WATCH THE TRAILER HERE
First, the Recap:
Bygone eras. The passing of time has always signaled change, whether for good or ill. Some things remain while others are left to whither away under the ever-constant momentum that finds days, months, years, and ages coming and going, lost into history, into antiquity. Progress and human expansion is often the cause of old ways being abandoned to make way for larger cities and industry. Yet, for some, there is a longing to see the former means of exitence held onto, to cherish the paths their ancestors have followed for generations, to choose not to cave into modernity, but instead grasp for what was since forgotten by so many. In the ruggedness of northern Spain’s mountainous countryside, there is a remnant to be found, striving to survive in the old villages that mostly fell to ruin. It is a story of perseverance and preservation. This is their tale.
Next, my Mind:
It is old, worn out dirt roads carved into mountainsides, the stony, crumbling skeletons of old style village houses dotting the grassy hills, and the reminders of a much more hardy, hard-working, and one must believe a more fulfilled life earned that echoes forth in this 41-minute documentary film from director Emmanuel Piton and producer Jeremie Reichenbach that screened as part of the 2nd Annual 2019 Berlin Illambra Experimental Film Festival housed at Salon AM Moritzplatz and hosted by Illambra. Heralding the ghosts of a former period in Spanish history, the film introduces the viewer to a once thriving way of life and the villages that were home to it, now 30 years derelict as the then newly established cities called to so many residents to leave and seek opportunity.
Filmed with very little color, but rather with an intentionally grainy black and white home movie feel, the visuals and narration ventures into the shells of dilapidated stone homes, with only the light from the camera illuminating and revealing forgotten items and other things left behind. Amongst these old ruins, though, there still remains a generation of people who stayed put in their villages, maintaining the integrity of dwellings, filled with memories of childhoods and “the old days”, even as part of this recalls the wars that took a toll on so many of the communities that used to inhabit these pristine landscapes and lush vistas. Under the shadows of progress and contemporary innovation, they’ve kept to even old means of making their way, even when perhaps just a little of current society manages to sneak its way in.
These are a people that have a connection to everything around them, making this choice to live isolated, apart, separate from the world. Some would call it mundane, but for others, this is Eden. The film has multiple interviews with various members of these highly rural communities, all as mentioned above speaking of familial ties, generational continuance they have kept alive for so long, a sense of honor, I feel, holding them to their chosen road and not being willing to allow too much of this present day to invade their solace, the sounds of the countryside stirring the air around them. This is a paradise as well as a portrait of a proud history, a proud people, who are unwilling to bend or see their culture and traditions fade to broken stone that forms the eerily haunting residue of the past.
In total, “Ultimus Ondas” presents a fascinating glimpse into another country’s history while likewise delivering a completely human story when it comes to the heart and passion of the people that still call the mountain villages of northern Spain home. However, with all this said, it begs the question–is there anything pure left, anything untainted, that will stand the onslaught of advancement? There are these individuals here, these denizens of the mountains, who experience said purity with tenacious resilience, hanging onto a legacy of a different time, waiting, hoping perhaps to be rediscovered and reborn.
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
