwriter and film director. His 1973 film ''Habla, mudita'' was entered into the 23rd Berlin International Film Festival. In 1977, he won the Silver Bear for Bes ...

, the screenplay is based on the story ''El año que murió Franco'' by

Pedro J. Ramírez Pedro José Ramírez Codina (born 26 March 1952), widely known as Pedro J. Ramírez, is a Spanish journalist. When he was appointed to manage ''Diario 16'' at the age of 28, he became Spain's youngest editor of a national newspaper. In 1989 he ...

Plot

The plot concerns about the last executions carried out by the

Francoist dictatorship 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 ...

on 27 September 1975.

Cast

Carmen Conesa Carmen Conesa Hernández (born 15 September 1960) is a Spanish actress, singer, and painter. She gained notoriety for her performance in ' (1991–92). Life and career Carmen Conesa Hernández was born in Barcelona on 15 September 1960. Her mo ...

as Gloria *

as Juan *

as Menéndez *

Gabino Diego Gabino Diego Solís is a Spanish actor, born on 18 September 1966 in Madrid. He was educated at Runnymede College, in Madrid. His credits include: ¡Ay Carmela! and Belle Époque. Awards *Goya Awards **1999 - Nominated - Best Actor for '' ...

as Fito *

Fernando Guillén Cuervo Fernando Guillén Cuervo (born March 11, 1963) is a Spanish actor, film director and scriptwriter. Biography Born on March 11, 1963 in Barcelona in a family of thespians to father Fernando Guillén and mother Gemma Cuervo. Cayetana (also an a ...

Production

Based on the book by

, the screenplay was penned by Carmen Rico Godoy,

, and

. The film was produced 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 Iberoamericana Films. Shooting locations included in

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 ...

Release

The film screened in competition at the 39th

San Sebastián International Film Festival The San Sebastián International Film Festival ( SSIFF; es, Festival Internacional de San Sebastián, eu, Donostia Zinemaldia) is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spanish city of Donostia-San Sebastián in September, in th ...

on 23 September 1991. Distributed by

United International Pictures United International Pictures (UIP) is a joint venture of Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures that distributes their films outside the United States and Canada. UIP also had international distribution rights to certain Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer an ...

, the film was released theatrically in Spain on 4 October 1991.

Reception

The film was met by chilliness by the critics, most acrimoniously by the Basque ones. Casimiro Torreiro 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 ...

'' questioned the choices of silencing that two

ETA Eta (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἦτα ''ē̂ta'' or ell, ήτα ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative in most dialects, ...

members were facing the same plight as those detainees in the fiction, with the film also concealing the names of the organizations to which the depicted anti-fascists belonged to (the FRAP).

References