The patients of Doctor GarcÃa
Tertulia, vol. 48
Hola. This is Barbara, your curator of cultural news from the Spanish-speaking world. This week I`d like to share my review of the TV series Los pacientes del doctor GarcÃa (The patients of Dr GarcÃa) with you.
The story
After Franco's victory, Dr Guillermo GarcÃa Medina (Javier Rey) continues to live in Madrid under a false identity. His friend, Manuel Arroyo BenÃtez (Tamar Novas), a Republican diplomat whose life he saved in 1937, provided him with the necessary documents to avoid persecution or exile. The story primarily revolves around Dr Garcia's various relationships with his former patients, with Manuel being the most influential figure in political terms. During the civil war, Guillermo had worked at a Republican hospital diligently caring for injured soldiers. He was known for his expertise in blood transfusions.
After the end of WWII, Manuel returns to Franco’s Spain with a secret and perilous mission. The Republican diplomat aims to infiltrate a clandestine organisation known as a network enabling war criminals and fugitives from the Third Reich to flee. These operations are run from Madrid by a German-Spanish woman named Clara Stauffer, with ties to the Nazis and Falangists. To expose this vital information publicly and aid in the overthrow of Franco’s regime, Manuel assumes the identity of a Spanish war criminal and becomes a member of a fascist group finding refuge in Peron’s Argentina. He settles in Buenos Aires.
Historically, we know that the revelation of Franco supporting Nazis on the run did not lead to his fall. He stayed in power until he died of old age in 1975. In a post-war world focused on anti-communism, Franco even became a stable ally of the United States. They were no longer concerned about his role in saving numerous Nazis from being convicted. Manuel’s and Guillermo’s plans to help overthrow Franco fail. Therefore, it is not until Franco's death and the establishment of military rule in Argentina that the two friends reunite again.
Novel and series
The series is based on Almudena Grandes’s renowned novel of the same title and is a co-production between RTVE, Diagonal TV (Banijay Iberia), DeAPlaneta, and Netflix. The series was filmed in Segovia, Madrid and Guadalajara under the direction of Joan Noguera with the screenplay written by José Luis MartÃn. I knew both Noguera and MartÃn from their collaboration on the historical TV series Isabel (I reviewed this series earlier and, as you may remember, loved it).
While there are (in)numerous novels and analyses of the Spanish Civil War, there are fewer narratives about the collaboration between Franco’s Spain and Hitler’s Germany and even fewer about what happened in the first years after the fall of Nazism. In this regard, Almudena Grandes (1960-2021) deserves recognition for addressing this dark and shameful chapter in German-Spanish relations.
Review
As mentioned earlier, the story deserves praise for shedding light on an often overlooked topic from the post-Civil War era. The historical details are meticulously handled. The portrayed Nazis and their collaborators from Southeast Europe are portrayed very realistically even though some stereotypes come into play as well, for example, how well-educated they are and how carefully they handle delicate works of art while murdering millions of innocent people. The makers of the series also put significant effort into accurately capturing the contextual framework, including the design of apartments, cars, technology overall and, of course, fashion. However, this attention to detail sometimes feels exaggerated and overly stylized resulting in the settings of Madrid and Buenos Aires appearing like nostalgic postcards.
I was amazed to learn about the historical figure of Clarita Stauffer, a German-Spanish Falangist who after WWII became a pivotal activist in organising ratline operations to help Nazis escape conviction for their war crimes and find refuge in South America. I had never come across her name before. In terms of physical prowess, the historical figure reminded me of Leni Riefenstahl. Yet, the portrayal of Clara in the series is nothing more than that of a superficial bully. Her ideological motivation remains unclear. Where does her power come from? The same happens with Amparo, Guillermo’s childhood friend, falangist, and the mother of his oldest son. I also wish I would learn more about some other minor good-willed characters in the series, like Pepe or Experta, but maybe they were not stylish enough to be portrayed in more depth. Their counterpart is Adrián, who starts as a simple cheater and the prototype of an obedient soldier. In contrast, Guillermo’s motivation is quite evident from the start. As a doctor, he holds a humanistic worldview and is dedicated to preserving life in dignity. Nevertheless, he is not an angel when acting along his values, but I do not want to give away too much. In this regard, he kind of embodies Almudena Grandes’s lifelong intention to emphasise the importance of fighting fascism, no matter where and when it rises.
Overall, the second half of the series, consisting of 10 episodes in total, is much stronger than the first half. In the beginning, the story, particularly the many erotic scenes, lacks plausibility. I got the impression that these scenes were used to make each episode last an hour. It also requires a great deal of patience to understand why the character of Adrián Gallardo is introduced in what seems like a side story. Although I wouldn’t use similar harsh words as Vikas Yadav, he does have a valid point about the slow pace of the series. Perhaps it would have been better to adapt the novel into a feature film rather than a series.
I understand that depicting ageing in a series spanning almost 50 years is challenging. Not every production company has the resources to use artificial intelligence to realistically age or rejuvenate actors. However, the ageing process is poorly executed (especially when considering how much attention is otherwise paid to getting the historical context accurate). To give an example, Guillermo’s wife of 20 years still looks like a teenager and both Guillermo and Manuel are heavily made up with greyish tones in the 1975 episode, resulting in an unconvincing portrayal as parents of adult kids.
I would give the series a rating of 3 stars out of 5. Therefore, I have one suggestion for you: If you haven’t done so already, read the novel instead. For those of you who have watched the series as well: Would you agree? I’d love to hear your thoughts and impressions on my review.
I’ll be back after the summer break with a mini-series on Spanish innovations. Yes, I can do a series as well ;).