© FAKESHEMP.NET
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • MEDIA
    • Videos >
      • Photos
  • GLG
  • Blog
  • Interviews
  • WTF was that?
  • Good Movie Monday
  • About

THE BASTARDS FIG TREE

29/5/2019

1 Comment

 
Picture
​2017 | DIR: ANA MURUGARREN | STARRING: KARRA ELEJALDE, CARLOS ARECES, PEPA ANIORTE, MIKEL LOSADA |
REVIEW BY CHRIS THOMPSON

Picture
Towards the end of the Spanish Civil War, a small band of Falangists (supporters of Franco and the fascists) are moving about the countryside executing those who stand against their leader. Led by the cold, ambitious and steely-eyed Pedro Alberto (Mikel Losada) and responding to information provided by a sleazy lowlife named Ermo (Carlos Areces) the Falangists break into a small country cottage in the pouring rain and drag away a local teacher and his sixteen-year-old son. 
As they do, the teacher’s ten-year-old boy gives the evil eye to Pedro’s offsider, Rogelio (Karra Elejalde) who is so unsettled that he wants to see the boy meet the same fate as his father. Pedro refuses, and they drive away to a nearby field where the teacher and his eldest boy are executed. Unbeknownst to the assassins, the younger son has followed them and witnessed his father’s death. Unable to shake the piercing look of the boy’s stare, Rogelio returns to the field where he encounters Ermo who tells him that the boy single-handedly dug a grave and buried his father and brother. There’ planted in the fresh grave, Rogelio sees a fig sapling, and so his obsession with the boy and the fig tree begins.

So far, this comedy-drama probably sounds like it’s way more drama than comedy, but as the story unfolds the whimsy and the situation grows and the comic nature of the story emerges. Consumed by guilt, and urged on by the Cipriana, the dissatisfied wife of a local official, Rogelio becomes the custodian of the fig tree, keeping watch over it day and night to protect it from the lugubrious and avaricious Ermo as well as his fellow Falangists for whom it becomes a symbol of their dreadful deeds. When the civil war ends and his compatriots all take up positions in the local government, Rogelio and his fig tree become local legends and, with Cipriana’s help, his hermit-like existence takes on a religious status that draws pilgrims from all over. 

Picture
Picture

In addition to directing the film, Murugarren has adapted the screenplay for this lovely fantasy from a novel by Basque writer Ramiro Pinilla. She handles the fine balance between the drama and the comedy with an expertise that makes the story compelling, often to the point of suspense as the stakes associated with the growing fig tree escalate. Elejalde is perfect as the assassin turned saviour and he finds a wonderful place where his existence seems to float between the devotion of the religious pilgrims and the determination of the former Falangists to eradicate both Rogelio and his tree. 

The rest of the cast are equally strong, with Areces’ Ermo being a decidedly nasty little man whose greed continues to grow as the film goes on, until he thinks he gets what he wants in the final desperate and ironically comic image of the film. Losada is chilling as Pedro and his self-centred ambition grows just as much as Ermo’s greed, made all the more unsettling by his Hitleresque sweep of hair and black moustache. And as Cipriana, Pepa Aniorte sits nicely in the background as the true engine of the story, driving Rogelio on to the redemption he so fervently desires. 

The look of the film is rich and lush with beautiful Art Direction from Julius Lázaro and elegant Cinematography by Josu Inchaustegui. This is an unassuming and surprising film that has much to say about the power of guilt and regret as well as forgiveness and the potential for redemption in all of us, even those who have committed terrible deeds. It’s ability to tell a story of death and corruption at the hands of political fanatics whilst poking fun at the flimsy nature of religious zealots is equally due to the astutely judged performance by Elejalde and the deft hand of writer/director Murugarren. Don’t be fooled by the trailer for this film which doesn’t quite capture the tone or the sensibility of the story. Instead, see it for yourself and, hopefully, be as pleasantly surprised as I was.
​

Picture
1 Comment
ANA MURUGARREN FABO link
1/6/2019 04:39:01 am

Love it !! Gracias, amigos!!!

Reply



Leave a Reply.


    OUR WRITERS
    GLENN COCHRANE
    ALYSSA DE LEO
    ALEX MAYNARD
    CHRIS THOMPSON
    SAMANTHA HOWSON​
    Picture

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    September 2010
    April 2010

    RSS Feed

© 2018 FakeShemp.Net    All rights reserved.  FakeShemp.Net Illustrations by MJ Barros. 
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • MEDIA
    • Videos >
      • Photos
  • GLG
  • Blog
  • Interviews
  • WTF was that?
  • Good Movie Monday
  • About