Film focused on the activities of General Mola, his life, family and the complex plot which led to the military coup of July 1936 and the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). The film deals with the days leading up to the Spanish Civil War in 1936 that are dramatized from many different locations in Spain . It is narrated by some parallel stories , retelling historical as well as fictitious events . The picture is based on facts , though it has some inventions , lies and ordinary manichaeism . The flick is spoiled by its short-budget , interiors overusing and lacking exteriors .
The film is based on historical events : Mola (Manuel Morón) married to Consuelo (Silvia Marsó) soon joined the group of officers planning a coup to bring down the Second Republic. Thus, the change of destination caused several high-ranking soldiers to meet in Madrid at the beginning of March and hold a meeting in which Generals Francisco Franco and Emilio Mola, among others, participated. After the failure of an attempted uprising promoted in Madrid in mid-April by Generals Rodríguez del Barrio and Varela, at the end of that month Mola took over the leadership of a military movement aimed at overthrowing the Popular Front government by force , joing some officers (Aitor Merino as Cap. Vicario , Mikel Tello as Cap. Lastra, Torregrosa as Cnel. Solchaga). The first of the directives highlights the exclusively military nature of the coup. In the second, dated May 25, 1936, Madrid was already set as its objective. The plan drawn up is centripetal in nature. Madrid would be attacked from the garrisons of Valencia, Zaragoza, Burgos and Valladolid. On July 1, the last of the guidelines closed, indicating the support of the political parties of the time. The plan was already drawn up and the date of July 19, at dawn, was agreed upon. Through the mediation of Raimundo García García, Garcilaso (Alex Angulo) , deputy and director of the Diario de Navarra, in May the Carlists contacted Mola, with whom the soldier held tough and tense negotiations. Various Generals and officers joined the rebellion , Tte. Gral. Queipo de Llano (Antonio Valero) , Gral. Cabanellas (Ramón Barea) and Sanjurjo who was banished in Estoril , while Cmte. Guardia Civil Mecel (Jorge Sanz) opposed the uprising. The main stumbling blocks were the regime that would emerge after the military coup and the flag that the rebels would carry, since Mola planned to carry the republican tricolor, while the Carlists demanded to carry the monarchist bicolor. On the first point, the Carlists flatly refused to accept a republican military dictatorship proposed by Mola in his circular of June 5 and asked that the new regime be involved with the traditionalist and Catholic doctrine of Carlism, that is, the suppression of all political parties and the establishment of a non-democratic government, with Sanjurjo as president. Despite the fact that Mola himself knew that the participation of the Navarrese and Basque requetés was essential for the coup d'état in Navarra to succeed, he described the Carlists' requests as inadmissible in the confidential report that he sent on July 1. In the aforementioned document, Mola himself said that "enthusiasm for the cause has not yet reached the necessary degree of exaltation" and pointed out that "the agreement is about to be finalized with a very important national force essential for action in certain provinces", which which was a clear allusion to the Carlists. Sanjurjo himself, Navarrese and of Carlist origin, from his Portuguese exile tried to mediate in the negotiation between Mola and the Carlists, even sending a letter to the general, who rejected it, considering it false. The final break between Mola and the Carlists took place on July 9, after an unsuccessful exchange of letters between the general and Manuel Fal Conde (Aguinagalde) , leader of the Carlists. This fact would lead to the cancellation of the plan for the uprising that was scheduled for July 12 in Pamplona. Mola sent a note to Fal Conde in which he said: «We turned to you because we only have uniformed men who cannot be called soldiers. Had we had them, we would have managed on our own." When the situation was at a point of no return, the previous leader of the Carlists, but head of Navarrese Carlism, the Count of Rodezno, contacted Mola and recommended that he negotiate directly with the Navarrese requetés, dispensing with the national leadership, which . They were ready to revolt, ignoring Fal Conde's orders, and they let him know so on July 12. On 12 July , in Madrid, a member of the Falange named Jorge Bardina murdered Lieutenant José Castillo of the Assault Guards police forcé . The next day, members of the Assault Guards arrested José Calvo Sotelo , a leading Spanish monarchist and a prominent parliamentary conservative; the original target was Gil Robles but he could not be found. Calvo Sotelo was shot by the Guards without trial . The murder of Calvo Sotelo, by Luis Cuenca, Indalecio Prieto's bodyguard, on July 13 precipitated the events and the Carlists agreed to postpone the discussion on the status of the new regime, leaving it in the hands of General Sanjurjo. On July 16, in the Irache monastery, he met with his superior, General Domingo Batet, who asked him directly if he had anything to do with the imminent uprising and even went so far as to ask for his word of honor that he would not participate in it. Which Mola effectively gave him saying: "What I assure you is that I am not launching into any adventure."13 Batet, convinced that Mola would not rise up, informed the Government. It was Mola who, under the pseudonym "Director", sent the secret instructions to the units involved in the uprising. After several delays, July 18, 1936, was chosen as the date to begin the coup. Despite the success of the rebellion in the protectorate of Morocco and the declaration of a state of war in the Canary Islands, Mola waited until July 19 to rise up in Navarra, where he would have the decisive support of the Carlists. The approach of him to initiate the coup of State. The rising was intended to be swift, but the government retained control of most of the country including Málaga, Jaén and Almería. Cadiz was taken for the rebels and General Queipo de Llano managed to secure Seville. In Madrid, the rebels were hemmed into the Montaña barracks, which fell with much bloodshed . On 19 July the cabinet headed by the newly appointed prime minister José Giral ordered the distribution of weapons to the unions, helping to defeat the rebels in Madrid, Barcelona, and Valencia, which led to anarchists taking control of large parts of Aragon and Catalonia . Rebel General Goded surrendered in Barcelona and was later condemned to death.
