HFA Brings Spanish ‘Freedom Fighters’ to Screen

The fratricidal Spanish Civil War, waged from 1936 to 1939, was a time of tension and high drama. And through April 24, the Harvard Film Archive is allowing audiences to experience the era’s tragedy and pathos in its series “Franco, Fascists, and Freedom Fighters: The Spanish Civil War on Film.”

The film series marks the 71st anniversary of the conflict. Comprised of factual and fictional films, it includes dramatic renderings of the civil war, such as “Pan’s Labyrinth” director Guillermo del Toro’s “El Espinazo del Diablo” (“The Devil’s Backbone”) as well as documentaries such as “El Perro Negro: Stories from the Spanish Civil War” and “The Good Fight.”

On March 13, The Crimson sat down with Professor of Romance Languages and Literature Bradley S. Epps to watch “Tierra y Libertad,” (“Land and Freedom”), one of 10 films in the series.

NEVER FORGET

According to Epps, learning about the Spanish Civil War offers today’s viewers a glimpse of idealism that is largely lost today.

“I think it is relevant for its vision of idealism shot through with pragmatism and the sense for the need to be involved in something,” he says.

Epps designed the film exhibition for a Franco-Spanish cultural class he teaches with Professor of Comparative Literature Susan R. Suleiman, “Romance Studies 171, The Spanish Civil War from Both Sides of the Border.”

“Tierra y Libertad” depicts the struggles of an English Communist, David, who joins in the fight against Franco’s Fascism, only to confront the massive infighting occurring amongst the anti-Franco’s forces, the Republican anarchists, and the communists.

Directed by Ken Loach, the film conveys a clear political message and agenda, falling heavily on the side of the Republicans. Within that camp, the film sympathizes with the local militias and anarchists.

The film does simplify the nuances of each warring side: fascists are often childlike, hiding behind women and children, while the Republicans, proud idealists, proclaim “El mañana es nuestro!” (“Tomorrow is ours!”). All the Spanish communists fall under the sway of Stalinism, while the anarchists remain wedded to their egalitarian and democratic ideals to the death.

Despite the director’s apparent clear-cut portrayal of the factions, Epps comments that the film does justice to the war.

“The film is quite historically accurate. There was a very good account of the infighting among Catalonian forces,” he says. “Nevertheless, there is an amount of manipulation. All films take some sort of liberties.”

LASTING IMPACT

For European history junkies, the Spanish Civil War figures prominently in shaping the events that took place in Europe over the last century.

“The Spanish Civil War is typically understood as a prelude or rehearsal to World War II,” Epps says.

Furthermore, the war inspired countless works of art that are still valued today. The atrocity of the large scale bombing of the city of Guernica, which resulted in immense loss of life in 1937, led to the creation one of the best-known works of art of the 20th century.

“[The bombing] is what sparked Picasso’s ‘Guernica,’ which is without question the most famous anti-war work of art,” says Epps. “Picasso was so incensed by what he read in the newspapers that he painted this massive canvas.”

However, the impact is not confined to art, Epps says. Spain still has to grapple with the war’s aftermath, he says.

“This specter of the Spanish Civil War is a great type of trauma for Spain. It endures through very interesting ways,” Epps notes, providing an example in current policies.

“The Spanish government just last year passed a law that includes such things as exhuming mass graves. This has been very hotly debated in Spain, some saying that this picks at scabs and opens up old wounds,” he says.

The Spanish Civil War wrought havoc on civilian lives, but the current conflict, according to Epps, has been able to be largely ignored by America at large.

“Life has hardly been disrupted [by the Iraq War],” he says. “Life at Harvard goes on, and we go to our classes.”

He notes that the Spanish Civil War reminds us of how completely war disrupts life for those being bombed.

A CONSTANT REMINDER

Attending each screening may cost six dollars, but the dividends gained are worth the money, Epps says.

According to him, the Spanish Civil War and the film series offer some important lessons in their portrayal of “the willingness of people to come together internationally and fight for a democratic ideal.”

“For anyone interested in World War II, it is absolutely critical,” he says of the festival.