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Silence Is Not Always Golden

During World War II, in the European Axis, Germany had Hitler, Italy had Mussolini, and Japan had Hirohito. Spain, which was not technically part of the Axis, had Franco. He gave moral, economic, and military assistance to the Axis powers, while trying to put up a façade of a position of neutrality.

Francisco Franco was a general and politician who ruled over Spain as a dictator from 1939 until his death in 1975. After his death, Spain faced the question of how to address the crimes Franco committed during nearly four decades of dictatorship. A 1977 amnesty law offered a solution, absolving Franco's political opponents while shielding his supporters from prosecution.

Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar's "The Silence of Others" examines how the amnesty law of 1977 has served as a barrier against exposing and punishing followers of Franco who tortured and murdered their political enemies. Specifically, it follows one particular lawsuit seeking justice by people who were tortured and the descendants of some of the murdered.

Unsuccessful in their attempt to achieve justice in Spain, they file a lawsuit in Argentina, with the contention being that war crimes never expire and can be prosecuted anywhere. The judge in Argentina determines there is enough to go forward, but it's a bit unclear how all the legalities of the procedure are determined.

Most of the film is spent listening to the individual horror stories offered up by the survivors, and the relatives of those who did not survive. While we see very little of the actual horrors, the stories told are quite enough to establish the enormous pain inflicted under Franco's regime.

Perhaps the most depressing thing depicted is that the vestiges of Franco supporters persist today in Spain. It's apparent that it wouldn't take much to push Spain back into a dictatorship, but we all know that in today's world no country is impossible to picture falling into a similar spot.