In this swan song of the late Spanish master Carlos Saura, the origins of humanity’s desire for expression are paralleled with urban graffiti art. In the caves of Altamira, Lascaux and Chauvet, cave paintings from tens of thousands of years ago still continue to amaze us. For Saura, modern graffiti is a continuation of this human need for expression, in the same way that rap lyrics at their best can be great poetry.
The underlying themes of this age-old dialogue are the need to make the invisible visible and the need to discover the soul of the world and convey it to others. This insightful film provides perspective and understanding of both the past and the present. Just as our ancestors were inspired by the nature and reality around them, contemporary graffiti artists are filling the walls of urban neighbourhoods and industrial wastelands with spirits of the past as well as current communal identities.
To young viewers, being guided by Saura may feel like following a dinosaur time-travelling from prehistoric caves, but frequent festival goers will remember the extent of the maestro’s work in music, poetry, dance, and theatre – and even his appearance at the 2017 festival. By covering visual art in his final piece, Saura will leave a lasting mark on the wall of art history.
Otto Kylmälä