M, 110 minutes, subtitled
3 Stars
Review by © Jane Freebury
This gentle, stirring drama is as modest in its scope as it is timely, and based on personal history. The story of a local hero who risked losing his job and earning a gaol sentence as he took a courageous stand against the lack of services to his neighbourhood on the periphery of Barcelona. As government and the corporate world seem increasingly out of touch with the concerns of ordinary people, it will surely chime with many of us.
The quixotic gesture of a bus driver in Barcelona during the 1970s has been brought to our notice by filmmaker Marcel Barrena who co-wrote the screenplay with Alberto Marini.
The director’s most recent film, Mediterraneo, about refugees who cross the sea to reach Europe, was another tale preserving the human dignity of people who are struggling. It was also a drama inspired by a real-life story, that of a Barcelona lifeguard instrumental in the establishment of an NGO for rescuing migrants on the open sea. As the lead character, actor Eduard Fernandez comfortably filled the frame and he does the same here too, as bus driver Manolo Vital, a man of dignity and warmth.
In flight with his teenage daughter from the Falangists in the Extremadura region in the country’s west, Vital and a group of political refugees settled on the outskirts of Barcelona in the 1950s. It was not for the welcome they received. The city bureaucrats continued for decades to ignore their needs of the shanty dwellers on the edge of town, in the neighbourhood of Torre Baro. The construction of dwellings on the periphery of cities was apparently a common occurrence beyond Catalonia, as the country slowly moved out from under Franco’s authoritarian rule.
An unlifting, low-key drama about taking a brave stand
Torre Baro was, in the first place, a hasty build. Early scenes set in the 1950s, suitably sepia-toned and framed in boxy format, depict the welcome the newcomers received from local police who were under orders to demolish any unfinished building if it did not meet regulations. Structures went up overnight, in a flurry with queues for bricks and bags of cement, as there would be no leniency on the other side, as the police arrived in the morning. When a particularly malevolent policeman appears and returns later, and when the views of Vital’s teenage daughter, Joana (Zoe Bonafonte), come to the fore, the focus shifts to the deeply ingrained political divisions of modern Spain.
The other woman in Vital’s life is Carme, played by Clara Segura. When she emerged in the fringe community she was still a Catholic nun, but the scenes of her courtship with Manolo are discreetly absent from this personal history. When Carme fell in love with the quiet, dignified, hunky man, she left the church to become his wife and a caring stepmother to Joana.
Hardship was integral to the way of life of the residents of Torre Baro, in their long wait for connection to the city’s utilities. Improvements to their quality of life such as a reliable water supply, were slow to improve, and intermittent. But it was the absence of transport service up the hill into Torre Baro that rankled.
It seemed impossible to fix. Who would use such a service, the authorities asked. Why, the people who came down this morning!
City authorities, typically dapper, dark and handsome and ensconced in the city’s beautiful buildings, received Vital courteously but a bus service never materialised. It was time for action, and what fun it is on board the trundling bus, El 47, the day Vital takes a stand.
This is an uplifting low-key drama. The deepfelt political conviction beneath this story of a leftist who married a nun are made explicit in the final scenes. We sensed they were there. It’s just that filmmaker Barrena is a skilled and creative storyteller, investing his persuasive energies in the simple, straightforward narrative that unfolds.
Published in the Canberra Times on 11 July 2025. Jane’s film and TV reviews are also published by Rotten Tomatoes