Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Errementari: The Blacksmith and the Devil




 
Errementari: The Blacksmith and the Devil
2017
Director- Paul Urkijo Alijo
Cast- Kandido Uranga, Uma Bracaglia, Eneko Sagardoy, Ramón Aguirre, Josean Bengoetxea, Gotzon Sanchez, Aitor Urcelai, Maite Bastos
From Spain
            
    A fairy tale from the Basque Country in Spain, it was produced by Alex de Iglesia who directed El Dia de Bestia. This is a true fairy tale complete with the imagery, tone, morality, and folklore of a Brothers Grimm tale.
            
    The fairy tale was often the horror story of its day. One of the things I like about fairy tales is that the evil is always tangible. It’s not an abstract concept; it’s a real person in a real place. The evil isn’t some malleable, culturally relative idea. It’s always evil. The witch from Hansel and Grettle is a child stealing cannibal. No amount of sensitivity or retrospection is going to change our mind about her.
           
    A little girl with a burned face is a bit of an outcast in her town. She is an orphan who has been taunted her whole life, being told that her mother is in Hell for committing suicide. Out in the forest is a reclusive blacksmith whose temperament is so cruel, it drove his wife to suicide. Of course, the blacksmith isn’t entirely alone. He keeps, locked up in a cage, a demon from Hell. The little girl stumbles onto this along with a group of townspeople who believe that the blacksmith keeps a horde of gold hidden away.
            
    The demons and devils of this film look fantastic. Especially nice is a trip to Hell, complete with a parade of sinners, tormented by demons, pouring through its gates. The movie has a medieval esthetic evoking Gustav Dore and Hieronymous Bosch. There is a minimum of CGI, relying on realistic looking make-up and prosthetics.
            
     More than its look, the film is charming like a fairy tale. It is spirited and takes chances. This is the first feature length film for director Paul Urkijo Alijoa and it has that spark and ingenuity that you only see in young directors that have that burning desire to tell stories. A beautiful film and I highly recommend it.




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