The true story of the forbidden romance the inspired gay historical epic La Bola Negra - Queerty

***Minor spoilers ahead for La Bola Negra***

Now in select theaters, Javier Ambrossi & Javier Calvo’s gay epic La Bola Negra is sweeping audiences off their feet, telling three stories set across a century of Spanish history which tie together to form a beautiful meditation on queer lineage & legacy.

But it’s important to note that they didn’t just pull this film out of thin air: it’s very much inspired by our queer ancestors whose voices were repressed & silenced in their time, and whose many, many stories have yet to be uncovered.

Specifically, La Bola Negra is a vessel for the spirit of the late Federico García Lorca.

A celebrated Spanish poet & playwright whose work is recognized for revitalizing his country’s art scene, Lorca was a casualty of the Spanish Civil War, believed to have been assassinated by fascist forces due his stridently left-leaning, socialist views and homosexuality. He was as out as one could be at the time, and yet as Los Javis’ film makes clear, that’s a fact often ignored or glossed over even as his work continues to be taught in schools today.

Though his personal & political beliefs were at the heart of all of his writing, his only piece to explicitly center on a queer character was the play called “La Bola Negra,” which he only managed to write four pages of before being shot and killed in 1936.

The 1932-set section of La Bola Negra begins as a fairly faithful adaptation of Lorca’s unfinished work, following a young man in Granada named Carlos (newcomer Milo Quifes) who attempts to become a member of an exclusive social club at the local casino like his father, yet finds himself black-balled due to rumors of his homosexuality.

Meanwhile, the film’s 1937 chapter centers on trumpet player Sebastián (singer-songwriter Guitarricadelafuente) who, amid the Spanish Civil War, survives an attack on his town by pretending to be allied with Nationalist forces, then is conscripted to work as a guard at a military medical center and keep an eye on a wounded political prisoner (Elite‘s Miguel Bernardeau) whose name we later find out is Rafael Rodríguez Rapún.

This stretch of the story is adapted from a contemporary play by Alberto Conejero calla La Piedra Obscura, and while Sebastián is a character invented for its historical fiction narrative, Rafael is based on a real person—one with a very special connection to Lorca.

The real story of Lorca & Rapún’s love affair

Like in the play and La Bola Negra, Rafael Rodríguez Rapún was a man from a working class family in Madrid who found his way into the city’s vibrant theater scene and was an active member of the Socialist Youth movement. He eventually joined La Barraca—the theater company co-founded by Lorca—as an actor, and then served as the troupe’s clerk during a 1935 theatrical tour, which is when the men apparently fell in love.

(Notably, the character of Rapún is identified as a former footballer, reflecting what many historians believe to be true of the real-life man, but more recently recovered records indicate he never played professionally, only with youth and social leagues.)

Preserved written correspondence between the two finds Lorca affectionally calling Rapún “The Man with the Three Rs” (referencing his initials) and openly referring to the “powerful attraction” he felt for him. Many believe Lorca’s last known poetic works, Sonnets Of Dark Love, were at least partially inspired by their affair.

It’s when Rapún learned of Lorca’s assassination in 1936 that he decided to join the Republican Army to fight the fascist powers encroaching on Spain. While serving as a lieutenant on the frontline in 1937, he was severely wounded by a bomb raid, and succumbed to his injuries shortly thereafter while being held at a military hospital near the Spanish north coast.

Now, if you’ve had the privilege of seeing La Bola Negra—or even the La Piedra Obscura play—you’ll know some creative liberties have been taken with the end of Rapún’s story, which we won’t entirely spoil here.

In its last act, the film also imagines a final conversation between Rapún and Lorca (played by Alberto Cortés): Depicted via black-and-white flashback, the two lovers find some closure as the writer shares his idea for a new play called “La Bola Negra,” one he hopes might resonate with young queer people afraid to live their lives authentically.

Is it re-writing history? Some may say, but Los Javis clearly have a deep affection for Lorca and have done their research. For instance, the flashback scene concludes with Lorca, Rapún and friends posing for a group photo that, as it turns out, is a recreation of a real photograph, indicating all of this is much closer to the truth that we might realize.

By blending fact with fiction, the filmmakers have created a sort of alternate history that boldly re-imagines the past through the queer lens, giving two star-crossed lovers the final word on their romance, and allowing one of the great minds of the last century to finish telling what may well have been his most important work.

And as it continues to build buzz and receive accolades, La Bola Negra will surely open the door for a greater appreciation of Federico García Lorca as an artist whose queerness was inextricable from the power of his work, while making sure we won’t soon forget one of his most important inspirations: Rafael Rodríguez Rapún.

Of course, theirs are just two of the stories of queer people that history previously threatened to bury. And one hopes a film like La Bola Negra only paves the way for more of our stories to be uncovered.

For an even more detailed deep dive into the real-life inspirations behind the film, check out this fantastic piece from Fotogramas. Lo Bola Negra is now playing in select theaters—here’s a handy guide to when you can see it at a theater near you. It’ll begin streaming December 2 exclusively on Netflix.