The Cuenca Game

(El Crimen de Cuenca)

Pilar Miró / Spain / 1979 / 88 min
Related Films
Welcome Mister Marshall!Welcome Mister Marshall!(¡Bienvenido Mister Marshall!)Luís García BerlangaThe witty, multi-layered and subversive Welcome, Mr Marshall! – a watershed in Spanish cinema history – captures the intrigues and insecurities ...ViridianaViridianaLuis BuñuelLuis Buñuel’s Palme d’Or-winning masterpiece of subversive cinema. Awarded the Cannes Palme d’Or, this was Buñuel’s sole interruption of his ...Death of a CyclistDeath of a Cyclist(Muerte de un Ciclista)Juan Antonio BardemAn adulterous couple hit a cyclist while driving on a deserted highway. Bardem’s most celebrated solo effort centres on the angst of an adulterous ...The ExecutionerThe Executioner(El Verdugo)Luís García BerlangaBerlanga’s most elegant film tells the story of a funeral-home employee who marries a government executioner’s daughter and – in order to get an ...Aunt TulaAunt Tula(La Tía Tula)Miguel PicazoA widower finds himself falling for his sister-in-law. For his intelligently staged debut feature – a film about women making decisions of whom to ...

Spanish with English subtitles

Two village men are falsely convicted of murdering a shepherd. Based on real events, The Cuenca Game focuses on two village men, falsely convicted of murdering a shepherd and subjected to torture and imprisonment. The film’s depiction of the torture too closely referenced the brutality of Franco’s police during the regime’s final years both are tried and sentenced to 18 years in prison. Six years later they left jail and only two years later appears alive the man who allegedly killed. Military courts blocked the premiere and unsuccessfully prosecuted Miró for slandering the Civil Guard. When released in 1981, four years after censonship was abolished, it became the highest grossing film in Spanish box-office history.

About the Director
Pilar Miro was born in 1940 in Madrid. In 1960 he started working at TVE. Her first film was The petition (1976). After that shot The Cuenca Game (1979), one of her most outstanding films that denounces torture by the Guardia Civil on peasants. Her next film, Gary Cooper que estás en los cielos…(1980). In 1982 she was named managing director of cinematography. Between 1986 and 1989 has served as general manager of Spanish Broadcasting. Two years later directed Beltenebros (1991). In 1995 directed El perro del hortelano, a masterful adaptation of Lope de Vega. Her last film, Your name poisoned my dreams. As a film director she makes about 200 realizations and various theatrical productions and operas.
❌