Eureka (2023 film)

Eureka is a 2023 drama film co-written and directed by Lisandro Alonso, starring Viggo Mortensen, José María Yazpik and Chiara Mastroianni. The film is narrated by Eureka, a woman who became a migratory bird to create a connection between the years 1870 and 2019 and the United States, Mexico, and the Amazon rainforest.

The film had its world premiere at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival on May 19, 2023.

Synopsis
Eureka is a bird that flies across different geographies of the American continent; in its flights, it also travels through time. The film is narrated in three distinct sections. It examines the indigenous peoples of the Americas and how they have inhabited their specific environments across the centuries.

The film's first part, entitled 'Western', takes place in a lawless township on the US-Mexico border in 1870, with Viggo Mortensen playing the role of a father, Murphy, searching for his kidnapped daughter.

Cast

 * Viggo Mortensen as Murphy
 * Chiara Mastroianni as El Coronel / Maya
 * Alaina Clifford as Officer Debonna
 * Sadie Lapointe as Sadie
 * Viilbjørk Malling Agger as Molly
 * Luísa Cruz as nun
 * Rafi Pitts as Randall
 * Santiago Fumagalli as the receptionist
 * Natalia Ruiz as the prostitute
 * Adanilo Costa as a Native who disappears
 * José María Yazpik

Production
In August 2020, the cast of the film, including Viggo Mortensen, Chiara Mastroianni, Maria de Medeiros, Viilbjørk Malling Agger, and others were confirmed.

In November 2021, production for Lisandro Alonso's sixth feature film started. Eureka began shooting in Almería, Spain. France's Luxbox was the lead producer, with Germany's Komplizen Film and Portugal's Rosa Filmes serving as their fellow European co-producers. 4L and Pina Films produced for Argentina and Mexico, respectively, with Luxbox also controlling international sales.

Release
The film premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival in the Cannes Premiere section on May 19, 2023. It was also invited to the Munich International Film Festival, where it competed in the Film Competition Cinemasters section on June 26, 2023. In July, it was screened at the New Horizons Film Festival in the Masters section on July 20 July 2023.

In August, it competed in the 27th Lima Film Festival, where it won the Special Jury Prize. In the same month, it was invited to the Melbourne International Film Festival and was screened on August 5.

It was screened at the 28th Busan International Film Festival in the Icon section on October 8; then at the 2023 New York Film Festival in the Main Slate on October 10; and on October 20 at the Vienna International Film Festival in the Features section. It was also selected in the Kaleidoscope section at the 54th International Film Festival of India and screened on November 21 and November 24.

The film was also screened at the CPH:DOX on 14 March 2024 in Parafiction section, and on 1 April 2024 at the 48th Hong Kong International Film Festival in Auteurs section.

Reception
On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes website, the film has an approval rating of 70% based on 20 reviews, with an average rating of 6.3 out of 10.

David Katz, reviewing for Cineuropa praised the film, writing "Eureka is a heady, thought-provoking, and often beautiful experience—artistic minimalism at its most elasticated and textured." Peter Bradshaw, reviewing for The Guardian said that watching scenes of nature on screen was "an enriching experience". Bradshaw rated the film 4 stars out of 5 and wrote, "It is entirely fascinating, though undoubtedly it requires the audience to recalibrate their own consumption-tempo and attention span stamina."