By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Elena López Riera
Starring: Alberto Olmo | Bárbara Lennie | Luna Pamiés | Nieve de Medina
Country: france, spain, switzerland
Year: 2022
Running time: 104
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14300504/reference/
Brett says: ”
This first feature from director Elena López Riera is part fable within a fable in which a small Valencia village is ravaged by generational floods. The legend behind the floods framing the story within is tied to a yearning from the river that runs through the town and wishes to get inside a young ‘bride’ of the current generation that it can eventually take for itself, a sort of sacrifice to the water in exchange for the water’s mercy.
“Young Ana hears this story from an early age, and as she approaches womanhood, the fear of subjecting the village and those loved ones around her to the river’s wrath hovers over her. The question remains whether she will live her own life or sacrifice herself to the waters.
“At play here is an allegory of one’s love/hate relationship with the concept of home. Roots can be prison bars as much as they are foundations for growth. Water is an essential for life and growth, but it can also be one of the most destructive forces on earth via flooding. As people search for personal identity, some develop an urge to roam, but confinement to the land that defined them in their formative years can end up overruling such urges.
“The physical geography of the film is shot and established in such a way as to capture the metaphor of being bound or unable to fully escape one’s home, which is also matched by the dominant flood motif therein. The characterization also lends itself to a sense of belonging among friends and cliques, but even with that sense of affirmation and support comes a group-wide fascination for what more must be out there, outside of familiarity, if they were not trapped by their familiarity with each other and the town.
“The mythos of the waters ingrained in the film raises questions of destiny and fatalism versus one’s quest for freedom and free will.
“Working against the film are a few missteps with characterization. Some relationship-building scenes are heavily trope-reliant rather than matching the inventiveness of the local lore that pulses in the background. There are also character shifts that feel rushed, forced, and even a bit random in particular moments as if simply getting to the end goal of the film took precedent over the layers of how to get to the end goal.
“The themes within are universal and approached in a unique way. A little more care with a few of the character arcs within would’ve added more to the overall effectiveness. 3 cats out of 5“
“Screened at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival”