The USA has Alvin Straight, Spain has Hassan Ben Oudra. But where the hero in The Straight Story by David Lynch is a stubborn old grumbler, the protagonist in Hassan’s Way is a modest optimist, a fighter and a survivor. At the age of 28, Hassan crosses illegally from Morocco to Spain with the ambition of getting on in life. After toiling for 13 years as a woodcutter, grape-picker and welder, he has saved just enough money to buy a second-hand tractor that is as old as he is. The crisis is at its height, work is scarce and Hassan decides to return to his homeland – by tractor.
El Rayo is a road movie about the Spanish provincial road network. Hassan suffers a mechanical breakdown and conflicts with traffic cops and the immigration service. In an intimate documentary style, El Rayo shows that’s it’s just as difficult to leave Fortress Europe unscathed as it is to get in.
Film details
- Countries of production
- Portugal, Spain
- Year
- 2013
- Festival edition
- IFFR 2014
- Length
- 86'
- Medium/Format
- DCP
