Blood in May

Blood in May (Spanish: Sangre de mayo) is a 2008 Spanish film directed by José Luis Garci and starring Quim Gutiérrez and Paula Echevarría.[1] The plot is inspired on work by Benito Pérez Galdós and takes place around the events of 2 May 1808, when the people of Madrid rose up in rebellion against French occupation. The film was one of three films Spain submitted to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.[2] The film was disappointing in terms of audience and critical reception.[3]

Blood in May
Theatrical release poster
SpanishSangre de mayo
Directed byJosé Luis Garci
Written byJosé Luis Garci
Horacio Valcárcel
Based onLa corte de Carlos IV & El 19 de marzo y el 2 de mayo
by Benito Pérez Galdós
Starring
CinematographyFélix Monti
Edited byJosé Luis Garci
Music byPablo Cervantes
Production
companies
Distributed byAlta Classics
Release date
  • 3 October 2008 (2008-10-03)
Running time
152 minutes
CountrySpain
LanguageSpanish
Budget€15 million

Plot

Year 1808. The young Gabriel Araceli is working as a typesetter in a modest printing of Madrid. His girlfriend, Inés, is a pretty orphan girl living in Aranjuez, hosted by his uncle, the evil Don Celestino Santos. During his visit to the Royal Site to see the bride, Gabriel coincides with the historic uprising of 19 March against Godoy, whose palace is assaulted by the mob. Thinking about the girl's sake, Don Celestino consent to Inez moved to Madrid to live with their relatives also Don Mauro Requejo and sister Restituta. Gabriel, to be near his girlfriend, in response to a notice is provided as a waiter in the shop. With the help of the boy John of God, who is in love with the girl, tries to kidnap Agnes, for Don Mauro seeks nothing less than to marry her himself. And after many vicissitudes, Gabriel gets away with taking advantage Ines tumultuous reception that the people of Madrid surrenders to the new King Ferdinand, the Desired. They plan to flee to Cádiz, the birthplace of the boy, but times go scrambled because, under the pretext of their way to Portugal, Napoleon's troops entered Spain. The French soldiers are not popular among the population of Madrid, which regards them as invaders. And on 2 May, the popular revolt against imperial outposts breaks out. And, incidentally, Gabriel Araceli is involved in the fierce battles taking place in the Puerta del Sol and elsewhere in Madrid.

Cast

Production

The film is a free adaptation of Benito Pérez Galdós' novels La corte de Carlos IV and El 19 de marzo y el 2 de mayo,[3] part of the Episodios Nacionales. The production featured a large €15 million budget.[5] The public subsidies provided by the right-leaning regional administration of Madrid represented the largest ever for a Spanish film.[6]

Release

Distributed by Alta Classics,[7] the film was theatrically released in Spain on 3 October 2008.[5] It proved to be a massive box-office failure, only grossing €0.7 million in the first month of its theatrical run.[5]

Reception

Critical response

Jonathan Holland of Variety deemed the film to be "an ambitious, often intriguing 200th-anniversary retelling" of the Dos de Mayo uprising in which Garci is seen "aiming for that grand, sweeping feel but failing to achieve it".[7]

Javier Ocaña of El País assessed that Garci (with help from Valcárcel) had managed to craft a "solid" work, finding himself comfortable in street conversations, also considering that he had found the "perfect" Gabriel Araceli created by Galdós in the naturalist performance of Gutiérrez, but, that, when the time for the outburst of violence comes, the film falls short.[8]

Accolades
Year Award CategoryNominee(s) ResultRef.
200964th CEC MedalsBest FilmNominated[9]
Best DirectorJosé Luis GarciNominated
Best Supporting ActorMiguel RellánNominated
Best Supporting ActressTina SáinzNominated
Best Adapted ScreenplayJosé Luis Garci, Horacio ValcárcelNominated
Best CinematographyFélix MontiWon
Best MusicPablo CervantesNominated
23rd Goya AwardsBest Supporting ActressTina SáinzNominated[10]
Best CinematographyFélix MontiNominated
Best Art DirectionGil ParrondoNominated
Best Costume DesignLourdes de OrduñaNominated
Best Makeup and HairstylesAlicia López, Josefa Morales, Romana GonzálezNominated
Best SoundJosé Antonio Bermúdez, Miguel RejasNominated
Best Special EffectsAlberto Nombela, Juan Ramón MolinaNominated

See also

References
  1. "SANGRE DE MAYO (2008)". Archived from the original on April 12, 2023. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  2. "Spain picks Oscar shortlist". 16 September 2008. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  3. Cueto Asín 2013, p. 574.
  4. "Sangre de mayo". Catálogo de Cinespañol. ICAA. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  5. Hermoso, Borja (7 November 2008). "Inversión gigante, taquilla ínfima". El País.
  6. Cueto Asín, Elena (2013). ""Sangre de Mayo": Galdós en la cinematografia televisiva de la Guerra de la Independencia" [Sangre de Mayo: Galdós in television programs about the War of Independence]. Actas del décimo congreso internacional Galdosiano. las Palmas de Gran Canaria: Cabildo Insular de Gran Canaria: 574–580.
  7. Holland, Jonathan (27 October 2008). "Blood in May". Variety.
  8. Ocaña, Javier (3 October 2008). "Homenaje a una ciudad".
  9. "Medallas del CEC a la producción española de 2008". Círculo de Escritores Cinematográficos. Archived from the original on 2020-08-01. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  10. "Sangre de mayo". premiosgoya.com. Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas de España. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
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