Las Bestias

When one person's hell is another person's paradise, conflict is inevitable.

This film tells the story of a crime, which opposes beasts, mountain brutes who have nothing to lose, to dreamers, agroecologists who return to the origins, fed up with urbanity.

If the dream of some prevents the end of the nightmare of others, tragedy seems inevitable.

I cannot help find some reminiscences in this argument with Jean de Florette/Manon des Sources by Marcel Pagnol. But here everything happens in a darker, more brutal, more realistic way. Here the violence is much more than just psychological.

A dark but intelligent vision of rural counter-exodus and agroecology.

There are those that will oppose new residents, especially if they cost them recompense, why should foreigners have a say, in how they live and work and play, as lifelong locals they are taking great offence.

Denis Ménochet is immense as the invasive species into Galicia who fails to support the locals, more especially two aggressive brothers in their desires for an escape from their unrewarding toil through the sale of their land to a wind turbine interest. The tension builds to an inevitable conclusion and leaves you questioning what you may have done in a similar scenario, from both perspectives, although you might hope the local constabulary had a little more backbone if you were in Antoine's position.

Antonio (Denis Ménochet) and Olga (Marina Foïs) are a French couple who loving the rural life settled some time ago in a village in the interior of Galicia . They lead a quiet life there , seeking closeness with nature , although their coexistence with the locals is not as idyllic as they would like. A conflict about the modern wind mills with their neighbors, the Anta brothers (Luis Zahera, Diego Anido) , will cause tension to grow in the village until it reaches a point of no return.

Enjoyable film contains thrills , suspense , twists , shocking violence , gorgeous outdoors and results to be quite entertaining , in spite of being overlong . It is a thought-provoking and brooding story with a magnificent cast , including a stunning as well as thrilling ending . A controversial violence-themed picture concerning a known plot about rural confrontation , as a middle-aged French marriage moves to a local village where their presence inflames two villagers , facing increasingly vicious harassment to the point of outright hostility and surprising outbursts of violence , being based on a true story, documented in Santoalla (2016) . We are facing a tense film , hard , tough and brilliant in many moments, with some aspect of Western , adding a grand and impressive ending . The picture packs intrigue , intense drama and lots of psychological and physical violence . The story takes parts , here and there , from notorious films, such as : "Koldo Serra's Bosque de sombras" or "The Backwoods" (2006) and especially "Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogs" (1971) . The main cast is frankly excellent with great French players as Denis Ménochet and Marina Foïs who had to learn Spanish for their characters and special mention for Luis Zahera who steals the show as the threatening and nasty neighbor . It is a very interesting exercise in thriller, human degradation, an example of the conflict between town and country , and between civilization and barbarism, showing a primitive savagery exists beneath the most peaceful surface heading an outburst of grisly violence . For those who do not know, the ¨Rapa das Bestas¨ is a ritual consisting of cutting the manes of horses in order to be able to , mainly , deworming them and even celebrating a Galician cultural festival . In fact , this same year 2022 has been made ¨Rapa¨ series by Fran Aráujo with Javier Cámara and dealing with similar theme.

It displays a colorful and evocative cinematography by cameraman Alejandro de Pablo that was shot in Northwestern Spain, in el Bierzo , Barjas and Ponferrada , in the province Leon and inland Galicia. The motion picture was competently written/directed by Rodrigo Sorogoyen , being filmed in late 2021 , and selected to be screened in the Cannes Premiere section of the 2022 Cannes Film Festival and getting many nominations to Goya Awards. Rodrigo is a good writer, producer, director assistant and filmmaker with a few films and television series. As Sorogoyen has directed successful TV series , such as : ¨La pecera de Eva¨, ¨Fragiles¨, ¨Vida loca¨, ¨Impares¨, "Apagon" and the essential "Antidisturbios" .And making notorious films , such as : ¨8 citas¨, ¨May God save us¨ (2016) with Antonio de la Torre, Javier Pereira, Roberto Alamo , ¨Stockholm¨ with Aura Garrido and ¨El Reino¨ (2018) with Antonio De la Torre, all of them have won various awards and Goyas. And furthermore, a short , Oscar nominated, titled Mother that had its cinematic rendition : Madre (2019) by Sorogoyen himself . Rating 7/10 . Better than average. Notable film that will appeal to rural drama enthusiasts . Well worth seeing .

Wow! I went in to this movie with no expectations at all and was actually a bit blown away. It is a really good slow burner of a thriller. Set in the Galician mountains, the movie follows a retired French couple who settles in a rural village. Their presence however angers two locals (brothers) who start to act hostile towards the couple. Things slowly escalate from there.

The movie is really, really tense, from start to finish. As a viewer, one get the feeling that anything can happen at any time due to the very unpredictable and impulsive brothers. The movie takes full advantage of this while tightly following the couple doing their chores, resulting in a suspenseful atmosphere. The acting overall is excellent, with great cinematography as well. The movie simply looks stunning with beautiful mountain ranges as a backdrop for many of the scenes.

It is a pretty long and slow movie, so I can see that it might be a bit off-putting for some. However, if you like suspenseful slow burners, give this a go!

(Seen at the 2022 Stockholm International Film Festival)

My wife and I watched As Bestas (or The Beasts for the English title) with a particular interest as this story could have been a story happening to us. I'm from Belgium, living in Spain now, farming olives and almonds. In the movie everything is happening in Galicia (in the North), whilst I live in Andalucia (in the South). Whilst wind turbines played a big role in the movie, here it's about solar panels. So yes it was an interesting movie to watch, very similar things happening in our lives. The acting was particularly good, definitely the best thing about this slow-burn drama/thriller. Good movie although the end could have been a bit more satisfying.