There Be Dragons

There Be Dragons is a 2011 English-language historical epic film written and directed by Roland Joffé. It is a drama set during the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s and features themes such as betrayal, love and hatred, forgiveness, friendship, and finding meaning in everyday life. The film was released on 6 May 2011. It includes the story of soldiers, a journalist, his father, and a real life priest, Josemaría Escrivá, the founder of Opus Dei who was canonized as a Roman Catholic saint.

The film stars Charlie Cox, Wes Bentley, Rodrigo Santoro, Derek Jacobi, Geraldine Chaplin, Jordi Mollà, Golshifteh Farahani, Dougray Scott, Olga Kurylenko, Unax Ugalde and Lily Cole.

Story and themes

Director Roland Joffé said There Be Dragons is "a story about people trying to find meaning about their lives." The epic film tells the story of a Spanish journalist, Robert, who is mending relations with his dying father, Manolo, who took part in the Spanish Civil War. The journalist discovers through his investigations that his father was a close childhood friend of Josemaría Escrivá, a candidate for sainthood, with whom he had a complicated relationship. Manolo became a soldier during the Spanish Civil War and became obsessed with a beautiful Hungarian revolutionary, Ildiko. She rejects him and gives herself to a brave militia leader Oriol. Manolo becomes jealous and takes a path of betrayal.