One year after starting the initiative to vindicate the work of the national film industry, Spanish Cinema Day is celebrated again. Different platforms are contributing their grain of sand for the great celebration of our films and our authors.
Today we join the celebration with a little review with recommended jewelry. Specifically, today we remember some of the best movies released in recent yearswhich can be found in streaming through the different platforms and which show the interesting possibilities of our cinema.
‘Alcarràs’ (2021)
Address: Carla Simon. Distribution: Jordi Pujol Dolcet, Anna Otín, Xenia Roset, Albert Bosch, Ainet Jounou.
The continuation of ‘Summer 1993’ by Carla Simón has been, for the most part, at the height of the small event that has been formed around her. ‘Alcarràs’ maintains quite a few aesthetic keys, although this time it opts for a less individual and more complex approach, showing the experience of the field through different generations.
His ability to tell stories through small interactions, to look at the characters and their contexts with curiosity and without judging, make ‘Alcarràs’ a remarkable piece of neorealism, humanism and adult drama. At the very least, it confirms the Catalan filmmaker as an essential talent.
See on Movistar+ and on Filmin | Criticism in Espinof
‘Five Little Wolves’ (2022)
Address: Alauda Ruiz de Azúa. Distribution: Laia Costa, Susi Sánchez, Ramón Barea, Mikel Bustamante, José Ramón Soroiz.
I’m going to get a little wet here to say that Alauda Ruiz de Azúa’s is the best Spanish film so far this year, and one of the best in general. ‘Five Little Wolves’ is the kind of miraculous movie that captivates you with every scene, that each sentence contains tons of emotion and story and who knows where to place bits of light and lightness among what seems like a sea of difficulties.
Two faces of life, identical in many points as she decides to show with great care, exploring with them both the capacity of care to support families and that complex state of a woman where she has to be a mother without ceasing to be a daughter. There is not a single moment that is not full of intentionbut at no point does he stop telling you everything with clarity and empathy, both with his characters and with the viewer.
See in Movistar+ | Criticism in Espinof
‘Sacred Spirit’ (2021)
Address: Chema Garcia Ibarra. Distribution: Nacho Fernández, Llum Arques, Joanna Valverde, Rocío Ibáñez.
Show the darkest in the world from the enigma, the bewilderment and also the absurd. Lynchian surrealism in the heart of Elche’s Carrús neighbourhood, showing a history full of customs and ufology that disconcerts to mask the authentic tragedy that it is really showing.
Chema García Ibarra creates a really elegant and, at the same time, hilarious exercise. A anti-sci-fi epic through the eyes of someone who thinks he is living an odyssey, just to get rid of the disturbed reality he is living. A great gem like no other in Spanish filmography.
See on Filmin and on Movistar+ | Criticism in Espinof
‘The Innocence’ (2019)
Address: Lucia Germany. Distribution: Carmen Arrufat, Laia Marull, Sergi López, Joel Bosqued, Estelle Orient.
One of the genres that has spread the most in our cinema is that of “girls who grow up in Spain”, and among all of them it is easy for some not to stand out so much despite having great virtues within. Lucía Alemany’s film is a good example, creating a movie full of life that makes it easier to get into the inner world of its protagonist.
‘The Innocence’ plunges us into a recognizable environment, with characters that you feel you have seen in your own village festivals, and knows how to play to make them authentic knowing that reality cannot be captured or imitated, you can only approach it. And Alemany manages to stay really close as he questions the way young women are judged socially.
See on RTVE Play | Criticism in Espinof