BigList
Login / Sign up
Year of Enlightment (1986)

Year of Enlightment (1986)

Drama War
Release Date: 1986, December 5
Directors: Fernando Trueba
Countries: Spain
Production: Iberoamericana Films Produccion
Cast: Maribel Verdú, Chus Lampreave, Carlos Lucas, Jorge Sanz, Diana Peñalver, Santiago Ramos, Pilar Ordóñez, María Jesús Hoyos, Verónica Forqué, Jesus Fernandez, Pilar Marco, Isabel Ordaz

Overview:

April, 1940. Manolo, 16 years old, and Jesus, who is just 8, are taken by their older brother Pepe, a lieutenant in the Army, to a sanatorium for children suffering from tuberculosis, situated on the border with Portugal. Once in the sanatorium, Manolo, surrounded by boys all much younger than he is, feels a bit like the cock of the walk since the only other man around is the handyman Emilio who looks after the gardens and does whatever needs to be done about the place. His wife, Rafaela, is the cook. Manolo meets Irene, a falangist who runs the sanatorium, and the school teacher, Miss Transito, a crabby spinster. He has his first sexual experience, albeit as a voyeur, with his nurse Vicenta. When she has to leave, her place is taken by a girl from the village, Maria Jesus, with whom Manolo falls hopelessly in love. A relationship grows up between them which will mark them both for ever.

Keywords:

coming of age world war ii 1940s brother sanatorium tuberculosis