Land and Freedom
Director: Ken Loach
Cert. 15
Land and Freedom is set in the Spanish civil war of 1936-39. It operates as a flashback, beginning in modern-day Liverpool where an old man dies and his grand-daughter, looking through his papers, finds newspaper cuttings about the Spanish war and a mysterious handful of soil wrapped in a red handkerchief.
But first, a little background. In July 1936, with the rest of Europe dreading war with fascist Italy and Germany, General Franco and other Spanish generals staged a revolt against the democratically elected socialist coalition government - the Popular Front - claiming they were morally obligated to save Spain from 'Communism and Godlessness.' Most ordinary Spaniards did not see it like that and took up arms to defend their Republic. Political opinion swiftly polarised with the government rather stranded in the middle. The consequent three year civil war, fought with extraordinary viciousness, resulted in victory for Franco's 'Nationalists' and a dictatorship in Spain which only ended with the Generalissimo's death in 1975.
Betrayal
Civil wars are particularly tragic as the enemy is within and serial betrayal inevitable. Here the horror is all the more striking as the events are so recent. One can still find Spaniards who lived through it all and whose relatives were killed in battle or by the death squads.
The chief factor in the defeat of the Left-wing 'Republicans' was the desperate disunity between their various factions; moderate socialists, liberals, communists (of all sorts), anarchists. Incredibly the Communist party, the most powerful group, was implacably opposed to revolution as an ultimate objective, while the many anarchists were convinced that full-scale revolution, with collectivisation of land etc., was the only way forward for the peasants and workers.
Ken Loach's film has the latter scenario as its immediate context, and thereby verges on being a political documentary. The central figure, Dave, a young Liverpudlian and card carrying communist, volunteers to go to Spain to fight. This is something which many sympathisers in the West did after their governments, fearful of upsetting Hitler, were not going to get involved. Hitler and Mussolini it should be said, signed a world-wide non-intervention pact, but proceeded to supply Franco with planes, tanks and men throughout the conflict.
Dave, unaware at first of the Communist - Anarchist rivalry, ends up fighting with an anarchist unit at the front and excels as a militiaman. At first the struggle goes well; the little group captures a village whose inhabitants, in one of the film's most interesting scenes, decide to collectivise the land. The self-sacrificing zeal is most convincingly portrayed, and one senses a tremendous desire for justice it is impossible not to admire.
End of a dream
But things soon go wrong. Squabbles intensify, Dave's group becomes increasingly isolated, and he disillusioned for a time. The final fate of the unit is most poignant, the sense of betrayal absolute. Dave makes his way home with a handful of Spanish earth - I will not spoil it by saying where he got it from!
The film is immensely well-made, with gritty realism some of which we could perhaps have done without, but the 15 certificate is barely justified. Its historical accuracy corresponds most convincingly with that of George Orwell (another volunteer) in his excellent book Homage to Catalonia. Though tending towards the sentimental one cannot help feeling that, under such circumstances, the ending is entirely appropriate.
Commitment
What does Land and Freedom have to say to 1990s people ? First and foremost, locked as we are into the 'ME' generation, comfortable in our relatively affluent lifestyles, we need to appreciate the sheer commitment of people like Dave. His preparedness to go to a country whose language he did not speak, literally to put his life on the line for his political beliefs in almost awe-inspiring. If people were prepared to go to such lengths for ideals which, if admirable in many respects are also fatally flawed by their excessive humanism, then how is it that we are often so reluctant to put ourselves out for the Lord's sake ? I certainly felt rather uncomfortable as I watched.
True freedom
The very title of the film is evocative of Biblical themes and has many resonances for Christian people. We proclaim true freedom found in Christ. The yearning of the Spanish peasants for freedom from exploitation and fascist militarism certainly touches a chord.
It is perhaps not surprising that Land and Freedom has not been a brilliant commercial success, as it is almost the very antithesis of the modern Hollywooden movie. But it earned rightful praise from many critics, and in my view is a 'must' for any reader interested in 20th century history and politics. It is still turning up in cinemas occasionally, particularly 'managers' choice' one-night showings, and is also available on video.
And in its own way it issues a strong challenge to our 'comfort zone' Christianity and lifestyle.
Simon Brennan
Head of Spanish, Charterhouse School
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