How Long Is “Deseo”?

Madrid in the wake of the Spanish Civil War serves as the setting for this epic period romance, starring Leonor Watling of Talk to Her fame. Watling is cast as Elvira, a young woman still reeling from the execution of her father and the imprisonment of her politically outspoken husband, Julio (Ernesto Alterio). Desperate to make ends meet, Elvira takes a position as a maid with the mysterious Pablo (Leonardo Sbaraglia), about whom Elvira's mother-in-law (Norma Aleandro) has serious doubts. It turns out that the half-German Pablo is aiding the escape of several prominent members of the Nazi party, a fact to which Elvira is oblivious when she begins an illicit affair with him. When Julio is released from prison, tensions come to the fore for the extended family and the mysterious outsider among them.