José Ramón (Patxi Bisquert) and Martin (Ramon Agirre) are brothers living on the outskirts of San Sebastián in the Basque region of Spain. They live in separate apartments in the same building but don't speak to each other. Martin is a disgraced academic. José is a poacher, taking wildlife from the neighbouring national park helped by his young assistant, biker Khalil (Laulad Ahmed). Some of what they poach is for subsistence but they also sell items to foreigners. They are being tailed by employees of the national park but so far have evaded capture.
The beauty of the marshes and their wildlife makes a severe contrast with the run down town.
It's a slow film with little dialogue, which is a shame as there can't be many films made in the Basque language, which is a language isolate, unrelated to other languages and spoken only in this part of the world. Most of us don't get much opportunity to hear it and personally I would have liked to have heard a lot more of it in this film.
The Deer is screening as part of the Edinburgh International Film Festival at 2050, Monday 24 June at Odeon Lothian Road at at 1805, Wednesday 26 June at Vue Omni Centre. You can buy tickets here.
You can read my earlier reviews from Edinburgh International Film Festival 2019, by following the links below:
Boyz in the Wood a group of teenage boys get lost in the Scottish Highlands.
2040 - can technology offer solutions to our current climate and ecological crises?
Bait - Cornish fishermen try to adapt to a changing world
How to Fake a War (on my Shapeshifting Green blog) what happens when a rock star decides to meddle in international affairs?
Farm Animals on Film - featuring The Biggest Little Farm - an inspiring story of the creation of a sustainable biodiverse farm in California, plus Vulture, an experimental film about farm animals.
Virgin and Extra: Land of the Olive Oil.
Chef Diaries Scotland: Spanish Chefs the Roca brothers take the viewer on a culinary road trip round Scotland
Up the Mountain - a year in an artists' studio in the Chinese mountains.
The Amber Light - a cinematic ode to Scotland's national drink
Aren't You Happy (on my Shapeshifting Green blog) - a writer searches for the meaning of life while not actually writibg anything
Disclaimer: I have a press pass for the film festival and attended a free press screening of these films.
Sounds like an interesting movie. My knowledge of the basque comes from my time in Nevada. The University of Nevada Reno has a Basque studies dept, thanks to a lot of the sheepherders in Northern Nevada having been Basque. One even became governor and a senator (Paul Laxalt). While I didn’t care from a lot of his politics, his brother, Robert, is an incredible author. I highly recommend his book ‘The Basque Hotel”
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Hi Jeff, that's fascinating about the University of Nevada having a Basque studies department! I'll look out for the book 'The Basque Hotel'
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