Also Directed by Juan Vicente Córdoba
From a shack in Pozo del Tio Raimundo, that neighborhood of Madrid built vertiginously in the 50s with mud and tin houses that grew as "moon flowers" erected during the night, Father Llanos, "the red priest", instilled the immigrants their passion for justice and freedom. They were years of solidarity, of rebellion to forge a new identity and to dream that, from the neighborhood, the world could be changed.
The first half of this movie may be tasteless: there is this bunch of girls and boys living in the working class suburbs of Madrid around the boxing club, some action, some sex, not going nowhere, but soon the characters begin to sharpen, the story takes shape around persons and groups. One can expect things to get bad in any moment but psychology takes over easy violence on the screen and the second half is a much more captivating linear part, where the characters have more convincing roles. Nathalia Verbeke is amazing, once again!, in a new and physically demanding role. Can't keep from comparing her with Hilary Swank performance in Million Dollar Baby.
Lucía's heart misses a beat when she sees a man of her age, Juan in a department store. Without hesitating, she decides to follow him to his house, the same house where, twenty-five years before, while the Franco regime was on its last leg, Juan first met Lucía and fell in love with her...
