This is in evidence in the conversation which Albajara conducts with the then King Juan Carlos, who calls the writer to congratulate him on his Nobel Prize. There is also an almost reverent tone adopted towards the democratic transition which was arguably still ongoing when the film was being made (1981). This is especially present in a moving scene featuring Albajara and his friend Roxu (played by an avuncular José Bódalo) in which the two characters stoically discuss Antonio’s grave diagnosis.
The nostalgia is additionally tempered by Albajara’s illness which ensures that his and Elena’s renewed romance is without a long term future and this tragic note resonates throughout the film. This is thanks to Garci’s balancing act which he achieves allowing his characters to fondly remember the past, whilst also living fully in the present. But how could this be otherwise given the film’s storyline? The key to the film’s success is that the sentimentalism does not overwhelm. The film is certainly concerned with nostalgia (a favourite theme of Garci’s). Yet to dismiss the film as cloying would be an error.
Interestingly, Garci has made a similar argument about another of his early films, El crack dos, in a recent podcast. It is arguable that both pieces of music are overused, with a subsequent diminishment of their effectiveness. Pachelbel’s canon in D major opens the film, as Albajara sees Gijón for the first time in over 40 years, and snatches of this and the titular Cole Porter classic are laid on thick throughout the duration of the film. In the space of a few days, he suffers the sycophancies of an ingratiating hotel owner (a hilarious Agustín González), reminisces with his former Sporting Gijón teammates and rekindles a romance with Elena (Encarna Paso), the girl he left behind.Īs with much of Garcí’s work, the film is deeply sentimental. Albajara, after receiving the Nobel Prize for Literature, decides to pay a flying visit to his hometown, where he has not set foot since being exiled during the Civil War.
The Oscar winning film sees an ailing and ageing writer, Antonio Albajara (played by Antonio Ferrandis), return to Gijón for the first time in 40 years. Volver a Empezar (Beguin the Beguine) is somewhat of a piece with these early works but is of a decidedly warmer and gentler tone. José Luis Garci’s earliest films, Asignatura Pendiente and Solos en la madrugada both represent attempts to portray the disruptive consequences that the democratic transition could have in the personal lives of middle class Spaniards. Starring: Antonio Ferrandis, Encarna Paso, José Bódalo, Agustín González.
Written by: José Luis Garci, Ángel Llorente