Jacint Verdaguer returns to the screen to show one of his great adventures, the summer journey of more than two months in the Pyrenees that inspired him to write Canigó, one of the key poems of the Renaissance. But Canigó 1883 is not only about summits, but also about the “rebellion and passion” of the poet and priest of Folgueroles, emphasizes Albert Naudín, director of the film that premiered last night at the Cirvianum theater as one of the highlights of the BBVA Festival of Torelló Mountain Cinema.
From Verdaguer’s previous immersion in the Pyrenees, Naudín’s first film, Maleïda 1882, with a script by Bernat Gasull, emerged, just like this second one. “When in 1882 he arrived at the top of the Aneto he realized that he had to go further into the Pyrenees to write Canigó; that of the following summer is the first major crossing of the mountain range by a Catalan”, he comments. The film travels through the landscapes that captivated the protagonist so much. With espadrilles and tied to a rope, he climbs with a companion who guides him to the top of Canigó. Then climb Comabona, Montsent de Pallars, Pala Alta de Sarradé, Comaloforno, Tuc de Monges, Pica d’Estats, Montcalm, Casamanya…
“What we want to show is that Verdaguer was a rebel, a revolutionary priest who climbed mountains. After publishing Canigó, winning many awards and recognition, he begins a stage in which he goes from bad to worse. He was the personal priest of the Marquises of Comillas and in charge of managing the alms they gave to the poor, but he decided to distribute more money than he was allowed, he acted according to his conscience, he confronted the economic and ecclesiastical power, and that It took its toll,” says Naudín.
The actor Santi Pocino plays the poet at 38 years of age, when he undertook his second Pyrenean trip, and Lluís Soler, when he faced the final stretch of his life. The cast is completed by Sílvia Bel, who plays the fairy Flordeneu, and Xavier Boada, who plays Jaume Collell, a close friend of Verdaguer.
“We want to break the mold, our story is about mountains and passions. Verdaguer, when he was studying at the Vic seminary, fell deeply in love with a young woman from Folgueroles and in Canigó he talks about a great love story with Flordeneu. Our interpretation is that the protagonist, the Gentleman, is him,” adds the director.
The publication of Canigó, the passionate description it makes of the landscapes of the Pyrenees, encourages the love of the mountains of many citizens. Verdaguer was a pioneer of the hiking movement in Catalonia. It is in Cant IV of this work, titled Lo Pirineu, that the film is inspired and in which Verdaguer frantically recreates the fantastic journey of Flordeneu and Gentil through the Pyrenean geography. From Canigó to Núria, Cerdanya, Alt Urgell, Pallars, Alta Ribagorça, Val d’Aran, Ariège and Andorra.
Based on real events, Naudín and Gasull weave a documentary fiction to claim the figure of a cure against the current. In 1873, his first foray into the Pyrenees took place, from Vic to Prats de Molló, through the Ares pass, and Perpiñán, as documented by the UB geographer Joan Tort Donada, in Materials for a geographic interpretation of the poem Canigó En at that time the Associació Catalanista d’Excursions Científiques (ACEC), of which he was a very active member, and the Associació d’Excursions Catalana (AEC) were founded. Both merged in 1891 to create the Center Excursionista de Catalunya (CEC).
His stay in Sant Miquel de Cuixà, at the foot of the Canigó, and reading stories by famous Pyrenees, such as the legendary Count Russell, fueled the devotion for this mountain range of the author of L’Atlàntida, which gives an account of this passion and others. After its premiere yesterday in Torelló, it will hit theaters next January.
