Whatever the subject, Rodrigo Sorogoyen puts a singular tension in his films: a police investigation in the dampness of Madrid in the summer in Que dios nos perdonea politico-financial scandal shot like a thriller in el reinoor the impossible mourning of a mother in Madrehis cinema harpoons the spectator and does not let go.
In As bestas, the first disturbing character is the natural setting: the mountains of Galicia, as beautiful as they are austere, where a French couple, Marina Foïs and Denis Ménochet, have come to start a new life in organic farming. Between these foreigners who sell their tomatoes well at the local market and the neighbors, poor, a silent widow and her two sons who drink a lot, cohabitation will turn into a nightmare. “They are honest in their approach. They decided to change their lives, to come and settle there. It’s a real life choice, explains Denis Menochet. And it’s a true story. In reality, at first they helped each other. They are a French couple, former teachers, and they are very quickly criticized for this status, for having knowledge.
Without ostentation, Rodrigo Sorogoyen films the anger and fear aroused by these two brothers, whose low blows rot the daily life of the French couple. Through his disturbing tracking shots in the forest, his choices in the story of the drama to come, the director infuses violence, but does not judge his characters. He films two worlds that fail to live together. The mano a mano between the two male characters offers scenes of extreme tension.
The Spanish actor Luis Zahera bluffed Denis Ménochet. “I think he’s the best actor I’ve had the chance to play with, by far. When he starts acting, everyone, even the animals, stops. It’s crazy, this n is never the same, like jazz… I still can’t believe it.”