Worth: $20.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Jordo Pujol Dolcet, Anna Otin, Xènia Roset, Albert Bosch, Ainet Jounou, Josep Abad
Intro:
… a truly extraordinary and deeply moving piece of cinema.
The Solé family spend their summers picking peaches from their orchard in the Catalan town of Alcarràs. This is land they have been cultivating for three generations, but their ownership of it only going as far as a verbal agreement. In the modern world, where written contract means more, old traditions will be tested by the sudden threat of eviction to make way for solar panels on the land. Going from the wise leadership of the grandfather to the innocent minds of the infant children, this causes a rift in the family that will bring down the curtain to a long-held tradition.
The second feature film from Carla Simón (Summer 1993), Alcarràs is a wonderfully sentimental picture that values the strength of family and holding on to old values in the most dire of situations. This is a film heavily dipped in nostalgia.
With such a large cast of characters in the family, it would be easy for the film to not give everyone a moment to shine. What is so extraordinary about Alcarràs, however, is how it beautifully recognises everyone as a vital part of the family. There is a real sense of care and attention given to the characters that in the wrong hands could easily have turned into a dull exercise in ‘slice-of-life’ cinema. Under Simón’s supervision, it turns into a truly extraordinary and deeply moving piece of cinema.
To capture the authenticity of farm life, Simón utilised non-professional actors that had attachments to this area of Spain, making for some of the most real and ‘human’ performances one will see all year.
Standouts include Josep Abad, jaw-dropping as the wise grandfather Rogelio, who through subtle facial expressions speaks volumes of how much he feels that he has failed his family through this eviction notice.
Jordi Pujol Dolcet is profound and deeply moving as the father Quimet, a character who is highly unstable and prone to anger outbursts, but only wants the best for his family.
The oldest son Roger, played by Albert Bosch, is highly relatable as a young man stuck in time: taking on his responsibility now as an adult and older brother on the farm, dulling himself to the rhythmic bass of techno music on his work breaks.
Xènia Roset injects a wonderful amount of teenage angst in her character Mariona, who is having to handle leaving her childhood and accepting her responsibilities as a growing adult. Ainet Jounou as the sportive Iris, however, is the heart of the film, the bright spark of infant youth and hope shadowing her understanding of the changing climate approaching the family.
Alcarràs is an embrace of generational values and the unity of family in a changing world. A reminder that even in the darkest of times and all the influences trying to separate us, that the human experience and the importance of relationships is king.
There are so many beautifully authentic moments. The grandmothers arguing over who makes the best tomato paste; the children embracing their creativity discovering an old, dilapidated car left to rust in the desert; the anxious daughter showing her auntie the dance routine that she’s been practicing for weeks; the angry father who drops his cynicism to engage in a playful match of chucking his loved ones into the swimming pool.
Nothing lasts forever, however, as the incoming sounds of the cranes tearing down the roots of peach trees will echo through this town to the very last family standing in its way. This is a wonderful film.
