‘Irati’: Paul Urkijo brings national fantasy to life with his epic Basque folklore

Paul Urkijo Alijo has become one of the most interesting voices on the national scene. The director, born in Vitoria, has tried to proudly show all the effervescent narrative that Basque mythology can bring in the form of short films and feature films. He has already done it with his debut feature film, ‘Errementari’, where he adapted a folk tale of his land about a blacksmith who scared away the demons themselves due to the wickedness of his soul. Now, Urkijo returns to fantasy, but this time medieval, with ‘Irati’, an epic tale set in the Middle Ages that restores much of its lost dignity to the sword and sorcery genre.

And it is that Urkijo has carved out this position of defender of the genre based on praise and awards. With “Errementari”, Urkijo traveled to Sitges and earned a Goya nomination for best special effects; while with ‘Irati’, the team had several screenings at a multitude of festivals where it won the audience award, most notably, of course, the one at the Sitges Film Festival. With all, Just making a fantasy adventure film should be considered quite an achievement considering how little of the genre is in style in this country.. American blockbusters and comedies for the whole family reign supreme in a box office that is deflating from week to week but which, in turn, still hosts time after time a production that stands out from the established ones and makes an evocative proposition.

In this case, Urkijo is inspired by the graphic novel ‘El ciclo de Irati’, by Jon Muñoz Otaegi and Juan Luis Landa, to tell us the story of Eneko (played by an Eneko Sagardoy who surprised the world with ‘Patria’ and ‘ Handia ‘, as well as ‘Errementari’ itself), a young prince of a valley town whose father gave his life in exchange for defeating Charlemagne’s army who had crossed the Pyrenees to take possession of the territory and establish Christianity. The father, who had made a pact with an ancient goddess (wonderful cameo by Itziar Ituño) to defeat his enemies, ends up being buried next to Charlemagne’s treasure, and his son is determined to find it. For this he will need the help of Irati (played by newcomer Edurne Azkarate), a young pagan from the area.

The first thing that catches the eye about ‘Irati’ is, of course, its stately production design. Already in ‘Errementari’, Urkijo stood out for his strong personality when it came to giving shape to all the gods and monsters of the mythology of the ancient Basque Country. If at his debut Urkijo disguised himself as Guillermo del Toro to reinvent the figure of the devil with practical effects, in ‘Irati’ wears Peter Jackson’s suit to conclude the story of that medieval epic full of magic, swords and gods that is so missing from billboards today. The Vitoria-based director uses the Irati forest itself, located between northern Navarre and the Pyrénées-Atlantiques in southwestern France, to create visually brilliant iconography. The extremely elaborate aesthetic can be discovered in the enormous care taken in the lighting, photography, period costumes or soundtrack. Medieval fantasy adds to its counter another case of overwhelming settings, in size and beauty, as in the case of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ or, more recently, ‘The Green Knight’ and ‘The Man from the North’.

Claim of Euskal Herria

Although the singularity of the landscapes and the importance attributed to them within the story may recall their treatment in Middle-earth, “Irati” also advocates an environmental message and a vindication of nature, as can be seen in another bloody example of epic adventure as “Princess Mononoke”. Even if, despite everything, the reflection that predominates, in addition to one’s love for history itself, is that of acculturation. During the 8th century Christianity spread in a Europe that was falling apart religiously, with a single god monopolizing all prayers. Eneko must fight not only with his enemies, but with his own faith, which will oscillate between the Christian and the pagan. Therefore, Urkijo uses the comic for transferring from cartoons to the big screen an overflowing imagery that speaks of how Basque roots and cultural history can deeply permeate.

This is exactly where “Irati” shines. Urkijo represents the native to export to all parts of Spain (and beyond) the abundant quality you expect within the borders of the Basque Country. Making a risky bet like this is already worthy of praise when one takes into account the difficult reception the genre has in the country or the alternative which is to establish Basque as the primary language. By recruiting Basque actors and actresses, ‘Irati’ proudly demonstrates the strong character of Basque stories and their good work at virtually all levels.

However, ‘Irati’ is not without its weaknesses, however visually impressive it may be. To tell such a strange story, full of lamies, goddesses and cyclops, it is inevitable to have a script that, like its characters, is different, monstrous, amorphous. Urkijo doesn’t follow narrative conventions by trying to keep the essence of the graphic novel, which ends up greatly affecting the pacing of the filmwithout seriously weighing it down, but resulting rather dense and cumbersome in its development.

Summing up, ‘Irati’ is a wonderful commitment to medieval fantasy, that genre so underrated and reviled in this country. A gamble that, one might think, is practically suicidal considering how thankless the prize races with fantasy, sci-fi or terror (as we saw this year in the Oscar nominations) are. However, the second film by the Vitoria director received 5 Goya nominations: best adapted screenplay, original music, original song, costumes and special effects. This fact sets a precedent, not only for Basque productions, but also for the (deserved) possible return of the fantastic sword and sorcery to its maximum level.

Note: 7.

The best: His courage in betting on a genre so unjustly insulted. Its majestic production design, soundtrack and cinematography.

Worse: Its irregular rhythm which ends up making it a bit dense.