Un viaje por Galicia: Like looking through a dusty window at old Spain

If you are looking for a plot or some big emotional payoff, you should probably just skip this one right now. Honestly. Un viaje por Galicia is basically a home movie made by someone with a really nice camera and a lot of time on their hands back in the mid-20s.

It is worth watching if you like that feeling of time travel. Or if you have family from that part of Spain and want to see what their great-grandparents were looking at while walking to church.

Most people will probably hate it because nothing happens. There is no villain. No romance. Just Luis R. Alonso showing us some rocks and some very old buildings.

I watched this on a Tuesday night when I couldn't sleep. It has this weird, quiet rhythm that actually helps if your brain is moving too fast. 🎥

The movie starts with these wide shots of the countryside. Galicia is so green, even in black and white. You can almost smell the wet grass through the screen grain.

There is a specific shot of a bridge early on. The camera just sits there. It doesn't move. You just watch the water. It goes on for a long time.

It reminded me a bit of the outdoor scenes in Sunshine and Gold, but way less bright. This feels heavier. Damp.

Luis R. Alonso is the guy behind this, and you can tell he really loves the architecture. He spends a lot of time on the cathedrals. The stone work is incredible.

Sometimes the camera tilts up and you see the sky, and the film is so old it looks like it's melting. I like those mistakes. It makes the whole thing feel more real than a polished digital movie.

There are these brief moments where you see the locals. They look at the camera like it's a ghost. One kid in the background of a town scene just stops and stares. He’s probably been dead for fifty years now, but there he is, just staring at me.

It’s a bit eerie if you think about it too much. Most movies from this era, like The Silent Partner, are trying to tell you a story. This one is just trying to exist.

I found myself wondering what Alonso was eating while he filmed this. Did he have a favorite tavern? The movie doesn't tell you. It just shows you the outside of things.

The pacing is... well, there is no pacing. It just stops and starts. Sometimes a scene ends right when it feels like it was getting somewhere interesting. 🤷

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Un viaje por Galicia (1929) through its definitive frames.

If you’ve seen Miracle of the Wolves, you know how these old European films love their big, dramatic landscapes. This has that, but without the soldiers and the fighting.

It’s just peaceful. Maybe too peaceful. My cat fell asleep about ten minutes in.

I noticed one thing that was really weird. In one of the village scenes, there is a dog sleeping in the middle of the road. No one moves it. People just walk around it. It’s a tiny detail but it stuck with me.

The film doesn't have the grand scale of something like Beau Geste. It’s small. It’s intimate in a way that feels accidental.

Is it a masterpiece? No way. It’s a document. It’s like finding someone’s old diary but all the pages are just sketches of mountains.

I think the best way to watch this is with your phone turned off. Don't try to analyze it. Just let the images wash over you.

The churches are definitely the highlight. The way the light hits the carvings in the stone is beautiful. Even with the flickering and the dust on the lens.

I did get a bit bored toward the end. There are only so many hills you can look at before they all start to look the same. But then Alonso shows a shot of the coast, and the waves crashing against the rocks looks so violent and cold.

It makes you realize how hard life must have been there. Everything is made of stone. Everything looks like it’s been there forever.

I wish there was more of the people. The few shots of the markets are the best parts. You see the hats, the shawls, the way they carry things. It’s all so specific.

Anyway, don't go into this expecting a cinematic experience. Go into it like you're visiting a museum that only has one room. It’s a nice room, though. 🌿

It’s definitely better than some of the other dry travelogues from the same time. At least this one has a soul. You can tell someone cared about what they were pointing the camera at.

I’ll probably never watch it again, but I’m glad I saw it once. It felt like taking a deep breath of cold air.