Irati (film)

Set in the 8th century, against the backdrop of the ongoing Christianization of remote areas around the Pyrenees, the plot tracks Eneko (son to a Basque chieftain who died in the wake of the battle of Roncevaux Pass against Charlemagne), who helms a group of Christian and Muslim warriors guided by pagan woman Irati, set on finding the body of his father (buried under pagan customs and located next to a hoard) years after the latter's demise, initiating a journey into the forest.[1][2] Belasko is a contender for the lordship of the valley and sends his men after Eneko and Irati to find the Frankish hoard. In the caves, they found Mari, her lover Sugaar and cyclops Tartalo. Eneko discovers that Irati has webbed feet as lamias. Protected by the eguzki-lore thistle, Eneko bargains with Mari for his father's body.

This 12th-century mural painting of a bear from San Baudelio de Berlanga inspired the decoration of the castle in the film.[4]

Irati is based on the graphic novel El ciclo de Irati ("The Irati Cycle"), authored by J. L. Landa and J. Muñoz.[3] It was produced by Irati Zinema AIE (Bainet, Ikusgarri Films and Kilima Media) alongside La Fidèle Production, with support from ICAA, EiTB, RTVE, Gobierno Vasco, Ayuntamiento de Vitoria-Gasteiz and Diputación Foral de Álava.[5] It boasts a €4.3 million budget, receiving the maximum cap of funding from the Spanish Ministry of Culture.[2]

Dialogue is in a mixture of modern and 13th-century Basque,[6] with some Latin, Arabic and Frankish. Filming wrapped in November 2021.[1] It was shot in the Pyrenees (Navarre and the province of Huesca), including locations such as the Irati Forest,[2] and the Castle of Loarre.[7]

Urkijo's inspirations besides Basque mythology were the films Excalibur, Braveheart, Kingdom of Heaven, The Vikings, The War Lord, Robin and Marian, The Name of the Rose, The 13th Warrior, Pan's Labyrinth and The Lord of the Rings.[8]

Sagardoy, Urkijo, and Azkarate attending the Victoria Eugenia Theatre during the San Sebastián Fantasy and Horror Film Festival in October 2022

The film was selected for screening at the 55th Sitges Film Festival,[9] making its presentation on 9 October 2022.[10] Distributed by Filmax,[5] it was set for a 18 November 2022 theatrical release date in Spain.[11] The release was later re-scheduled to 24 February 2023.[12]

Filmax closed international distribution deals with Blue Swan (Italy) and Splendid (Germany).[13]

On the American review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film records a 100% approval rating based on 5 reviews from critics, with an average rating of 7.80/10.[14]

Júlia Olmo of Cineuropa described Irati as a "Basque Lord of the Rings, but with a lot less money", and complimented the level of ambition, also writing how it "speaks poetically about timeless human issues", such as "weight of roots, the idea of loyalty and honour, the meaning of identity, the struggle for a place and the value of that struggle, the meaning of faith, the classic concept of 'the beautiful death' (filling one's life with deeds to achieve eternal glory, to be remembered and loved in eternity), the fear of forgetting, the presence of death in life, the search for your origins and the price of that search".[15]

Shelagh Rowan-Legg of Screen Anarchy described it as "a woman's story", otherwise pointing out that it is an unusual film because it manages to combine fantastical elements with a "story grounded to a place and time that is unique and real".[16]

With more than 733,000 euros in tickets sold, it is the highest earning Basque-language film ever, approaching the number of tickets of Giant, also featuring Sagardoy.[8]

• Basque mythology
• List of Spanish films of 2023

• Official website