El Olivo - Iciar Bollain

Alma works in a mind-numbing job on a chicken farm and spends her nights getting drunk and picking up men in bars. The only point of tenderness in her life is her relationship with her beloved grandfather who is slipping into dementia. Through Alma’s memories we see the past when her family were struggling to make a living on their farm, which included a magnificent 2000 year old olive tree, that was deeply loved by Alma and her grandfather. But one day the tree is sold for a sum of money that will give the family a new start…..Alma becomes convinced that her grandfather will recover if she can bring the tree home so she sets off on a road trip with a friend and her uncle on an apparently impossible task..It took a while to warm to Alma, she is not an instantly likeable character, and initially it wasn’t clear where the story was going. I did enjoy it in the end and was glad I’d watched (it was actually bought to practice listening to Spanish).

This film tells a story of the struggle humanity has in today's world coping with trying to protect and preserve the flora and fauna of this planet that keep our human spirit going through the best and the worst of times.