Fire Will Come (2019) User Reviews

The truth 24 times a second

[hof-4 · 8/10 · 12 June 2021]

The title O Que Arde means "what burns," which has been translated as "The Fire will Come" with some change of meaning. Yes, there is a plot but it could be told in a couple of lines and is not important after all. What we watch in this movie is life in a small town in Galicia, in the northwest corner of Spain. The language is mostly Galician with a few Spanish interpolations. Actors are local people, play themselves with their own names and go about their everyday chores apparently oblivious to the camera. The are glimpses of Galicia's reality such as migration of young people to the cities, excessive logging of forests, dedicated firemen with woefully few resources, a villager trying to improve a ruined dwelling into a casa rural (rural house) fit for prospective tourists. The climate is mild and rainy but the summers are dry, facilitating forest fires that are sometimes the result of arson. Both the melancholic winter landscapes and the summer fires are strikingly put on screen.

Director and scriptwriter Oliver Laxe, scriptwriter Santiago Fillol and cinematographer Mauro Herce have joined forces to produce a masterpiece where the boundary between living and acting is blurry and where we find ourselves in the middle of the action for the duration of the movie. An exceptional work that makes us reflect on the nature of cinema.

It looks great but feels incomplete as a whole

[nikxatz · 6/10 · 27 December 2019]

This film won the Golden Alexander at Thessalonki International Film Festival and I had the chance to watch it there. It looked great, so why not give it a shot?

After watching it my thoughts are mixed. Yes, if you are a cinematography freak, you will adore this one. The shots are really natural and provoke a sense of awe for the pure and unprocessed beauty of nature and it is a great portrayl of the nver-ending love-hate realtionship between humanity and nature and how this two great forces will always collide and crush onto one another. We depend on nature and nature depends on us. I really loved some of the images and I have to say that this film is a great example of tone consistency, even if the tone of the film is not for everyone. I don't have a problem with slow films, because there's usually something intriguing to watch in those like, a character study or in this case a variety of shots of the nature. A lto of films have a tendency to loose their tone and to become meaningless and messy but this one never forgets its goal and that's why it got my interest. That and the fact that around that time I was really hyped up for a reason and even if I tried to sleep, it would a lot of effort. The sound and images serve for a visual feast of gorgeous shots of trees, lakes, animals and people gazing at their greatness and scale.

As for the characters, well the main character was really interesting and by the end of the film his story feels complete yet sad and tragic and I felt really bad for him. His character serves as a storng remind that the past will always haunt us and will affect the present. the way the society and our realtives treat us and our view of life. It is a true struggle to prove to others that things have changed and you actually end up being followed by your wrongs.But people that really love you, also forgive you and care for you and accept you. It is a great concept for a film and it was pretty well done.

The thing about the film is that it felt kind of all over the place and I assure you that evne if I watched 2 months ago, I remember really little form the film. Yes, everything looked great and there was a sense of interest and empathy for the main character, but the film lacked a drama, a tension, a sense of events taking place. It feels like the first 1 hour we view beautiful shots and then the last act is the plot.And the parts were characters interact feel great. I loved the scene where the main acotr talks to a woman and Leonard Cohen's mesmerizing "Suzanne". The song fits so much to the scene and I got a sense of authentic immesuarble beauty and warmness in my heart from this scene, even it was just about two characters driving will this song plays. The images are perfrect, the song is beautful and I loved how hte scene feels like a breath of freshn air compared to the more moody dark tone of the film. I guess if you realllyy get into the film's atmosphere and themes you will love it. It is defenately a gorgeous experience, but if it had a more present structure and we got5 to meet the characters more and observe hteir conversaitons, I would probably have apprecieted the story and characters more. It is powerful and expressive ,though, but it lacks a clarity and order which would help me to feel it more.

6 or 7 not sure

Says so much with few words

[MarcoParzivalRocha · 8/10 · 16 July 2020]

The story of Amador, who returns to his village in Galicia, after 2 years imprisoned by arson. This film is 80% cinematography, filmed in a beautiful 16mm, with long shots of the mountains, village houses, animals, and impressive images of a fire (the team is to be congratulated for the realism of it). The narrative has a slow pace, almost no development from the first act until the end, but I believe that that was the goal of Oliver Laxe, to portray the calmness and loneliness of country life. The short and cold dialogues are the reflexion of a community that is not given to affections, but always united in tragedy.

An agreeable and interesting rural drama with splendid cinematography and nice acting

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 14 December 2021]

An attractive and sensitive story with two unexperienced but good protagonists and including gorgeous outdoors from Galicia . Rural tale set in wonderful landscapes , nicely starred by Amador Arias and Benedicta Sánchez , being compellingly directed by Oliver Laxe . Amador (Amador Arias) goes back home in an undetermined mountain located in the province of Lugo to join his beloved aging mummy (Benedicta Sánchez) after serving a sentence of various years for arson . He's paroled due to he previously fired an entire mount . He attempts to adapt to daily farm life and facing with the villagers' records of his past actions.

