The Resilience Of Children Is Stressed; When Ana Is Found After Running Away

The resilience of children is stressed; when Ana is found after running away following the death of the fugitive the doctor offers a note of optimism. 'little by little she will forget.' Ana represents a generation of Spanish children who will survive beyond the immediate effects of the war.
The family is also seen to be pulled back together by the trauma of the missing child and the relief at her well being. Fernando sleeps at his desk after spending the night looking for his daughter. Teresa, who has been writing another letter decides to burn the letter and tenderly puts a blanket over her husband's shoulders. Rob Stone describes this as a reawakening of the nurturing instinct.(Stone, 2002, p95) This is also a choice by Teresa to stop reaching out for what is distant and lost and to connect with what is right in front of her, the suggestion is that little by little life will return to normal.
The film is designed to provoke thought and as such is a tool of the hope and change that it is trying to promote. First of all it is significant that the film is set 30 years before it was made. As such the viewer has the benefit of 30 years of hindsight to reflect on the political and social ramifications of the story. The viewer is left to add up all the little by little returns to normality that they have been apart of over the previous 30 years.
Also the child protagonist and narrative style is vital; the gap between viewer and protagonist perception is how the audience discerns narrative meaning, as such the viewer is left to feel in a position of intellectual power that distances them from the film and allows them to contemplate its implications. The message is that the stagnation of life in Francoist Spain cannot be and will not be permanent.

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