Marie Antoinette (1938) Review: The Good, The Bad & How to Watch

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  Marie Antoinette (1938) Review: The Good, The Bad & How to Watch  American Film, Drama, History Venice Film Festival, 1938- Winner: Best Actress Academy Awards, 1939- 4 nominations including: Best Actress in a Leading Role When Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer poured an astronomical budget into bringing the doomed French queen to the silver screen in nineteen thirty-eight, Hollywood was not merely making a movie; it was constructing an entire vanished world. Directed primarily by W. S. Van Dyke, Marie Antoinette stands today as one of the ultimate monuments to the golden age of American cinema, a sprawling historical epic that blends lavish romance with the looming terror of the French Revolution.  More on Wikipedia or Mubi  Cinematic Splendor and Tragedy in Hollywood's 1938 Marie Antoinette  At the heart of the production is Norma Shearer, reigning royalty of the studio lot and widow of legendary producer Irving Thalberg, who had passionately championed the pr...
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Watch Surcos (1951)

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Surcos (1951)
Spanish Film, Drama
English title: Furrows

Official Selection 

Furrows (Spanish: Surcos) is a 1951 Spanish film directed by José Antonio Nieves Conde, and written by him in collaboration with Gonzalo Torrente Ballester, Eugenio Montes, and Natividad Zaro. It provides an unsettling portrait of post-War Madrid while dictator Francisco Franco was in power. The plot follows the struggles of a Spanish family as it emigrates from the countryside to Madrid circa 1950. Facing difficulties in finding housing and employment, several family members turn to illegal or immoral activities in order to make ends meet, and the traditional family structure disintegrates.

Furrows is considered one of the very few Spanish neo-realist films from the era when the style was being created and popularized in Italy. The picture only escaped censorship because José María García Escudero [es], Spain's Chief of Cinematography, appreciated the value of the film for its artistic merit. 

Nieves Conde’s best-known work, this portrait of postwar Madrid set the precedent for Spanish Neorealist filmmaking. While the Catholic Church considered the film “deeply dangerous,” the political wing labeled it of “national interest.” More on Wikipedia or Mubi 

Cannes Film Festival, 1952- Official Selection
San Sebastián International Film Festival, 2024- Official Selection

Full Film (English subtitles)

 Full Film (English subtitle)

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