Las Hurdes (1933)

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.

Director:

Luis Buñuel

Writers:

Luis Buñuel (commentary), Luis Buñuel

Stars:

Abel Jacquin, Alexandre O'Neill

Cast

Credited cast:
Abel Jacquin	...	(voice)
Alexandre O'Neill	...	(voice)

Storyline

In this documentary short by director Luis Buñuel he travels to Las Hurdes, a remote region of Spain which was connected to the outside world only in 1922 with the completion of a road. The residents of the area - spread across several villages - lives in poverty and in isolation from the outside world. They survive mostly on a diet of potatoes and beans with meat available only a few days a week. In fact, they eat goat meat only when one of the animals dies. Inbreeding results in a disproportionately large number of people with mental disabilities. The title refers to the fact that the residents did not know how to make bread.

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Plot Keywords:

spain | food | village | river | beehive | 

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Genres:

Documentary | Short

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Details

Country:

Spain

Language:

French

Release Date:

December 1933 (Spain)

Also Known As:

As Hurdes: Terra Sem Pão

Filming Locations:

Las Hurdes, Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ramón Acín

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film was banned from being shown in Spain by the Spanish government from 1933-1936.

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Connections

Referenced in Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles (2018)

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Soundtracks

Fourth Symphony
(uncredited)
Written by Johannes Brahms

User Reviews

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.