Direction: Carla Simón
Country: Spain
Alcarrás is an aptly mounted and realistic drama that, even without echoing long after its ending, deals passively with a family of peach farmers confronted with modern day’s changes under the veil of progression. Facing eviction from the land they’ve been cultivating for ages and losing their game to big companies and economic interests, the Solés have their livelihood threatened in the small rural village of Alcarrás in Catalonia.
In order to make her sophomore feature more genuine, director Carla Simón chose to work with non-professional actors, inhabitants of this region of Spain who speak a very specific Catalan dialect. The relatively extensive ensemble cast in this film mirrors her own family, and it is by measuring the impact on family that she finds the heart of her film. She aims right but without surprise. There's a touch of contrivance to the set-up, but the performances strike some balance between heartfelt and hand-wringing. We have seen this before and done better, and yet, the intention is sincere if not too soulful or demonstrative.
The personality of each adult comes to fore, while the children, always getting in the middle of things and living in their own world, create more friction during an extremely difficult situation. The actors end up being the true catalyzers of the story.
Faithful to a naturalistic approach, Simón engages in repetitive scenarios to give substance to the sad reality of an incomprehensible precariousness.
