O Corpo Aberto

One of the points of the movie is the skepticism of Miguel against the beliefs in magic and supernatural of the villagers. This is historically accurate: in the 19th and 20th centuries, according the rationalism and scientist knowledge did make the society more advanced, there was an attempt to banish the old beliefs and ancient superstitions from the past that still existed in the so-called Deep Spain (referring Spain rural areas, set in isolated towns and villages in the middle of nowhere) where these traditions had survived through the centuries. They were strongly persecuted during the Francoist Dictatorship (1936-1975) because General Franco's obsession to eradicate any trace of paganism outside Christianity, and eventually they were subject of study and recovering by historians and ethnologists shortly after the end of the dictatorship onward.