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Camino (film)
Encyclopedia
Camino is a 2008
award-winning Spanish
feature film
directed by Javier Fesser
. The film is based on the real story of Alexia González-Barros, a girl who died from spinal cancer at fourteen in 1985 and is currently in process of canonization
.
The film is controversial because Alexia's siblings objected to Fesser's use of Alexia's full name in his dedication, despite him having undertaken not to directly identify her. He calls her Camino ('the way') in the film, referencing 'the way' to sainthood she apparently undergoes.
More significantly, Fesser portrays the Catholic organisation, Opus Dei
, in a negative way, depicting it as an extreme cult destroying families. Fesser suggests that Opus Dei manipulated the tragedy of the young Camino's painful death for its own ends. Her elder sister is an Opus Dei acolyte, deliberately kept from contacting her family. Suppressing open signs of normal maternal grief, the mother seems almost inhuman in urging her dying daughter to 'offer up' her suffering for Jesus. The father struggles to protect his daughter from a concerted effort to canonise her (even before her death) by his wife, elder daughter, and Opus Dei officials. Even the hospital medical staff seem to be complicit in this.
In a subversive irony, Fesser suggests that Camino's 'Jesus', whose name she invokes, is not Christ
, but a teenage boy named Jesus (a common name in Spain and other Spanish speaking countries) on whom Camino has a normal schoolgirl crush. This is shown in dream sequences she experiences throughout the film.
The film won six Goya Awards
, including best picture, best director, and best original screenplay.
(Spain)
2008 in film
This is a list of all major films made in 2008.-Highest-grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2008...
award-winning Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
feature film
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
directed by Javier Fesser
Javier Fesser
Javier Fesser is a Spanish film director and publicist.Fesser earned his degree in Communication studies at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid...
. The film is based on the real story of Alexia González-Barros, a girl who died from spinal cancer at fourteen in 1985 and is currently in process of canonization
Canonization
Canonization is the act by which a Christian church declares a deceased person to be a saint, upon which declaration the person is included in the canon, or list, of recognized saints. Originally, individuals were recognized as saints without any formal process...
.
The film is controversial because Alexia's siblings objected to Fesser's use of Alexia's full name in his dedication, despite him having undertaken not to directly identify her. He calls her Camino ('the way') in the film, referencing 'the way' to sainthood she apparently undergoes.
More significantly, Fesser portrays the Catholic organisation, Opus Dei
Opus Dei
Opus Dei, formally known as The Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei , is an organization of the Catholic Church that teaches that everyone is called to holiness and that ordinary life is a path to sanctity. The majority of its membership are lay people, with secular priests under the...
, in a negative way, depicting it as an extreme cult destroying families. Fesser suggests that Opus Dei manipulated the tragedy of the young Camino's painful death for its own ends. Her elder sister is an Opus Dei acolyte, deliberately kept from contacting her family. Suppressing open signs of normal maternal grief, the mother seems almost inhuman in urging her dying daughter to 'offer up' her suffering for Jesus. The father struggles to protect his daughter from a concerted effort to canonise her (even before her death) by his wife, elder daughter, and Opus Dei officials. Even the hospital medical staff seem to be complicit in this.
In a subversive irony, Fesser suggests that Camino's 'Jesus', whose name she invokes, is not Christ
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
, but a teenage boy named Jesus (a common name in Spain and other Spanish speaking countries) on whom Camino has a normal schoolgirl crush. This is shown in dream sequences she experiences throughout the film.
The film won six Goya Awards
Goya Awards
The Goya Awards, known in Spanish as los Premios Goya, are Spain's main national film awards, considered by many in Spain, and internationally, to be the Spanish equivalent of the American Academy Awards....
, including best picture, best director, and best original screenplay.
Awards and nominations
Goya Awards23rd Goya Awards
The 23rd Goya Awards were given in 2009 to honour the best in Spanish filmmaking of 2008.Camino won the award for Best Film.-Major awards:-Other award nominees:...
(Spain)
-
- Won: Best Actor – Supporting Role (Jordi Dauder)
- Won: Best Breakthrough Actress (Nerea Camacho)
- Won: Best Actress (Carmen Elias)
- Won: Best Director (Javier Fesser)
- Won: Best Film
- Won: Best Screenplay – Original (Javier Fesser)
- Nominated: Best Visual Effects