Camino, Mercedes (2009) Blood of an Innocent : Montxo Armendriz's Silencio Roto (2001) and Guillermo del Toro's El laberinto del fauno (2006). Studies in Hispanic Cinemas, 6 (1). pp. 45-64.
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
Guillermo del Toro's El laberinto del fauno/Pan's Labyrinth and Montxo Armendáriz's Silencio roto/Broken Silence foreground the desertion of the Spanish maquis by international forces and the important role played by those supporting the guerrilla: their puntos de apoyo or enlaces. Through the characterization of enlaces, such as Mercedes and Lucía, these films pay homage to those whose resistance to fascism was traditionally backgrounded. At the same time, the viewers' empathy with these women enables the directors to vindicate the dislocated memories of their real-life inspirations: the campesinos who were tortured and murdered for offering support to the maquis. Above all, the use of Lucía or Mercedes as points of identification for the audiences enables the directors to reconcile both militant and pacifist views of the guerrilla. The courage and dignity of these characters, as well as their ‘broken silences’, vindicate them as the unsung heroes of the war's aftermath.