Palme nella neve

My only criticism was the poor English dubbing of language, which unfortunately, became laughable at moments, truly damaging the effect...Otherwise? If you pay attention and follow the plot-line, very interesting absorbing romance/drama with historical context and interest.

The tells the story of Kilian (Mario Casas); a young white worker that on 1958 arrives to Equatorial Guinea with his older brother to work (as a white manager) on a cacao plantation; and fell in love with a local native (not acceptable by the natives and due to the political turmoil become something forbidden).

In the present time; Kilian's niece decides to visit the place to find out information about her family history; so the tale become structured as a mix of flashbacks.

If the intention was criticism on Spanish colonialism; the movie limits the attack to a few bad seeds on both sides and the obvious cruelty (locals were paid but punished like slaves) is mostly diluted. In fact the portrait of the liberated Equatorial Guinea is far more depressing and cruel than the old one. The movie seems to say "you left us and see what you got into".

While the technical aspects of the movie are excellent (camera work, FX, action and/or violent scenes, sound effects), the editing somewhat confusing. If you do not pay attention to some names you will get lost in many characters relations.

There are also a few unnecessary scenes that make the movie lag.

The acting department is reasonable but on the white side; nobody really shines. On the native (black) side, performances are stronger and passionate even when characters do not have a lot of development.

As many European productions; there are some violent and plenty of nudity and (moderated) sex scenes. In Spain the movie was consider PG but like most of Europe; but I am pretty sure it will get an R in USA.

In brief; it is an interesting (but not perfect ) movie worth a look

Palm Trees In The Snow is an extremely well made classic, wherein true love and passion of the central characters has been carefully woven around the last 10-15 years of Spanish colonisation of Bioko in Equatorial Guinea.

It also showcases the selfless and relentless search of the main protagonist, in an absolutely foreign and unfriendly terrain, so that she can deliver justice and bring closure to her departed father and dementia suffering uncle.

All the actors have worked very well. But Berta Vázquez as Bisilia simply stands out. She has displayed a myriad range of emotions with equal ease and conviction.

I have watched many and many movies and not every movie can actually leave a big influence on me. This one did it. "Palm trees in the snow" (or as I prefer in Spanish "Palmeras en la nieve") is very deep, sad, interesting too. You have to concentrate a lot to understand everything you need to. The biggest shock for my brain was when the movie ended and 10 minutes later I just started crying and couldn't stop. It has many historical things happening besides the actual movie plot. It made me think about lives of those people in Africa, second half of the 20th century. I am quite sure it will make you too. Brought to life by phenomenal actors, it will leave a mark in your head, I know it. Highly recommending it to you.

It's a long film but sort of needs the time to get around all that goes on in the film. Slowly worked and well crafted, it's not the same film as the English patient but certainly had that similar feel to it. This film becomes hard to watch at times due to the hardened moments that we see unfold. I didn't know anything about this film prior to just putting it on so it was a nice surprise in enjoy it.