En brazos de la mujer madura, loosely based on the novel ''In Praise of Older Women'', is a 1997 Spanish coming-of-age film set during and after the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

. As well as recounting the amorous education of a young man, it evokes the political and social conditions of the time.

Plot

When war breaks out in 1936, the boys at a Catholic boarding school in Republican territory are sent home. Andres is one of these boys. Finding that his widowed mother's flat in Gerona is requisitioned and she is far away in

La Coruña LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smi ...

, he decides to rejoin her by bicycle. Reaching the Aragon front, he is stopped by an

Anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

unit under the charismatic commander Dávalos and is conscripted to help the cook Honorio, who is having an affair with a peasant woman Pilar. Also stopped are a wealthy Englishman and his American wife, la Condesa, for whom Andrés acts as interpreter and is rewarded. He is then sent to safety in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

where he starts an affair with Julia, the virgin daughter of the house, but is evicted before consummation. To live, he starts dealing on the black market and one night tries a prostitute, but she is so bored that he leaves in disgust. The war over, his mother comes back and is set up in a flat by her

Falangist Falangism () was the political ideology of three political parties in Spain that were known as the Falange, namely first the Falange Española, the Falange Española de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (FE de las JONS), and afterwa ...

lover Victor. Above them lives a married woman Marta, who lends Andrés books and starts an affair. But she and her well-off husband were Republicans and are taken away by the secret police. In the street, Andrés sees Pilar, the working-class girl from the front, and they have a night together. Then at a concert he falls for Bobi, an Italian violinist, and they have a brief idyll. Her orchestra's next engagement is in

Vichy France Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the Battle of France, ...

and at the frontier station of

Canfranc Canfranc () is a municipality in the Aragón Valley of north-eastern Spain consisting of two villages, the original village and ''Canfranc Estación'', which developed with the establishment of Canfranc International railway station to serve rai ...

Andrés rejoins her.

Cast

Juan Diego Botto Juan Diego Botto Rota (born 29 August 1975) is an Argentine-Spanish film, stage and television actor. Born in Argentina, he moved to Spain together with his mother (the actress and acting coach Cristina Rota) in 1978. Following early film appe ...

- Andrés * Miguel Ángel García - Andrés (15 yrs) *

Faye Dunaway Dorothy Faye Dunaway (born January 14, 1941) is an American actress. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Faye Dunaway, many accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, ...

- la Condesa *

Joanna Pacula Joanna is a feminine given name deriving from from . Variants in English include Joan, Joann, Joanne, and Johanna. Other forms of the name in English are Jan, Jane, Janet, Janice, Jean, and Jeanne. The earliest recorded occurrence of the ...

- Marta *

Carme Elias Carme may refer to: * Carme (given name) * Carme (moon), a moon of Jupiter * Carme (mythology), a figure in Greek mythology * Carme group, a group of satellites orbiting Jupiter * Carme, Barcelona, a village in Barcelona province, Catalonia, Spain ...

- Irene *

Rosana Pastor Rosana Pastor Muñoz (born 7 August 1960) is a Spanish politician and actress. Biography Rosana Pastor was born in Alboraya, province of Valencia, on 7 August 1960. Pastor studied at the School of Dramatic Art of Valencia (ESAD). She had clas ...

- Pilar *

Ingrid Rubio Ingrid Rubio Ruiz (born 2 August 1975) is a Spanish actress. She won the Special Mention Award at the 1996 San Sebastián International Film Festival for her performance in the film ''Taxi''. Life and career Ingrid Rubio was born in Barcelona ...

- Julia *

Florence Pernel Florence Pernel (born 30 May 1962) is a French actress. Early life Pernel was born on 30 May 1962 in Paris. She began her acting career at the age of 10 with the TV serial ''Plein soleil'' and two years later she made her film debut with Just J ...

- Bobi *

Ángel de Andrés López Ángel de Andrés López (23 October 1951 – 4 May 2016) was a Spanish actor. He appeared in more than 60 films and television shows between 1977 and 2015. He died at his home in Miraflores de la Sierra Miraflores de la Sierra () is a to ...

- Víctor *

Ramón Barea José Ramón Barea Monge (born 13 July 1949), known as Ramón Barea, is a Spanish actor. Biography José Ramón Barea Monge was born in Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Bis ...

- Peciña * - Miss Mozar *

Nancho Novo Venancio Manuel Jesús Novo Cid-Fuentes (born 17 September 1958), known as Nancho Novo, is a Spanish actor. Life and career Venancio Manuel Jesús Novo Cid-Fuentes was born in A Coruña in September 1958. He studied medicine in Santiago de ...

- Honorio *

Ralph Riach Ralph McKenzie Riach (26 January 1936 – 20 March 2022) was a Scottish actor from Elgin, Moray. Early years Riach was born in Elgin, Scotland. He was educated at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow, and he worked in Perth on a vari ...

- Conde

External links

* 1997 films 1990s English-language films English-language Spanish films 1990s Italian-language films 1990s Spanish-language films Films based on Hungarian novels Spanish Civil War films Spanish coming-of-age films Spanish remakes of foreign films Remakes of Canadian films Films with screenplays by Rafael Azcona 1990s coming-of-age films 1990s Spanish films {{SpanishCivilWar-film-stub

Plot

Cast

See also

External links