L'Échappée sauvage

Weren't a lot of the original 'spaghetti' westerns shot in Spain? You can see why from the rugged dusty landscapes of Andalucia Benito Zambrano uses in 'Intemperie'. Rather clumsily titled 'Out in the Open' in English, doesn't really capture the essence of this chase western, 'Runaway' or 'On The Run' would be better. Without wanting to repeat the information provided by other reviews which is excellent, just wanted to add my voice to those who enjoyed the film. The 3 leads are outstanding and worthy of note. What an actor Luis Tosar is, in this role playing the war veteran turned nomadic herdsman 'Moor', so much screen presence, but also Jaime López is compelling as the child runaway, and Luis Callejo chillingly psychotic in the role of the cruel landholder. Many other aspects of the film are admirable, I'll leave people to make up their own minds ... highly recommended!

Pretty good film about a relentless pursuit carried out by an ominous and abusive foreman who imposes his personal law with fear , vengeance , rage and violence in the scared and illiterate population . As the nasty landholder goes after a little boy , a nameless child, nicknamed "Kid", who escapes from his house . Set in 1946 , seven years later Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) , in a far and undetermined corner of Andalucía , south to Spain , when a mistreated boy undertakes a runaway with a compass and a bit of water and food . The kid getaways from the claws a ruthless foreman , as he is mercilessly pursued by a cruel group formed by Luis Callejo , Vicente Romero , Kandido Uranga . But then , the boy is helped by a honest Shepherd : Luis Tosar , and both of whom join forces against the brutal posse that chases them . Both of them cross alone the desert of the wastelands that spread around them .

A violent Spanish movie set in an impoverished , tyrannical and oppressive country with absence of money and resources , being made in Spaghetti Western style with thrills , chills , emotion , go riding and thrilling fights . This is an interesting and intelligent picture following the wake of the twilight Western of the late Sixties and Seventies as Wild Bunch , Bite the Bullet , 100 Rifles or The Hunting Party . Director Benito Zambrano copes well this exciting movie helped by the Spanish remote desert , where in the 60s and 70s were filmed hundreds of Paella , Spaguetti Westerns . The movie is a little downbeat , showing a Spain of misery and poorness with a lot of people full of hunger, hate and blood . However , the film does succeed in giving us nice performances from the two leads . The picture is , sometimes , slowly paced , but entertaining enough . Cast is frankly magnificent. Luis Tosar is terrific as a good shepherd with moral values . The valiant and brave kid is magnificently played by the newcomer Jaime López as a child who begins a runaway looking for freedom . As well as Luis Callejo as the brutal and abusive foreman of the zone , he is top-notch in a role whose credibly sadistic rises to the highest degree . And other actors as Vicente Romero and Kandido Uranga are acceptable . And Manolo Caro who steals the show at a brief acting as a cripple.

It packs adequate and sunny cinematography by Pau Esteve Birba , made on location in Andalucia , and ordinary Almerian landscapes . The sound is extremely good with a rousing musical score by Mikel Salas. The motion picture was competently directed by Benito Zambrano who is a good filmmaker and he has made a few and prestigious movies as Habana Blues , La Voz Dormida , being his greatest hit : Solas . .His first film was a short : ¨El Encanto de la Luna Llena¨ (1995) , then Zambrano had difficulty in finding a producer for his first feature film, but after two long years, he was finally backed by 'Antonio P. Perez', who did not shy away at such 'unbusinesslike' material as ¨Solas¨ (1999) A bold but nice move since this sensitive story of a woman at bay proved a hit in Spain as well as a favorite of the festival circuit and of film critics. Since then the gifted but uncompromising director has made - besides a TV series - only two films, both of which full of humanity: ¨Habana Blues¨ (2005), the portrait of two Cuban musicians, and ¨La voz dormida¨ (2011), a war drama . Rating : Better than average . Well worth watching.

This here may be the description of my favorite movie of all time (strangely being Spanish, as I don't usually like Spanish cinema this much).

Let's take it from the top. Technically, this is a marvelous movie, well-directed, edited and written. The acting is amazing, Luis Tosar, Luis Callejo and Jaime López make this once in a life-time trio (with similar characteristics to the trio from The Good, The Bad & The Ugly), with three performances worth recognition world-wide (there's always talk about Portman in Leon, Bale in Empire of the Sun and Jacob Tremblay in Room, but that's because we haven't seen López's performance in Intemperie).

The cinematography is also masterfully used, reaching the level of movies such as Lawrence of Arabia, Blade Runner or La La Land (not yet with The Revenant, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford or Blade Runner 2049).

Music joins the movie in beatiful ways, with Silvia Pérez making one of the best original songs of last year, that gave her the Goya for Best Original Song). Silence is also one of the elements that contributes to the greatness of this film.

Lastly, let's talk about the theme, the centre of this movie. I've seen a lot of people said that you need to talk about the context of Spain to understand the movie. I don't agree with that, the picture stands up for itself, and as most of westerns, you don't need to be into history to understand them. This movie is almost about a hunt and, therefore, the run, inside a broken society, that presents itself in the movie. The power, and the defiance of it. About loyalty, death and life. The corruption of a kid, interrupted by the kind of man that the world has always needed, to stop the madness of a more and more selfish society. This is what that movie simbolyses for me.

Overall, this movie is a nice invested time, and one of the hidden gems of modern cinema, and I'm sad it has this rating.

Anyway, I don't think I need to explain why this movie is, if not my favorite, one of my favorites of all time.

Hope you enjoy it and that this review was useful!!

The film is good in general, but there is something specially remarkable: the way it depicts the post-war Spain. In the 1940s, the country is desolated by poverty and misery, and rural areas are some of the most disadvantaged parties amongst this general hardship.

The events are set in a village of rural Andalusia, though the action takes place in different places throughout the countryside. The sun heating all the time, water is scarce several times and many people dying of famine. The context of the film is just wonderfully portrayed.

The acting of Luis Tosar as an honest shepherd who is isolated from society is pretty good, and Jaime López as the kid does a good job too. The journey they make escaping from a cruel foreman played by Luis Callejo is at some moments slow, but the shocking image of a ruined rural Spain is still there bringing strong emotions to the viewer. The role played by the aforementioned Luis Callejo as a ruthless landowner is also fantastic, he makes you believe that this misery and unfairness actually happened in a devastated country just because of a senseless war.

The film might be slow at some points, and I strongly recommend having a little background about what happened in Spain during its civil war. Anyway, this movie is definitely worth a shot, as both the context and acting are great.