''The Heart of the Earth'' () is a 2007 historical drama film directed by from a screenplay he wrote with Shelley Miller, and

Doc Comparato Luís Filipe Loureiro Comparato (born in 1949), known as Doc Comparato, is a Brazilian writer of miniseries, television series and Brazilian cinema. Career He was a founder of the Centro de Criação da Rede Globo TV Globo (stylized as tvg ...

, based on the novel of the same name by . It is a Spanish-British-Portuguese co-production. Its cast features

Catalina Sandino Moreno Catalina Sandino Moreno (born 19 April 1981) is a Colombian actress, most notable for receiving a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress, as well as sharing the Silver Bear with Charlize Theron, for her performance as lead role in '' ...

Sienna Guillory Sienna Tiggy Guillory (; born 16 March 1975) is an English actress and former model. She portrayed Jill Valentine in several entries of the '' Resident Evil'' action-horror film series. Other prominent roles include elf princess Arya Dröttning ...

Philip Winchester Philip Winchester is an American actor. He is known for his roles in '' The Patriot'', ''The Hi-Line'', '' LD 50 Lethal Dose'', '' Thunderbirds'', '' CSI: Miami'', ''King Lear'', '' Strike Back'', '' Flyboys'', '' In My Sleep'', ''The Heart of t ...

Bernard Hill Bernard Hill (17 December 1944 – 5 May 2024) was an English actor. He was known for his versatile roles in both television and film, and his career spanned over fifty years. Hill first gained prominence as the troubled hard man Yosser Hughes ...

, Joaquim de Almeida,

Jorge Perugorría Jorge Perugorría Rodríguez (aka "Pichi," born 13 August 1965) is a Cuban actor, film director and painter. He is well known for his part as Diego in '' Strawberry and Chocolate'' (original title in Spanish ''Fresa y chocolate'' (co-directed ...

, and Ana Fernández, among others.

Plot

The plot is set against the backdrop of the February 1888 miners' protest in the Spanish

province of Huelva Huelva () is a province of southern Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is bordered by Portugal, the provinces of Badajoz, Seville, and Cádiz, and the Atlantic Ocean. Its capital is Huelva. Its area is ...

stirred by Cuban anarchist revolutionary , which was bloodily repressed by the

Spanish Army The Spanish Army () is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest Standing army, active armies – dating back to the late 15th century. The Spanish Army has existed ...

, and the miners' deplorable working conditions in the Río Tinto copper mines under British employees, following the plight of Blanca (a teacher) and her friend Kathleen Crown, the daughter of the tyrannical manager of the mines, fifteen years after the events.

Cast

Release

The film premiered at the Miami Film Festival in March 2007. It received a pre-screening in Riotinto and Seville on 10 April 2007. Distributed by Zeta Audiovisual, it was released theatrically in Spain on 13 April 2007.

Production

''The Heart of the Earth'' is a Spanish-British-Portuguese co-production by Manufacturas Audiovisuales, Future Films, and Costa do Castelo, with the participation of

Canal Sur Canal Sur ('South Channel') is part of Radio y Televisión de Andalucía (RTVA), the public broadcasting company of Andalusia. It was created by means of the devolved powers given to this autononomous community by an Act of Parliament in its ...

TV3 Channel 3 or TV 3 may refer to: Television *Canal 3 (Burkina Faso), a commercial television channel in Burkina Faso * Canal 3 Niger, a commercial television channel in Niger * Canal 3 (Guatemala), a commercial television channel in Guatemala * Can ...

, ETB, IC, IB3,

TeleMadrid Telemadrid is a public television station in the Community of Madrid, Spain, the flagship channel of the regional public broadcaster Radio Televisión Madrid (RTVM). It began its broadcast on 2 May 1989. History First years Telemadrid was cr ...

, Canal 9, and

Canal+ Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...

. It boasted a

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

12.5 million budget. Shooting locations included Linares de la Sierra,

Minas de Riotinto Minas de Riotinto is a town and municipality located in the province of Huelva, in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, southern Spain. Minas de Riotinto also comprises the neighborhoods known as El Alto de la Mesa and La Dehesa. See also * ...

, Trigueros,

Portimão Portimão () is a city and a municipality in the district of Faro (district), Faro, in the Algarve region of southern Portugal. The population in 2022 was 63,079 in an area of 182.06 km2. It was formerly known as Vila Nova de Portimão. In ...

, and

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

Reception

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), ...

'' wrote that despite the "superb" concept involving the tragic, real-life 19th-century suppression of the miners rebellion, "the script rushes through the historical facts in the first half-hour and then becomes far-fetched in its invented stretches".

Javier Ocaña Javier Ocaña (born 1971) is a Spanish film critic. Life and career Ocaña was born in 1971 in Martos, province of Jaén. He earned a licentiate degree in law from the University of Granada and a master's degree in journalism from the Autonomo ...

of ''

El País (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. 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 . is the most read newspaper in ...

'' assessed that despite Cuadri's "excellent camera handling" at shooting mining excavations and riots, as the film progresses, "the story becomes less and less transcendent, more and more Manichean and puerile".

Accolades

, - , align = "center" , 2007 , , 11th

Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival The Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (LALIFF) includes feature films, documentaries, and short films from the Spanish and Portuguese diaspora. The six-day festival was established in 1997. The festival was founded by Marlene Dermer (a ...

, , colspan = "2" , Best Film , , , , align = "center" , , - , rowspan = "2" align = "center" , 2008 , , rowspan = "2" ,

22nd Goya Awards The 22nd ceremony of the annual Goya Awards, took place at the Palacio de Congresos of the Campo de las Naciones in Madrid, Spain on February 3, 2008, presented by José Corbacho. On December 17, 2007, Juan Diego Botto and Ivana Baquero read t ...

, , Best Special Effects , , Reyes Abades, Álex G. Ortoll , , , , rowspan = "2" , , - , Best Makeup and Hairstyles , , José Quetglás, Blanca Sánchez , ,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heart of the Earth, The Films set in Andalusia Films shot in the province of Huelva Films shot in Portugal Spanish historical drama films British historical drama films Portuguese historical drama films 2000s Spanish films 2000s British films 2000s Spanish-language films Films set in mining communities Films based on Spanish novels