This visually outstanding film is with no doubt one of the very best of Spanish cinema. It is a very subtle satire of the socio- political climate in the country during the last days of Franco and his fossilized regime. The first time I saw it, I couldn't believe just how daring the film is with scenes of sexual nature and as an open criticism of the corrupt authorities and their hypocrisy. It is unbelievable that it fooled Franco's censors at all.
Angel is a young man who lives with his mother Martina in the heart of the forest, where they run a tavern. Besides that, Angel also makes some occasional cash from poaching and selling the meat to the village shops. During one of his trips to the town he meets a girl, Milagros, who has escaped from a juvenile detention center. He falls for her, and takes her home. At the same time, the police are looking all over the town for a famous petty delinquent whom, as we will learn later, is Milagros' boyfriend. The man leading the manhunt is the governor of the province, who, as we'll also learn in a moment, is Angel's stepbrother. When the young couple arrive home, Martina receives Milagros with great distaste and suspicion, and will try anything to humiliate her and force her to leave. When the governor and his entourage also arrive, looking forward having a free lunch and some game-shooting in the forest, Martina gives Milagros away. In order to avoid going to prison for the abduction of a minor, Angel is forced to marry the girl. After the wedding, Martina's feelings remain the same and we can see she is up to something. At the same time, the escaped delinquent has traced his fiancée down and comes to pick her up. She agrees to go with him that night -she married Angel only to avoid being sent back to the institution, she never loved him- , but Martina murders her before that can happen. Angel, after helping the fugitive avoid being captured by the police that are combing the forest, believes his mother when she tells him that Milagros ran away with her pimp because she was a slut in the first place. But later he finds some of her belongings still stashed in the bedroom, and knowing that she would never have left them behind, he works out the truth. The following morning he takes Martina to mass in the village and orders her to take confession with the priest. When she seems reluctant, he knows for sure she killed Milagros. He pushes her to take confession, and the priest's face when she comes out says it all to Angel. On their way back home he shoots her in the back and leaves her to die in the snow. At the house, all locked up and now totally alone, he goes through Milagros' scarce belongings, just to remember her once more.
Martina represents Franco's Spain: ultra-Catholic, staunchly conservative and narrow-minded. She never leaves her isolated environment, she is a devoted Catholic who nevertheless is capable of committing cold-blood murder and feel no remorse, publicly respects the figures of authority although inside can't stand the sight of them, she won't tolerate a "slut" under her roof, and she is a domineering mother who still treats her thirty-year-old son like a little boy who needs guidance. Angel represents the young Spain who wants to be free and democratic: he goes to town and mixes with other people, he has no prejudices about knowing a "slut" and helping her because he believes she is good, he defies authority by bringing her into the house, poaching behind his stepbrother's back and helping a convict escape under the police's noses. And in between these two worlds there stand the corrupt authorities: the governor calls at the tavern for free lunch even though he knows the game he will be eating in a minute comes from poaching. He is a hypocrite who signs laws and warrants and then turns on a blind eye if he knows he will be profiting from the crime that is being committed.
An intense story with some moments of suspense, a fantastic setting in a natural environment that makes you feel you are in the middle of nowhere, a superb and very atmospheric cinematography, a great musical score and a truly excellent cast: character actor Ovidi Montllor as Angel, who shows here what a good leading actor he could be when given the chance; character actress Lola Gaos, who was often typecast in old bitch's roles, as Martina; and the director of the film himself, Jose Luis Borau, as the capricious and rapacious governor.
Angel is a young man who lives with his mother Martina in the heart of the forest, where they run a tavern. Besides that, Angel also makes some occasional cash from poaching and selling the meat to the village shops. During one of his trips to the town he meets a girl, Milagros, who has escaped from a juvenile detention center. He falls for her, and takes her home. At the same time, the police are looking all over the town for a famous petty delinquent whom, as we will learn later, is Milagros' boyfriend. The man leading the manhunt is the governor of the province, who, as we'll also learn in a moment, is Angel's stepbrother. When the young couple arrive home, Martina receives Milagros with great distaste and suspicion, and will try anything to humiliate her and force her to leave. When the governor and his entourage also arrive, looking forward having a free lunch and some game-shooting in the forest, Martina gives Milagros away. In order to avoid going to prison for the abduction of a minor, Angel is forced to marry the girl. After the wedding, Martina's feelings remain the same and we can see she is up to something. At the same time, the escaped delinquent has traced his fiancée down and comes to pick her up. She agrees to go with him that night -she married Angel only to avoid being sent back to the institution, she never loved him- , but Martina murders her before that can happen. Angel, after helping the fugitive avoid being captured by the police that are combing the forest, believes his mother when she tells him that Milagros ran away with her pimp because she was a slut in the first place. But later he finds some of her belongings still stashed in the bedroom, and knowing that she would never have left them behind, he works out the truth. The following morning he takes Martina to mass in the village and orders her to take confession with the priest. When she seems reluctant, he knows for sure she killed Milagros. He pushes her to take confession, and the priest's face when she comes out says it all to Angel. On their way back home he shoots her in the back and leaves her to die in the snow. At the house, all locked up and now totally alone, he goes through Milagros' scarce belongings, just to remember her once more.
Martina represents Franco's Spain: ultra-Catholic, staunchly conservative and narrow-minded. She never leaves her isolated environment, she is a devoted Catholic who nevertheless is capable of committing cold-blood murder and feel no remorse, publicly respects the figures of authority although inside can't stand the sight of them, she won't tolerate a "slut" under her roof, and she is a domineering mother who still treats her thirty-year-old son like a little boy who needs guidance. Angel represents the young Spain who wants to be free and democratic: he goes to town and mixes with other people, he has no prejudices about knowing a "slut" and helping her because he believes she is good, he defies authority by bringing her into the house, poaching behind his stepbrother's back and helping a convict escape under the police's noses. And in between these two worlds there stand the corrupt authorities: the governor calls at the tavern for free lunch even though he knows the game he will be eating in a minute comes from poaching. He is a hypocrite who signs laws and warrants and then turns on a blind eye if he knows he will be profiting from the crime that is being committed.
An intense story with some moments of suspense, a fantastic setting in a natural environment that makes you feel you are in the middle of nowhere, a superb and very atmospheric cinematography, a great musical score and a truly excellent cast: character actor Ovidi Montllor as Angel, who shows here what a good leading actor he could be when given the chance; character actress Lola Gaos, who was often typecast in old bitch's roles, as Martina; and the director of the film himself, Jose Luis Borau, as the capricious and rapacious governor.