The director Paul Urkijo shoots in the Alava mountain ‘Irati’, an ambitious mythological adventure film with a budget that exceeds 4 million euros called to be the Basque ‘Excalibur’
The south wind has brought the ‘veroño’ to the Alava town of Asparrena, in the natural passage to the Burunda Navarra formed by the Altzania and Entzia mountains. However, when approaching the Cuevas de la Leze, a climbing lover’s paradise, the warm air gives way to a cold smelling of smoke and night, which comes from the bowels of this cavity that crosses the Altzania massif. A saddled horse drinks water from the Artzanegi River. He is Thor, although in the film made by Paul Urkijo (Vitoria, 1984) he is called Itzal (Shadow). Its rider is Eneko Aritza (Oak), called to be the lord of the valley. But first he will have to undertake an initiatory journey full of dangers and mysteries through the hidden forests of the pagan Basque Pyrenees in the 8th century.
We are in the fourth week of filming ‘Irati’, the second feature film by the author of ‘Errementari (The Blacksmith and the Devil)’, who once again relies on Eneko Sagardoy for a fantasy that draws on the Alava director’s love for Basque mythology. The Goya winner for ‘Handia’ caresses his mount and confesses that until recently he did not know how to ride a horse. “It is impressive to go so high and all host … That was already the role, I thought,” recalls Sagardoy, who has spent three months preparing to fight with swords and has gained seven kilos of muscle mass in the gym. He has also grown a beard dyed with red streaks to complete a look that has prevented him from accepting other projects at this time.
The actor Eneko Sagardoy, on a break from filming ‘Irati’. /
That is a lesser evil. I have allowed myself to stop and have both feet in a movie that Paul already told me about five years ago, when we went to present ‘Errementari’ in Madrid ”, explains the actor. His character is the future ‘ibarjaun’ of the area at a time when Christian and Muslim warriors are fighting to recover the mythical treasure of Charlemagne. This is in a deep cave where, according to the locals, inhabits the ancient goddess of those lands, a powerful and terrible fire deity called Mari.
The young Christian nobleman whom Sagardoy gives life has as a mission to find the body of his father, who was buried without respecting Christian rites. He is guided by an enigmatic young woman, Irati (Edurne Azkarate), who takes them into a dark and ancient mythological world ruled by a saying in Basque: “Izena duen guztia omen da”, everything that has a name exists. “We are in a world in transformation, with Islam and Christianity settling in the area”, illustrates Paul Urkijo. «The few pagan lights that exist are going out. And that makes those who believe in other types of deities stop believing and they disappear. It is the twilight of an arcane world, telluric and dark in comparison with the luminous deities that come ».
Director Paul Urkijo to the combo on the set of ‘Irati’. /
With a budget of 4.3 million euros (the film achieved the maximum amount of 1.2 million in aid from the Ministry of Culture in 2020), ‘Irati’ is “a complicated, big film”, according to its author, who has been based on the trilogy of comics ‘The Irati cycle’ (Ed. Glenat), by J. Muñoz Otaegui and Juan Luis Landa at the time of writing the script. “I am inspired by his characters but it has nothing to do with it, I tell other events and put many more characters,” he clarifies. «I saw through that comic the way to tell a story of Basque mythology».
Itziar Ituño, Iñigo Aranbarri, Nagore Aramburu, Elena Uriz, Ramón Agirre and Patxi Bisquert also appear in the cast of a film shot in the Navarrese and Huesca Pyrenees, the Irati Forest, Opakua, a few caves and the Loarre castle, setting from ‘The Kingdom of Heaven’ by Ridley Scott. That is one of the films that Urkijo has taken into account for ‘Irati’, in addition to titles such as’ Braveheart ‘,’ The Vikings’, ‘The Lord of War’, ‘Robin and Marian’, ‘The name of the rose ‘,’ Warrior number 13 ‘,’ Pan’s Labyrinth ‘,’ Lord of the Rings’ and of course ‘Excalibur’. During the filming, the joke of renaming the film ‘Euskalibur’ runs. And watch out for the cameo that a popular Basque chef will make (among the producers is Bainet).
Actress Edurne Azkarate plays Irati. /
“Let’s say it’s a fantasy-historical adventure film with drama, it has everything, ha ha,” laughs Paul Urkijo. «We contemplate the characters from their childhood until they are old. “I have tried to use a magical realism, a more crude and realistic staging than in ‘Errementari'”. At the halfway point of filming they congratulate themselves that the weather has been benign and has not altered the plans. «Practically all the film are exteriors. There are battles with mud in many natural locations, that is why I like it when it is rainy and cold, ”says the director, who will have a year left in post-production afterwards. “The digital effects will blend in with nature,” he trusts.
It is not easy to shoot in a place like the Cuevas de la Leze. Tents have been installed at the entrances to feed the team. There are cables along the trails and a bustle of technicians that fulfills the wishes of Paul Urkijo, who until he gets here admits that he thought of throwing in the towel. “I do not know if I have acquired more poise, but when shooting I am much calmer,” he reflects. Eneko Sagardoy predicts a film “with an incredible texture” that also connects with the present: “In this frenetic pace that we carry, we forget the ground we walk on and the power and vulnerability it has. Look at the volcano on La Palma », he points out. The actor loves to see the director involved. «In the combo he is a child who shouts action as if his life depended on it. I think he feels freer than with his first film ».
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