Fire Will Come

I think it’s really the photography that does so much of the heavy lifting here, set amidst the verdant and pristine Galician hillsides to where “Amador” (Amador Arias) has recently returned. He has been in prison for arson and so isn’t exactly welcome back to his mother’s smallholding where she lives with her dog and three cows. “Benedicta” (Benedicta Sánchez) has the looks of a frail old woman, but she is made of hardy stock and so greets her son back home in a style that rather prevails throughout this whole film. Without fuss, fanfare or much dialogue. Indeed, what passes for conversation is really only present when he chats with the vet “Elena” (Elena Mar Fernández) otherwise we are left to watch as “Amador” tries to fit back into a community that, though not openly hostile, is still wary. What does seem slightly incongruous towards the end is the arrival of another unexplained by deadly conflagration - from amidst what have hitherto been quite a soggy and foggy wintry conditions. It's perhaps that and the consequential actions by the courageous firefighters with leaky hoses and limited water supplies that serves to show an altogether different vulnerability in this largely technology-free community; one that may try to forget but can it really ever forgive? In some ways this has a documentary look to it, and we are given a seat to watch what appears to be an entirely naturally paced glimpse of rustic life with both Abram and Fernández delivering quite a poignant story of rehabilitation in more ways than just the obvious.