This interesting film deals with Diogenes : Enrique Diosdado, he is as loner who lives glad and easily isolated from the world . He has a happy and calmed existence with an only mean to live : the watermelon cultivation . As he gets to sell them at the local grocery's run by a stiff-upper-lip owner : Luis Perez León, whose daughter : Mercedes Monterrey , is for Diogenes . The friendly Diogenes practices a particular philosophy that consists at exchange melons for supplies and grocery goods . Diogenes is considered by the villagers as a vagrant and a bum . While he is cultivating melons , he meets a hapless kid who has robbed him one of them . Then, his happy and quiet life bursts in good feeling when appears the little orphan boy called ¨Gorrion¨ or Sparrow , as Diogenes cares for him . Later on, there shows up a little circus troupe formed by Indian magicians , acrobats , clowns , trapeze artists , puppeteers, and Diogenes joins the group , falling in love for a beautiful young acrobat : Marisa de Leza, daughter of the Italian ringleader : the Hungarian Barta Barri , the main clout of the peculiar travelling circus.
This is an agreeable drama shot in Italian neo-realist style , in fact it bears a certain resemblance to ¨La Strada¨ by Federico Fellini. It contains emotion, sensitive scenes, melodrama, social habits of the 50s and a loving triangle, as the main character , Enrique Diosdado , is in love for Marisa de Leza, but also with Mercedes Monterrey . It displays an enjoyable and charming script by Antonio Vich , Jaime García Herranz and Antonio Del Amo himself, based on a story by Vega Picó and Juan Antonio Cabezas . The film is well played by Enrique Diosdado as the mature and lonely man who lives retired and subsequently romancing with a young woman . Marisa de Leza as the beautiful artist on the wire gives a fine acting , as well. And support cast are frankly well, such as Mercedes Monterrey, Barta Barri, Luis Perez León as Grocery's owner, Anibal Vela as Mayor, Francisco Bernal, among others .
It packs an atmospheric and adequate musical score by Jesús Garcia Leoz. As well as an evocative cinematography in black and white by José F. Aguayo, he is deemed to be one of the best Spanish cameramen. The motion picture was compellingly directed by Antonio Del Amo . He was a good professional who wrote, produced and directed a lot of films with his production company Apolo Films . His film debut , ¨4 mujeres¨ , following a biography of a prestigious writer, Gustavo Adolfo Becker , titled ¨Huesped de las tinieblas¨. He went on : the experimental ¨90 minutes¨ and an aviation story : ¨Alas de Juventud¨. And some films submitted by the strict censorship as ¨Dia tras dia¨ and ¨Sierra Maldita¨. These films were great quality , but little successful , then Antonio changes of genres by discovering the child prodigy Joselito, directing him in the boxoffice trilogy , ¨El pequeño ruiseñor, El ruiseñor de las cumbres and Saeta del ruiseñor¨. Del Amo directed 9 out of 13 Joselito films. Antonio also made one Western, ¨El hijo de Jesse James¨. His last movies were completely failed as ¨Tengo que abandonarte¨, ¨Madres solteras¨ and ¨? Que pasa contigo tio?¨. Rating : 7/10. Better than average. Well worth watching.
