In February 1931, some weeks after the failed Jaca uprising and the likewise failed Cuatro Vientos uprising [es], Spain is on the verge of the proclamation of the Second Republic. Fernando, a deserting private with Republican leanings and former seminarist, is on the run from his assignment at the Cuatro Vientos base. After escaping from two Guardia Civil officers, he reaches the outskirts of a village, befriending Manolo, an old man with a semblance of a "Dickensian observer of life".[4] Manolo owns a large house in the countryside, where Fernando stays for a while. Upon the arrival of Manolo's four daughters in a train, Fernando is enchanted by them all. As he meets each of the first three one by one, he falls in love and has sex with each of them, determining to marry. With each one, however, a complication arises: Clara, a widow who only recently lost her husband and who seeks solace with Fernando; Violeta, a lesbian who is attracted to Fernando only when he is dressed as a woman for a costume ball and Rocío, a social climber who is about to marry to Juanito into the village's richest family (with Carlist leanings) for the security it would provide and who only momentarily succumbs to Fernando's charms. Heartbroken each time, the father of the girls encourages Fernando to have patience. Each daughter is beautiful and represents a different aspect of feminine sexuality. The youngest of the family, Luz, represents naïveté. While Fernando is pursuing her sisters, Luz gets progressively angry and jealous. Eventually, Fernando realizes, however, that Luz is the best one of the four to marry.
A Spanish-Portuguese-French co-production, Belle Époque was produced by Fernando Trueba PC, Lola Films, Animatógrafo, and French Production with the collaboration of Sogepaq and Eurimages.[6] The film was shot in the summer of 1992 in several villages of Portugal.[7]
Release and reception
Box office
In Spain, it was the highest-grossing Spanish film of 1992 with a gross of over 725 million Spanish pesetas ($5.58 million).[8] In the United States and Canada it grossed $6 million[9] for a worldwide gross more than $11 million.
The film was theatrically released in Spain on 4 December 1992.[10]
Critical response
On review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 95% based on 22 reviews, with an average score of 7.4/10.[11] The film is mentioned in the 2010 American film The Fighter.
^The plot is not set in the period of French history known as the Belle Époque ('The Beautiful Era'), but during the dawn of the Second Spanish Republic.
