Camino (2008 film)

Plot

Camino and her family belong to the Opus Dei. She develops a crush for a boy (Cuco/Jesús). Camino's elder sister is a Catholic acolyte, deliberately kept from contacting her family. Suppressing open signs of normal maternal grief, the mother seems almost inhuman in urging her dying daughter to "offer up" her suffering for Jesus. The father struggles to protect his daughter from a concerted effort to canonize her (even before her death) by his wife, elder daughter, and Catholic officials. Even the hospital medical staff seem to be complicit in this.

Jesús, the name Camino invokes, is not Christ, but that of her normal schoolgirl crush. This is shown in dream sequences she experiences throughout the film.

Cast

• Nerea Camacho as Camino
• Carmen Elías as Gloria Camino's mother.
• Mariano Venancio as José, Camino's father.
• Manuela Vellés as Nuria, Camino's elder sister
• as Inés
• as Tía Marita
• Lucas Manzano as Cuco
• as Don Miguel Ángel
• Claudia Otero as Begoña
• Jordi Dauder as Don Luis
• Emilio Gavira as Mr. Meebles
• Miriam Raya as Elena

Release

The film premiered at the San Sebastián International Film Festival's official competition. Distributed by Alta Classics, it was theatrically released in Spain on 17 October 2008.

Reception

The film won six Goya Awards, including best picture, best director, and best original screenplay.

Criticism by the González-Barros family

Alexia's siblings said that the film was a distortion of the girl's history. They also objected to Fesser's use of Alexia's full name in his dedication, despite him having undertaken not to directly identify her.

In reaction to the film, director Pedro Delgado released a documentary about the life of Alexia González-Barros in 2011, including video footage from the latter's family archives.

Accolades

References

References

1. Marshall, Lee. (25 September 2008). "Camino".
2. (24 September 2008). "Camino".
3. González de Dios, J.. (2012). "La mirada del cine al cáncer (II): cuando la Oncología pediátrica es la protagonista". Pediatría Atención Primaria.
4. (13 October 2008). ""Camino". Ficha artística y técnica".
5. (4 February 2009). "«Camino» vuelve a los cines".
6. "Camino". [[Madrid Destino.
7. Pereda, Olga. (3 February 2009). "'Camino' volverá a las salas tras su gran triunfo en los Goya".
8. "Especial Premios Goya 2009". El País.
9. (October 1, 2008). "Family members deplore filmmaker's distortion of girl under consideration for sainthood". Catholic News Agency.
10. "The real story of Alexia". La Razon.
11. (15 January 2009). "'Camino' gana el Premio Cinematográfico José María Forqué".
12. "Camino".
13. (19 January 2009). "Penélope Cruz y Chus Lampreave, rivales en los Premios de la Unión de Actores".
14. (11 March 2009). "El filme ´Camino´ arrasa en los Premios de la Unión de Actores".