marcelino pan y vino

One day Marcelino meets a man crucified on an old cross in the attic of the monastery. Seeing a quiet, wounded and haggard man, he feels great sorrow and sympathy for him, although he doesn’t understand why the man has been crucified. As he visits the image of Christ in the attic and brings him bread and wine each day, deep friendship and affection for the lonely man begin to grow in the boy’s heart. - Marcelino Pan y Vino / Background

--I like winsome bug-eyed Pablito Calvo as Marcelino. He seems to have won the heart of Europe, if not the world, when the movie came out. His winsome innocence, innate goodness, despite all the Dennis the Menace pranks, are appealing, and his search for a real mother and a real friend Manuel has all the poignancy associated with the life of a lonely orphan.
The "Marcelino song" sequence as the young boy gets up one morning is quite tender and beautiful.
but: As for Jesus-in-the-attic sitting down to talk with Marcelino and accept his gifts of bread and wine and then take him (give him death) so that he can see his mother in heaven, that is frightening and sentimental treacle. Perhaps Jesus might have done better if he had come down in to save the Spanish in their fratricidal civil war instead or bring the Jews of Auschwitz to see his mother. It's interesting that Pope Pius XII received actor Pablito Calvo in a special audience and watched the film. It must have brought tears to his eyes, the eyes that looked away from the Jews at Auschwitz.
- Reflections on "Marcelino", 23 January 2005 Author: http://www.imdb.com/user/ur1282070/comments
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047216/usercomments?filter=chrono