Operación Ogro (film)
Encyclopedia
Operación Ogro is a 1979
Spanish
and Italian
drama film
written and directed by Gillo Pontecorvo
.
The film is based on true events, following the eponymous book by Julen Aguirre (pseudonym of Eva Forest).
The film won David di Donatello
as Best Film.
All the actors, a mix of Spaniards and Italians, spoke Spanish in the dubbed version released in Spain, and in Italian in the dubbed Italian version.
("Operation Ogre") was the name given by ETA
to the assassination of Luis Carrero Blanco
the then Prime Minister of Spain
in 1973 and the successor of Francisco Franco
the then Spanish dictator. This attack was carried out on 20 December 1973.
An ETA
commando group using the code name Txikia (after the nom de guerre of ETA activist Eustakio Mendizabal killed by Guardia Civil in April 1973) rented a basement flat at Calle Claudio Coello 104, Madrid
on the route over which Luis Carrero Blanco used to go to mass at San Francisco de Borja church.
Over 5 months, this group dug a tunnel under the street - telling the landlord that they were student sculptors to disguise their real purpose. The tunnel was packed with 80 kg of explosives that had been stolen from a Government depot.
On 20 December 1973, a 3-man ETA commando group disguised as electricians detonated the explosives by command wire as Blanco's Dodge Dart passed. The explosion sent Luis Carrero Blanco and his car 20 metres into the air and over a five storey building. The car crashed down to the ground on the opposite side of a Jesuit college, landing on the second-floor balcony. Luis Carrero Blanco survived the blast but died shortly afterwards. His bodyguard and driver were killed instantly. The "electricians" shouted to stunned passers-by that there had been a gas explosion, and subsequently escaped in the confusion.
1979 in film
The year 1979 in film involved some significant events.- Major events :* March 5 - Production begins on Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.* May 25 - Alien, a landmark of the science fiction genre, is released....
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...
and Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
written and directed by Gillo Pontecorvo
Gillo Pontecorvo
Gillo Pontecorvo was an Italian filmmaker. He worked as a film director for more than a decade before his best known film La battaglia di Algeri was released...
.
The film is based on true events, following the eponymous book by Julen Aguirre (pseudonym of Eva Forest).
The film won David di Donatello
David di Donatello
David di Donatello, named after Donatello's David, is a movie award assigned each year for cinematic performances and production by Ente David di Donatello, part of Accademia del Cinema Italiano. It is the Italian equivalent to the Academy Award. There are 24 categories as of 2006.- History :The...
as Best Film.
All the actors, a mix of Spaniards and Italians, spoke Spanish in the dubbed version released in Spain, and in Italian in the dubbed Italian version.
Real Facts / Plot Summary
Operación OgroOperación Ogro
Operación Ogro was the name given by ETA to the assassination of Luis Carrero Blanco the Prime Minister of Spain in 1973...
("Operation Ogre") was the name given by 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...
to the assassination of Luis Carrero Blanco
Luis Carrero Blanco
Don Luis Carrero Blanco, 1st Duke of Carrero Blanco, Grandee of Spain was a Spanish admiral and long-time confidant of dictator Francisco Franco.- Biography :...
the then Prime Minister of Spain
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...
in 1973 and the successor of Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
the then Spanish dictator. This attack was carried out on 20 December 1973.
An 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...
commando group using the code name Txikia (after the nom de guerre of ETA activist Eustakio Mendizabal killed by Guardia Civil in April 1973) rented a basement flat at Calle Claudio Coello 104, Madrid
Madrid
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...
on the route over which Luis Carrero Blanco used to go to mass at San Francisco de Borja church.
Over 5 months, this group dug a tunnel under the street - telling the landlord that they were student sculptors to disguise their real purpose. The tunnel was packed with 80 kg of explosives that had been stolen from a Government depot.
On 20 December 1973, a 3-man ETA commando group disguised as electricians detonated the explosives by command wire as Blanco's Dodge Dart passed. The explosion sent Luis Carrero Blanco and his car 20 metres into the air and over a five storey building. The car crashed down to the ground on the opposite side of a Jesuit college, landing on the second-floor balcony. Luis Carrero Blanco survived the blast but died shortly afterwards. His bodyguard and driver were killed instantly. The "electricians" shouted to stunned passers-by that there had been a gas explosion, and subsequently escaped in the confusion.
Cast
- Gian Maria VolontéGian Maria VolontèGian Maria Volonté was an Italian actor. He is perhaps most famous outside of Italy for his roles as the main villain in Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More.-Early life:Volonté was born in Milan, and graduated in Rome in 1957...
: Izarra - José SacristánJosé SacristánJosé Sacristán is a famous Spanish film, theatre and television actor.He has directed three films:* Yo me bajo en la próxima, ¿y usted? * Cara de acelga * Soldados de plomo...
: Iker - Ángela MolinaÁngela MolinaÁngela Molina is a Spanish actress, and a daughter of Antonio Molina, Spanish singer and actor.Molina studied dance and theater art in the Escuela Superior de Madrid. She rose to international prominence after starring in Luis Buñuel's last movie That Obscure Object of Desire...
: Amaiur - Eusebio PoncelaEusebio PoncelaEusebio Poncela is a Spanish actor.His debut on stage was with the Federico Garcia Lorca play Mariana Pineda....
: Txabi - Saverio Marconi: Luque
- Georges Staquet: The builder
- Nicole GarciaNicole GarciaNicole Garcia is a French actress, film director and writer. Her film Selon Charlie was entered into the 2006 Cannes Film Festival.-Actress:*1968: Des garçons et des filles directed by Étienne Périer...
: Karmele - Féodor AtkineFéodor AtkineFéodor Atkine is a French actor.Born in Paris of Russian-Polish descent, he has had a career in European cinema and television since the early 1970s, and made occasional appearances in English-language films, notably as the Russian gangster "Mikhi" in Ronin, as Woody Allen's brother in Love and...
: José María Uriarte (alias Yoseba) - Estanis González
- Agapito Romo: Carrero BlancoLuis Carrero BlancoDon Luis Carrero Blanco, 1st Duke of Carrero Blanco, Grandee of Spain was a Spanish admiral and long-time confidant of dictator Francisco Franco.- Biography :...
- José Manuel Cervino: The milkman
- Ana TorrentAna TorrentAna Torrent Bertrán de Lis is a Spanish film actress.Torrent's debut came in 1973 with the starring role as "Ana" in the film El espíritu de la colmena directed by Víctor Erice, when she was seven years old...
: Basque girl