The Disenchantment

(El Desencanto)

Jaime Chavarri / Spain / 1975 / 95 min
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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.

About the Director
Jaime Chavarri was really a professional lawyer who had a lot of amateur experience with his Super 8 camera. His first professional movie was Los viajes Escolares (1974), with an autobiographical touch but it was misunderstood by most critics. With The disenchantment (1976) , produced by Elias Querejeta, he addresses the issue of the family with careful look. To a God Unknown (1977), tells the story of a gay man searching for his identity. Dedication (1980) is the fickleness emotional issues and incest. He had great public success in 1983 in Spain Bicycles are for summer. These personal films, bringing to light the traditions and evolution of individual behaviors, reveal a rare talent and maturity in young Spanish filmmakers.
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