Suro

Awarded Fipresci at the 2022 San Sebastian festival, Suro is a rural drama in which a marriage called Elena and Iván are about to have their first child, they then decide to leave the city and move to the countryside to reset the cork plantation. Vicky Luengo (Antdisturbios, Chavalas ; she replaced Laia Costa due to previous scheduling plans) and Pol Lopez (El sustituto, Verguenza) give life to a young couple whose principles are put to the test as they enter a world that is strange for them.

Spanish film that spells through intricate patterns of frames , sets , sound and color . This couple drama deals with marriage conflics , rural life and containing gorgeous outdoors ; resulting to be passable , in spite of being overlong and slow-paced . It is a thought-provoking and brooding story with a magnificent leading pair . Through the story of Elena and Iván , it develops a rural drama in which a modern couple intends to build a new life in the cork oak forests that she has inherited . Suro reflects on voracious capitalism, on relationships distorted by role changes , on immigration , on the precariousness of farm workers and on the double standards of those who believed in their own idealism . The picture was originally filmed in Catalan language , being shot on location in Darnius, Alt Empordà, Girona, Catalonia, Maçanet de Cabrenys, Alt Empordà, Girona, Catalonia, Spain, Agullana, Alt Empordà, Girona, Figueres, Alt Empordà, Girona,Spain . For its premiere in the rest of the country it was dubbed to Spanish but with dubbing actors instead the own movie cast to dub themselves . It belongs to a trio of successful and awarded rural dramas , such as : As bestas (2022) by director Rodrigo Sorogoyen , Suro (2022) by Mikel Gurrea , and Alcarras (2023) by Carla Simón . All of them colorful but a bit boring pictures , starring non-professional actors, there are no artifices , nor complex dramas , calculated set pieces or condescending looks and mostly made in documentary style film, concerning the rural world in crisis and the struggle to maintain that way of life.

Directorial debut of Mikel Gurrea, a prestigious short filmmaker. Two professional actors : Vicky Luengo , Pol López intervene in the film , but also some debutants and non-professional actors who give more authenticity to the solid interpretation of the leading couple , whose performance earned them both the Gaudi awards . Rating : 5.5/10 . Passable and acceptable , but overlong and dull.

An anodine film, boring as hell. Another example of how spanish filmmakers don't need to tell interesting stories because they don't risk their own money.

In Spain goverment pays all the movies made before they get shot. So the profits are already earned before filming a single scene.

There are exceptions but 9 of 10 spanish movies are simply people telling stories without any interesting message and empty characters performed by actors delighted in working no matter what.

I adore Vicky Luengo but not even that saved the film.

A good film is one you would like to see again and you would recommend to a friend. I am sorry but this is not the case.

I watched it today at the Zurich Film Festival and enjoyed every single minute of it. Mikel Gurrea describes real life beautifully. There is no black and white, right and wrong in his film. The story is full of feelings, emotions, experiences. The main actors, the only professional actors in this film, show the conflict of the couple's relationship. A huge bonus is the amazingly beautiful Spanish landscape. I found the description of the method of extracting the cork bark to be enlightening and educational - something I have never seen before. It's an absolute "must see" movie. I can't stop thinking about it hours after I left the cinema. Well done Mikel Gurrea!