Miguel Delibes

Born on October 17, 1920 in Valladolid, Miguel Delibes Setién was the third of the eight children of Alfonso Delibes, a professor of Law, and María Setién. At the end of the Civil War, he enrolled in the School of Arts and Crafts, where he improved as a cartoonist, and ended up getting a contract as a cartoonist in the newspaper “El Norte de Castilla”.

Little by little he was integrated into journalism in the aforementioned newspaper. He began to write an article, was appointed editor, and came to be in charge of the film reviews section while still being the cartoonist. Eventually, he became editor of the newspaper.

After marrying Ángeles de Castro, who was his great muse, he began his literary career. He debuted with “The shadow of the cypress is long”. He devoted himself completely to “El camino”, a nostalgic look at childhood that is considered a must-read classic today. Later, well-known works would come, such as “Five hours with Mario”, “The wars of our ancestors”, “The disputed vote of Mr. Cayo”, “The rats” and above all “The innocent saints”, from 1981. He received the award Prince of Asturias of Letters, the National Prize for Literature, the Nadal and the Cervantes. Since 1975 he occupied the chair “e” of the Royal Spanish Academy.

1962 was a great year for Delibes. He published “Las ratas”, Camino, the last of his seven children, was born, and Ana Mariscal directed El camino (1963) , a successful adaptation of his emblematic work, with some veteran actresses, such as Julia Caba Alba and Mary Delgado , and young ones like Maribel Martín , or Juan Luis Galiardo , who was making his debut in the feature film.

In 1974 the little-known La mortaja , by José Antonio Páramo, was shot. The third adaptation for the cinema of one of his books would be carried out by the director who would become a specialist in taking his works to the cinema. This is Antonio Giménez Rico, who entered the writer’s work for the first time with Family Portrait , a film version of “My idolized son Sisi”. Giménez Rico also directed The Disputed Vote of Mr. Cayo and Las ratas to the movies , a correct adaptation that is possibly the director’s best film, with José Caride giving a brilliant interpretation of “El Ratero”, an unforgettable character by Delibes.

For his part , Antonio Mercero achieved great success with La guerra de papá , based on “The dethroned prince”. The author of La cabina also covered El tesoro .

Josefina Molina , who had shot another version of “El camino” for television, was responsible for the Night Show , which included the theatrical version of “Cinco horas con Mario”. Luis Alcoriza shot The shadow of the cypress is long , and Francesc Beltriu directed A perfect couple , which was based on “Diary of a retiree”. To date, it is the last filmic foray into the work of the great author.

The most rounded adaptation of a Delibes book ever filmed is Los santos inocentes , by Mario Camus , who knew how to capture on the screen the essence of a very intense book, which portrayed life in the Extremaduran countryside of a humble family. Francisco Rabal gave a dazzling interpretation of Azarías, a mentally handicapped man who becomes fond of a bird he calls the “pretty kite”. And Alfredo Landa offered one of his best jobs with Paco the bass, the head of the family. Both actors received the performance award jointly in Cannes, where the film also received a special mention from the Ecumenical Jury, in one of the greatest feats of Spanish cinema to date.