''Visionaries'' () is a 2001 Spanish romantic and religious drama directed and written by

Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón (born 2 January 1940) is a Spanish screenwriter and film director. His 1973 film '' Habla, mudita'' was entered into the 23rd Berlin International Film Festival. In 1977, he won the Silver Bear for Best Director for '' ...

. It stars Eduardo Noriega and

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 ...

alongside

Karra Elejalde Carlos Elejalde Garay (born 10 October 1960) better known as Karra Elejalde, is a Spanish actor and occasional filmmaker. Biography Carlos Elejalde Garay was born on 10 October 1960 in Vitoria-Gasteiz. He developed his early acting career on i ...

Fernando Fernán Gómez Fernando Fernández Gómez (28 August 1921 – 21 November 2007), better known as Fernando Fernán Gómez, was a Spanish actor, screenwriter, film director, theater director, novelist, and playwright. Prolific and outstanding in all these fiel ...

, and

Emma Suárez Emma Suárez Bodelón (born 25 June 1964) is a Spanish actress. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including three Goya Awards. After her debut as a child actress in '' Memoirs of Leticia Valle'' in 1979, she developed a professional ...

Plot

Featuring the backdrop of the alleged

Marian apparition A Marian apparition is a reported supernatural appearance of Mary, the mother of Jesus. While sometimes described as a type of vision, apparitions are generally regarded as external manifestations, whereas visions are more often understood as ...

s that occurred during the

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of democratic government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII. ...

in the village of Ezkioga, Gipuzkoa, and the climate of

integrist In politics, integralism, integrationism or integrism () is an interpretation of Catholic social teaching that argues the principle that the Catholic faith should be the basis of public law and public policy within civil society, wherever the ...

violence arising in reaction to

secularization In sociology, secularization () is a multilayered concept that generally denotes "a transition from a religious to a more worldly level." There are many types of secularization and most do not lead to atheism or irreligion, nor are they automatica ...

policies, the plot follows the doomed love story between Joshe (a wannabe teacher visiting the village in order to meet with his

fiancée An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''fi ...

Edurne) and Usual, a maid working at the inn.

Cast

Production

The film is an Aiete-Ariane Films and

Sogecine PRISA Televisión, S.A.U (PRISA TV) is a pay TV company in Spain. History and profile PRISA TV was established in 1989 and controlled (as of 2007) by PRISA. It was amongst the pioneer companies in the market to introduce interactive systems ...

production, and it had the collaboration of ICAA, Gobierno Vasco,

Canal+ Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...

and TVE. Shooting locations included the Larraun Valley.

Release

Selected within the lineup of the 49th

San Sebastián International Film Festival The San Sebastián International Film Festival ( SSIFF; , ) is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spain, Spanish city of Donostia, Donostia-San Sebastián in September, in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Countr ...

's official selection, the film premiered in September 2001. Distributed by AltaFilms, it was theatrically released in Spain on 11 October 2001.

Reception

David Rooney of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' considered that while a prestige picture (owing to the high-profile cast and polished production values), the film is limited by "its lifelessly reverential approach, lack of emotional engagement and failure of the central romance to conjure any lasting resonance".

Ángel Fernández-Santos Ángel Fernández-Santos (1934–2004) was a Spanish film critic and screenwriter. Born in Los Cerralbos, province of Toledo, in 1934, he was the younger brother of Marxist philosopher . He studied for a brief spell at the in the early 1960s. As ...

of ''

El País (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second-most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . is the most read newspaper in ...

'' considered that despite "a powerful synthetic start" and a captivating story (sketching a "magnificent gloomy portrait of closed and sexton Spain"), the denouement does not live up to promise upon the disappearance of father Laburu from the picture and the film loses some of its initial punch.

References