Spanish/US co-production developing dramatic deeds during Spanish Civil War and the historic figure about Jose Maria Escriba De Balaguer . Enjoyable biographic movie well written and played , being compellingly directed by Roland Joffé . Arising out of the terror of the Spanish Civil War, a candidate for canonization is investigated by a reporter (Dougray Scott) who aware his own estranged father (Wes Bentley) had a deep, dark and devastating connection to the saint's (Charlie Cox) life .

This interesting film is full of compelling drama with love , passion and subsequent betrayal , touching scenes , historical events and good feeling . It is a simple , dramatic and intelligent portrait of a time when the Spanish people live taking on among them . This is an agreeable account of the survival of the human spirit against difficulties ; an epic portrayal of Faith, Forgiveness and Redemption . The movie is plenty of graphic , striking and memorable moments about timeless power of forgiveness and dictating a strong emotional response from the spectator , though some moments is unrealistic . Interesting and thought-provoking movie with evident excitement that can sometimes be undercut by inadequacies in the screenplay , being written and adapted by the same Roland Joffé . This moving picture results to be a breathtaking spectacle about dramatic consequences of Spanish civil war , including strong emotions , brooding dialog and a heartbreaking final . ¨There be dragons¨ or ¨Encontrarás Dragones¨ results to be other of the innumerable stories to deal with dramatic deeds regarding the Civil War background , a familiar theme about the global horrors of a fratricide war , impossible to forget to Spanish cinema . However the story needs a vibration more real than the one offered in this slow-moving and sometimes dull film . But anyway, its is compensated with the great performances from main cast as Charlie Cox as Josemaría Escrivá , Wes Bentley as Manolo Torres as Dougray Scott as Roberto Torres as Rodrigo Santoro as Oriol , Olga Kurylenko as Ildiko and sensational support cast , mostly Spanish , such as Unax Ugalde , Ana Torrent and Jordi Molla , interpreters who provided a considerable boost to the result . Furthermore , a spotless pictorial cinematography by Gabriel Beristain and a willingness , almost perfect of the elements of each shot , every sequence, every space .

The film develops an intrigue by means of flashbacks and dealing with Jose Maria Escriba De Balaguer's life . The events were the following : during the Spanish Civil War , Escrivá was hidden in a psychiatric sanatorium and fled from Madrid, which was under republican control, via Andorra and France, to the city of Burgos, held by the nationalist forces of General Francisco Franco. After the war ended in 1939 with Franco's victory, Escrivá was able to resume his studies in Madrid and complete a doctorate in law. His principal work was the foundation, government and expansion of Opus Dei.

The motion picture was well directed by the British Roland Joffé , being realized in academic style and general coldness , filmed in his usual formal and stylistic scholarship , without leaving a trace the thought-provoking issues , in terms of dramatic and narrative excitement . He is a good filmmaker mainly of epic subjects . After a long career filming for television , he made his movie debut in a big way with ¨The killing fields¨ winner of three Oscar and dealing with madness and atrocities committed by humans , Joffe's usual theme. ¨The mission¨, one of his greatest hits , had Palme d'or at Cannes , a graphic monument to Portuguese oppression in South-America , but Joffe has not quite held his place at the top level . He subsequently directed ¨Fat Man and Little Boy¨ referring to two atomic bombs dropped by America on Japan . Joffe's meagre output for the cinema makes it all the more surprising that he has turned out three splendid films and several others near-disasters such as ¨The scarlet letter¨, ¨Captivity¨, and ¨You and me¨. Rating ¨Encontraras Dragones¨ : Better than average , worthwhile watching .

This is a movie that has been well-endorsed by the Catholic Church here in our country. It is supposed to deal with the life of a saint, St. Josemaria Escriva, the founder of the controversial organization, the Opus Dei. I must admit that even if I had friends who were members of Opus Dei, I do not really know much about them or about their organization, only what I hear from the outside. I am mostly interested to learn the historical milieu of this film that is why I wanted to watch this.

The story is told in flashbacks from the point of view of one Manolo Torres as his estranged son Robert interviews him about his friend Josemaria Escriva (who was then already on his way to becoming a saint in 1982). Manolo and Josemaria were childhood friends. Class differences broke up their friendship as the kids grew up. The outbreak of the Spanish Civil War broke them up even more, as Josemaria went into the priesthood and Manolo went with an anti-clerical militia group. Important revelations about Robert himself would also surface as his father begs for forgiveness for his past.

It felt ironic that Escriva was not exactly the central character of this movie since all the publicity was about him. We do see the beginning of his organization of lay workers who lived together, much like today's Opus Dei centers. But other than that, Escriva was merely a side character in the main story of Manolo and his efforts to find redemption for his terrible decisions in his life. You will not really learn much detail about Escriva by watching this film, but you may be inspired to learn more about him. In fact, during the latter third of the film, the character of Escriva was not even on screen until the epilogue.

The story was admittedly very slow to unfold (nearly two hours),but we are treated to some masterfully beautiful cinematography. I was excited to see the name of Roland Joffe as the director. It had certainly been a very long time since he gave us classics like "The Mission" and "The Killing Fields," and you can really see his classy touch here. For a film with heavy religious undertones, I was surprised to learn that Joffe was an agnostic. That may actually have been good for this film, as it did not go overboard with religious propaganda. The acting of the leads Wes Bently (as Manolo) and Charlie Cox (as Escriva) were proficient though a bit wooden. I also welcomed the unexpected presence of exotic Bond Girl Olga Kurilenko as Ildiko, the tragic woman in Manolo's life. I think this movie is worth the time to watch, and maybe even re-watch.

In 1936, the Spanish civil war pitted the fascists against the leftist Republican army. Manolo Torres (Wes Bentley) and Josemaría Escrivá (Charlie Cox) are childhood friends. Manolo's family is rich but he's envious of his friend's attentive father. Manolo's father is killed by a communist and Josemaría becomes a priest. In present day Spain, Manolo's son Robert (Dougray Scott) is writing a book on Josemaría Escrivá who is in line for canonization. Roberto is estranged from his father and tries to understand him and his complicated friendship.

Director Roland Joffé has written a confused convoluted epic. It tries to do so much that it ends up doing nothing. Roland is trying so hard to have this an overwrought melodrama. I don't find Robert and his investigation that compelling. Manolo and Josemaría are competing to be the lead. I would have preferred a more straight-forward telling of their story and less epic musical cues. He should let their story speak for itself and not try to make an opera.