Land Without Bread (1933) Las Hurdes (original title)

Director:

Luis Buñuel

Writers:

Luis Buñuel (commentary)
Luis Buñuel (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

December 1933 (Spain)

Genre:

Documentary | Short

Plot:

A surrealistic documentary portrait of the region of Las Hurdes, a remote region of Spain where civilisation has barely developed, showing how the local peasants try to survive without even the most basic utilities and skills.

Plot Keywords:

Spain | Food | Rural | River | Actual Animal Killed

Cast

Abel Jacquin	...	(voice)
Alexandre O'Neill	...	(voice)

Directed by
Luis Buñuel

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Luis Buñuel		commentary
Luis Buñuel		writer
Maurice Legendre		book (uncredited)
Rafael Sánchez Ventura		commentary
Pierre Unik		commentary

Produced by
Ramón Acín	....	producer
Luis Buñuel	....	producer

Original Music by
Darius Milhaud

Cinematography by
Eli Lotar

Film Editing by
Luis Buñuel

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Rafael Sánchez Ventura	....	assistant director
Pierre Unik	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Charles Dorat	....	sound (French version) (as Charles Goldblatt)

Production Companies

• Ramón Acín

Distributors

• C.P.D.F (1937) (France) (theatrical)
• Animatógrafo (1972) (Portugal) (theatrical)
• Panthéon Distribution (France) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Dynit (2009) (Italy) (DVD)
• Films sans Frontières (2001) (France) (DVD)
• Kino Video (2001) (USA) (VHS)
• Raro Video (2009) (Italy) (DVD) (boxed set)
• YLE Teema (2010) (Finland) (TV)

Also Known As:

"Las Hurdes" - Spain (original title)

Runtime:

USA:30 min

Country:

Spain

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Brazil:18 | Finland:S | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Las Hurdes, Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain

Company:

Ramón Acín

Trivia:

Last film directed solely by Luis Buñuel until Gran Casino (1947), with the exception of compilation films he made while working at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, such as El Vaticano de Pio XII (1940).

Movie Connections:

Edited into Origins of the 21st Century (2000)

Soundtrack:

Fourth Symphony

Not exactly a documentary.

Las Hurdes is one of the most disturbing, and most hilarious, films ever, and was so far ahead of its time that modern flirtations with the absurd and with black comedy pale in comparison. Ostensibly a documentary, it gradually betrays its subversiveness and we understand that it is a manufactured reality. In a memorably cruel moment, a goat tumbles off the side of a steep slope it is climbing after the narrator describes the precariousness of its climb. The puff of smoke that appears in frame just before the goat falls tells us that the goat had some help from the film crew in falling off the cliff. This film is brilliant and depraved and will either have you laughing hysterically or feeling rather upset, or possibly both.