La Bola Negra

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★★

Rated: MA15+

Directed by: Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi

Written by: Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi

Produced by: Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi

Starring: Guitarricadelafuente, Miguel Bernardeau, Carlos González, Lola Dueñas, Penélope Cruz, Glenn Close.

Viewed in Spanish with English subtitles.

‘The sun begins to rise in Spain.’

La Bola Negra is a film of intertwined stories that weave the life of a grandson (Carlos González) retracing the history of his grandfather’s mysterious past; to the war where a little boy cries, getting a tub wash.  Old ladies sit.  A donkey watches.  ‘We’re going to kill you, you cowards,’ yells a man behind bars.

Old men wait patiently, trumpets in hand.

The Italians are coming.

The villagers are jubilant, waving, right arm extended.

Before being slaughtered.

The film is about war.  The stills of soldiers showing their humanity as they pose with arms around each other, just lads, hanging out; to scenes of a truck-bed filled with bodies as the nurses search for those with a pulse, so the soldiers can question the enemy.

Sebatian (Guitarricadelafuente) stands guard.

This one’s breathing.

The camera pans down as Sebastian’s eyes follow the stitches across the prisoner’s body.

He meets, Rafael (Miguel Bernardeau).

The film is also about love.  Forbidden love.  About scratching the surface so love stories from the past can come to light.

This is a beautifully shot film, writers’ and directors’ Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi have been working together since the stage play, La Llamada, which they later adapted for the big screen in 2017.   Premiering in the Official Competition at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, La Bola Negra is their second feature film.

Javier Calvo states: ‘There was a lot of hard work once we shot the movie, especially in the editing process. We kept taking lines out of the text and letting things remain unspoken, letting them be told through the eyes of Sebastián and Rafael. That became very important to us. There’s a line in a Guitarica song: “Arden las duras palabras que nunca aprendí” — “the hard words that I never learned.” Everything you can’t say, or don’t dare to say, became central to the film.’

Intertwined in the film is the thread of Carlos (Milo Quifes) shot from an angle set from below as he enters a beautiful room to stand before those who will or will not admit him.

His father wants him to become a member of the casino.  But there are rumours.  Homosexual men cannot be admitted.

A box seen from above has the label, ‘Blanko’ – the box is opened to reveal white balls.  And next is the ‘Negro’ box.

The black and white balls are set side-by-side on a cushion.

Will Carlos be blacked balled?

Each action is delivered with reverence.  And that sets the tone of the film:

The panning, the soundtrack of strings then the flourish of piano, all orchestrated to draw the viewer into a story of snow, sorrow and promise.

All set to the poetry of a stage play, La Bola Negra, written by Federico García Lorca.

Javier Ambrossi states, ‘What moved me is the idea that many people might discover Lorca through this film. That’s beautiful. Art can act as a bridge between generations.’

The story within a story is slowly revealed as each character is shown to the other: prisoner, solider, grandson, mother, a playwright, and the questioning that’s buried beneath while the film pulls the truth back up to the surface.

A subtle, carefully beautiful film about war and the ‘vast ocean of secrets’ held in a queer man’s heart.