Image of ‘Irati’. /
Great magical myths of Basque culture are present in a beautiful adventure that has dazzled the audience at the Sitges International Festival
Go ahead, having filmmakers like Paúl Urkijo Alijo in the Basque Country is a privilege. The affection with which the filmmaker from Vitoria reflects his passion for Basque mythology is worthy of applause. His second film, ‘Irati’, presented in Sitges with excellent reviews and good reception by the public, once again delves into the most fantastic side of our culture, projecting it internationally, after powerfully attracting attention with ‘Errementari’, based on the classic story ‘The blacksmith and the devil’. Seasoned behind the camera with a multitude of award-winning short films, he shoots in Basque and shapes his stories from legends and immortal characters in our memory. “Izena duen guztia, ba da”, “everything that has a name exists”, is the basis of a magical period story filmed with exquisite taste with photography by Gorka Gómez Andreu.
Never before have the landscapes that surround us been seen with such majesty. The play with light is excellent, also indoors, illuminating an exceptional setting where Nerea Torrijos’ wardrobe shines, awarded a Goya for her work in ‘Akelarre’, with some risky solutions. Everything marries in a visual spectacle where music underlines the most emotional moments of a proposal that appeals to the senses. Maite Arroitajauregi and Aránzazu Calleja, also winners of a Goya, sign an original soundtrack that covers the acting work of Eneko Sagardoy, whose strength within the frame makes one tremble inside. He is accompanied by debutant Edurne Azkarate, with a promising future. Her role, the mysterious Irati who gives the incident its name, is the most singular of a love story that leaves a mark and offers the audience an important display of means, with overwhelming visual effects, typical of a production of the height of sword and sorcery.
‘Irati’ will see the light in theaters in February of next year. It is an adventure film, with a romantic base that is closer to ‘Legend’ than to ‘Excalibur’, little to do with the recent ‘The Northman’ and its sense of the epic, here less faked, more earthy and extraordinary. The film, written by Urkijo Alijo himself freely inspired by the comic ‘El Ciclo de Irati’ (Juan Luis Landa and J. Muñoz Otaegui), begins with a bloody battle that sets the bar high. The amazing final pyrotechnics do not leave anyone indifferent, when Mother Nature reveals herself to be imposing, emphasizing a powerful humanistic and ecological message, fully current. She causes a chill. It is the eighth century, when Christianity is understood by Europe overwhelming any pagan belief. Witches and amazing creatures inhabit the mountains and the heart of the forest. Interacting with them is inevitable for the protagonists, with some unexpected surprises. Magical pacts, conspiracies and revelations merge in an embrace. What matters are the sensations.
It should be noted that ‘Irati’ had its grand premiere in Sitges on the same day that another Basque production was presented with excellent results, ‘Unicorn Wars’. They are two completely different visions aesthetically, but both bets criticize the drift of our species. The health of our cinema, creatively speaking, is remarkable. That two such different films coexist is one more sign of the suggestive artistic moment in which we live. The passionate Urkijo Alijo has taken five years to raise and premiere his latest work, but he has succeeded, he has reached the finish line catching his breath and can already savor success. Hopefully it won’t take so long to dazzle the audience again. ‘Irati’ will inaugurate the San Sebastian Horror and Fantasy Film Week, the ideal setting to advance ground at the box office.
#Criticism #Irati #closer #Legend #Excalibur