Year of Enlightment
El año de las luces
April, 1940. Manolo, 16 years old, and Jesus, who is just 8, are taken by their older brother Pepe, a lieutenant in the Army, to a sanatorium for children suffering from tuberculosis, situated on the border with Portugal. Once in the sanatorium, Manolo, surrounded by boys all much younger than he is, feels a bit like the cock of the walk since the only other man around is the handyman Emilio who looks after the gardens and does whatever needs to be done about the place. His wife, Rafaela, is the cook. Manolo meets Irene, a falangist who runs the sanatorium, and the school teacher, Miss Transito, a crabby spinster. He has his first sexual experience, albeit as a voyeur, with his nurse Vicenta. When she has to leave, her place is taken by a girl from the village, Maria Jesus, with whom Manolo falls hopelessly in love. A relationship grows up between them which will mark them both for ever.
Production Countries
Production Companies
Trailers & Videos
Cast
José «Saza» Sazatornil
as Don Teódulo
Manuel Alexandre
as Emilio
Gabriel Latorre
as falangista
Manuel Huete
Maribel Verdú
as María Jesús
Pilar Ordóñez
as Hermana 3
Verónica Forqué
as Irene
Santiago Ramos
as Pepe
António Sequeira Lopes
as Joao
Chus Lampreave
as Doña Tránsito
Diana Peñalver
as Paquita
Isabel Ordaz
as Hermana 2
Rafaela Aparicio
as Rafaela
Violeta Cela
as Vicenta
Pedro Reyes
as Pascual
María Jesús Hoyos
as Tomasa
Jorge Sanz
as Manolo
Carlos Lucas
as Detenido
Crew
Carmen Frías
Editor
Rafael Azcona
Writer
Fernando Trueba
Writer, Director
Juan Botella
Assistant Production Manager
Enrique Arias
Second Assistant Camera
Manuel Huete
Story
Lala Huete
Assistant Costume Designer
Cristina Huete
Production Manager
Andrés Vicente Gómez
Producer
Esther García
Assistant Production Manager