Far From the Trees

Held up for seven years before it was released, Far from the Trees seems like a perfect successor to Luis Buñuel's Land Without Bread. Like that earlier film, it is a kind of impressionistic travelogue that shows a Spain far from the beaten paths of the tourist resorts; not only poverty but the persistence of superstitions and occult beliefs captured by the film rebuke the image of a forward-looking, modern Spain that by the 60s was being promoted by the Franco regime. Esteva Grewe largely allows the images and juxtapositions to speak for themselves, giving the film a lyrical feeling that somewhat softens its social criticism - though obviously not enough for the censors.