Drama/Thriller about sad events in Basque Country in which happened terrorism , threats and grisly killings . At the opening , 1975 , it describes a man being pursued and hidden from police as well as special forces as GEOS and then it takes place a long flashback . As in the early seventies , during the last stages of Franco's dictatorship , Txema (Eduardo Noriega) is detained because of his relationship to some terrorists who have just killed a taxi man . The killers are members of the terrorist organization ETA that brutally killed about one thousand people and acting similarly to Sicilian Mafia . The Secret Service , CNI , and their law enforcements (Jose Coronado , Santiago Ramos , Jose Luis Garcia Perez , Juan Fernandez) attempt to offer him a covenant . At the beginning he's not too interested , but his economical troubles ultimately force him to take amount of money and accept the assignment , as he becomes an infiltrator and adopts the undercover name of "Lobo" (Wolf) , but it is rejected by his wife (Silvia Abascal) . By the way , he becomes an active member of the bunch , making all the right connections until he reaches the top command and acquires the trust of its chiefs (Patrick Bruel , Jorge Sanz) . In the process , he finds out that the terrorist organization has real internal divisions between those who want to leave the armed fight and become just a political party being led by Asier (Jorge Sanz) , and those who wish to keep the terrorist activity until they can declare the independence of the Basque country led by Txino (Fernando Cayo) and Arrieta (Chema Muñoz) . These divisions and fights for power are often resolved bloodily , taking place the Asier murder . Later on , the military and high authority staff (Héctor Colome , Manuel Zarzo) heads in Madrid become impatient and want to launch an immediate attack on ETA . Ricardo (Jose Coronado) , the superior officer of the secret service, convinces them to wait until Lobo can complete his assignment and enable them to dismantle the terrorist organization . But when the Barcelona police arranges to catch the leaders of the group Arrieta (Chema Muñoz) and Txino (Fernando Cayo) the military generals , jealous of this success, decide they can't wait any more and that they will override the secret service and catch whatever ETA members are in Madrid at that point , dead or alive . And that , includes Lobo, who is now abandoned to his own devices to getaway from both sides . El Lobo was used and betrayed by Francoist secret services , and proclaimed a priority target by ETA . However , he knew how to save himself using his own resources and at the end of the operation , Lobo was forced to change his identity .
Moving drama/thriller with plenty of emotion , suspense , intrigue , delusions , plot twists , politics and real events about Basque Country . Despite being somewhat of a cinematic cliché , rarely has a feature been so aptly deserving of its description as a political thriller along with some elements from action genre , social critique , intense drama and bloody terrorism . Based on a true story , according to an interview to screen-writer and producer Melchor Miralles , he said that the real "Lobo" visited the set one day, but nobody knew who really was . He was actually an ETA infiltrator who , in the early 1960s , brought down a quarter of this terrorist organisation, including its upper echelons , even today , ETA members departing to execute attacks in Spain receive a spare bullet with Lobos name on it . In the picture is described various historical events as when the terrorists proceed their most daring and shocking crime yet : killing the prime minister Carrero Blanco (1973) or the called ¨French sanctuary¨ where freely planned their operations . It is an entertaining picture in which suspense is well developed from start to finish , though crammed with some erotic scenes between Eduardo Noriega and Melanie Doutey . Nice acting by Eduardo Noriega as a Basque construction worker , whom the secret service sees in him an ideal candidate to infiltrate the terrorist band ETA . Eduardo Noriega had to work hard for several months before the shooting started in order to speak with the strong Basque Country accent required for his character . According to an interview to Mélanie Doutey , she was help by a dialect coach during a month before the shooting , because she could not speak Spanish at the time. The picture is acceptable , but it has conventional pitfalls and results to be overlong ; though also contains interesting scenes , suspenseful images and sensitive moments . Anyway , its is compensated with the great performances from main cast , and notorious support cast such as Manuel Zarzo , Juan Fernández , Roger Pera , Fernando Cayo , Chema Muñoz , José Luis García Pérez , Alex O'Dogherty , Saturnino Garcia and Jorge Sanz .
Atmospheric musical score by Néstor Calvo who composes a stirring soundtrack . Colorful as well as evocative cinematography by Francesc Gener . The motion picture was professionally directed by Michael Courtois and achieved hit smash at box office ; however , a similar film he subsequently realized titled ¨Gal¨ failed and was dismissed both , critics and indifferent reaction for the public . Other pictures dealing with this terrorist organization are the followings : ¨La Fuga De Segovia¨, ¨Dias Contados¨, by Imanol Uribe , ¨La Voz De Su Amo¨ by Emilio Martínez Lazaro¨ , ¨Todos Estamos Invitados¨ by Manuel Gutiérrez Aragon and several documentaries directed by Iñaki Arteta as ¨Testigo Involuntario : Nicolas Redondo¨, ¨El Infierno Vasco¨ , ¨Trece Entre Mil¨ , and ¨Sin Libertad¨ .
