Via a vignette-esque structure beautifully captured by cinematographer Daniela Cajías, Carla Simón’s sophomore feature, the ‘Golden Bear’-winning “Alcarràs,” is a marvelous depiction of Spain’s agrarian crisis. It showcases the importance of heritage and the erasure of identity through modernization’s cold hammer. It is in equal parts tragic, beautiful, and heartfelt. One is awed by the breadth and brio of Simón’s latest work.
A massive number of filmmakers want to make films based on their childhoods. And although some of them are successful (Alfonso Cuarón’s “Roma“), most are boring, dull, and lack emotion. To be completely honest, I’m pretty bored with them. Each year we get one or two of these. It can be tiresome because they all tackle the same themes (and in the same beats) instead of capturing their youths in another fashion.
How We Love and Hate our Hometowns; Modernization in ‘Alcarràs’
The best types of stories are the ones that reflect how their place of birth changes throughout time. They are a contemplation of how the passage of time has an effect on your homeland. It’s one of the bravest things a director can do—depict their birthplace with all its good and bad spots. Since it is something so near and dear to your heart, capturing the bad aspects doesn’t seem right; one would think that focusing only on the good will help it have more vigor and sentiment. However, that’s not the truth.
There’s a quote from Joe Talbot’s “The Last Black Man in San Francisco” that I always go back to when thinking about home. “You don’t get to hate it unless you love it.” That line by Jimmie Fails’ character resumes most people’s feelings towards their hometown. We may hate some things, but there’s a string attached to our hearts.
And that’s what Carla Simón has done (and more) with her filmography as of today. She has created films that capture the beauty of their respective settings and the sorrows that arise from their narratives, all relating to specific moments in her life. With “Alcarràs,” Simón studies how heritage is essential to one’s growth as a person. It examines the way in which the cold reality of modernization slowly causes an erasure of one’s identity and culture. Simón’s film is in equal parts tragic, beautiful, and heartfelt. It causes the viewer to be in awe of the Spanish filmmaker’s breadth and brio here.
‘Alcarràs’ is a Personal and Humanistic Feature
Modernization and Spain’s agrarian crisis are tackled throughout “Alcarràs.” (Photo courtesy of NYFF).
With this movie (named after a small village in Catalonia), Simón balances intergenerational conflicts with a sensation of impending doom by the hand of modernization. Set in the present day, the film tells the story of the peach farming Solé family. They are being forced to evict their home by a big agriculture and renewable energy company. And although the setting’s modern, there’s a playfulness with its time frame, as the characters are always looking backward.
But why are they focusing on the past if their problems are in the now? Because, even if they try their best to fight off the company kicking them off their property, there’s already a slated future ahead of them, one that they can’t prevent—the “writing is on the wall.” It is heartbreaking to see; we see them engage in protests, along with the other peach farming families around Catalonia. They additionally try to negotiate their way into keeping their homes and jobs for a more extended period of time. Yet, the head of the family already knows that this is a battle they won’t win.
In “Alcarràs,” there are moments where time flattens out. Its characters don’t want to think about a future without their business. Instead, they reminisce about past traditions while contemplating future gnawing problems, putting them in a cadence-induced limbo where time feels like it doesn’t continue.
Revisiting Themes from Simón’s Brilliant ‘Summer 1993’
That theme was present in Simón’s directorial debut, the brilliant “Summer 1993.” It drenches the film in social realism, familiarity, and a dream-like haze via its moments of care and endearment. It uses stillness and quietness as both mechanisms for safety and angst. This family relies on quietness to reflect on what will become of them. Still, this brooding sensation of despair comes from the sounds of the various cranes and bulldozers arriving on the land they cultivate peaches from. The family might have a moment of togetherness and unity to clear their minds from the upcoming cataclysm. In the background, they might hear a deteriorating sound, as if it was haunting them—one that grows stronger by the minute.
Intergenerational conflicts are ever present, with clashes between the old and young family members. Some of these clashes come from defiance or frustrations toward the situation and future transition. For some reason, it reminds me of the reason why James Gray made “Armageddon Time.” He took his children to his hometown and didn’t recognize a single thing there; all the bits and pieces from his recollections were long gone. The image you had is starting to feel like a fixation from your imagination.
Carla Simón’s “Alcarràs” is both a personal and empathy-laden production. (Photo: IMDb).
As stinging as it may be, that’s what is in store for the future of the Solé family. They will share stories from the past to future generations, but the images will start to blur because they are being torn apart by rampaging bulldozers, both literally (in the field) and figuratively (their mental states amidst this crisis). And the film’s ending hits as hard as a sledgehammer trying to knock on their house’s walls. What “Alcarràs” does is riveting, thanks to the skill of the film’s crew (notably Cinematographer Daniela Cajías and Editor Ana Pfaff), and the actors that play the various family members are exceptional.
A Truly Heartbreaking Piece of Work
They truly made us feel as if they were an actual family, a facet that Simón excels in. Her acting direction to create humanistic and touching performances is just top-notch. “Alcarràs” is a lament on Spain’s agrarian crisis; it depicts this via the perspective of a family going through an inevitable progression cursed by modernization. Significant shifts are coming to them and the death of what they did as a living, but will there be a potential for rebirth? Will they ever see the light of day in a new workspace?
That’s why “Alcarràs” hurts even more when you keep thinking about it and its climax. Simón’s features are always personal, humanistic, and contained enough to have a more profound impact on the viewer. It’s a beautiful study of heritage and inheritance and a portrayal of how modernization has cursed the hard-working class. She fills her film with empathy and lament toward the people who have lost their jobs because of similar scenarios. Simón’s latest is truly a heartbreaking piece of work.
“Alcarràs” is part of our continuing coverage of the 2022 New York Film Festival (NYFF).
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