OUT IN THE OPEN

Spain, 2019, 103 minutes, Colour.

Luis Tosar, Luis Callejo, Jaime Lopez.

Directed by Benito Zambrano,

For audiences interested in a different kind of drama, Out in the Open is well worth seeing.

The setting is Spain, 1946, a decade after the Civil War, but oppression of some of the citizens, commandeered to live in dismal circumstances, building developments. With the desert setting, and the action moving out from the village, many have noted the look and atmosphere of an American Western. And, in some ways, the action fits into the traditions of the Western.

The focus is on a young boy who runs away from the village, leaving his family behind, hoping to go to the city, prosper, return and redeem his family. The foreman in charge of the village sets off in pursuit with tough henchman, trying to track down the boy.

There is a complication when it is gradually revealed that the foreman was sexually abusing the boy, another motivation for his attempt to escape.

A Shepherd, played by veteran actor Luis Tosar, encounters the boy, the boy suspicious, the Shepherd helping him with food and drink, their travelling together, eventually encountering the foreman and his thugs, fights, shootouts, complicated by the fact that the Shepherd as with some of the thugs, served with Franco in Morocco.

So, the issue of sexual abuse, the escape of the boy, the merciless pursuit, the role of the Shepherd, defending and saving the boy, self-sacrifice.

1. The title, literal, the deserts of Spain, the open plains, the mountains, towns and villages, ruins, buildings and wills? The musical score?
2. 1946 setting, 10 years after the Civil War, poverty, bosses and foremen, miners, the families in subjugation, slavery, living in caves, work, loss of rights?
3. The comparison of this film with American westerns, the visuals, the characters, the action, the search in pursuit, the violence?
4. The situation, the boy, seeing him out in the countryside, with his sister, the plan to escape, the money, stealing the watch and the compass, leaving his jacket on the road? His intention to go to the city?
5. The situation, the foreman, the relationship with the boy, predator and abuse? His role in the village, dominance, treatment of the boy’s parents, interrogation of the girl? Rounding up his posse, brutal personalities, former soldiers in Morocco? His wanting no harm to the boy?
6. The boy, eluding pursuit, hiding, falling down the cliff? The encounter with the Shepherd, his fears, hungry and thirsty, wary? His response to the Shepherd?
7. The Shepherd, the small number of sheep, on the move, intending to travel to the Highlands, to his sister, revelation of his past as a soldier in Morocco, the atmosphere in Morocco, fighting and deaths, his reputation?
8. The bonding between the boy and the Shepherd, protection, nourishment, gradual breaking down barriers, talking, the boy reluctant with his story?, The wells? The boy and the two-hour journey with the donkey, to get the water?
9. The foreman, ruthless, rounding up his posse, his commands, the pursuit? The posse, their encounter with the Shepherd and the boy, the confrontation, overcoming the Shepherd, cruelty, setting the sheep throats, the dog, throwing them down the well, dragging him along the ground? The boy hiding in the well, his emerging, the guns, shooting the old man, wounding the brutal soldier, his escape, reporting to the foreman?
10. The boy, the encounter with the crippled man, the to-ing and fro-ing, promise of food, the cripple wanting to escape? Imprisoning the boy, his getting out, the water and the donkey, returning?
11. The foreman and the others arriving, the crippled man, his story, the foreman shooting him?
12. The buildup to the climax, the ruins, the old building, ground floor, first floor, the boy, his tactics, hiding? The Shepherd, the shooting, especially of the man who dragged him, his being wounded, the shooting skills? The final confrontation with the foreman?
13. The boy, with the Shepherd, the final talk, his death? And a future for the boy?