''Los santos '' or ''The Holy Innocents'' is a Spanish

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

Mario Camus Mario Camus García (20 April 1935 – 18 September 2021) was a Spanish film director and screenwriter. He won the Golden Bear at the 33rd Berlin International Film Festival with '' La colmena''. His 1987 film '' The House of Bernarda Alba'' ...

, based on famous

Miguel Delibes Miguel Delibes Setién MML (; 17 October 1920 – 12 March 2010) was a Spanish novelist, journalist and newspaper editor associated with the Generation of '36 movement. From 1975 until his death, he was a member of the Royal Spanish Academy, w ...

' novel of the same title. The movie stars

Alfredo Landa Alfredo Landa Areta MML (3 March 19339 May 2013) was a Spanish actor. Biography He was born in Pamplona, Navarre, Spain. He finished his pre-university studies in San Sebastián. He then began university studies on Law, where he began to wo ...

and

Francisco Rabal Francisco Rabal Valera (8 March 1926 – 29 August 2001), better known as Paco Rabal, was a Spanish actor, director, and screenwriter born in Águilas, a town in the south-western part of the province of Murcia, Spain. Throughout his career, Raba ...

, who both won the Best Actor Award at the

1984 Cannes Film Festival The 37th Cannes Film Festival was held from 11 to 23 May 1984. The Palme d'Or went to the '' Paris, Texas'' by Wim Wenders. The festival opened with '' Fort Saganne'', directed by Alain Corneau and closed with '' The Bounty'', directed by Roger ...

. The film was the highest-grossing Spanish film in Spain at the time before being surpassed by '' La vaquilla''. In the 1984 edition of the Cannes Film Festival it was nominated for the Palme d'Or and won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury Special Mention. Francisco Rabal and Alfredo Landa shared the Best Actor award at the same festival. It was voted the third best Spanish film by professionals and critics in 1996 Spanish cinema centenary.

Plot

Paco and Régula live on a rural estate owned by an absent marchioness with their three children. Nieves works as a maid in the big house, Quirce is doing his military service, and Charito is severely handicapped. The parents accept the repeated humiliations of their position as dependents at the whim of the owners and the estate manager, but Nieves and Quirce aim for a better life. The family is joined by Régula's mentally handicapped brother Azarías, sacked from another estate, who loves birds. The owner's son Ivan often comes back to the estate for two reasons: he is conducting an affair with the manager's bored wife Pura and he is fanatical about shooting birds. Paco, whom he forces up a tree to decoy pigeons, falls and breaks a leg. Then he tries using the simple Azarías and, in a fit of pique, shoots the man's pet

jackdaw Jackdaws are two species of bird in the genus ''Coloeus'' closely related to, but generally smaller than, the crows and ravens (''Corvus''). ''Coloeus'' is sometimes treated as a subgenus of ''Corvus'', including by the IUCN.Madge & Burn (1994) ...

. Next time Azarías is sent up a tree to work decoys, he drops a noose round Ivan's neck and hangs him. Mentally a child, he is shut up in a secure asylum.

Cast

as Paco el Bajo *

Terele Pávez Teresa Marta Ruiz Penella (29 July 1939 – 11 August 2017), better known as Terele Pávez, was a Spanish actress. She appeared in more than ninety films since 1954. She died on 11 August 2017 due to a stroke at the age of 78. Selected fil ...

as Régula, his wife * Belén Ballesteros as Nieves, their elder daughter * Juan Sánchez as Quirce, their son * Susana Sánchez as La Niña Chica, their younger handicapped daughter *

as Azarías, Régula's handicapped brother * Agustín González as Don Pedro, the estate manager * Ágata Lys as Doña Pura, his wife *

Mary Carrillo María Carrillo Moreno (14 October 1919 - 31 July 2009) better known as Mary Carrillo was a Spanish actress. She appeared in more than fifty films from 1937 to 2002. Selected filmography References External links * 1919 births 20 ...

as Señora Marquesa, the estate owner * Juan Diego as Señorito Iván, her son *

Maribel Martín María Isabel Martín Martínez (1 November 1954 in Madrid, Spain), better known as Maribel Martín, is a Spanish actress. Career She made her acting debut at age seven in the film ''Tres de la Cruz Roja'' (1961),a film directed by Fernando Pa ...

as Señorita Miriam, her daughter *

Manuel Zarzo Manuel López Zarza (born 26 April 1932) better known as Manuel Zarzo is a Spanish film actor. He has appeared in more than 150 films since 1951. Selected filmography * '' Day by Day'' (1951) * '' Love in a Hot Climate'' (1954) * '' Cursed M ...

as Don Manuel, the doctor

About the film

The distinctive landscapes are of the empty region of

Extremadura Extremadura (; ext, Estremaúra; pt, Estremadura; Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is an autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central-western part of the Iberian Peninsula, it ...

, around the towns of Alburquerque and

Zafra Zafra () is a town situated in the Province of Badajoz (Extremadura, Spain), and the capital of the comarca of Zafra - Río Bodión. It has a population of 16,677, according to the 2011 census. Zafra is the hometown of Fray Ruy Lopez, author ...

. Its distinctive soundtrack is played wholly on a three-stringed rabel, a folk instrument dating back to medieval times.

References

External links

* 1984 films Spanish drama films 1980s Spanish-language films 1984 drama films Films set in Spain Films based on Spanish novels Films directed by Mario Camus Films scored by Antón García Abril 1980s Spanish films {{1980s-Spain-film-stub