Cinema
Furrows
Surcos
José Antonio Nieves Conde · 1951
Synopsis
Persuaded by the eldest son that life is easier in the city, the Pérez family, peasants, sell their land and arrive by train in Madrid, laden with parcels and poultry. They settle with a relative, in a dilapidated building in a working-class district. Each looks for work: the father, Manuel, joins the foundry, the eldest, Pepe, carries the goods of a black-market dealer, don Roque, and the daughter, Tonia, takes a post as a servant. The city proves hostile and corrupting.
Context
The screenplay was written by Gonzalo Torrente Ballester and Natividad Zaro with the director, from an idea by Eugenio Montes, under the original title Surcos sobre el asfalto. Shot in the districts of Atocha, Lavapiés and Delicias, it counts among the first Spanish neorealist films. Its authors were Falangists and reproached the regime for its unkept promises. The Church attacked it for its depiction of poverty and the black market, the ending had to be changed, and the director general of cinema, who had had it classed as being of national interest, was removed in March 1952. The film was released in France in 1952.
Who it is for
A black-and-white drama of about a hundred minutes, shot in a working-class neighbourhood; the ending was imposed by the censors.
Prizes and reception
Regarded as one of the great films of Spanish cinema; a commercial failure on its release despite national prizes.