Barrios Bajos

Barrios Bajos

1937. Spain. Directed by Pedro Puche. Screenplay by Lluís Elias. With Matilde Artero, Baltasar Banquells, Esperanza Barrero. In the lone example of anarcho-syndicalist “poetic realism,” a young bourgeois shoots his wife’s lover and takes refuge in the Barcelona slums, hidden by a good-hearted longshoreman with a beautiful goddaughter. The Franco regime missed the movie’s political implications and Puche was able to continue his career (albeit briefly) after the Republic’s fall. Preserved by the Filmoteca Española, Madrid. In Spanish; English subtitles. 94 min.