A&E
Pa Negre tells a heartwrenching story of growing up after the Spanish Civil War
By Kyandreia Jones ’19
March 10, 2016
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Last Tuesday, March 1, the Hispanic Studies Department showed Pa Negre (2010). The film was the third installment in their film series. The series celebrates the new wave of Ibero American Cinema.
The opening scene: A man stands outside a horse-drawn carriage. He takes out a knife. His hands tremble. A hooded figure grabs him from behind. They struggle until the hooded figure bashes the man’s head in with a large rock. The hooded figure throws the body into the carriage with the man’s young son. The son has watched the whole scene take place. Next, the hooded figure walks the carriage to a cliff. The figure hits the horse in the face and in the knees with a blunt object. The horse descends off the cliff. With it falls the young boy, the dead body and the carriage. Upon hearing the crash, another young boy rushes to where he heard the sound. He sees the dead horse and the dying young child. With a face covered in blood, the child says to the other young boy, “Pitorliua.” This is how the audience meets Andreu, the main character of the film.
Directed by Agustí Villaronga, the film is set during the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War in Catalan. Pa Negre tells the story of Andreu (Francesc Colomer), who stumbles upon a dead father and son. The authorities ask Andreu to document what he has seen. After recording what happened, the police call Andreu’s father (Roger Casamajor) to retrieve him. On their way out the precinct his father tells him, “You shouldn’t have stopped.”
Later, the audience learns the reason for his father’s disapproval. His father is accused of murdering the father and son that were introduced in the opening scene. Due to the accusation, his father flees to avoid authorities and the people who killed the father and son.
Andreu and his mother (Nora Navas) also leave their home and stay with Andreu’s grandmother, cousins and aunts.
Andreu faces a new life where he attempts to make sense of the the horrors around him. While trying to understand what is happening with his father, Andreu uncovers his father’s past and becomes disillusioned with the truth.
“Adults hide everything with lies.” Andreu’s cousin Núria (portrayed by Marina Comas ) says in response.
Throughout the film, Andreu is negatively affected each time an adult tells him a lie. Though Andreu believes adults owe him the truth, he does not appear to understand that truth truth has consequences. Sometimes, the lies his parents tell serve to keep a veil over their son’s eyes. They wanted to protect him from the ugliness of a war, for example. Moreover, they wanted to keep him from the evil that laid within all those who were left behind after the war.
Later, Andreu discovers that his father owns some of the evil that took place during the war. His father’s evil nature connects with the legend of Pitorliua (the same name uttered by the dying young boy). Andreu makes discoveries because he wanted answers to the mystery of his father’s life and of the legend. However, the answers force him to grow up and deal with tough situations. Andreu becomes hardened as a result of attempting to find closure and an understanding of the adult world.
?I would not recommend Pa Negre to anyone with a faint heart. There are moments in the film that are hard to watch. However, I would recommend the film to those who enjoy films like Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), directed by Guillermo del Toro.