Popular reviews

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  Review by Michael Sicinski ★★★½

  [7]

  Chico Pereira's new documentary is, at its base, about a journey that never takes place. That's a spoiler of sorts, I suppose, but then, so is the film's title. We are given to realize that our protagonist, Manolo (farmer, Spaniard, age 78) and his best buddy, Gorrión the donkey are essentially the Quixote and Sancho Panza of this story. While Manolo is nowhere near as delusional or vainglorious as Cervantes' antihero, he is a stubborn old fellow (stubborn, one might say, as one of Gorrión's nearest animal relatives) who refuses to understand why his seemingly basic requests are being denied at every turn.

  A constant traveller by foot, Manolo wants to undertake one final walking tour. He wants to…

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  Review by Otapavel

  Admiro mucho a las personas que, aun habiendo llegado a la vejez, siguen con ganas de futuro y de hacer cosas. Manolo es una de ellas, porque quiere irse con su burro Gorrión y su perra a Estados Unidos, para hacer la ruta que en su día hicieron los indios cherokees hacia el oeste. Realmente lo que se cuenta aquí es cómo Manolo intenta conseguir los medios para hacer ese viaje, pero se tropieza con problemas logísticos: el dinero, la vejez y la falta de información y ayuda.

  Hay algo de viaje hacia el Oeste aquí. Gorrión tiene el mismo protagonismo que Manolo, sobre todo a la hora de organizar los planos y compartir pantalla. Siempre aparecen ambos, burro y…

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  Review by Christian Alec ★★★

  14th Annual True/False Film Festival #6

  Borders heavily between documentary and fictional narrative, nevertheless the journey of Monolo and his donkey Gorrión is a fun romp for anybody looking for adventure with the unlikeliest of friends.

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  Review by Adrian ★★★★★

  „Gorrion!
              Gorrion!
                         Come on, Gorrion!“

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  Review by joshcrouch ★★★★

  I watched this directly after watching Border (Ali Abbasi) which was a good decision, it’s pretty much the polar opposite. This movie isn’t jarring but it is full of heart and the relationship between Manolo and his animals is so sweet. Definitely got the image of Border’s unraveling monster dongs out of my head.

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  Review by Pete Craig ★★★★½

  Presented as part of the Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital.

  An entertaining doc about a guy who wants to take his donkey on a trek to the American west to retrace the “trail of tears” forced relocation of Native Americans in the mid nineteenth century. Several problems: he is in his 70’s or 80’s, has arthritis in his knee, doesn’t have much money, and, oh yeah, he and his donkey are in Spain. This charming and often quite funny film follows him (and his donkey and dog companions) as he first convinces his family and doctor to go along and then tries to negotiate the financial and logistical aspects of the trip. Watching as the “impossible dream” plays out (along with several clever visual allusions to the literary inspiration) we get to know and love the trio as they go on a sort of pre-quest or trial run. A quiet gem.

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  Review by Rangr ★★★★

  Donkeyote is the story of a man in rural Spain walking with his donkey. Well, the man is the director's uncle. He wants to travel to America with his donkey! It sounds fantastic, yet it's true.

  The cinematographer and the director capture beautiful images and sequences in a brilliant fashion. It's well worth a watch on the big screen.

  The UK premiere of this documentary at the Edinburgh film festival was a treat. It is strange to call this a documentary because it has such a cinematic feel to it. Many in the audience raised the question about how much of a documentary this film is. The answers from the director didn't seem to satisfy everyone, so there were multiple questions on the same theme. As for me, I am not sure, but I enjoyed watching this "film".

  Another interesting titbit is that the director used to work as a grocery store employee in Edinburgh.