Guernica (The Mystery of Picasso)

This film is based on paintings, drawings and sculptures

made by Picasso between the years 1902 and 1949.

"Guernica," painted during the Spanish Civil War,

provided the main focus of this film.

We would like to thank...

...as well as the Museum of Modern Art and the Louis eLeiris Gallery

for providing us with all the necessary documents.

Guernica...

is a small town in the Biscaye region,

the traditional capital of the Basque Country.

That's where the oak tree be came the sacred symbol

of Basque freedom and traditions.

Guernica's relevance is mainly historic and sentimental.

On April 26th, 1937, in the early afternoon hours,

a series of Nazi planes incessantly bombed Guernica

for three and a half hours.

The city was burnt to the ground.

2,000 people died-- all civilians.

The bombing was part of an experiment

to determine the combined effects of incendiary and explosive bombs

on civilian populations.

Friendly faces by the fire, friendly faces in the cold

Oppressed, humiliated, beaten, kept in the dark,

Friendly faces faced with nothing

Poor faces, sacrificed

Your death will be a warning to all

Death, an overthrown heart

They made you pay for bread with your life

They made you pay for the sky, the earth,

Water and sleep, with your life

They made you pay for misery

Sweet actors,

So sad but so sweet,

Actors in perpetual drama,

You weren't expecting death.

The fear and courage to live and die

Death, so difficult and simple

Women and children have the same treasure in their eyes

Men safeguard it the way they can.

People in Guernica are simple people.

We've read it in the paper, over a cup of coffee:

somewhere in Europe, an army of killers is marching over humanity.