TIFF ’22 Review: ‘El Agua’ juxtaposes the power of women and water
‘El Agua’ tells the story of a young woman whose budding romance is threatened by external forces, including an intergenerational myth that threatens her life.
Local legends are like oral histories. Even if they’re not wholly true, they can say a lot about the people and the place in which they originated. Superstitions, on the other hand, can hold people back or be used to oppress others. In small towns, everyone knows everything about everyone and even the faintest link to a curse can mark an individual or family for generations. Once it’s out there, it’s very difficult to overcome or erase from people’s memories. In El Agua, a teen basks in new love, which may be interrupted by local lore.
Ana (Luna Pamiés) is spending the summer hanging out with her friends, including José (Alberto Olmo), a hometown boy returned after time abroad. It’s not long before the pair strike up a relationship and very shortly after that that people warn José to stay from her — the women in her family are cursed. Ana’s grandmother (Nieve De Medina) is a widow, but still very lively, while her mother (Bárbara Lennie) owns a bar and is dating an out-of-towner also unaware of their reputation. Ana, however, has heard the rumours all her life and she’s unconvinced they’re not true. There’s a local legend that the water falls in love with women in the town, eventually bringing heavy rainfalls and claiming her for itself. The chosen one feels the water deep inside her all the time… just like Ana.
Rather than a curse, this is more likely a self-fulfilling prophesy — or a matter of strong women being persecuted for being unconventional. Yet, hear anything long enough, it’s difficult not to wonder if it might actually be true. Ana has heard the legends all her life and as torrential rain nears the Spanish village, her feeling of dread grows stronger. Water appears throughout the narrative, from swimming holes to baths to irrigation for the lemon groves where José works. The water is always present… always watching — perhaps even jealous of Ana’s newfound love.
Director Elena López Riera’s feature film debut mixes lore and love as both can seem fantastical in their own way. Most of the cast was picked from local non-actors, though one would not know it based on their performances, which seem genuine and not forced. Throughout the film, real women from Riera’s village recount the legend of the water and its bride as they know it, demonstrating the differences and similarities of the story passed down for generations. One storyteller is even convinced she’s seen the ghost of the disappeared woman, and Riera didn’t feel it was her place to try and tell her it wasn’t true.
Even if Ana is a bit older, it still feels like a coming-of-age narrative in which a young woman tries to define herself in the face of all the designations put on her by others, including a legend she’s taken very much to heart.
El Agua had its North American premiere in the Contemporary World Cinema programme at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Read other reviews from the festival.
Director: Elena López Riera
Starring: Luna Pamiés, Nieve de Medina and Bárbara Lennie
