Pantheon filmmaker Carlos Saura bounced back from a handful of failures with 1989's La Noche Oscura (The Dark Night). Juan Diego stars as San Juan de la Cruz (St. John of the Cross), the legendary 16th-century poet-prophet. Galvanized into action by the spirit of Santa Teresa de Jesus, San Juan fought to install reforms in the Carmelite Order. Like many another visionary, he was regarded as a heretic, and promptly subjected to the most appalling of tortures. Writer-director Saura manages to draw several parallels between the religious persecution of the 1700s and the political despotism of Fascist Spain.

In the summer of 1977, a political prisoner, living in exile, recounts the circumstances of his escape to a journalist: in April 76, a group of ETA members planned to escape from prison, but the project fails when, due to a tip-off, the guards discover the tunnel they are digging. The inmates, far from being discouraged, start a second tunnel.

Ramiro Forteza is a Premier League goalkeeper whom the Civil War and the rigors of the war led to make a living visiting villages and challenging locals to mark him penalty goals. One evening he arrives to a town in Asturias and meets Manuela, a young widow with a son, who survives sewing for Ursula, Andrade's wife, the Civil Guard sergeant.

Sister Patrocinio is a nun who is stigmatized by Christ in her hands and feet. Although some believe in this mystical fact, others suspect of manipulation and take it to the court of justice.

A group of fishermen embark on a new adventure to capture the best pieces on the high seas. They leave from the port of Ondárroa, Vizcaya, to depart towards the Atlantic bottom where they usually fish. After several days of fishing, problems begin to emerge.

A political prisoner in a South American dictatorship escapes and is pursued throughout the country by a bloodthirsty dog.

Faustino Briones is a hardline Falangist who, unhappy with the changes in Spain and after mounting several scandals in his work, is admitted to a psychiatric hospital. Without waiting for him, he begins to interact with the nuns of the place, but especially with one, Sr. Angustias with whom he is beginning to feel things

Vicente and Margarita are a traditional and middle class married couple whose life is surrounded by a sea of confusion and uncertainty when their children begin to make their own decisions. They have discovered love and will not let their parents tell them what to do or who they have to love. The principles and traditions of the family will be replaced by each of the young people who will represent the different social problems of the time. Thus, the coexistence between them will change without Vicente and Marga can do anything to avoid it.