Claims extracted
15
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
13%
2 of 15 hedged
("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
67/100
Evening Standard's corrections and
hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Entertainment
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
If there’s one arthouse film you must see this year, it’s this.
asserted
it → ’ → ?
Directed by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, or ‘Los Javis’ as they are affectionately known in their native Spain, La Bola Negra is a sprawling spectacle which weaves together the storylines of three interconnected gay men living in different periods of Spanish history.
asserted
which → direct → history
The first is Carlos (Milo Quifes), a wealthy young man living in 1932 Granada, who is refused membership of an exclusive casino because of his rumoured homosexuality.
asserted
who → live → homosexuality
He spends the rest of the film in a state of limbo, unsure of whether he should deny the rumours or accept that society will reject him because of his sexuality.
asserted
society → spend → sexuality
The second storyline is that of Sebastián (Guitarricadelafuente), a young musician who is forced to join Spain’s Nationalist faction in 1937, during the Spanish Civil War.
asserted
who → force → War
It’s because of this, though, that Sebastián meets someone who will change the course of his life and whose acquaintance will reverberate through the years.
asserted
acquaintance → ’ → years
An injured Republican soldier, Rafael Rodríguez Rapún (Miguel Bernardeau), who was an actor and played for Atlético Madrid before the war, is placed under his watch.
asserted
who → play → watch
Rapún is due to be executed and is only being kept alive for information, but that doesn’t stop the two secretly drawing close in the short time they have together.
asserted
they → execute → time
It’s slowly revealed that Rapún’s relationship with the real-life Spanish playwright Federico García Lorca, on whose unfinished queer play this film is partly based, is linked to the third storyline, which is set in 2017 and follows a postgrad history student called Alberto (Carlos González).
asserted
which → reveal → student
As an out gay man living in Madrid with his boyfriend, Alberto is much freer to enjoy the life that Carlos and Sebastián could never have had.
uncertain
Carlos → live → that
Against the wishes of his mother, Teresa (Lola Dueñas), with whom he is constantly arguing, Alberto journeys to Cantabria after finding out that his recently-deceased grandfather has left him something in his will.
asserted
grandfather → argue → will
We learn more about Carlos and Sebastián’s stories through Alberto, as the three plotlines gradually converge to form one grand, sweeping portrait of love which defies social and political oppression.
asserted
which → learn → oppression
Over its two-and-a-half-hour runtime, La Bola Negra skillfully unearths the queer expression that’s been suppressed over the decades, whether that’s in a wartime setting, under the rule of fascism or amid conservative family conflict.
asserted
that → unearth → conflict
It’s an achingly moving film, brought to life by a knockout ensemble cast (Penélope Cruz has a standout cameo) and delightfully rich cinematography and production design from Gris Jordana and Roger Bellés respectively.
asserted
Cruz → ’ → Jordana
While the transitions between the time periods could be a bit more seamless and the modern-day storyline feels noticeably less compelling than the other two, all things considered, La Bola Negra deserves all the praise (and possible Oscars) it will get and more.
uncertain
it → feel → praise
The Aporia
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