La ardilla roja
Encyclopedia
The Red Squirrel is a 1993 drama film
by the Spanish
filmmaker Julio Médem
, starring Emma Suárez
and Nancho Novo
.
) and it becomes clear that Lisa/Sofía's memory is not entirely missing and she is hiding her own past secrets—notably, the existence of a psychotic ex-boyfriend, Félix (Carmelo Gómez
), who is rampaging across the country in search of her.
, Novo from Galicia, Barranco indelibly Andalusian in popular consciousness after her role in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
), and much of the action is set at the campsite in La Rioja, a liminal region between the Basque country and Castile
.
Nevertheless, touches of Basqueness are apparent. Major characters' names are Basque ('Elisa Machinbarrena Fuentes', 'Jota Fernández Arregui') and place names are given in their Euskera forms rather than Spanish ('Donostia' for San Sebastián
). Attention is given specifically to questions of identity: when Jota checks in at the campsite, for instance, he signs 'vasco' ('Basque') for his nationality. There are also recurrent echoes of the semi-mythic past that Basque nationalism has reconstructed for the Basque country: video clips of Jota's group Las moscas ('The Flies') are reminiscent of the Basque country's supposed pre-Indo-European
stone age
ancestry; settings including the forest, lake and zoo evoke mythology or ruralised narratives of Basque history. Finally, if violence in a Basque context has a very specific connotation—that of ETA
-- which is represented in Félix's random violence and self-mutilation, then Lisa/Sofía's amnesia can be read as an attempt on the part of Basque society to forget and escape from the violence of the past and establish a new identity for the Basque country that is not founded around ETA.
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
by the 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...
filmmaker Julio Médem
Julio Medem
Julio Médem is a Spanish writer and film director.Medem was born in San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain and showed an interest in movies since childhood, when he would take his father's Super 8 camera and shoot at night, while nobody was paying attention...
, starring Emma Suárez
Emma Suárez
Emma Suárez is a Spanish actress.- Biography :Suárez' debut performance was at the age of 15, with Memorias de Leticia Valle.In 1987 she appeared in Joaquín Sabina's videoclip, Así estoy yo sin ti....
and Nancho Novo
Nancho Novo
Nancho Novo . Galician actor; He studied Medicine at Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, but stopped halfway, in order to move to Madrid where he studied acting at the Real Escuela de Arte Dramático y Danza...
.
Plot
Jota (Novo), a failed musician whose girlfriend has recently left him, is about to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge when a girl on a motorcycle, Sofía (Suárez), crashes off it. Rushing to help her, he discovers she has lost her memory, even forgetting her name. After telling the paramedics and staff at the hospital that she is his girlfriend, he later tells her the same. He invents an entire identity for her, giving her the name Lisa, and a history of their relationship according to his own fantasies. With the hospital psychiatrist starting to become suspicious, he spirits her out of the hospital and away on a trip to the 'Ardilla Roja' campsite, which he claims they have been planning for some while. As their relationship becomes intimate, their behaviour sparks the suspicions of a family of fellow campers (Karra Elejalde and María BarrancoMaría Barranco
María Barranco , born María de los Remedios Barranco García, is a Spanish actress, who has won two Goya Awards for Best Supporting Actress....
) and it becomes clear that Lisa/Sofía's memory is not entirely missing and she is hiding her own past secrets—notably, the existence of a psychotic ex-boyfriend, Félix (Carmelo Gómez
Carmelo Gómez
Carmelo Gómez , is an award-winning Spanish actor. He was born and worked in the village of Sahagún until he moved for his acting studies to Salamanca. He is the recipient of two Goya Awards, for best supporting actor in El método and best leading actor in Días contados.- Filmography:- External...
), who is rampaging across the country in search of her.
La ardilla roja and issues of Basque regional identity
Though Medem is a Basque, and others of his films have dealt explicitly with Basque regional identity, it is not an immediately obvious theme in La ardilla roja. The main characters are played by non-Basques (Suárez is from MadridMadrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, Novo from Galicia, Barranco indelibly Andalusian in popular consciousness after her role in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown is a 1988 Spanish black comedy film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar, starring Carmen Maura and Antonio Banderas...
), and much of the action is set at the campsite in La Rioja, a liminal region between the Basque country and Castile
Castile (historical region)
A former kingdom, Castile gradually merged with its neighbours to become the Crown of Castile and later the Kingdom of Spain when united with the Crown of Aragon and the Kingdom of Navarre...
.
Nevertheless, touches of Basqueness are apparent. Major characters' names are Basque ('Elisa Machinbarrena Fuentes', 'Jota Fernández Arregui') and place names are given in their Euskera forms rather than Spanish ('Donostia' for San Sebastián
San Sebastián
Donostia-San Sebastián is a city and municipality located in the north of Spain, in the coast of the Bay of Biscay and 20 km away from the French border. The city is the capital of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. The municipality’s population is 186,122 , and its...
). Attention is given specifically to questions of identity: when Jota checks in at the campsite, for instance, he signs 'vasco' ('Basque') for his nationality. There are also recurrent echoes of the semi-mythic past that Basque nationalism has reconstructed for the Basque country: video clips of Jota's group Las moscas ('The Flies') are reminiscent of the Basque country's supposed pre-Indo-European
Neolithic Europe
Neolithic Europe refers to a prehistoric period in which Neolithic technology was present in Europe. This corresponds roughly to a time between 7000 BC and c. 1700 BC...
stone age
Stone Age
The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...
ancestry; settings including the forest, lake and zoo evoke mythology or ruralised narratives of Basque history. Finally, if violence in a Basque context has a very specific connotation—that of ETA
ETA
ETA , an acronym for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna is an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization. The group was founded in 1959 and has since evolved from a group promoting traditional Basque culture to a paramilitary group with the goal of gaining independence for the Greater Basque Country...
-- which is represented in Félix's random violence and self-mutilation, then Lisa/Sofía's amnesia can be read as an attempt on the part of Basque society to forget and escape from the violence of the past and establish a new identity for the Basque country that is not founded around ETA.