Patria (HBO)

[BeyondGeography]

Brilliant and binge-worthy.

Two Basque families torn apart by nationalism and ETA violence:

“The personal aspect is key to the series,” says “Patria” producer Miguel Salvat.

“Patria” focuses on a 60-something woman, Bittori, who has cancer, who returns to her native village in the Basque Country Gipuzkoa and seeks reconciliation with her best friend, after they were torn part by the Basque conflict.

“Patria’ is not about ETA. It’s a journey towards an embrace,” Gabilondo told the Spanish press at San Sebastian.

“The novel describes how normal people lived, people who weren’t politicians, in the military nor police, nor terrorists,” Gabilondo told Variety.

“It turns on the suffering on the street, how everybody was worried about what was going out, and didn’t talk, couldn’t really comment, or feel, without running the risk of being said to be on this side of the fence, and being used.”

https://hollywoodfact.com/hbo-patria-footage-focus-on-basque-conflict-variety/

Elena Irureta’s performance as Bittori is spellbinding, and she has a lot of company on the cast. Even the intro is a work of art:

[enough]

1. After watching this wonderful series, I read the book and then watched the whole thing again.

I still think about it often, especially in light of the intense divisions within our country that even sometimes divide our families.

[BeyondGeography]

2. I'm on the same path

The book is definitely next for me. And there’s so much texture to the series—not a single frame wasted—I could easily watch it again. And its humanity transcends time and place as you so rightly note.