BELLE EPOQUE
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1994 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: If one understands Spanish and the
Spanish Civil War, there might be more substance to this film
than there initially appears. But United States audiences
will find this a feather-light situation comedy about an army
deserter who gets involved with a family with four sexy
daughters. Rating: +1 (-4 to +4).
This year's Academy Award for best foreign film went to the Spanish film BELLE EPOQUE. In competition with films of much weightier content, the film that won was a little flip of a movie, little more than an extended "Farmer's Daughter" story set in rural Spain during the early 1930s. In a time when three factions, the Carlists, the Monarchists, and the Republicans are fighting each other for possession of the country, Fernando (played by young Jorge Sanz), a handsome young soldier, deserts his company. As the film opens he is arrested by two rather odd Civil Guardsmen whose disagreement over what to do with him leaves him free again. Then he comes to a village where a free-thinking villager Manolo (Fernando Fernan Gomez) offers him a place to stay for the night. In the morning Fernando plans to head for Madrid until he sees the arrival by train of Manolo's four beautiful daughters. Fernando decides to stay around to enjoy more hospitality and to get to know the four daughters a little better. What follows is a pleasant little tale of romantic entanglements with each of the four daughters.
There are few surprises for American audiences in this film. Though it has been said that the liberal attitudes the family has is very atypical of the Spanish in the 30s, they are much less shocking to Americans in the 90s so this film conceivably had more impact in its native country than it will have in the United States. What we see as a background to the story as just a village of moderately interesting characters perhaps might have shocked the Spanish audiences. For example there is a woman who has decided to dress and behave like a man. Not so shocking to us, but it reportedly was considered outrageous behavior in Spain. One man seems content to share his wife with her lover, with whom he remains on good terms. Again not common in the United States but not shocking either.
There also seems to be some political undercurrent to what is going on, though it is not well explained. One character's suicide may be related to the war, though it is not sufficiently explained by the subtitles. An alert ear will note that there are some differences between what is being said in Spanish and the subtitle translation.
Fernando Trueba directed this story with touches that are a little reminiscent of both SIRENS and any number of pleasant countryside films, mostly from France. BELLE EPOQUE has a feel of being close to nature in an idyllic small rural village. While it is pleasant enough for an hour or so, it is an odd choice for best foreign language film of 1993. For those who enjoy light French pastoral comedies, I would rate it a +1 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
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