No Goya awards ceremony should go without dissension, but the division rarely means something bad, on the contrary, it is a sign of good health of Spanish cinema that we should celebrate. The 9 awards for ‘As Bestas’ in the 2023 edition have been well accepted by many, although there are factions that insist that it should have been more distributedby way of various consolation prizes for other films that others believe deserved more.
The truth is that if we analyze it coldly, the 9 Goyas of ‘As Bestas’ hurt some because they are, for the most part, the truly important ones, but if we take into account that quality television films such as ‘Handía’ or ‘Akelarre’ came to take 10 and 5 busts respectively, the 9 of Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s are even scarce given the importance of the work in the context of Spanish cinema . There are not so many times the Academy has done so much justice with the award for best film.
‘Cell 2011’, ‘La isla mínima’ or ‘Tarde para la ira’ are films that have managed to connect with popular culture and transcend beyond just recognition, as was the case with ‘The Girls’ or ‘Dolor and Gloria’, and in the case of ‘As Bestas’ it becomes a perfect hybrid of that case. The recognition is very unanimous in the critics and it was confirmed with the publicso it is a very logical movement that the awards row in favor of certainty: ‘As Bestas’ is the Spanish film of the year and no matter how high the level is, not certifying it from the Academy would be a mistake.
‘Cinco Little Wolves’ is a surprise, but it is not a work of maturity. ‘La maternal’ follows a rising trend of Pilar Palomero, but suffers from the same “Second film syndrome after the Goya” who lived León de Aranoa, Achero Mañas or Pablo Berger, not only that it is more difficult to win when you have a recent one, but it is noticeable that your next work pales in comparison to the most remembered. More complex is the case of ‘Modelo 77’, a very good film by Alberto Rodríguez, which follows his tendency towards solid and fascinating cinema, but does not change his pattern much.
The problems of empty Spain compared to those of owners
Despite the fact that it has been compensated in minor categories, some in which it was not the best either, such as the special effects section, the film brings close memories of ‘Cell 211’, and although it has enough distance from that one, the redundancy is not is usually well appreciated. For many the great competitor was ‘Alcarrás’ by Carla Simón, also a small box office phenomenonbut separated by more than a million euros from that of Sorogoyen, with which, in addition, it shares a common and current theme, the participation of the large electric companies in the “technological gentrification” of the countryside.
Regardless of whether or not ‘Alcarrás’ is a good family drama treated almost like a documentary, whether its images are sincere or the result of the curious gaze of someone far removed from the world they are trying to portray, the dilemma it poses is tremendously Manichaean and even questionable. It is very good to vindicate small producers, but the villainization of renewable energy, as if it were not a necessary “evil” for sustainability, much more respectful of the land than irrigation and land exploitation, is very poor and remote of a much more complex reality.
However, that same dilemma in ‘As Bestas’, where to begin with it is located in a land abandoned by the governments, outcast and much poorer, without resources or alternatives, is treated from a different perspective. Here there is no alternative to cultivation, such as the maintenance of solar panels, within the reach of the local population, which differs from wind power, which requires much more specific training. with what the option for those remaining in Satoalla is to take it or leave it, a factor that adds dimension to his black chronicle story.
Rural conflicts with gray scale dimensions
In ‘As bestas’ a specific case is dealt with, but it explains a bigger problem, it uses a real crime to unravel a dilemma in which many factors come into play. A foreign couple who want to cultivate and take care of the land and a local family who consider this destination as a sentence, because they are fed up with an abandonment that forces them to escape, but at least with compensation that they cannot access because of two people who are not even from the area. The script by Isa Peña and Sorogoyen draws a status quo full of nuances.
With the voice of Luís Zahera, it is difficult not to find a perfect villain, a man who terrifies even his domino companions, who does not represent, as has been said, the rural world and its retrograde population, but how in the most remote areas forgotten it is easier for manipulative and petty people to implant their strength through fear. However, the film gradually makes us understand his situation, until we reach a monologue in the bar in which we fall from the illusion what if they really are the ones who are right?
The figure of the electric companies is still not seen in a positive way, something that required a good study of how the transformation benefits or not in an area in the long term with environmental evaluation studies approved by specialists, or the convenience of ignoring that both situations can occur at the same time, but at least ‘As Bestas’ is not reductionist or childish when dealing with the complexity of the dilemma, with edges of characters that represent very different positions around them that the viewer can understand without being manipulated.
A black thriller, with well-camouflaged paths of reflection
Sorogoyen and Peña use a thriller/neowestern hybrid with tension, good dialogue, and key use of the soundtrack, moving from the Spanish Gothic inherited from ‘Furtivos’ or ‘Los Santos Inocentes’ to dealing with the current situation of emptied Spain, the difficult solutions of the rural that in other territories are not so much of a problem, at most changing traditions and ways of life not necessarily beneficial for that land that they seem to defend so much. Here there is much more truth and awareness in his images, full of power and meaning in new viewings.
Another of the dilemmas posed by the victory of ‘As Bestas’ is the lack of recognition of films directed by women, since this year there were three nominees, compared to the two directed by men, a tricky issue of mixing representation with the results on screen, but whose complaints in this case also hide a somewhat sneaky contempt for Isa Peñaalso awarded precisely here for her work on the script, as important as Sorogoyen’s, and which leaves its mark with the leading role of women from the countryside who take over the film in its last act.
And it is the second Goya for Sorogoyen, yes, but we are doubting that one of the most international and constant directors of our cinema will be recognized. someone behind ‘Riot gear’ and that he did not have any Goya for best film in his filmography given for study. In the case of ‘May God forgive us’, in which ‘Late for Wrath’ won, it is understandable, but in the case of ‘The Kingdom’ it was surpassed by… ‘Champions’ time has passed its sentence. Excuses, allegations and discrepancies can be made, but for ‘As Bestas’ not to have won this year would be simply ridiculous.