Cinco lobitos (2022) is a Spanish film of the dramatic genre, directed by the Biscayan filmmaker Alauda Ruiz de Azúa. It has been awarded the Biznaga de Oro for Best Spanish Film at the Malaga Film Festival.
The film is a portrait of postpartum, and also of a real motherhood , these being the two central axes of the film , from which other transcendental themes derive.
It shows us life with its lights and shadows, and invites us to ask ourselves questions about life, death, motherhood, the difficulties of reconciling work and family, and the bonds we establish with our loved ones.
Thus, it unfolds the perfect scenario for us to reflect on how these links, the ones we establish with our parents , can condition the relationship we create with our children once we are mothers (or fathers).
Full of naturalism, in it we will meet Amaia, a 35-year-old woman who has just become a mother. But Amaia is also a daughter, with all that that entails. We reflect on the central points of the film.
A reflection on postpartum
Amaia (Laia Costa) is a woman of a touching fragility who is overwhelmed and excited in equal parts with her daughter who is a baby, and who must face postpartum far from her partner and very close to her parents.
The baby is only four months old. Amaia and her partner are self-employed, with unstable jobs, and live in the city.
From the first moment the film already begins to show us the overflow of the couple, especially Amaia, and how the arrival of the baby completely changes their priorities.
However, just as a result of this, the first disputes and conflicts between the couple are born, since she feels that she should keep the baby , and her partner seems to prioritize the work, or rather, the money they need, since he feels that he cannot say no to what they offer him (he is dedicated to the world of art).
Amaia’s parents
Faced with such an overflow, and in a moment of loneliness when her partner left, Amaia calls her mother and ends up settling in with her family, in a beautiful town in Galicia.
With the arrival at the house we get to know the mother better (who already appears in the first scenes); a strict and very traditional woman , who tries to impose her criteria on Amaia in the care of her baby.
However, little by little we get to know her better, and we also see her kind face, her love for her granddaughter and her inner strength.
Alauda Ruiz de Azúa, the director, confesses how her relationship with her mother was before and after she was also a mother:
“When I became a mother for the first time, I experienced many ups and downs, many contradictory sensations” (…) “but one of the things that surprised me the most was beginning to see my mother in a different way and understand her better based on issues that until now moment they had escaped me. And that radically changed my relationship with her.”
The father has a totally different style and personality ; He is closer and more affectionate, he goes out of his way for his granddaughter, he tries to make her laugh in whatever way he can to make her stop crying… However, he is a bit clumsy, and totally depends on his wife to take care of things at home, and even, from himself.
Of course, he has a very special relationship with Amaia. As for the marriage, it clearly looks broken and distant (although we won’t spoil the reasons here).
A portrait of everyday life
Cinco lobitos is a film that portrays everyday life and in which you can feel identified, through some very close and real characters, and the moments that they live as a family (along with their fears, their anger, their reproaches).
At times it may seem like a slow movie, but deep down, things don’t stop happening (life itself).
It begins with a newly released maternity , but from there new threads are woven that generate expectation and that the viewer will want to resolve.
When life changes forever
It is a film that records the small details, in a very beautiful setting, and that also focuses on everyday gestures and on the portrait of an Amaia who changed forever with the arrival of her daughter , and who will continue to change when life put some obstacles.
beyond motherhood
Thus, although Cinco lobitos is a film that talks about Amaia’s motherhood, it also shows her mother’s motherhood. Amaia as a mother, and above all, Amaia as a daughter.
And in those two roles we see the character of Amaia, and how the two complement each other and form a strong and fighting woman .
But the film goes further, and also explores the relationship between Amaia and her mother, a relationship that seems complicated, distant, but that also ends up showing us the unconditional love of the parents.
What do the critics say?
Five Little Wolves has been enthusiastically received by film critics, who have generally given it a very good rating. Some fragments of these criticisms, and that we have collected, are:
“This meticulous film traces with great precision all the sentimental choreography of a mother towards her newborn girl, a fabulous task of perceiving nuances, tenderness and sorrow (…)”.
– Oti Rodriguez Marchante: ABC News-
“A solid and honest portrait (….) told in a very balanced way, tense, but without major shocks. (…) From one conflict one passes to another with absolute naturalness. That is one of the best successes of the movie (…)”.
Quim Casas: El Periódico newspaper
Why watch Five Little Wolves?
Because it shows life itself , it brings us closer to a real motherhood, and invites us to ask ourselves what we expect from our parents and what they expect from us, and how in that intersection of expectations, sometimes we suffer but we also love.
A film that shows us the vulnerability of the human being when he gives life, and how a tremendous strength also germinates within that fragility.
That naturalizes the need to ask for help in the first moments of parenting, and that values the need to be accompanied in such a revolutionary and transcendental stage as postpartum.
If you haven’t seen Five Little Wolves yet, we encourage you to do so . His closeness and sensitivity will catch you forever.
Photos | Five Little Wolves movie
