As bestas: La terra della discordia

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.

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)

To my limited knowledge of Galician cinema, based on a handful of movies by Lois Patiño, Oliver Laxe and Eloy Enciso, today I add Rodrigo Sorogoyen's film «As bestas», a work that I add to the alternative offer, thanks to the contribution of friends and my own search for a different cinema and with greater values than the bad Los Angeles productions that project all fronts, offering us more of the same over and over again.

Rather than watching another Hollywood version of «Pinocchio» and another call to war in «Avatar», I prefer this strong, harsh and rough story in rural Galicia, about farmers, those people who supply the tables of the poor and the millionaires, who, in addition, deceive them by buying their land for nothing to build at a lower price what costs them a small fortune in their countries, such as wind turbines.

The initial sequence of «As bestas» warns us of what we are going to see: three men knock down a wild horse to guarantee its existence in freedom (the number of wild horses in Galicia has reduced to 50% in five decades). That force and stabilizing element of the ecological balance are in danger of extinction and the kind of persons who appear in the film is equally destined to disappear... for the sake of "progress".

The film tells the story of a French couple who live in a town in Galicia, afflicted by the abandonment of its locals and state oblivion. When the French husband convinces a group of Galicians not to sell their land to a Dutch company that wants to install wind turbines, it arouses the hatred of two neighbors in favor of the sale, a hatred that reaches tragic levels.

«As bestas» goes beyond this mere anecdote briefly described and becomes a dramatic treatise that combines elements of ethnography, cultural identity, economy, nationality, migration, gender, xenophobia, crime, and rights to decent work and standard of living. The story follows the Aristotelian structure, although at one point the center of attention shifts from the French man to his wife, who brings the drama to a sensible and reasonable conclusion.

«As bestas» is also graced by the work of the cast, made up of a happy integration of professional and natural actors. Awarded at the San Sebastián, Chicago and Tokyo film festivals, it is a highly recommended motion picture.

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 .

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.