1955 Spanish melodrama where family feuds explode into murderous jealousy—telenovela energy before telenovelas existed.
There is open hatred between the Balmer and Lafuente families. The daughter of one of them attempts reconciliation, but love affairs, fights, and murders fueled by jealousy follow one after another....
Acting
Mario Cabré's smoldering intensity carries every scene.
Direction
Francisco Elías crafts claustrophobic tension in rural estates.
Director
Francisco Elías
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Francisco Elías was a pioneering Spanish director who fled to Mexico during the Civil War; this late-career work channels the repressed intensity of 1950s Franco-era cinema.
Mario Cabré, the film's volatile heartthrob, was better known as a poet and Ava Gardner's real-life lover—his off-screen drama rivaled anything in Marta.
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