The Other Francisco

Francisco is sold to a sugar cane plantation and is taught to read and write by Señora Mendlzabal. He begins working in the stables and forms a bond with Dorota, a plantation maid. The education he receives sets him apart and frames the story’s perspective on slavery and humanity.

Francisco and Dorota fall in love while he works in the stables. He pleads with Señora Mendlzabal to allow them to marry, but she repeatedly denies him. Their forbidden romance becomes the central conflict of the tale.

Their secret romance is discovered by Señora Mendlzabal, who stops it by whipping Francisco and moving Dorota away to work for a Frenchman. The separation intensifies their longing and shifts the plantation’s power dynamics. Francisco’s punishments begin to escalate afterward.

While Dorota is away, Francisco is implicated in an incident involving an overseer and released horses. He is subjected to harsher punishment as a result, marking a turning point in his treatment on the plantation. The accusation consolidates the overseers’ control.

Francisco is forced to work long hours in the fields under an overseer, with Ricardo showing a hidden attraction to Dorota. Dorota returns to plead for Francisco’s pardon, but Señora remains unforgiving. The tension between Dorota, Francisco, and the plantation authorities deepens.

Ricardo’s attempts to force himself on Dorota reveal his ruthlessness. When things go wrong on the plantation, blame is repeatedly placed on Francisco, making him the scapegoat for broader failures. The cycle of punishment continues to escalate.

Francisco undergoes severe punishment, leaving him nearly dehydrated. He is found barely conscious after the whipping at a nursing home site. Meanwhile, Dorota agrees to sleep with Ricardo to calm his anger and save Francisco, a decision that haunts their relationship.

Francisco is pardoned by Señora and told he can marry Dorota, but she rejects him after the revelation of her compromise to save him. The rebuff deepens Francisco’s sense of loss and bitterness. The couple’s final chance at happiness slips away.

Dorota reveals to Francisco that she slept with Ricardo to save his life and to spare him further suffering. She urges him to forget her and move on. The disclosure drives Francisco into despair and he retreats into the woods.

Francisco is later discovered to have hanged himself, a tragic culmination of heartbreak and unyielding oppression. His death underscores the brutal costs of love and subjugation within the plantation system. The scene casts a shadow over the narrative’s earlier romance.

An interview with Anselmo Suárez y Romero explains why the story centers on a love triangle rather than a straightforward slave tragedy. He reflects on his youth and his aim to soften the brutality of slavery while still addressing its realities. The interview frames the film’s thematic intent.

In the second act, a slave attempts to run away but is dragged back, chained and left in a shed with a cowbell. Francisco offers him water, and the two men form a bond that grows into mutual trust amid the plantation’s tensions. The moment deepens the enslaved community’s solidarity.

The bonded slave and Francisco attend a rebellion meeting where they plan sabotage of the plantation’s machinery, culminating in the burning of a bagasse shed. The act intensifies the conflict between slaves and overseers and signals a move toward organized revolt.

Richard Madden, a British Empire agent, explains that the rise of machines threatens slavery and that economic interests drive imperial power to suppress the slave trade. He visits the plantation to monitor treaty compliance, adding a geopolitical dimension to the local struggle.

A slave sabotages a sugar cane machine, and Ricardo demands the overseer identify the saboteur. Francisco is blamed and brutally whipped to death, which inflames the enslaved community and fuels a broader rebellion across Cuba. The uprising is framed as part of a wider early 1800s resistance.