A gunmen’s assault on Spain’s parliament on February 23, 1981, is at the center of “Anatomy of a Moment,” a miniseries available on demand on Arte.tv. The adaptation is based on Javier Cercas’s 2009 book, a narrative account in which, according to the source, no details were invented.
During the attack at the Palace of the Cortes, lawmakers took cover beneath their desks. Three men remained standing: outgoing prime minister Adolfo Suárez, Communist Party leader Santiago Carrillo and General Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado, the government’s vice-president and a former Francoist who had joined the democratic cause. Contemporary footage documents the scene.
Director Alberto Rodríguez turns Cercas’s book into a series that combines detailed historical analysis with the pacing of a thriller. The story looks back at a defining moment in modern Spain, marked by both resistance and compromise.
Sources: Le Monde Culture.