Palm Trees in the Snow (Palmeras en la Nieve)
I love foreign films. Palm Trees in the Snow is a Spanish romantic drama by Fernando González Molina. The screenplay is based on the novel of the same name, Palmeras en la nieve, by Luz Gabás. I almost wish I had read the book first. Since books are always better than the movie, the book must be amazing.
This movie starts in 1968 and picks up again in 2003 with flashbacks to 1954. I love when books are written like this but have found it seems difficult to translate this style of writing to a 2- hour movie. (Good example is Pulitzer Prize-winning The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt. The movie was horrible. I’m still hoping someone sees the potential for this great work of fiction to be portrayed in a mini-series to really do it justice. And if they need help with casting they should speak to me. The book is incredible. Especially on Audible!)
By the way, this movie is longer than average at 2 hours 43 minutes. But it’s necessary to tell the story which takes place in Bioko Island in Equatorial Guinea [not Guinea Conakry, and not Guinea Bissau, and definitely not Papua New Guinea]. The scenery and cinematography is beautiful.
You can watch Palm Trees in the Snow on Netflix. Here’s the trailer:
Originally published at http://www.jeanoshima.com on June 17, 2020.