MISCELLANEOUS
*Cuenta atrás
*The book
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by Francesc Escribano
the book that inspired the film
'Salvador (Puig Antich)'
'Cuenta atrás: la historia de Salvador Puig Antich' reconstructs and rekindles a key chapter in the last stages of the Franco regime: the execution of a political prisoner. It's not simply a political story but also a personal one about Salvador Puig Antich, revealing the motives behind his actions. After more than twenty-five years, many questions are still left unanswered and responsibilities to be accepted. During his last night, as he wrote in his last letter, Salvador Puig Antich hoped that his blood wouldn't be spilt in vain.
Francesc Escribano (born in Vilanova i la Geltrú in 1957) is a journalist and associate lecturer of Audiovisual Communication at the UAB. He has worked both in the press and radio but his principal area of specialty has been television. He was part of the team that created the programme '30 minuts' as well as being behind other TV3 series such as 'Ciutadans', 'Vides privades', 'Bellvitge Hospital' and 'Veterinaris'. His book 'Descalç sobre la terra vermella: vida del bisbe Pere Casaldàliga' won the Gaziel prize in 1998. In 2000 he was given the National Journalism Award and in 2004 he was named a director of Televisió de Catalunya.
«I could lie but the reality is that the first time I saw 'Salvador (Puig Antich)' I didn't know what to think or what to say. It was a story I'd heard a thousand times and through having to tell it myself and write it I had imagined it a thousand times more. When I saw the screen version it wasn't what I had imagined, just as those who have first hand knowledge of the protagonists or who actually lived through the events recognize that it wasn't quite what happened. But the two versions are not the same, because they can't be the same and they don't necessarily have to be the same, that's not the point. In its essence what it reveals is that 'Salvador (Puig Antich)' has incredible force: the perspective on events and the characters are new, intense and exciting. And if I was troubled by the film it is because in every scene and every shot I seemed to discover history all over again. In fact, I discovered it because it was the first time I'd seen it. Beyond its impact as a film, 'Salvador (Puig Antich)', its most important contribution is the creation of a collective consciousness of a key event in our recent history.
»I wrote 'Cuenta atrás' (Count-down), among other reasons, because Ramon Barnils, someone who had also written about the subject, convinced me. He told me that remembering the events is the only way to dissipate the anger and prevent them from happening again. That's why I started the book, reminding the readers that when Salvador Puig Antich was killed I was fifteen years old and even today I can't forget that day. How can you forget that an old and cruel military general that had marked our country's history with the spilling of blood was going to die killing a young twenty-five year old man who represented everything that he had fought against? Salvador was a young middle-class Catalan from a republican family. Salvador Puig Antich, who lost everything in his fight with the Franco regime, had little in common with the majority of the anti-franco opposition. He was anti-capital and anti-system and chose the most radical option although he had no desire to be a hero, a martyr or a symbol for others. Therefore, if he were alive, he wouldn't like the majority of things which have been said or written about the case. He wouldn't like my book or the film. But Salvador isn't alive and re-living his story isn't a debt we have with him but rather with ourselves and with our children. To remember is the best way to say never again.»
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