He Died Fifteen Years Ago

He Died Fifteen Years Ago begins in the port of Bilbao in 1937, where a group of Republican children is being evacuated aboard a ship bound for the Soviet Union. Diego is a temperamental young man who refuses to leave, and his tenacity catches the attention of the captain—an interest that, in the Soviet paradise, turns into an investment aimed at transforming him into a key cog in the communist machinery: hatred of family, of the class enemy, even of himself whenever he detects a sign of weakness, and, above all, the renunciation of any emotion.

Many years later, Diego, the only one among the émigrés allowed to retain his mother tongue, has become a pillar of communism thanks to his methodical nature. However, his superiors have a very special mission reserved for him: to return to Spain, feigning a conversion to the regime's values, in order to help carry out the assassination of his father, Colonel Domínguez Acuña, a high-ranking official in the Francoist security and repressive apparatus.

Once the charade of his return is set in motion, Diego is warmly welcomed by his widowed father, who says nothing about his past. He is also cared for attentively by his cousin, but he rejects the crucifixes that abound in the home, is unable to call his father by that name, and follows to the letter the orders given by the agent Goeritz, who is preparing the ground for the decisive moment. In this atmosphere of conspiracy, darkness, and espionage, the hatred instilled in Diego contrasts with the understanding and sacrifice of his father, who defends the authenticity of his son’s transformation before his superiors at all costs. However, unlike in the play by José Antonio Giménez-Arnau on which the film is based, the surrounding environment and his father's love begin to wear down Diego, gradually eroding his coldness.

The father discovers the trap but still goes to the fateful meeting to show his son that his love is stronger than anything else. Diego makes his way through dark alleys to reach the meeting just in time to save his father and shoot Goeritz, though he himself is struck down by the latter’s bullets. Diego survives, and in his hospital bed, the colonel and Diego embrace.

Conceived during a period of a new kind of anti-communism, which coincided with the Cold War, the investment by the ecclesiastical production company ASPA in the memory of the war lent renewed strength to the defense of the Francoist regime for its role in the anti-communist struggle.

VSB