The film is based on historical events : Mola (Manuel Morón) married to Consuelo (Silvia Marsó) soon joined the group of officers planning a coup to bring down the Second Republic. Thus, the change of destination caused several high-ranking soldiers to meet in Madrid at the beginning of March and hold a meeting in which Generals Francisco Franco and Emilio Mola, among others, participated. After the failure of an attempted uprising promoted in Madrid in mid-April by Generals Rodríguez del Barrio and Varela, at the end of that month Mola took over the leadership of a military movement aimed at overthrowing the Popular Front government by force , joing some officers (Aitor Merino as Cap. Vicario , Mikel Tello as Cap. Lastra, Torregrosa as Cnel. Solchaga). The first of the directives highlights the exclusively military nature of the coup. In the second, dated May 25, 1936, Madrid was already set as its objective. The plan drawn up is centripetal in nature. Madrid would be attacked from the garrisons of Valencia, Zaragoza, Burgos and Valladolid. On July 1, the last of the guidelines closed, indicating the support of the political parties of the time. The plan was already drawn up and the date of July 19, at dawn, was agreed upon. Through the mediation of Raimundo García García, Garcilaso (Alex Angulo) , deputy and director of the Diario de Navarra, in May the Carlists contacted Mola, with whom the soldier held tough and tense negotiations. Various Generals and officers joined the rebellion , Tte. Gral. Queipo de Llano (Antonio Valero) , Gral. Cabanellas (Ramón Barea) and Sanjurjo who was banished in Estoril , while Cmte. Guardia Civil Mecel (Jorge Sanz) opposed the uprising. The main stumbling blocks were the regime that would emerge after the military coup and the flag that the rebels would carry, since Mola planned to carry the republican tricolor, while the Carlists demanded to carry the monarchist bicolor. On the first point, the Carlists flatly refused to accept a republican military dictatorship proposed by Mola in his circular of June 5 and asked that the new regime be involved with the traditionalist and Catholic doctrine of Carlism, that is, the suppression of all political parties and the establishment of a non-democratic government, with Sanjurjo as president. Despite the fact that Mola himself knew that the participation of the Navarrese and Basque requetés was essential for the coup d'état in Navarra to succeed, he described the Carlists' requests as inadmissible in the confidential report that he sent on July 1. In the aforementioned document, Mola himself said that "enthusiasm for the cause has not yet reached the necessary degree of exaltation" and pointed out that "the agreement is about to be finalized with a very important national force essential for action in certain provinces", which which was a clear allusion to the Carlists. Sanjurjo himself, Navarrese and of Carlist origin, from his Portuguese exile tried to mediate in the negotiation between Mola and the Carlists, even sending a letter to the general, who rejected it, considering it false. The final break between Mola and the Carlists took place on July 9, after an unsuccessful exchange of letters between the general and Manuel Fal Conde (Aguinagalde) , leader of the Carlists. This fact would lead to the cancellation of the plan for the uprising that was scheduled for July 12 in Pamplona. Mola sent a note to Fal Conde in which he said: «We turned to you because we only have uniformed men who cannot be called soldiers. Had we had them, we would have managed on our own." When the situation was at a point of no return, the previous leader of the Carlists, but head of Navarrese Carlism, the Count of Rodezno, contacted Mola and recommended that he negotiate directly with the Navarrese requetés, dispensing with the national leadership, which . They were ready to revolt, ignoring Fal Conde's orders, and they let him know so on July 12. On 12 July , in Madrid, a member of the Falange named Jorge Bardina murdered Lieutenant José Castillo of the Assault Guards police forcé . The next day, members of the Assault Guards arrested José Calvo Sotelo , a leading Spanish monarchist and a prominent parliamentary conservative; the original target was Gil Robles but he could not be found. Calvo Sotelo was shot by the Guards without trial . The murder of Calvo Sotelo, by Luis Cuenca, Indalecio Prieto's bodyguard, on July 13 precipitated the events and the Carlists agreed to postpone the discussion on the status of the new regime, leaving it in the hands of General Sanjurjo. On July 16, in the Irache monastery, he met with his superior, General Domingo Batet, who asked him directly if he had anything to do with the imminent uprising and even went so far as to ask for his word of honor that he would not participate in it. Which Mola effectively gave him saying: "What I assure you is that I am not launching into any adventure."13 Batet, convinced that Mola would not rise up, informed the Government. It was Mola who, under the pseudonym "Director", sent the secret instructions to the units involved in the uprising. After several delays, July 18, 1936, was chosen as the date to begin the coup. Despite the success of the rebellion in the protectorate of Morocco and the declaration of a state of war in the Canary Islands, Mola waited until July 19 to rise up in Navarra, where he would have the decisive support of the Carlists. The approach of him to initiate the coup of State. The rising was intended to be swift, but the government retained control of most of the country including Málaga, Jaén and Almería. Cadiz was taken for the rebels and General Queipo de Llano managed to secure Seville. In Madrid, the rebels were hemmed into the Montaña barracks, which fell with much bloodshed . On 19 July the cabinet headed by the newly appointed prime minister José Giral ordered the distribution of weapons to the unions, helping to defeat the rebels in Madrid, Barcelona, and Valencia, which led to anarchists taking control of large parts of Aragon and Catalonia . Rebel General Goded surrendered in Barcelona and was later condemned to death.
