Los días del pasado

A young woman arrives in a rural town to take up a teaching post, and she quickly becomes part of a community still scarred by recent violence. The guerrilla fighters known as the maquis are active in the surrounding hills, and the tensions of the postwar years are never far from daily life. She begins a tender relationship with one of the guerrillas, drawn to his conviction and quick temper, but their bond is haunted by old loyalties, surveillance, and the weight of past decisions. The film follows their fragile connection against a landscape where politics and personal desire clash, without revealing how their story ends.

Directed by Mario Camus and released in 1977, Los días del pasado was created by Miguel Rubio, Manolo Matji, and Antonio José Betancor. The movie stars Marisol as Juana and Antonio Gades as Antonio, with supporting turns from Gustavo Bergés and Manuel Alexandre.

Detailed box office figures for Los días del pasado aren't widely available, and it didn't register as a major commercial hit outside Spain. Its theatrical circulation was mostly domestic, limited by the distribution networks and the unsettled political scene of late 1970s Spain.

Critical reaction was mixed, and contemporary audiences had varied responses, reflected in modest aggregate scores. Reviewers often pointed to strong performances, especially from Marisol and Gades, while noting uneven pacing and a heavy focus on historical context. The film tackles themes of memory, repression, moral complexity, and the personal cost of political struggle, favoring atmosphere over melodrama.

Coming out during Spain's transition to democracy, the film contributed to ongoing conversations about the maquis and how recent history should be remembered on screen. It didn't become a global landmark, but it remains of interest to viewers and scholars who study post-Franco cinema, regional resistance movements, and portrayals of intimate relationships set against political unrest.