Abstract

As the outcome of a singular incursion into a rural Portugal during the fragile moment of the 2010-2014 economic crisis, Volta à Terra ([Belonging], João Pedro Plácido, 2014) presents itself as a curious film about memories and materiality and, above all, about a journey on the past and the present, on different times, places and landscapes, and on staying and leaving. The desires expressed by the few inhabitants of Uz (a village with 49 inhabitants) are registered here through the unique look of the director, who develops a work that oscillates between documentary and fiction and between “poetry and brutality”. Bearing this in mind, this work will develop a detailed analysis of some of the central aspects of the film, specifically on the idea of ​​journey.