Tierra

Angel (Carmelo Gomez) arrives in a barren remote village to rid the earth of woodlice that ironically gives the local wine a pleasurable earthly flavour. One of the first things he sees upon his arrival is a Shepard and his sheep struck dead by a lightning bolt. Yet Angel himself harbours a mysterious secret: his earthly presence is haunted by an ethereal one that not only speaks to him from the ‘cosmos’, interrupting his thoughts, but influences his actions. Throughout his stay, Angel meets a modestly beautiful woman, Angela (Emma Suarez), neglected by her husband, Patricio (Karra Elejalde), and the sensuous, highly sexualised, Mari (Silke), with whom Patricio is having an affair. As Angel becomes immersed and entangled in the lives of these characters and others within the village, he is forced to confront his dual personality and the constant battle between body and soul, earth and cosmos. With ‘Tierra’, acclaimed Spanish director Julio Medem has crafted a mystical, visually sumptuous film that suggests sci-fi existentialism, supernatural psychodrama, and fantastic romance, while transcending them all. Medem’s ability to work outside genre and create both a complex and original story is masterful. Ultimately, his thematic exploration of the world of nature and humanity as both driven by powerful forces is metaphysical and surreal, moving and graceful. In Spanish with English subtitles.