Sirat

Sergei Lopez

I was a tiny bit disappointed by Oliver Laxe's Sirāt. The Galician filmmaker still must be considered a comer at the age of 44, but I prefer his previous features, Fire Will Come and The Settlers. Sirāt, set entirely in the deserts and mountain ranges of Morocco, represents an opening up in terms of scope in the director's work, but at the loss of characterization. The film's slim plot concerns an aging Spaniard named Luis (Sergei López) who is searching the arid country with his prepubescent son, Esteban, in tow searching for Esteban's sister. They attend a rave and pass out leaflets with her picture. They attach themselves to a caravan of two buses hoping to find her at the next rave. The duo are not prepared for a cross country trip across Morocco and it is only with the assistance of the ravers that they are able to survive. Luis and Esteban ultimately bond with the motley crew and the boy has his hair braided and shaved to mark the moment.

Laxe's primary thematic concern has been the clash of cultures, perhaps not surprising coming from a Galician, and Sirāt is no exception. However, I found the motivations of his characters to be awfully thin in this picture. Part of the reason is that Laxe has filled his supporting cast with non-actors who seem to have been hired more for their appearance than their ability to project a character. Mr. López has extensive and impressive credits, including Pan's Labyrinth and Happy as Lazaro, but Luis is too taciturn a character to explain his back story or motivation. I do suppose it is realistic for the other characters not to chatter about themselves since they are zonked out all the time on different herbs and spices. It is difficult to find words when in the throes of ecstasy.  

However, Laxe starts bumping off his characters halfway through the film and I was surprised how little I cared. No spoilers, but it began to feel random to me. Luis' unarticulated mission ultimately feels foolhardy and the title, which mean "path", becomes ironic. The film does capture an aura of pre-apocalyptic jitters. It looks great and sounds great, but it never struck a tragic chord with me. Laxe, though, has the technical ability to make a great film and, hopefully, one day he will.