Irati

Everything has already been seen, but, strangely, "Irati" still seems a fresh take on the dark fantasy epic tale.

The film is based on Basque mythology and folklore, exploring themes like religion, necessary adaptation for survival, and even a additional message on the end. I watched it with Basque audio, and it was a captivating combination of the rhythm of the words and pictures.

In some scenes you can see feel the relative low budget, but overall it was hidden well.

I am very glad that I jumped in without knowing anything about the movie.

The actors are almost all very good, and the female lead, Edurne Azkarate, is fantastic.

What a beautiful ride!

Devilishly entertaining and attractive 'Sword and witchery' movie about a leader young who becomes involved in terrible situations. 8th Century. With the arrival of Christianity, the ancient pagan beliefs began to disappear. In the 8th century, faced with the advance of Charlemagne's army, the valley's leader sought help from an ancient deity, forming a blood pact that would lead to the leader's death but his victory over the army at Roncesvalles. Before dying, the leader asked his son to take charge of protecting the valley when he grew up. Eneko is a young Christian nobleman from the Pyrenees who is running for leader of the valley. To achieve this, he must recover the body of his father, who died in battle and was buried in a pagan manner. To do so, he will need the help of Irati. Everything that has a name exists !.

Surprising and astonishing fantasy/horror film with full of witchery, as well as fantastic and psychotronic elements in which all the magical or fantastic creatures belong to the Basque folklore. Paul Urkijo's second film as a director maintains many of the key elements of his first film, Errementari, but expands on others and corrects minor errors from the previous one. It remains a story of Basque mythology, with a local cast, filmed in ancient Basque, and with a touch of fantasy cinema linked to the legends it depicts. The film is based on a graphic novel by Jon Muñoz and Juan Luis Landa, published between 1995 and 1997, but also on various Basque legends and real historical events such as the Battle of Roncesvalles.

¨Irati¨is a rather dark gothic fantasy movie with thrills, emotion , violent fighs, amazing magic and some strong love scenes.. The chemistry between Eneko Sagardoy and Edurne Azkarate is part of what makes Irati work. They are the film from the time jump to that point where they are young adults. Because to a large extent, it's the journey of the viewer who is familiar with the new religion, Christianity, but has forgotten the old pagan beliefs. It depicts a kind of confrontation between the old beliefs of the "lamias," who are women with bird skin, the druids, and the Basque sorceresses, with the emergence of a new religion. Good cinematography and decent make-up made this movie worth a watch. It follows Irati, a young girl who will guide a group of Christian and Muslim warriors through a journey in an ancient mythological world where everything that has a name exists, in an attempt to recover a lost treasure. It contains fabulous effects specials, attractive production design, impressive make-up and wonderful, iconography, in fact, witches and other weird figures are taken from Medieval paintings , frescoes , legends and old films as Haxan by Benjamin Christensen. The film is spoken in Basque language but due to its surprising great hit has been dubbed to a lot of languages to export all around the World . All cast give nice acting , however , being unknown ,

It packs a colorful and beautiful cinematography by Gorka Gómez Andreu. Being shot on location in various gorgeous woods from Basque Country and Navarra such as Asparrena, Araba, Basque Country Castillo de Loarre, Huesca, Aragon, Pyrenees Mountains, France, Selva de Irati, Navarra, Cuevas de Arrikrutz, Oñati, Gipuzkoa, País Vasco, Cueva de la Leze, Álava, País Vasco, (Cave exterior), Cueva de Pozalagua, Vizcaya, País Vasco, Spain (Cave interior), Sierra de Abodi, Navarra, Sierra de Aralar, Navarra, Spain .

The motion picture was competently directed by Paul Urkijo Alijo at his second one . His first one was ¨Errementari¨ or El Herrero or Blacksmith that won several prizes and nominations such as : Winner Fantaspoa International Fantastic Film Festival to Artistuc contribution : Paul Urkijo. Grossman Fantastic Film and Wine Festival winner Best Film; San Sebastián Horror y Fantasy Film Festival Winner Best Feature; Goya Awards 20109 Nominee Best Special Effects. While Irati (2022) also won a number of nominations and awards, such as: Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival Paul Urkijo Alijo 2022 Nominee Official Fantàstic Competition Best Motion Picture; Winner Audience Award; Best Feature Film ; nominated Edurne Azkarate and Eneko Sagardoy in Irati; Winner Best Special Effects, visual or makeup effects. Goya Awards Paul Urkijo Alijo 2023 Nominee Goya Best Adapted Screenplay; Nominee Goya Best Original Score; Nominee Goya Best Original Song Aránzazu Calleja, Maite Arroitajauregi, Paul Urkijo "Izena duena bada"; Nominee Goya Best Special Effects Jon Serrano, David Heras, Nerea Torrijos; 2023 Nominee Goya Best Costume Design.

I just saw this in theaters in Spain. Dark fantasy at its best. I highly recommend it, and also "errementari", the previous film by the same director.

It's amazing how well it does for a low-budget movie.

The treatment of the characters, the environments, the light and the creatures is very well done.

Based on pre-medieval traditions and myths from Spain in the 6th century AD, where paganism and Christianity collided.

It is incredible how the director manages to keep you in complete tension with a tale of swords and monsters, and where nothing is what it seems and even the magic that seemed lost has its place in the world.

As a lover of Basque culture, my own culture, I was absolutely captivated by the movie Irati. The film beautifully captures the essence of Basque mythology, bringing to life the ancient creatures and spirits that have been passed down through generations. The way these mythological beings are portrayed is nothing short of incredible, adding depth and mystery to the narrative. I found myself completely enchanted by the film, and I can confidently say that I've fallen in love with it. I would watch Irati again without hesitation, and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in exploring a pre-Indo-European culture that has survived numerous attempts at conquest without losing its identity. This film is a stunning tribute to the resilience and richness of Basque heritage.

Eskerrikasko.

No pun intended - if you watch the movie it will become quite clear what I mean by that - actually some may even say it becomes clear in the beginning (intro) of the movie itself. Well that is for you to decide or rather find out. If you like fantasy movies, with a touch of darkness and mythological touches ... well you could do much worse.

This being from a certain area of Spain - which means that if you know "normal" spanish, you may have issues understanding what they are saying. Sangre (blood) is called something else, one of the things I noticed. I assume the english subtitles did not translate wrong of course.

This may be a bit too long, but the way it works, it reminded me a lot of 80s movies - that had similar storylines. If that is your thing, you'll have a blast to say the least.