The (Silent) War

On October 19, 1944 a force of Spanish maquis (most of them Republicans that had found refuge in France after the Spanish Civil War) invaded Spain through Val D'Aran and other passes of the Pyrenees. This action, called Operation Reconquest of Spain was launched at the time that the last units of the occupying Nazi army were being swept from France. The organizers expected to encourage an uprising against the Fascist government that would force the Allies to cross into Spain and terminate Franco's rule.

The operation failed; there was no uprising, Franco deployed a large and well equipped force against the maquis, and the Allies were wary of war and unwilling to undertake additional operations since Germany was still a formidable threat (the Battle of the Bulge would begin in less than two months). On October 28 the last maquis crossed the boundary back into France.

The Spanish title of this movie is Sordo, Deaf. This refers to one of the characters, Anselmo, who loses his hearing due to an explosion. The film deals with an episode of Operation Reconquest, is based on a comic strip (it shows) and It has the look and feel of a spaghetti western; for instance Anselmo comes into possession of an iconic overcoat/ cloak and hat seen in Sergio Leone movies. Another instance; the episode of the sergeant and the bullet.

The movie is weighted down by excessive length, some cartoonish characters and holes in the script . Example: a woman that was a Soviet sniper in Stalingrad is now working for the Fascists, No explanation given. And her character is pure cliche.

On the positive side, the film has excellent cinematography and special effects, but on the whole it is unsatisfactory.