Giant (2017 film)
Giant (Original title: Handia) is a 2017 Basque language drama film directed by Aitor Arregi and Jon Garaño. The film is based on the life of Miguel Joaquín Eleizegui Arteaga (1818-1861) who suffered from gigantism and was known as the "Giant from Altzo". The film premiered at the 2017 San Sebastián International Film Festival, where it was awarded the Special Jury Prize. The film was also screened at the 2017 BFI London Film Festival.

At the 32nd Goya Awards, the film won ten awards, including Best Original Screenplay, Best New Actor (Eneko Sagardoy), and Best Original Score (Pascal Gaigne).

Plot
An unwilling conscript in the First Carlist War, Martín returns to his family's farmhouse to find that his younger brother Joaquín has become a giant. Martín sees the commercial opportunity in marketing the "tallest man on Earth" as a freak attraction, and they travel around Europe with the increasingly distressed Joaquín serving as a circus act. Joaquín measures himself each night and is horrified that he continues to grow, well into adulthood, suspecting that the condition is terminal.

For a time Martín believes he is at home with sophisticated medical doctors interested in understanding his brother's condition, yet his background, clothes, and Basque accent betray him, and they laugh at him as a mere farmhand or peasant. Embittered, he travels abroad.

In one scene, the brothers visit Stonehenge, England, where in a surreal, early morning ritual, Joaquín is introduced to a potential female love interest, who is also a giant. She seems interested, but Joaquín is too self-conscious and possessing a self awareness Martin lacks, in the end repulsed by someone of a similar condition.

Critical appraisal
The film won several Goya awards in Spain and has been described as the most technically accomplished to date Basque-language movie. English language critics have been equally enthusiastic, praising especially its visual brilliance while noting that the plot loses momentum towards the end.

Giant has a rating of 71% on Rotten Tomatoes indicating mostly favourable reviews.

Cast
Joseba Usabiaga as Martín
Eneko Sagardoy as Joaquín
Iñigo Aranburu as Arzadun
Ramon Agirre as Antonio
Aia Kruse as María

Awards