Criticism of ‘The good companies’, a coming-of age in the Basque Country

Sílvia Munt, a formidable actress and stubborn director, had an ace up her sleeve: telling the story of the Basauri 11, a group of women who fought for free abortion in the Basque Country from a coming of age with a protagonist who is discovering the need for positioning in the turbulent years of the Transition. The movie transmits the sisterhood of the group with contagious and vital enthusiasm, as well as earns points when caressing the intimate fringes of the storyfinding his personality in the delicacy of the duet scenes and in the romantic awakening.

The approach shows appreciable symmetries with recent Mexican cinema, such as ‘This is not Berlin’ (Hari Sama, 2019); and Argentine, like ‘Camila will be out tonight’ (Inés M. Barrionuevo, 2021); that add to the filmmaker’s documentary experience. The contrast between the seniority of Itziar Ituño and the younger actresses shines, with an Alícia Falcó capable of pulverizing the camera with her gaze. Sometimes, on the other hand, modesty works against it, giving a potentially flammable material an excessively naive aura.

To explore the human geography of activism

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DATA SHEET

Address: Silvia Munt Distribution: Alícia Falcó, Elena Tarrats, Itziar Ituño, and Ainhoa ​​Santamaría. Country: Spain Year: 2023 Release date: 5–5-2023 Gender: Drama Script: Silvia Munt, Jorge Gil Munárriz Duration: 93 min.

Synopsis: Summer of 1976. Bea is 16 years old and joins the winds of change that are sweeping the country; She collaborates with a group of women to make the feminist cause visible and achieve the approval of the right to abortion.