Raza

Very interesting work to know the point of view of spanish national ideology. Franco supposedly wrote the script of this mediocre film. Indispensable to understand certain things of the Spanish Civil War.

For years I wanted to take a look at this movie, curious by all the mythology that has been built around it. I have laughed a lot with certain reviewer who compares this monumental and infantile piece of trash to Triumph of the Will, as if giving himself some credit as a movie-cultured buff. I have seen Riefenstahl's film two or three times, and I admire her unquestionable talent as a filmmaker. In fact, Olympiad is one of my favourite films for its visual beauty and choreographic editing.

Now, about this jewel here... The story is so laughable that not even the illustrious screenwriter Mr Franco -I wonder why he used a phony name in the credits: was he afraid of his own censors perhaps?- would ever believe it. It is curious to see Alfredo Mayo -one of the best Spanish supporting actors of all time- wasting his talents in this filth. But since he made another two Franco propaganda films around that time, I guess he was an acolyte. Fortunately, a few decades later he would work with Carlos Saura, leaving at least a few good, respectable films behind him to be remembered for.

Absoluty awful. Pure fascism

Have you ever seen a Commmunist movie? Have you ever seen a Nazi movie? If you say "yes" for one of this questions, then you know what you will watch if you rent or buy "RAZA". The movie was directed by the impersonal director of the Franco´s fascist and dictatorial regime Sainz de Heredia, who was cousin of one of the most important ideological men of the only legal party in those times: Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera. The movie is glorify tale about military men against democratic men in Spanish Civil War times. If you don´t know the result of that war: Franco won the war with Hitler´s help, and wrote this movie in 1940 when he was Dictator in chief in Spain. The movie is so bad, that you laugh a lot in some scenes: The Father of the protagonists speaking about death in battlefield: "It´s a honor!! It´s wonderful die for your country!!". The Father, later, dies fighting against United States of America... and dies with a big smile in his face. All a movie of fascist glorification: The democratics are portrayed like bad people, that kill the priests, and steals the bread...

I say you once more time... DON´T SEE THIS BAD MOVIE!!! YOU COULD BECAME A NAZI AFTER THAT... OR DIE OF LAUGHING ATTACK!!

Reading some of the comments about this truly awful and pathetic piece of fascist apology, I was considerably shocked.

'Raza', written by the dictator Franco himself, is nearly a Freudian reconstruction of the Franco family history mixed with a really difficult to stand glorification of the fascist, falangist version, symbolism. Nevertheless, one has to admit that the screenplay has splendid, unintentionated, humor moments (the comments about the almogaveres are really one of those moments to be present in any compilation of absurdities).

Even recognizing that Saenz de Heredia was a good director, in the technical way of speaking, he was not Leni Riefenstahl. More than sixty years later this film just can be look as an interesting piece of archelogy.