AnunconventionalportraitofasmallvillagetrappedoutoftimeandlocatedontheGalicia-Portugalborder,EloyEncisoCachafeiro’sArraianosisoneofthoserarefilmswheredescriptionisinadequate:likethelandscapeofthevillageofArraianositself,it’ssomethingtoexperience.StagedStraubianmomentsoffictionstandalongsidedocumentarymomentsofeverydayvillagelife,withthenameless“actors”farming,sittinginthelocalbarandsingingtraditionalsongsintheirspecificregionaltongueandtellingoldwives’tales.We’reneverfarawayfromnature--thenoisypresenceofanimalsisinescapable--asistheenvelopingforest,aplacethattakesonmythicalqualities.Butstorytellingmaybethekey,asthefilmvisualizesoralhistory--avisualizationthat’sneeded,asatonepoint,whenanolderladystartstosing,thelyricsgounremembered.ThefictionalelementsofthepiececomefromaplaybyMarinhasdelValle,TheForest,writteninthe1960sasaparableofFranco’sdictatorship,butalsoagreatportraitoftheGaliciansoul,theirtragicexistentialism.Thefilm’sdocumentaryelementsthuspresentamorefrontalportraitofthesouloftheseautarkicpeople.Astheseasonschangeandthesignsofapocalypsegrow--afireragesintheforest--onemanpromisessalvation,whileanotherproclaimstheendoftheworldiscoming...Inthismovingwork,memoryfloatsinspace,andawayoflifediesbeforeone’seyes.
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