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Furrows (Surcos)

José Antonio Nieves Conde
Spain / 1951 / 100 mins. / Spanish with English subtitles

A portrait of postwar Madrid which set a precedent for Spanish neo-realist film-making. Tackling such issues as rural immigration into the cities, poverty, prostitution, unemployment, and class conflict, the film is an expression of the contradictions within Franco’s regime. While the Catholic Church considered the film ‘deeply dangerous’, the political wing labelled it of ‘national interest’.
The film wasn’t released until its controversial ending was removed. 

José Antonio Nieves Conde was born in Segovia 81915).Nieves Conde cinema began in the early 40's, writing for Luis Marquina the movie Short Cuts (1942), a title he adapted a play by Jacinto Benavente.His first job was as an assistant to Rafael Gil in Light footprint (1943). With Path unknown (1946), an intriguing film, Nieves Conde would start his solo career as leader. In the 40 would roll also Anxiety(1947) and Arrival of Night (1949), two titles, like the first, of great interest, which meant the ability of its author, who reach one of its greatest achievements Furrows (1951).