This Catalan film has such a strong sense of place that it almost feels like it’s cheating. It features scenic shots of a beautiful farm, a cast of characters that spans multiple generations of the same family, and is absolutely crammed with cultural details specific to the region of Alcarràs. In short, it’s a prime exemplar of my previously stated dictum that films should be as local as possible. It can feel a little underwhelming given that there are no great insights on offer here. It’s all about showing what daily life is like to the farmers of the region and what their contemporary concerns but that’s just how I like it.
It’s summer in Alcarràs, Catalonia and so the children are on holiday while the adult members of Solé family are busy with the harvest. However while they have been farming peaches there for many decades, they don’t own the land. Instead the rich Pinyol family agreed to let them farm it to repay the Solés for sheltering them during the civil war. Now the newest generation of the Pinyols want the land back and the Solé have no legal protection as the original agreement was a verbal one. The Pinyols want to use the land to host solar panels instead and propose hiring the Solé family members to maintain the panels. The current head of the family Quimet is vehemently opposed, not wanting to give up his way of life and learn the new skills needed to run a solar panel installation. The grandfather Rogelio keeps recounting the story of the two families and wants a reconciliation. Other scenes depict ordinary life on the farm, the eldest son Roger hunting the rabbits that they consider pests, the eldest daughter Mariona trying to be hip and fashionable with her friends, and much more. Tension further rises when another branch of the family agrees to the deal with the Pinyols and allow the solar panels in.
The plot about the family losing their farm is the main source of conflict in the film but it’s only one small part of what is really a broad depiction of farm life in Catalonia. Obviously I’m no expert but all this feels convincingly authentic to me. The cast is composed of non-professional actors, the language used is Catalan and it really was filmed within a single summer harvesting season in the region where it is set. The images are fantastic and not just because everything is postcard-perfect. The shots of their house and their orchard are beautiful of course, but there are also scenes of Roger partying at night, of Quimet picking up African migrants in town to help with the harvest, of the younger children playing with anything they can get their hands on, and much more. There are all kinds of conflict in addition to the main one: Roger secretly growing his own marijuana plants in a hidden grove, Quimet arguing with his sister from the city, the family gossiping about the Pinyols. I loved small details of how they eat, how they try to sell every part of their harvest, including turning the peaches into preserves, and how much work it involves for everyone.
The best thing about the film is its light touch as it refrains from making any heavy judgments. Director Carla Simón obviously sympathizes with the farmers and part of the film certainly is about family-run farms disappearing in favor of larger, corporation-run farms. Yet clearing the land in favor of solar panels isn’t an obviously bad project if that’s what creates more value. Quimet’s anger and his family’s poignant sense of loss is understandable but from the way that the other side of the family embraces the change, it also suggests that life goes on. On a more personal level, I feel that the Pinyols did indeed let them farm on the land for decades. It isn’t obvious to me that the permission extends in perpetuity to future generations. It seems to me Quimet could have worked out some kind of compromise with them, as their grandfather Rogelio wants, if he wasn’t so set in his ways and insistent on his inalienable rights.
By being so hands off, this film doesn’t really rouse intense emotions, but this works very well for me. I loved this as an authentic and detailed depiction of life on a small, family-run farm in Catalonia. It’s beautifully shot, it shows them in a sympathetic light without being overbearing in its romanticism and it places them within the context of modern concerns. As many others have observed, there is now a worsening conflict between the green goals set by many countries and the needs and lifestyles of rural residents in Europe. Even within this film itself, we can see how their way of life depends heavily on vehicles and heavy machinery that run on fossil fuels. This film sides with the farmers of course and it is certainly sad to see them losing their farm. But it also honestly shows how the world is changing around them and I find that very commendable.