ma-cortes
Drama/Thriller about sad events in Basque Country in which happened terrorism , threats and grisly killings . At the opening , 1975 , it describes a man being pursued and hidden from police as well as special forces as GEOS and then it takes place a long flashback . As in the early seventies , during the last stages of Franco's dictatorship , Txema (Eduardo Noriega) is detained because of his relationship to some terrorists who have just killed a taxi man . The killers are members of the terrorist organization ETA that brutally killed about one thousand people and acting similarly to Sicilian Mafia . The Secret Service , CNI , and their law enforcements (Jose Coronado , Santiago Ramos , Jose Luis Garcia Perez , Juan Fernandez) attempt to offer him a covenant . At the beginning he's not too interested , but his economical troubles ultimately force him to take amount of money and accept the assignment , as he becomes an infiltrator and adopts the undercover name of "Lobo" (Wolf) , but it is rejected by his wife (Silvia Abascal) . By the way , he becomes an active member of the bunch , making all the right connections until he reaches the top command and acquires the trust of its chiefs (Patrick Bruel , Jorge Sanz) . In the process , he finds out that the terrorist organization has real internal divisions between those who want to leave the armed fight and become just a political party being led by Asier (Jorge Sanz) , and those who wish to keep the terrorist activity until they can declare the independence of the Basque country led by Txino (Fernando Cayo) and Arrieta (Chema Muñoz) . These divisions and fights for power are often resolved bloodily , taking place the Asier murder . Later on , the military and high authority staff (Héctor Colome , Manuel Zarzo) heads in Madrid become impatient and want to launch an immediate attack on ETA . Ricardo (Jose Coronado) , the superior officer of the secret service, convinces them to wait until Lobo can complete his assignment and enable them to dismantle the terrorist organization . But when the Barcelona police arranges to catch the leaders of the group Arrieta (Chema Muñoz) and Txino (Fernando Cayo) the military generals , jealous of this success, decide they can't wait any more and that they will override the secret service and catch whatever ETA members are in Madrid at that point , dead or alive . And that , includes Lobo, who is now abandoned to his own devices to getaway from both sides . El Lobo was used and betrayed by Francoist secret services , and proclaimed a priority target by ETA . However , he knew how to save himself using his own resources and at the end of the operation , Lobo was forced to change his identity .Moving drama/thriller with plenty of emotion , suspense , intrigue , delusions , plot twists , politics and real events about Basque Country . Despite being somewhat of a cinematic cliché , rarely has a feature been so aptly deserving of its description as a political thriller along with some elements from action genre , social critique , intense drama and bloody terrorism . Based on a true story , according to an interview to screen-writer and producer Melchor Miralles , he said that the real "Lobo" visited the set one day, but nobody knew who really was . He was actually an ETA infiltrator who , in the early 1960s , brought down a quarter of this terrorist organisation, including its upper echelons , even today , ETA members departing to execute attacks in Spain receive a spare bullet with Lobos name on it . In the picture is described various historical events as when the terrorists proceed their most daring and shocking crime yet : killing the prime minister Carrero Blanco (1973) or the called ¨French sanctuary¨ where freely planned their operations . It is an entertaining picture in which suspense is well developed from start to finish , though crammed with some erotic scenes between Eduardo Noriega and Melanie Doutey . Nice acting by Eduardo Noriega as a Basque construction worker , whom the secret service sees in him an ideal candidate to infiltrate the terrorist band ETA . Eduardo Noriega had to work hard for several months before the shooting started in order to speak with the strong Basque Country accent required for his character . According to an interview to Mélanie Doutey , she was help by a dialect coach during a month before the shooting , because she could not speak Spanish at the time. The picture is acceptable , but it has conventional pitfalls and results to be overlong ; though also contains interesting scenes , suspenseful images and sensitive moments . Anyway , its is compensated with the great performances from main cast , and notorious support cast such as Manuel Zarzo , Juan Fernández , Roger Pera , Fernando Cayo , Chema Muñoz , José Luis García Pérez , Alex O'Dogherty , Saturnino Garcia and Jorge Sanz . Atmospheric musical score by Néstor Calvo who composes a stirring soundtrack . Colorful as well as evocative cinematography by Francesc Gener . The motion picture was professionally directed by Michael Courtois and achieved hit smash at box office ; however , a similar film he subsequently realized titled ¨Gal¨ failed and was dismissed both , critics and indifferent reaction for the public . Other pictures dealing with this terrorist organization are the followings : ¨La Fuga De Segovia¨, ¨Dias Contados¨, by Imanol Uribe , ¨La Voz De Su Amo¨ by Emilio Martínez Lazaro¨ , ¨Todos Estamos Invitados¨ by Manuel Gutiérrez Aragon and several documentaries directed by Iñaki Arteta as ¨Testigo Involuntario : Nicolas Redondo¨, ¨El Infierno Vasco¨ , ¨Trece Entre Mil¨ , and ¨Sin Libertad¨ .
CurtHerzstark
Based on the true story of undercover agent Mikel Lejarza who infiltrated the basque terrorist network ETA in the 70's.How accurate this film is I cannot say but as far as actionthrillers goes it has surprisingly depth, script and direction above genre standards. The acting is also very good, even down to small supporting roles.Instead of just delivering easy answers, lame dialogue or bad acting this film asks us questions such as, how the state handles terrorism, how far are you willing to go to reach ones goals, and also about integrity.This film is without heroes, the main character José María 'Txema' Loigorry / El Lobo (played by Eduardo Noriega) gets forced into this and doesn't really want to be involved.And his superiors? They are the fascist government lead by no other then dictator Franco who rules Spain with ruthless power.ETA on the other hand is a terrorist network plagued by inner turmoil, endless discussions about what to do when Franco is gone, and wouldn't be better if ETA put down there guns and became a political party instead? Mix these above themes and add lots of action, sex and you get very well made action thriller pretty far from say, The Bourne Identity (2002).
newland80
Although political thrillers are habitual in American cinema, Spanish cinema has been less inclined to translate our past and present conflicts into film. The conflict with Basque separatist group ETA has been depicted a bunch of times in the last few decades, but very seldom as acutely as Miguel Courtois does with "El Lobo".Based on the true story of a Basque man who managed to reach ETA's highest leaders undercover, the film presents a poignant vision of the Basque conflict which is neither black nor white. This has so many shades and gray areas that the viewer has no other option than to give it second thoughts.Eduardo Noriega has proved himself as a worthy leading man in the past, and his Basque accent here is more than acceptable. The supporting cast benefits from a few great actors playing bit parts (Roger Pera, Saturnino García...) but many of the important supporting characters are clichéd or underwritten (what can Silvia Abascal do with her character?). The writing is brave and raises important questions, which is a point in favor. However, they could have avoided a few stereotypes with some advise from just anyone familiar with the Basque Country. In any case, this is a worthy film and worth watching if only for the value of the questions it raises.
