Amador Arias Mon, Benedicta Sánchez, Inazio Brao
Fire Will Come, the winner of Un Certain Regard at Cannes 2019 and the third feature from French-born Galician director Oliver Laxe (Mimosas), tells the story of Amador (Amador Arias), a middle-aged man returning to his home in rural Galicia after serving a prison sentence for arson.
Only partially accepted by the locals, Amador nevertheless attempts to pick up the simple life he left behind in the small mountain village where he resides with his elderly mother (Benedicta Sánchez) and their cows. Guarded and taciturn, aware of gossip about his past, he tries to absorb himself in a simple life, though a chance encounter with a Leonard Cohen-loving local vet (Elena Fernandez) hints at the possibility of romance. But everything changes when a catastrophe befalls his community, raising questions about Amador’s true intent.
Beautifully shot, Fire Will Come boasts spectacular imagery of the Galician countryside and an immersive, mesmeric understanding of its slow daily and seasonal rhythms, amplified by an eclectic, thoughtfully deployed score. Laxe seems to be gently exploring the threats posed to rural Galician communities like these – whether via the gradual infiltration of modernity or the unpredictability of life itself – within a hypnotic wider study of nature, human nature, and the areas in between.
