That of painting your village and you will paint the world he could have said leo tolstoybut the Catalan Carla Simón appeals alcarràs to the family choral story to tell a very profound social drama.
In the first scene of the film, the younger boys are playing in an abandoned car in the middle of a field. And soon they will see how someone, mounted on a crane, will snatch the “toy” from them, there, in the middle of the orchard. It is the first of many blows that will hit the Solé family from that moment on.
Set in that town of Catalonia, the Solés have been cultivating the land for 80 years. Basically, peaches. The present does not bode well: euro cents are paid for their goods, but what is worse, when the owner of the farm dies, the heir decides to sell those lands.
And since Rogelio (Josep Abad), the pater familiae, doesn’t have a single document certifying that these lands are his, they are about to lose everything.
Simón, which won the Golden Bear for Best Picture at the Berlin Film Festival last year, as we said at the beginning, he takes care of portraying the staff of each family member to jump to the collective.
It shows the Solé family, led by the stubborn Quimet (Jordi Pujol Dolcet), in their daily chores. Watering, harvesting, group meals, the table when the brothers arrive, the children’s imaginary games, village parties, night outings for teenagers…
And, also, the hardness caused by the fact that the last harvest will fail. Not everyone sees her as Quimet, neither the elderly nor her teenage children. When the end of summer comes, they will have to leave.
Sensitivity
Simón portrays the personal to transform it into the collective. He uses the handheld camera a lot and isn’t afraid to show the sometimes exasperated sensitivity of his protagonists.
Of course there is a lot of neorealism in the film and a deep attachment to traditions and customs.
The film is inspired by the family of the writer and director herself. AND alcarràs follows what was his debut film, equally autobiographical, summer 1993.
If they risk eviction it is because the grandfather, an affable boy, fond of his grandchildren – as the director is keen to show every time Rogelio appears on the screen – has never complained about the landlords, just as he has never had a contract signed.
The fact that the landowners were protected by the Solé when the fascists persecuted them does not change the present. Those were times when a handshake was enough. Now the owners plan to cut down the fruit trees and install solar panels.
Modernity and tradition, solidarity and light-heartedness in the midst of capitalism, alcarràs he moves in good law.
“Alcarràs”
Very good
Drama. Spain/Italy, 2022 120′, SAM 13. From: Charles Simon. With: Jordi Pujol Dolcet, Josep Abad, Albert Bosch, Ainet Jounou. Rooms: Lorca, Centro Rosario Cinemas, America Santa Fe.
Source: Clarin
