Ogro

Ogro (1979) is the third Gillo Pontecorvo film I've seen, after the brilliant Battle of Algiers and the disappointing Burn! Pontecorvo again deals with the politics and harsh realities of terrorism and revolution, but in a more subdued manner than above-named films. Unfortunately, Ogro is also a bit too obvious and slow compared to his previous works, and suffers as a result.

In 1973, Spain is still under the thumb of Generalissmo Francisco Franco, the Fascist dictator who has ruled the country since 1939. Still, most knowledgable Spaniards know he hasn't long to live, and his equally repressive right-hand man Carrero Blanco (Agapito Romo) is in line to take over. A cell of the ETA, a Basque terrorist organization, has decided to kidnap Blanco and hold him for ransom. The hot-headed revolutionary Txabi (Eusebio Poncela) strongly urges assassination; the more cool-headed Izarra (Gian Maria Volonte) argues that Blanco is worth more dead than alive. When their leader Yoseba (Feodor Atkine) is gunned down by Spanish police, and when Blanco is promoted to Prime Minister, kidnapping is no longer feasible; they must assassinate him.

Ogro does a fine job of examining the role and importance of terrorism in a revolutionary movement. Spain was a country that, despite its repressive government, was fairly prosperous under Franco's rule; thus, there was little popular call for revolution, and it took the actions of extremists like the ETA, working for their own cause (independence for the Basque minority) to affect social change. Certainly the ETA cannot claim to be acting for the majority of Spaniards, and yet their actions positively benefit the country as a whole. The assassination of Blanco arguably opened the door for Spain's post-Franco democratization, so it can certainly be seen as justified, even heroic. But with one goal - the removal of Franco's chief henchman - achieved through terrorism, should it be used for another - Basque independence?

Pontecorvo shows a degree of thoughtful nuance in dealing with this issue. Terrorism may be the only way to fight against a Fascist dictatorship, but is it the right way to act in a democratic society? In this regard, Pontecorvo seems to have mellowed from the Marxism of his earlier films; although he acknowledges the shortcomings of violence in those movies, he ultimately embraces the violence as a necessary evil. Here, he questions whether it is always necessary - that in a pluralistic society, patience and peaceful protest are more likely to succeed. To be fair, though, French Algeria and Quemada were not regimes where peaceful protest was likely to bear fruit.

Unfortunately, Pontecorvo's film lacks the visceral power of Algiers, for a number of reasons. The film's pace often flags during the preparation scenes, which is interesting at times, but occasionally tedious. The Txabi-Izarra conflict is underdeveloped and pretty rote, and the supporting cast are virtually non-existent as characters. Perhaps more of a problem are the overly-obvious political sentiments. The lame flashback device, with Txabi continuing his violence ways while Izarra has moved on to peaceful protest, is a waste; its message about peaceful versus violent methods is obviously stated, and seems tacked on and underdeveloped. Indeed, the film's message is generally stated less elegantly than in Algiers, even though the message - that terrorism is only useful up to a point - is certainly one worth considering.

Pontecorvo's direction is on a larger scale than Algiers, although it retains the basic cinema verite style. The movie's shots of the meticulous terrorist preparations put one in mind of Day of the Jackal - and the climax is certainly a highly suspenseful sequence. Ennio Morricone contributes a fairly low-key and unremarkable music score. Gian Maria Volonte, Eusebio Poncela, Feodor Atkine, Jose Sarcristan and Saverio Marconi all give strong performances as the ETA men.

If Ogro lacks the immediacy of Algiers, it's still far superior to the muddled Burn!, and worth a look for anyone who enjoyed Pontecorvo's other works.