This is an enjoyable and intense rural drama that follows Amador , a forty-something arsonist crammed with social habits , family life and a particular relationship between two strange characters . Its style is pretty much rural and realistic as well in the atmosphere as in the fresh dialog . This film describes the rural life , including a character studio of local people and an enjoyable relationship between an outbeat son and his silent mother , along with other villagers . This provoking drama to be a deep reflection about the human being , pardon and redemption . Well played by newcomer Amador Arias as a strange man who not having friends, money or other resources, along the way he attempts to lead his life caring the livestock of the farm , while the elderly Benedicta Sánchez is terrific as his mother who's looking for a job for him , in the hope that her intimate son can at least to have an ordinary life.

Good production design and correctly reflecting the atmosphere by that time and excellent location . Splendid photography with juicy atmosphere by Mauro Herce , a great cameramen of the Spanish cinema . Being appropriately filmed on location , showing one colorful filming from Navia de Suarna, Lugo, Ourense, Ourense, Verín, Ourense, Galicia, Xinzo, Ourense, Galicia, northwest to Spain and Tapia de Casariego, Asturias. Likewise , evocative and spiritual musical score along with the classic song Suzanne Written and performed by Leonard Cohen Produced by John Simon . This motion picture ¨O que Arde¨or "Lo que Arde" in Spanish, or "What It Burns" was well directed by Oliver Laxe . He is a director and actor, known for Mimosas (2016), Lo que arde (2019) and Todos vosotros sois capitanes (2010). The picture won several awards and nominations , such as : Cannes Film Festival 2019 Winner Un Certain Regard Jury Prize : Oliver Laxe. Chicago International Film Festival 2019 Winner Best Sound Design , best sound mixer , sound editor : Silver Hugo, David Machado , Xavier Souto ; Nominee Gold Hugo Best Feature : Oliver Laxe. Cinema Writers Circle Awards, Spain 2020 Nominee CEC Award Best Cinematography : Mauro Herce , Best New Actress : Benedicta Sánchez , Best Original Screenplay : Santiago Fillol. Días de Cine Awards 2020 Nominee Best Spanish Film. Nominee Feroz Award Best Film: Drama : Miramemira ,Kowalski Films , Best Screenplay : Oliver Laxe , Santiago Fillol, Best Trailer and Best Poster . Gaudí Awards 2020 Winner Best Cinematography Mauro Herce , Best European Oliver , Santiago Fillol as writer . Goya Awards 2020 Winner Goya Best New Actress Benedicta Sánchez , Best Cinematography Mauro Herce , Nominee Goya Best Director Oliver Laxe . Hainan International Film Festival 2019 Winner Golden Coconut Special Jury Prize Oliver Laxe , Nominee Golden Coconut Best Feature Film , Mar del Plata Film Festival 2019 Winner Best FilmInternational Competition Oliver Laxe , Winner Best Screenplay Santiago Fillol ,among others .

Okay

[pasaribuharisfadli · 7/10 · 27 January 2022]

Its familiar slow cinema/rural drama aesthetic without adding something new curb Fire Will Come to be more than just... okay. Still a decent watching with some profound message tho.

Pure power

[kuzkinholis · 10/10 · 14 October 2019]

Pure power of audiovisual language, showing the essence of the human being thru silence

Galicia in a nutshell

[axapvov · 8/10 · 20 August 2021]

I've heard somewhere than only a local story can be truly universal, well, this is absolutely rooted in Galicia and it's as complete a portrait as can be, from rain to sun, beauty, calmness, wisdom, loneliness and everything in between, every movement has a true resonance. It subtly ranks the region's alleged common enemies with a deep understanding: tourism, eucalyptus, fire and, ultimately, people.

To someone knowing the region this might even be redundant but there's more to it than the hipnotic flow of nature and things. It's an excellent film.

Slow burn with not much payoff

[omendata · 5/10 · 25 November 2021]

This was a dreary effort posturing itself as some sort of artistic work but in reality it has little substance and most people will just find it a bit boring.

Coupled with that, there is no resolving of the main characters guilt or not and leaves it up tot he viewer to work it out but in this case it just falls a bit flat.

A movie so silent but conveys a lot

[rakeshroy31 · 9/10 · 13 October 2019]

A wonderful poignant movie with a loud and clear message that is so relevant in today's age. It portrays the simple but traumatic life of Amador and his mother. Cinematography is just breathtaking ...

Isolation & Mental Anguish...

[Xstal · 1/10 · 2 February 2022]

... which is exactly how you will feel as a viewer if you're brave enough to venture down this isolated path to find there's very little, in fact absolutely nothing worth exploring, that is if you do make it to the end.

Slow movie. Very little plot. Not much dialog.

[behonk-17104 · 3/10 · 29 March 2021]

It's a slow moving movie from beginning to end. And it doesn't have much of an ending.