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remember events in which recent interviews with howe The war is almost the they played prominent people who remember the told most distant major event of roles. events. ment the past in which there The 'Spanish Civil War' The film material is ever exists both a considerable takes full advantage of this wonderfully vivid, creating name amount of moving picture by presenting us with a vast a sense of the reality of film, footage and a considerable amount of contemporary events which scarcely any what number of survivors who film material and by using book could rival. It would, Th to the government's bureaucratic administration. This constriction is not bettered because the government now includes a socialist delegation. Until the workers are masters in the fac tories, those factories will not become fortresses of the revolution." real, live people of Spain in tion of the upheaval. the 1930g.

It is an approach which allows it to make full and almost unique use of the available • resources to create 8 frighteningly vivid and involving recreakinde who politi law i Mini Sune (''La Comi anart Mont Troops of the Durruti Column ever, be good to be what historical docutary makers are hardly willing to tell us -ely, who made the exactly when and for le interviews are of two 3. Some are with those were significant ical figures of the time Franco's brother-inand briefly his Foreign Aster Ramon Sérrano I, Dolores Ibarruri Passionaria") of the munist Party, or the chist leader Federica tseny.

Defend Such figures have undeniably interesting reminiscences which you may or may not believe, but their remarks are designed essentially to defend, however obliquely, their political roie at the time.

The other kind of interviews are concerned entirely with the memories of the politically more humble events which they observed or participated in. The stunning vividness of these interviews has often béen enhanced by filming them The bodies of Anarchist militants a 'On December 17, 193 Catalonia, the purging of i begun; it will be conducted ted in the USSR", The 'legal methods', ", hot by organised terrorist band bers termed 'preventorium description: ex-members e racketeers, passport forgerr osition of the Communist programme, these organise workers the ferocity of HE trained to exterminate rev in the location of the events they describe.

It would be hard not to be spellbound by these interviews, which are conducted in a totally unpretentious way.

The story told by the widow of one of the Republic's supporters killed in the massacre of Badajoz moved me to tears - not, ! suspect for the last time in this series.

If anyone is wondering why there have not so far been interviews with leaders or supporters of POUM or, except for the anarchists, other groups to the left of the Communis: Party, it is worth pointie out that a horrifice 1: portion of them were re=