AY, CARMELA !

by Carlos Saura (¡Ay, Carmela!, Spain, 1990, 1h42)

starring Carmen Maura, Andrés Pajares, Gabino Diego, Maurizio De Razza, José Sancho

In 1938 during the Spanish Civil War, a group of travelling entertainers are hired to entertain the troops in the Republican camp. Trying to distance themselves from the front, by a stroke of bad luck they stray into an area controlled by the enemy. Taken prisoner by the Francoist soldiers, in exchange for their lives they are forced to perform a show that ridicules their cause. But will they really manage to betray their ideals?