There are figures that cannot be missing in a western: the sheriff and the stranger who is going to have a major impact on the town. They may be in a literal or figurative way, but their shock already energizes the story that will have us captivated for a couple of hours. And this relationship can be subverted in a thousand ways, which can lead to a really amazing movie.
This past year one of the best westerns knew how to use these elements and applied them to rural territory. Not only that, but it also camouflaged it as an Iberian thriller and managed to sell it to the Spanish public, which kept it in movie theaters for months, going en masse continuously. Whether for artistic or commercial triumph, ‘As bestas’ is one of those films that clearly deserved a Goya for best film.
lands and beasts
And surprisingly it can still be seen in theaters, even having reached VOD platforms. Now it takes the next step in its exhibition with streaming on Movistar+, becoming part of the platform’s subscription as well as being seen on its premiere channel. A surprising preview of your arrival that gives us the excuse to recommend this wonderful movie by Rodrigo Sorogoyen.
Here the stranger is a retired French professor who goes to a Galician village with his partner to be a horticulturist and also take charge of restoring abandoned houses. Nevertheless, coexistence is tense to say the least. His neighbors, some brothers who have been there all their lives, try to complicate their existence because he was the main instigator for not selling the land in the area to an electric company that wanted to install windmills.
The conflict over land ownership is very Spanish, but Sorogoyen and co-scriptwriter Isabel Peña introduce well the economic factor of foreign companies to morally complicate the story. Despite the fact that this duel has a clear protagonist and two rivals, their positions are totally understandable because it does not simplify them and allows concerns and doubts to breathe. The escalation, yes, offers no misunderstandings, making one of the most impressive thriller exercises that have been done recently in this country (something that the director manages with pearls).
‘As bestas’: one of the best of Sorogoyen
There are influences from very wild and cynical westerns regarding human morality, in addition to much of the suffocating thriller of films like ‘Straw Dogs’. However, although it is very easy to stay with that first hour or so of film (because it really is excellent), the leap into the void that he decides to take in what would be the second half of the story is interesting, where Marina Foïs takes the reins of the story and this explores harsh human emotions.
It is an important tonal change, although not completely radical, because the tension returns at very key moments that leave you without nails to bite. It is without a doubt a very courageous and worthy decision, although it can throw many out of the film (it almost does for me through outbursts that feel very manufactured and unnatural for what the tape had been building). That you do not fall into complacency and have moments where as a spectator you are forced to reflect and scratch beyond the surface They speak highly of the richness of a filmbeyond its obvious moments of strength and entertainment.
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