''El lobo'' ( en, The Wolf) is a 2004
Spanish drama biographical film
A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudra ...
directed by
Miguel Courtois and starring
Eduardo Noriega.
Plot
The film is based on the life of
Mikel Lejarza
Mikel Lejarza Eguía (born 1947 in Areatza, Spain) is a former member of the Spanish intelligence service. During the 1970s, he infiltrated the Basque separatist organisation ETA, providing safe houses in Spain to lodge their commandos. His secr ...
, an agent of the Spanish
intelligence service in the early 1970s. During the end of the
Francoist State
Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spa ...
, Lejarza infiltrated
ETA, a paramilitary group seeking independence for the
Basque Country
Basque Country may refer to:
* Basque Country (autonomous community), as used in Spain ( es, País Vasco, link=no), also called , an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain (shown in pink on the map)
* French Basque Country o ...
.
He obstructed plans for a major prison breakout and a campaign of attacks. The secret services tried to demobilise him when he became less useful. However, he pursued his mission nevertheless, which became the most successful government initiative against ETA. Information he provided was responsible for the capture or killing of a quarter of its members, including some of its Special Forces members and leaders. He destabilized the organization when it was a potential justification for conservatives to seize power and stop the democratisation process.
ETA sentenced him to death and posted his pictures throughout the Basque country, in the hope of someone reporting his whereabouts. Mikel changed his name and face and has lived under an assumed identity ever since.
Cast
Awards and nominations
Won
Goya Awards
*Best Editing (Guillermo S. Maldonado)
*Best Special Effects
Nominated
Goya Awards
*
Best Actor
Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play.
The term most often refers to th ...
(Eduardo Noriega)
*Best Production Supervision
*
Best Supporting Actress (Silvia Abascal)
Spanish Actors Union
*Performance in a Minor Role, Male (Santiago Ramos)
*Supporting Performance, Female (Silvia Abascal)
See also
*
List of Spanish films of 2004
External links
*
2004 films
2000s thriller films
Spanish drama films
2000s Spanish-language films
Thriller films based on actual events
Films set in Spain
Films about ETA (separatist group)
Films directed by Miguel Courtois
2000s Spanish films
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