A film built from the actor's own voice

The documentary 200 vidas. Paco Rabal, directed by Vanesa Benítez, opens in Spanish cinemas on Friday, 23 October, and is also available on Movistar+. It traces the life and work of Francisco Rabal, born in Águilas, Murcia, in 1926 and died in Burdeos, France, in 2001. Rather than a conventional biography, the film lets the actor narrate his own story through audio tapes, written material and home-shot Super 8 footage. Those recordings come from the Rabal-Balaguer archive, which the regional government digitized for the centenary of his birth. Testimonies from relatives, colleagues and filmmakers complete the picture, moving between memory and dream as the film approaches the man behind his roles.

Benítez first came across the material in a small museum in Águilas, where a tape recorder was on display. She reasoned that a recorder meant there had to be tapes, and that search led her into the archive. The director has described the experience in personal terms.

“I have not learned more about cinema than from Paco Rabal and from all the legacy he left behind.”

Production, premiere and backers

The film is produced by Horizon Media and MLK Producciones, as a co-production with France and Mexico. Radiotelevisión Española, Movistar+, La 7 RM and Canal Sur take part in the project. The ICAA and the Región de Murcia, through the ICA, provide financial support, while Fundación SGAE and the Ayuntamiento de Águilas act as sponsors. The film had its world premiere on 25 September, closing the 'Made in Spain' section of the San Sebastián International Film Festival. Before its release it was pre-screened at the Palacio de la Prensa in Madrid, where an official from the regional culture department attended.

Cinema, Buñuel and the Francoist industry

According to El País, Rabal worked with directors including Luis Buñuel, Carlos Saura and Arturo Ripstein, and the relationship with Buñuel, who opened the doors of international cinema for him, sits at the centre of the film. Nazarín (1959) and Viridiana (1961) show how his artistic work coexisted with political tensions under Franco, when his left-wing convictions could make his path in the industry harder. Coverage in the Spanish press stresses that he openly described himself as a communist. The documentary also draws on his memories of working with filmmakers from Spain, Italy, France, Argentina and Mexico.

His son Benito Rabal recalls that his father never saw himself as a star.

“He never considered himself a star. He was a worker, a worker in culture.”

Archive, family and the centenary year

Asunción Balaguer, his wife, and Benito Rabal appear in the film alongside many colleagues. More than 90 cassette tapes and a large number of Super 8 films show Rabal reflecting, improvising poems and imagining worlds. He also sent letters to family, friends and Buñuel almost every day. The film arrives in the centenary of his birth and 25 years after his death in 2001. It opens in cinemas on Friday, 23 October.