I am trying to find out the name of a film I saw around 1989. It took place in post-Franco Spain and was about a Spaniard who had been living in exile in the US since the Spanish Civil War who returned to Spain and looked up his old girlfriend. It was a nice romance and had beautiful scenery of northern Spain, as I remember. I want to try to rent the DVD or video to see it again, but can't remember the title.

If this film is the one about which I am thinking...it is "Volver a vivir". I saw, and taped, it on the Bravo station.

This is the film that deals with a professor of Spanish literature at Stanford University, who emigrated (escaped) to the US during the Civil War, and now, in the last days of his life (dying of cancer), he returns to Spain (Girona, I think), for the first time since the war and since the democracy, after having won the Nobel Prize.

The most amusing scene is when the receptionist tells the manager of the hostal that the King is calling to speak with this notable person and the manager asks..."the King...what King?...the King of where?" Then, the manager, believing that the young girl is not too bright, takes the phone and brusquely asks who was on the other end...the change in the manager is "priceless".

Sheryl

Good information, Sheryl, but not totally accurate.
The movie title is "Volver a empezar", by J.L. Garci ( http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0084874/ ) and it was shot mainly at Gijon (Asturias), rather than Girona. This movie got the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in 1983.

Well...not bad for a person who hasn't seen the film in 3 years...but a very interesting film, indeed.

Sheryl

Thank you both for replying!! Now I'd just like ideas on how to obtain the video or DVD. I've searched Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com using all 4 titles given on the database. No luck.
iinglis

Well...you could do it the way I did...the Bravo network. It shows the film several times a year. Did you check BlockBuster?

Sheryl

P.S. I just did a search with Yahoo and found several sites that may sell the film. By the way, you are aware, I assume, that the film is in Spanish (without subtitles)...no? No disrespect intended at all.