Araya

Biraz Flaherty, biraz Yenigerçekçilik, biraz cinema verité ve hatta biraz Bunuel (Las hurdes, evet). Sonuç bir tür meditatif, hipnotik, eşi benzeri olmayan bir başyapıt.

Araya estreava há 65 anos no Festival de Cannes. Onde a Margot Benacerraf esteve por toda a minha vida? THIS IS CINEMA. Cinema da América Latina não dá pra ficar melhor do que isso. YouTube ( https://youtu.be/aGxd_BehMKI )

You can do without the would-be literate, corny narration, coz the rest of it is riveting, even visually. Best VEN movie ever? Best I've seen.

A poetic approach to poverty where the imagery is beautiful and the work is harsh but purposeful. The good amount of narration describing the workers and their tasks and all the surrounding work in the town gives a pretty full portrait of their daily grind. It doesn't romanticize things but doesn't get despondent about it either. Being made in the 50s gives it a different perspective than if it were made today. It does lack a bit of depth and bite, but I didn't find that to be a major drawback.

Some of the best looking photography you'll ever see. Just pure beauty and sweat. Not far off from those Soviet flicks I adore.

"Araya is an artifactual account of human sweat that aims for pithy sympathy but strikes a far more bewitching bull's-eye." - Joseph Jon Lanthier