What We Tried to Bury Grows Here

Zabalbeascoa debuts with an arresting if diffuse tale of antifascist fighters and their enemies during the Spanish Civil War. In 1937, Félix, Isidro, and Gabriel, recent enlistees in the government’s struggle for democracy, have their first brush with bloodshed in their native Basque country when they discover two corpses on the side of the road. Other members of their unit include Ander, a fellow Basque whose moral fiber is tested when they detain a German pilot fighting for the other side: “We can’t become them,” Isidro exclaims, preventing Ander from executing the prisoner. There’s also Manuel, who joined Franco’s fascist forces as a means to break free from the orphanage where he was raised. Many more perspectives are represented in the short chapters, as Zabalbeascoa attempts to weave a narrative tapestry of the ways people were affected by the war. The structure tends to feel disjointed, but it’s packed with standout scenes, such as one involving a woman who leaves her abusive husband tied up in the woods for the fascists to discover. It’s a memorable portrait of a country in upheaval. Agent: Tim Wojcik, Levine Greenberg Rostan. (Nov.)