ETA, the armed organization in Spain’s Basque region, was a terrorist group that aimed at separating the area from the rest of Spain through violence. Between 1968 and 2010, it killed over 800 people and injured many more. It was disbanded just a few years ago, in 2018, when its leaders announced they had dissolved the organization and had ended all political activity. This is important background to know before watching Iciar Bollain’s surprisingly tense and original thriller Maixabel, the account of a real-life encounter between Maixabel Lasa and her husband’s killers, who had repented in prison.
Bollain, who is an actress as well as a writer and director (Goya-winner Take My Eyes 2003, Even the Rain 2010), gets a great deal out of her cast here, turning what could have been another unhappy tale of terrorists and victims into something deeper and more resonant. The San Sebastian film festival, where the film bowed in competition, is deep in the heart of Basque country and screens many films about ETA and its aftermath every year. Maixabel, despite its quasi-documentary simplicity, has more going for it than most.
Although the local nature of the story may limit its appeal, it is still basically comprehensible even for those unfamiliar with ETA’s history and the trail of death it has left behind. Powerful performances from Almodovar actress Blanca Portillo (Volver, Broken Embraces) in the title role and Luis Tosar as a particularly conflicted terrorist bring the narrative up close and personal, often breaking out of the audience’s comfort zone.
The screenplay by Isa Campo and Bollain begins conventionally enough on the fateful July day in 2000 when Juan Mari Jauregui, the former civil governor of Gipuzkoa (the province where San Sebastian happens to be located), was shot to death by three men belonging to ETA. His wife Maixabel is drying her hair and doesn’t hear the phone ringing at first. His teenage daughter Maria (Maria Cerezuel) is on a carefree camping trip with her girlfriends. It takes them some time to reach the hospital, where the doctors have been unable to save Juan Mari.
Up to this point, so much television. But flash forward ten years to 2010 and the viewpoint switches to that of imprisoned terrorist Ibon (Tosar). Under his bushy black eyebrows, his eyes gleam with anger that might easily be interpreted as fanaticism. His grandfather has died. In a flashback to his trial, we see him lose his ferocious poise only once, when he meets the eyes of a very old man. Maixabel notices. The shot lasts only a few seconds and is never reiterated, but it suggests a great deal about their relationship, which is explained a bit better later in the film.
The significance of the grandfather’s death is that Ibon is let out of prison under police escort to visit his mother and attend the funeral. This entails a preliminary transfer to a more “relaxed” prison where many former terrorists are held after they have formally repented and turned state’s evidence. Ibon, who considers himself a hard-liner, is shocked to see another member of the commando there, Luis (Urko Olazabal). It’s clear that no love is lost between the two.
Time has taken its toll on Maixabel, too. Her red hair is now snowy white. Portillo portrays her as a victim who has taken a severe beating but has not been defeated; she is still politically active and heads a committee of the victims of terrorism. Like her late husband, she is a member of the Socialist party and is surrounded by a large number of activists who offer her their solidarity. And Maria has had a baby, which her mother interprets as a sign she will not “turn into someone who hates.” Numerous small nuances like this give one pause and make the background feel like events are not happening in a vacuum.
Then something surprising happens: the prison decides to arrange a meeting between Luis, who has requested it, with Maixabel, who has agreed. The encounter is contested by their people and both are nervous, but the meeting happens, in the presence of a psychologist/mediator who sets the ground rules. Luis reveals many details about the attack and asks for her forgiveness. When she asks him why he changed his mind and left ETA, he says that in prison he met many leaders of the movement and discovered they were not heroes, but mediocrities who had led him down the garden path.
The tech work is fine, taking place in the background of a story driven by its actors and its topic. Portillo projects a natural dignity and strength that takes us into the unpredictable final scene involving her and the fierce Ibon. Head high, Maixabel rightly explains that she’s “linked to these people until death.”
Director: Iciar Bollain
Screenplay: Isa Campo, Iciar Bollain
Cast: Blanca Portillo, Urko Olazabal, Maria Cerezuela
Producers: Koldo Zuazua, Juan Moreno, Guillermo Sempere
Cinematography: Javier Agirre Erauso
Art director: Mikel Serrano
Editing: Nacho Ruiz Capillas
Music: Alberto Iglesias
Sound: Alazne Ameztoy, Juan Ferro, Candela Palencia
Production companies: Kowalski Films, Feelgood, Maixabel Film (Spain)
World sales: Film Factory Entertainment (Spain)
Venue: San Sebastian Film Festival (competition)
In Spanish, Basque
115 minutes
