User reviews

A shy hunter , an ¨Alimañero¨, Angel (Ovidi Montllor) , lives in a small inn or Meson in middle of woods in Valley of Cabuerniga (Cantabria) and dominated by his incestuous mommy , Martina (Lola Gaos) . Angel falls in love for a fierce , insolent girl called Milagros (Alicia Sánchez) who has escaped from an orphanage run by nuns of ¨Divino Consejo¨ . Shameless Milagros is the lover of a ¨Quinqui¨ or delinquent called ¨El Cuqui¨ (Felipe Solano) . Meanwhile , the Civil governor , Santiago (Jose Luis Borau) , goes to the Martina's Meson , sets out in hunting , shoots deers and he eats tasty stews .

Spanish classic drama in Neo-realist style with excellent players and masterfully directed by Jose Luis Borau . This splendid drama develops a peculiar romance , a triangular love story , plenty of sadness and melancholy , between a trapper or ¨Alimañero¨ and a cheeky orphan . Throughout several narrative ellipsis , co-writer , producer , filmmaker Borau develops a strong retelling , including violence on animals , and being perfectly shot . The movie deals with various interesting issues such as ¨jealousy¨ that the old Martina has on young Milagros , including dramatic scenes as when the mother is put out her bed and room . Thought-provoking and thoughtful screenplay by Manuel Gutiérrez Aragon , subsequently a prestigious writer and director , concerning the rural world , an ordinary theme of his films . Fine performances from Ovidi Montllor as a lonely , timid man who falls in love with a scoundrel person well played by Alicia Sanchez . Lola Gaos , recent her great interpretation for ¨Tristana¨, steals the show , she gives an unforgettable and deep acting . The movie displays a nice Spanish secondary cast such as Erasmo Pascual , Jose Riesgo , Beni Deus , Antonio Gamero , Simon Arriaga and Ismael Merlo as a priest . Furthermore , Jose Luis Borau as Governor , he gives an awesome acting , adding an ironical and funny touch . This character of the Governor was offered to José Luis López Vázquez , but when he couldn't do it and with little time to start shooting, the director replaced at the last minute , as José Luis Borau casted himself , by insistence of co-writer Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón who had previously worked with Lopez Vazquez in ¨Habla Mudita¨. This is a 'rara avis' film of the 70s because dealing with a strong portrait of Spanish rural society , it didn't please the pro-Franco authorities and was strongly censored . Borau's conceptual and political audacity as well as the social criticism result to be so evident in this film who he had to fight the censorship which didn't admit the some engaging scenes and obligated to cut some violent and terrible frames . The flick has two habitual defects , ordinaries in Spanish cinema by that time : most actors are dubbed and an inappropriate musical score by the band Vainica Doble . The movie was rejected in Festival of Cannes and Venice ; however , winning the Golden Shell in Festival of San Sebastian in 1975 during a thunderous environment when took place the last death penalties and ordered by General Francisco Franco . Really censored , finally , it was exhibited with no cuts .

Striking cinematography by Luis Cuadrado , including correct remastering and gorgeous outdoor sequences with leafy exteriors . Being shot on location in Montejo, Madrid, and Rebollo, Segovia, Castilla y León, Spain . This motion picture was stunningly directed by Jose Luis Borau . He managed to make a fluid , decent and enjoyable drama . Borau began as a Critic of cinema and to publish articles about cinema in newspapers . He enters the Spanish Official Cinema School where he later become a teacher and after that , he directed documentaries and films . He was President of the Spanish Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ; in addition , member of the jury at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1991 . Borau was one of the best Spanish filmmakers who alternated flops as ¨Rio Abajo¨, ¨Leo¨ , ¨El Monosabio¨, ¨Tata Mia¨, along with successes such as ¨La Sabina¨ , ¨Mi Querida Señorita¨ , ¨Hay Que Matar a B¨, and his greatest picture , this hit ¨Furtivos¨ that was one of the greatest successes of Spanish cinema .

José Luis Borau's experience as a director of spaghetti westerns shows in his skillful construction of hunting scenes, his choice of eerily beautiful soundtrack music, and his loving depiction of wooded Spanish landscapes outside of Madrid. Borau once told an interviewer that he wanted to make a film about the forest, and one of the most compelling aspects of the film is the cinematography. Overall, the story plays like a cross between Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid's idyllic story of criminals (Ángel the poacher and his girlfriend, Miraglos, a runaway from a boarding school) and Psycho's freaky mother-son relationship, with a handsome ex-boyfriend renegade and a group of doltish Franquist functionaries thrown in to the mix. Charming and weird and visually riveting.

This film is so grim and haunting... It is one of the best representations of the Spanish golden age of cinema during the seventies. I can think of only a handful of films that achieved similar levels of craftsmanship and atmosphere: 'La Prima Angélica' (1974) and 'Cría Cuervos' (1976) by Saura are probably the finest examples.

'Furtivos' is a poetic metaphor of the dark times Spain lived during the dictatorship without being too political. The mother and the son, living isolated in the forest, are themselves the representation of the relationship between people and government at the time.

A must if you want to understand Spanish cinema and Spanish culture during those difficult times when Franco was dying (it was released two months before his death). It shows more than many other films without being too obvious, which is a relief if you don't like 'didactic' films.