“Alcarras” Movie Review

 

“Alcarras”

Movie Review

 

Alcarras is a Spanish-Italian drama film directed by Carla Simon starring Jordi Pujol Dolcet and Anna Otin and filmed in Alcarras, Catalonia. The story of the movie consists of a family rural drama concerning the disappearance of agricultural activities and revolving around the intention to install solar panels in an agricultural plot hitherto occupied by a peach orchard, bringing the members of the sole family to a standoff.

It's often said that the best movies can transport you to places far away or distant, but in Carla Simon's Alcarras, you can never be sure when you'll be transported. Although we're given some present-day gifts mostly in fashion and patches of growing solar panels much of this quietly stunning film explores a rural childhood in Catalonia 40 years ago. It is this clash of times that gives Alcarras its spark, as traditional ways of life collide with the stimulating and profit-driven countryside of the present.

We follow the lives of a medium-sized, close-knit family unit – cousins might as well be brothers depending on how often they see each other – whose peach farm is under threat from a local landowner. They acquired land through traditional methods, and a simple man's contract between their forefathers was now completely void in the era of official contracts. It's a conflict that causes patriarch Guimet played by Jordi Pujol Dolcet an alarming amount of stress exacerbated by the physical damage to his body from decades of farming but director Simon often puts it on the back burner.

Using entirely non-professional actors from the Alcarras region, director Simon is more interested in simply showing the daily life of the entire family in all their joys and frustrations from elderly grandparents to young children. Director Simon showed a rare gift for directing children which she puts to good use here – the scenes with Quimet’s rambunctious six-or-seven-year-old daughter Iris and her similarly aged twin cousins are delightful. They search for hidden places, perform strange rituals and play together as if there isn't even a camera, a wonderful achievement by Simon.

The performances are great across the board, in fact - you'd hardly know from looking at them that they're all debutants. Especially Dolcet brings moving layers to Quimet. His anger and frustration are immediately followed by brief anger followed by quiet sadness, making the moments of familial tenderness all the more real. Meanwhile, Xenia Rosset and Albert Bosch are drawn to the older children of the family, and the physical and financial pressures of the farm are beginning to take their toll on them - they listen intently to the adults' heated discussions as they work, those who cannot express themselves in any other way.

It all feels so real, it's enough to immerse you in this family and bring you to tears until the younger kids sing a song that goes beyond what their grandfather taught them. Director Simon clearly loves and respects these actors, these characters, and the region they inhabit, crafting a story that's low-key, but deeply affecting and unflinching about them.

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