Miguel Bernardeau has shared the extreme messages he receives after La bola negra. The film's treatment of sexual freedom has drawn both hostility and applause.
At a screening in person, Miguel Bernardeau watched the audience applaud after La bola negra. Online, he has received a very different response.
The actor described the messages during his appearance on Al cielo con ella. One message carried an extreme political insult. His account brought fresh attention to the film's central subject: sexual freedom against the backdrop of war in Spain.
Not every response has been hostile. Bernardeau said the film has found an echo in society, especially among young people. He linked that response to the film's anti-war view and its connection between historical events and the present.
Bernardeau plays Rafael Rodríguez Rapún, a real-life footballer for Atlético Madrid, secretary of the La Barraca theatre company and Federico García Lorca’s last lover.
One message quoted by the actor read: "Me escriben 'acabo de ver la película, ¡arriba España hijo de la gran p***!'" 20minutos and El Correo later reported the same example. Their reports matched the incident Bernardeau described.
He did not say the abuse made him want to leave the project. According to 20minutos and El Correo, the reaction was so extreme that he did not take it personally. Bernardeau has also called his part "the role of his life".
He went to a screening to see the audience's response for himself. The applause offered a direct contrast to the abuse reaching him through social media.
That contrast is clear.
La bola negra links three stories set in different historical periods. Written and directed by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, the film connects desire, sexuality, pain and memory with Lorca’s unfinished work.
La bola negra opened in Spain on 25 September. Semana reported more than 600,000 viewers during its first weekend. ABC Paraguay reported first-weekend box-office revenue of €4.67 million. The figures put the film well beyond the level of a little-seen release.
An earlier report also covered the film's wider promotion. Its festival record added to the attention before the cinema release. La bola negra received the Best Director award in Cannes and the audience award at the San Sebastián Festival.
The Spanish Film Academy selected the film as Spain's submission in the Best International Feature Film category at the Oscars. Its awards run continued before the wider audience arrived.
Bernardeau plays Rafael Rodríguez Rapún. The real-life figure was a footballer for Atlético Madrid, secretary of the La Barraca theatre company and Federico García Lorca's last lover. That history ties the film's treatment of sexuality to Lorca's memory and the repression of gay experience.
The film reaches beyond a standard release discussion. Pedro Ruiz, cited by Semana, has defended it as an attempt to repair the pain gay people have suffered throughout history. He also called it a legitimate denunciation of machismo and reactionary attitudes.
Applause and abuse now sit side by side. One response came inside the cinema. The other arrived through political language on social media.
The US release is due on 16 October. After that, the film is scheduled to become available on Netflix. Its themes of sexual freedom, historical memory and war will reach a wider audience.
Bernardeau's experience shows how sharply the same film can divide viewers. The insults have not erased the applause. La bola negra has opened a visible argument about memory, personal freedom and present-day political reactions.
