REVIEW
CINEMA
Hidden History , Living Memory : Antoni Benaiges
in “ The Teacher Who Promised the Sea ”
David González Historian , EUROM project manager
“ The Teacher Who Promised the Sea ” is a Spanishproduced film directed by Patricia Font , starring Enric Auquer and Laia Costa in lead roles . This fictional feature is inspired by the true story of Antoni Benaiges , a Republican teacher from the Freinet pedagogical school , who was killed by a Falangist squad in July 1936 .
The plot of “ The Teacher Who Promised the Sea ” unfolds along two timelines : the 1930s and a present set in 2010 , marking the opening of the Pedraja Mass Grave in Burgos . Each timeline has its own protagonist : the teacher Antoni Benaiges in the past , and Ariadna , the great-granddaughter of a Francoist victim and granddaughter of one of Benaiges ’ former students , in the present . The interplay between these timelines adds dynamism to the storyline , holding the viewer ’ s attention and lending significance to the film ’ s conclusion .
The story begins in the present with a phone call Ariadna receives , informing her that her elderly , senile grandfather , Carlos Ramírez , had started proceedings to locate his father , Bernardo , believed to be buried in a mass grave in Burgos . This is where Ariadna ’ s journey begins - a physical journey to the Pedraja Grave and an emotional one that , through the phases of her obsessive investigation , leads her to confront a traumatic family past of which she had no prior knowledge . It is a journey filled with both progress and setbacks , mirroring the broader process of recovering historical memory in Spain . The director of the archaeological excavation at the Pedraja Grave warns Ariadna about what she might
90
Observing Memories Issue 8