The moving and sensitive feature debut by Alauda Ruiz de Azúa, which hits theaters on May 20, explores themes such as motherhood, illness and the weight of family inheritance
It is the film that everyone talks about at the Malaga Festival. ‘Cinco lobitos’, the feature debut by Alauda Ruiz de Azúa (Barakaldo, 1978), has moved critics and viewers alike for its sensitivity, modesty and precision when exploring topics such as motherhood, illness and the weight of family heritage. Shot for the most part in Bakio and Mundaka, the film was already seen in the non-competitive Panorama section of the last Berlin Festival. Now she is emerging as the main favorite to win the Biznaga de Oro in Malaga this Saturday, a festival that in recent years has discovered the most relevant female voices of the new Spanish cinema. ‘Cinco lobitos’ would thus join titles such as ‘Verano 1993’, by Carla Simón, which this year won the Golden Lion with ‘Alcarràs’, also seen in Malaga, ‘Las Distancias’, by Elena Trapé, and ‘Las Niñas ‘, by Pilar Palomero.
The actress Laia Costa bears the weight of the story in the shoes of Amaia, a 35-year-old mother for the first time and overwhelmed, who, still sore from her stitches, faces the challenges of caring for a newborn. In addition to breastfeeding little Jone and discovering that sleeping seems like a pipe dream, the protagonist also has to put up with her parents, who have come to Madrid to lend her a hand. Susi Sánchez with an accent embodies one of those surly and resolute Basque mothers, while a superb Ramón Barea nuances his character of a man not accustomed to expressing his feelings. “Your aita has been a good father and a lousy husband,” the mother snaps at her daughter. Mikel Bustamante plays the father of the creature, almost always absent due to his work as theatrical technician.
‘Cinco lobitos’, which will hit theaters on May 20 from distributor BTeam Pictures, begins by looking at itself with a smile. Any father or mother will recognize themselves in the exhausted protagonist, helpless in the face of the continuous crying of the girl and alone, almost always alone. The first time you go to the ER with your child in your arms, the park world, the hell of the first few weeks for a freelancer, who realizes that conciliation is impossible… However, Alauda Ruiz de Azúa does not limit her debut feature to a sharp analysis of motherhood and upbringing. Impotent and on the verge of postpartum depression, Amaia decides to change Madrid for her beautiful coastal town and go live with her family for a while. She will discover that, at a certain age, we take care of our children and also of our parents, who can be strangers to us. We continue a legacy and, although it weighs us down, we recognize ourselves in our parents and we cannot escape the affective inheritance of the family.
The director Alauda Ruiz de Azúa at the Malaga Festival.
Living in Madrid for a long time, mother of a six-year-old boy, Alauda Ruiz de Azúa acknowledges that there are autobiographical elements in the film she has written and directed. “There are experiences, but they are very organized,” she clarifies. «I don’t usually say that it is autobiographical, but I took good note of sensations and details during my motherhood. I also took into account stories of friends who were at the same time as me. I was obsessed with giving the film a real-life texture, making everything feel everyday and naturalistic.” That is one of the main merits of ‘Cinco lobitos’, that nothing stands out or is melodramatic. We understand what it means to have a child in Spain of precariousness, the renunciation of professional dreams when reality prevails, the importance that parents acquire by forming your character, even if they do not support it…
“As a filmmaker, I like that magic whereby the viewer becomes an invisible witness to other people’s lives,” explains this admirer of Yasujiro Ozu and Hirokazu Kore-eda’s cinema. «I wanted things to happen on an emotional level, even if they were disguised as everyday. We worked a lot with the actors to capture that in a discreet way and make the viewer feel inside that house, in a privileged place. Normally we don’t see how people argue, how hard it is for them to tell each other according to what things. It’s a very respectful intimacy.” ‘Five Little Wolves’ is, of course, the story of a Basque family, not very nice or accustomed to verbalizing their feelings. Hence, when a loophole appears through which feelings slip through, the emotion of law arises. Like the wonderful scene in which Ramón Barea sings Mikel Laboa’s ‘Txoria txori’ during a meal.
Laia Costa in ‘Five Little Wolves’.
“It is a contained family, very much from the north, the archetype that I have known,” Alauda agrees. «It is a generation that understood affection from another place. For them, affection is taking care of people, being strong and, when something happens, facing it with great integrity. That way of not talking about things collides with my generation, which has been more childish, has grown up later. There will be those who think that men are not very well off in the film, oblivious to parenting before and now. “I have had some comment in that sense,” he acknowledges. “Now there is a tendency to read everything in a very political key. I bet more on personal relationships, on the intimate, I have not worked the film as a political manifesto. These male characters reflect true stories that I know, fathers who try to do well but work relationships do not allow it. Or parents of another older generation who do not even know where to start because of the education they have received. I have been self-employed for a long time, I know the fear of not being called. In the current conciliation, they almost always pay more labor toll ».
In ‘Cinco lobitos’, according to its author, “there are no good guys or bad guys, villains or victims, but people who try to do their best and sometimes make the wrong decisions.” As in real life, the protagonists manage and discover “that things are not fixed in two days.” Are we better parents than ours? “Each generation lives according to its immediate reality,” replies the director. “When time passes it is easier to judge them, and I prefer to understand them, because many times they did the best they could.”
The ‘Cinco lobitos’ team at the Malaga Festival.
With a degree in English Philology from the University of Deusto and a diploma in Directing from the Film School of the Community of Madrid (ECAM), Ruiz de Azúa has extensive experience in advertising and short films. All this background has served him to face the long jump with ease, stopping at her work with some superb actors, who will undoubtedly appear in the next Goya nominations. It is worth as proof of the work done that little Jone is embodied throughout her growth by seven different girls. “I couldn’t have written this story right out of Film School. I felt that I arrived on set with a technical and professional maturity. And I allowed myself the risk and freedom of trying to find my voice as a filmmaker, without staying in a safe and conventional place. Cinema is beautiful when there is a search and things come up. After her visit to Berlin and Malaga, Alauda Ruiz de Azúa already considers herself an award winner. “One thing I have learned from being a mother is that you do not have to make many plans, but go from day to day.”
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