‘The Lost Letters’: The prison and exile of republican women

Presented, out of competition, in the Time of History category of the 66th edition of the Seminci de Valladolid and Special Jury Prize at the 25th Malaga Festival for women’s rights, comes the first commercial of ‘The Lost Letters’, a documentary by Amparo Climent that seeks to pay homage to the women who gave their lives for the Second Spanish Republic, in the civil war and in the subsequent exile and repression after the war. After two socially topical feature films, “The Tears of Africa” ​​and “Idomeni’s Dreams”, the actress is also making her most complete work as a director to date.

In his documentaries, Climent has always tried to have a subjective perspective, moreover, he never intended to hide it. In the case of “The Lost Letters”, the director explores those confessions, declarations and epistles of women that the rebel party has tried to erase. It begins with the outbreak of the Civil War, collecting some testimonies of the time, both from statements of women who experienced horror – through archive sequences -, and recreations with high-level actresses of the current Spanish audiovisual industry.

That combination of using archival images, dramatized recreations in natural settings and a voiceover (the fabulous Ana Belén) that acts as a leitmotif makes “The Lost Letters” a an effective documentary, which shuns the conventions of non-fiction, becoming an immersive proposal in its intention to denounce and wisely divide the film into different phases, from the civil war to exile or to the sufferings experienced by women who were imprisoned after the war, in the most repressive years of Franco’s dictatorship. Also, it was pointed out how, by being women, the way the repression against them was different because of their sex, as rape was added to the torture.

A film that honors the women who defended the Second Republic

Climent is very clear on what he wants to tell and denounce and he does it with a cinematic look, extolling a film that would have simply been corrected with affirmations by looking at the camera or using press clippings from the era. No, the documentarian brings out her artistic vein wonderfully. Another example that it is possible to make a historical documentary, of data, but with an artistic touch and without forgetting that it is a film meant to be seen on the big screen.

‘The Lost Letters’ manages to be that sincere tribute that Climent is looking for. Add to this the monologues of each actress, all magnificent, as they are capable of conveying the emotions and sensations that these vengeful women have felt through their letters. It’s time to explicitly mention names like Julieta Serrano, Tina Sainz, Luisa Gavasa, Nora Navas, Marisa Paredes, Ana Gracia, Alba Flores or Ana Labordeta. All of them, with careers behind them and flaunting their talent from a committed approach.

This is a new example of the fact that the Spanish documentary follows the international wave of innovation in the field of storytelling. A film that evokes a style reminiscent of another great Spanish documentary maker, Arantxa Aguirre, and which follows the path of recent titles such as’ A las mujeres de España. María Lejárraga ‘or’ Emilia ‘, which show that non-fiction has female filmmakers who come to revolutionize the format.

Note: 7

The best: The clever combination of historical recreation, archival material and other resources. Having important actresses of the Spanish industry.

Worse: It is still a film with a biased look (which is not denied, on the other hand). The sequence relating to the women who were in Las Ventas prison, which is anti-cinematic, tarnishes the final result.