Parents' Guide to

Gun City

By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 17+

Drama about corruption in 1920s Spain; language, violence.

Movie NR 2018 126 minutes
Gun City Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 18+

Based on 1 parent review

jonlarkster
jonlarkster Adult
November 12, 2018
age 18+
gives a little insight into the moods and reasons for unrest of that time in that part of Spain
See all 1 parent review

What's the Story?

GUN CITY is a long, complex tale about 1920s Spain and the deep corruption affecting its police, businesses, government, and military. When a train transport of military weapons is hijacked and the weapons are stolen, an investigator from Madrid named Anibal Uiarte (Luis Tosar) arrives in Barcelona to help the police find the perpetrators and the weapons. Anibal immediately is introduced to police who are sadistic, inept, and largely uninterested in justice but who spend most of their energy collecting protection money from equally corrupt businessmen. One, who calls himself the "Baron" (Manolo Solo), runs a fancy club with prostitutes doubling as scantily clad dancing girls. He's working with a wealthy factory owner to suppress strikes by so-called anarchists who are peacefully protesting in the quest for fairer wages. After the police kill some protestors, younger hot heads want to buck older, calmer leadership to take up arms and escalate the violence. Allies betray allies and good guys (cops) are actually bad guys while bad guys reveal themselves to be on the right side of morality and history.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (1):
Kids say: Not yet rated

This movie includes many clichés taken straight out of better gangster films, including The Godfather and Goodfellas. Teens old enough to bear the violence and sadism may find this too long and convoluted to follow. Characters threaten each other and then collaborate with each other. Anarchists, at first portrayed as working-class heroes trying to fight peacefully for better workplace conditions, turn on allies, showing themselves to be as power-hungry, violent, and corrupt as those they hope to unseat. Most troubling is that it may require substantial knowledge of early 20th-century Spanish history to truly understand the motivations of several key characters. Gun City suggests that politicians wanted bloodbaths in cities, allowing them to justify in the eyes of public opinion the presence of the military on city streets, ending with a military takeover of the Spanish government.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about patterns that occur in history. A man trying to uncover corruption and save innocent lives tries to reason with those bent on stooping to violence. What does the movie say about the connection between violence and corruption?

  • One protester against unfair labor practices insists that if striking workers use violence against their oppressors then they'll provide the oppressors with reasons to completely destroy them. Why do you think this is good or bad advice?

  • How could you learn more about the historical period when Gun City takes place?

Movie Details

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