Patria (2020)

Powerful drama with a fine script and excellent realisation. - Patria review by LR

Because this excellent series is not available at present in the UK, I paid over the odds to buy the dvd box set from a shop in Madrid. I did not regret it. My wife had read the book and rated it highly, so we were eager to see the HBO version. We found the drama compelling and we were gripped from start to finish. This is not a documentary about the history of the ETA campaign in the Basque country - if that is what you want, you would be better off watching Basque Ball by Julio Medem. Instead, the drama presents a slice of the ETA campaign and shows the tensions and divisions among neighbours when a local businessman is murdered. The story moves backwards and forwards in time to show events and relationships before and after the murder, often returning to the bereaved family and showing how differently the various members react. The mood of the story changes a lot, even within episodes, passing from light-hearted to tense to humdrum to mournful. All credit to the cast, the scriptwriter and the director for bringing all the disparate parts together in an effective drama. I hope it will soon be on general release in the UK. I cannot understand why it is not available already.