Gold (2017 film)

Gold
Film poster
Directed by	Agustín Díaz Yanes
Written by	Agustín Díaz Yanes, Arturo Pérez-Reverte (also short story)
Starring	Raúl Arévalo Bárbara Lennie Óscar Jaenada José Coronado
Cinematography	Gabriel Arias-Salgado
Edited by	Marta Velasco
Music by	Javier Limón
Production companies	Sony Pictures España
Distributed by	Sony Pictures España (Spain)
Release date	9 November 2017 (2017-11-09)
Running time	103 minutes
Country	Spain
Language	Spanish
Budget	€8 million
Box office	€1.3 million (Spain)[1]

Gold (Spanish: Oro) is a 2017 Spanish historical drama film directed by Agustín Díaz Yanes. The film is based on a short story by Arturo Pérez-Reverte and depicts a 16th century Spanish expedition during the Colonization of the Americas aiming at locating El Dorado. It is loosely inspired on expeditions by conquistadors Lope de Aguirre and Nuñez de Balboa.

Plot[]

A group of Spanish conquistadores for Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor travels through the American jungle, following a route that will lead them to the legendary city of gold of Tezutlan as recorded by a previous expedition. The forty men and women are nominally led by the aging nobleman Don Gonzalo de Baztán and his young wife Ana, but actually commanded by the brutal, gold-hungry veteran conquistador Ensign Juan de Gorriamendi. Tensions start to arise in the group due to the jungle's perils and their own grudges with each other, including the impopularity of Don Gonzalo due to his summary executions and the growing attraction between Ana and one of the soldiers, Italian Wars veteran Martín Dávila, who rivals Gorriamendi for her.

After crossing a river filled with alligators, the expedition is told by messenger Jeromillo that the governor who sanctioned the mission has been deposed, and that his successor has sent another contingent under the command of Don Juan Medrano to catch up with them, planning to execute Don Gonzalo and override the expedition. In order to avoid Medrano, and by advice of the group's local guide, Chocó auxiliary Mediamano, the group turns towards a territory populated by hostile Carib tribes. However, ultimately deciding against Don Gonzalo's incompetent leadership, the conquistadores revolt against him and have him killed anyway, with Gorriamendi taking over the mission. The ensign also becomes Ana's forceful lover, further digging a trench between Dávila and him.

The group reaches a peaceful tribal village where they find Manuel Requena, a survivor of the first expedition who settled down and started a family with a native woman. Despite their help, events go awry when Jeromillo turns out to be a traitor who had allowed Medrano to follow them, causing the village to be massacred and burned by the pursuers. In retaliation, the expedition organizes an ambush and defeats Medrano's forces, executing the captain and integrating the survivors into their own, dwindling numbers. Afterwards, they continue until Río Grande, which separates them from the region where Tezutlan is supposedly located.

A savage local tribe attacks them next, exerting psychological warfare with poisoned darts and war chants, but the Spaniards counter it with a vihuela song by Dávila's idea and turn the tables on them. The group then attacks the tribe's village, coming victorious in a bloody battle despite being ambushed and outnumbered. However, upon finding cannibalized remnants of Spanish soldiers in the shacks, soldiers led by Gorriamendi and Catholic priest Father Vargas intend to retaliate by executing the village's women and children, causing a scuffle against Dávila where Mediamano is murdered. As a consequence, rebelling against Charles V's orders, Gorriamendi and his followers try to kill the rest of the conquistadores. Ana dies in the fight, but her sacrifice allows the loyalists to defeat and execute Gorriamendi.

With the expedition now reduced to a four men led by Sergeant Bastaurrés, their route takes them through a battlefield between two tribes hostile to each other. Dávila and soldier Barbate manage to make it out alive, eventually reaching the city of Tezutlan in the Pacific Ocean shore, only to discover the legendary gold city is just a pauper coast village with gold-colored glazed clay roofings. Realizing all was for nothing, and despite knowing they will be probably executed for all the trouble when they return, Dávila takes possession of the territory for the Spanish crown.

Cast[]

• Raúl Arévalo as Martín Dávila
• Bárbara Lennie as Doña Ana de Baztán
• Óscar Jaenada as Ensign Juan de Gorriamendi
• José Coronado as Sergeant Lorenzo Bastaurrés
• José Manuel Cervino as Don Gonzalo de Baztán
• Antonio Dechent as Barbate
• Juan José Ballesta as Iturbe
• Luis Callejo as Father Vargas
• Anna Castillo as La Parda
• Andrés Gertrúdix as Licenciado Ulzama
• Diego París as Diego de Marchena
• Juan Carlos Aduviri as Chima "Mediamano"
• Josean Bengoetxea as Aresti
• José Manuel Poga as Romero
• Juan Diego as Manuel Requena
• Daniel Cebrían as Don Juan Medrano

Accolades[]

References[]

External links[]

• Oro at IMDb
• Oro at AllMovie