Spanish cinema has to give thanks for the existence of Rodrigo Sorogoyen, who, on his own merits, has become the best director in our country in recent years. It is true that he is not infallible -his episode of ‘Stories to keep you awake’ left me somewhat cold-, but there is so much to celebrate in his filmography that the only possible reaction to a new project of his is to be looking forward to seeing it.
With ‘As Bestas’ we have had the misfortune of having to wait longer than necessary, since it premiered in France months ago, where it was first seen at the last Cannes Festival. It was also exhibited here at this year’s San Sebastian Festival, but it was not until this Friday, November 11, when it arrived in theaters. And I haven’t been disappointed in the slightest.since it is a film that brims with strength, overwhelm and tension, and is also capable of flawlessly integrating an important change in point of view.
rural enemies
If in ‘Mother’ he already went to France to investigate the drama of his protagonist, here what Sorogoyen does is take a French couple to Spain to delve into how their arrival has impacted the lives of the inhabitants of a small town Galician. The cinema often tends to offer an idyllic vision of the rural, something that is completely banished here to focus more on the conflictive relationship of two neighbors, drinking for it very freely from a real case that occurred in 2010.
Sorogoyen has long shown a great ability to push the tension to the limit in situations that might already seem mundane. We have a good example of this in the sensational introduction sequence of the character played by Vicky Luengo in ‘riot control’ Here he returns to it, but chooses to do it from a relative calm so that the hatred gradually and inevitably comes to light.
From the first moment, the bad relationship between the characters of Denis Menochet and Luis Zahera, with the first living in that small town as a result of a decision that has made his life better, while the second is little less than condemned to continue there and blames his neighbor for it. He doesn’t lack reasons, and that’s vital for ‘As Bestas’.
There ‘As Bestas’ is dirtying more and more the relationship between the two, with Zahera making ugly more and more constant and hurtful to Ménochet. The mistrust was already there before the film started, but it continues to grow, laying the foundations to create a climate of violence that sooner or later will have to explode.
It helps this that the script signed by Sorogoyen and Elizabeth Pena gives the story an oppressive touch -even the bar, which should be the great meeting point, becomes a scene vitiated by hatred- that is closing more and more to the point of becoming uncomfortable even for himself. viewer. It is true that there are hardly any people in the town, but everything is becoming more and more closed between the characters of Ménochet, Zahera and Diego Nest.
Perhaps that is why it is curious that the big climax of that happens in a huge open space. There is no longer any escape and you have to face the consequences of a relationship that could have been saved but is in a situation where neither side wants to accept defeat. Especially brilliant in this regard is the talk at the bar between Menóchet and Zahera in which both characters put all the cards on the table.
Fabulous on all fronts
Even before all this it had become clear that Zahera is a force of nature -I am thinking, for example, of the scene at the gas station- and that any award they give him for ‘As Bestas’ will be well given, but what gives the film a different energy is its ability for us to understand two people facing each other instead of to reduce everything to one being the good guy and the other the bad guy.
That humanity further heightens the resentment that runs through the film during its first half and that find a fabulous contrast during the second part from ‘As Bestas’, in which tension is left aside in favor of the inevitable. We are all clear then where everything is going, but Sorogoyen and Peña manage to make that more emotional component feel like the natural progression of the story.
However, that change of view maintains the determination that had dominated the motivations of the characters until then, but giving ‘As Bestas’ a different spirit that serves to offer the two sides of the same coin without ever betraying everything seen. in the previous minutes. Yes indeed, the force that their images give off is different and maybe there are some viewers who connect less with her.
For the rest, Sorogoyen hits the target by turning ‘As Bestas’ into a kind of rural cross between a thriller and a western in which all the weight of the story falls on its characters. I have already highlighted Zahera, but the truth is that all the protagonists shine in their characters, offering what Sorogoyen requires of them to give us his most well-rounded film to date.
In short
‘As Bestas’ is the best Spanish film I’ve seen this year and also one of my favorite films of 20202 to which we will soon say goodbye. I hope its premiere doesn’t end up overshadowed by hitting theaters at the same time as ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’, as it may be the best thing Marvel has done so far, but it falls short of this excellent feature film by Rodrigo Sorogoyen. And Zahera may have already won the Goya for his previous collaboration with the filmmaker in the remarkable ‘El Reino’, but here it is on another level.