The Disenchantment
(El Desencanto)
Jaime Chavarri / Spain / 1975 / 95 min
Spanish with English subtitles
The widow and children of an official poet of Franco’s regime speak out. A veritable cult classic, this documentary profiles the widow and children of Leopoldo Panero, an official poet of Franco’s regime. The surviving family members, now expressing themselves in post-Franco democracy, proceed to voice their anger and disgust – towards Panero and one another. Through the words, rooms, objects, streets and lost places, the story reveals a time and people linked by family ties that never run away from expressing their differences and their identities. Hailed as “the best creative documentary in Spanish cinematographic history”, this is a beautiful portrait of a family – and post-Franco Spain – trying to come to terms with its own history.