Close Your Eyes (2023 film)

 

Directed by Victor Erice and screenplay by Erice and Michel Gaztambide from a story by Erice, Cerrar los ojos (Close Your Eyes) is the story of an actor who had disappeared on a film set where a TV show revives the case of his disappearance where those close to the man are forced to confront the past and piece together what happened. The film marks a 31-year return to feature-length film for Erice as it explores a man’s disappearance as well as the film that he was working on until he left and never returned. Starring Manolo Solo, Jose Coronado, Ana Torrent, Petra Martinez, Maria Leon, Mario Pardo, Helena Miquel, Antonio Dechent, Jose Maria Pou, Soledad Villamil, and Juan Margallo. Cerrar los ojos is a ravishing and evocative film by Victor Erice.

The film revolves around a novelist who is asked to participate in a TV show about an unresolved case in which an actor disappeared on set more than 20 years ago on a film the novelist was making that was never finished. It is a film about a man who is forced to return to the past about the disappearance of his best friend with many interested to find out what happened to him and why he disappeared. The film’s screenplay by Victor Erice and Michel Gaztambide is straightforward in its narrative though it opens with the actor Julio Arenas (Jose Coronado) acting on a film set, and it would be the last time anyone would see him. More than 20 years later, his best friend in novelist/filmmaker Miguel Garay (Manolo Solo) is asked to appear in a TV show to talk about Arenas’ disappearance as well as the unfinished film entitled The Farewell Gaze that Garay was shooting with Arenas.

The film’s first act is set in Madrid where Garay visits an old friend in editor/archivist Max Rocaq (Mario Prado) as well as talk to Arenas’ daughter Ana (Ana Torrent) and a former lover in Lola (Soledad Villamil). The film’s second act takes place in Asturias where Miguel lives a simpler life as he spends his time fishing, translating novels for publishing houses, and living in a trailer with his dog Kali and Romani neighbors. It displays a man who once had an exhilarating life with Arenas only to stop authoring novels in favor of a short story every now and then while preferring to live in anonymity with a few people. Then he receives news emerged from the people at the show about claims that Arenas is alive as it adds a lot more intrigue. The script does play a lot of references into Erice’s own life and career considering that his second film was only half-finished when it was released only to make a documentary 9 years later about an artist and spent more than 30 years making short films instead of a feature-length film.

Erice’s direction is majestic in not just its simplicity but also in the way he presents layers upon layers of ambiguity into the film. Shot on various locations in Spain including Madrid, Asturias, and the provinces of Granada and Almeria, Erice creates a film that is a somber and meditative film that follows a man coping with the past. The film opens with a scene from the film-within-a-film in The Farewell Gaze where Arenas plays a man asked by this old man (Jose Maria Pou) to find his daughter. It is in this scene where Arenas walks out of the camera frame and never returns to the set making that film unfinished. Much of Erice’s compositions rely on wide and medium shots in not just getting the depth of field into the locations but also to play into the different cultures of Spain whether it is the modernistic tone of Madrid to the more simplistic world of the beach towns. There are close-ups in Erice’s direction, yet it only plays into intimate moments such as scenes in The Farewell Gaze while much of his work has him using medium shots.

Erice also plays into the idea of the past where Garay’s time with Max has them talking about films in the old days and film projectors becoming nearly extinct while a scene at Garay’s home that he shares with his dog and gypsy neighbors has him singing a country/western song in English from a Howard Hawks film. Still, Erice maintains this sense of melancholia as it plays into regret when the film reaches its third act where Garay is given news about a man who might be Arenas. The film then becomes this study of identity where Garay would meet this man but with caution where he does not want to say anything that would be upsetting towards him but also for Garay. Erice also plays into the idea of what could trigger old memories as it relates to a picture this man is carrying as it is from the film that Garay was making. The film’s ending is an ambiguous one as it relates to the past with people who might know this man or had known him for a while witnessing something that is about loss, regret, identity, and the idea of miracles. Overall, Erice crafts a rapturous and enchanting film about a filmmaker trying to cope with the disappearance of his best friend and the past that continues to haunt him.

Cinematographer Valentin Alvarez does incredible work with the film’s cinematography with its low-key approach to lighting up some of the exterior scenes at night along with some sunny and naturalistic look for some scenes at the beachside areas. Editor Ascen Marchena does excellent work with the editing with some transitional fade-outs to help structure the story as well as some rhythmic cuts to play into the drama. Art director Curru Garabal does brilliant work with the look of Garay’s home on the beach with the small trailer that he sleeps in as well as the hotel rooms he would live in with all its space. Costume designer Helena Sanchis does fantastic work with the costumes as it is casual in what many of the characters wear while the costumes in The Farewell Gaze are more refined to play into its look.

Hair/makeup supervisor Beatushka Wojtowicz does amazing work with the look of Garay as both a younger man in the 1990s and the look of this mysterious old man he would later meet. Visual effects supervisor Juliana Lasuncion does nice work with the visual effects as it is set-dressing for some of the film’s locations as well as scenes in The Farewell Gaze. Sound designer Juan Ferro does superb work with the sound in capturing the layers of natural sounds at a location including scenes on the beach or at the estate for the scenes in The Farewell Gaze as it is a highlight of the film. The film’s music by Federico Jusid is wonderful for its understated and somber piano orchestral score that plays into the sense of loss and melancholia that looms throughout the film with a soundtrack that features available music on set whether it is tango-based music or the country/western song that Garay sings from a Howard Hawks film.

The casting by Pablo Ini and Pilar Moya is marvelous as it feature some notable small roles from Venecia Franco as the daughter of the old man in The Farewell Gaze, Jose Maria Pou as that old man in The Farewell Gaze, Juan Margallo as a neurologist Garay meets in the third act about the old man he meets, Helena Miquel as a news journalist in Marta that asked Garay to be on her show, Antonio Dechent as a gossip columnist in Tico Mayoral that Gary dislikes because of his thoughts on Arenas, Maria Granados as a nurse in Belen who works at a retirement home facility who believes that the old man who works there is Arenas, Petra Martinez as one of the heads of the retirement home in Sister Consuelo who is fascinated by the identity of this old man who works at the home, and Soledad Villamil as a former lover of Arenas in Lola who invites Garay for a drink as they talk about the past as well as lamenting over Arenas’ state of mind at that time.

Mario Pardo is excellent as Garay’s friend Max who is a film editor/archivist who kept Garay’s copies of his unfinished film while also providing some witty commentary about Arenas’ disappearance as well as saying a lot of things about cinema including a funny joke about Carl Theoden Dreyer. Ana Torrent is brilliant as Arenas’ daughter Ana as a woman who declines to take part in the TV special about her father as she is unsure about her father’s mental state as she is only seen once in the first and returns in the third act to meet the man who might be her father where she copes with his mental state. Jose Coronado is incredible in the dual role of Julio Arenas and the mysterious man called Gardel where Coronado provides this sense of liveliness as Arenas who would endure a mental breakdown that would lead to his disappearance while his performance as Gardel is restrained as a man who prefers to live in isolation. Finally, there’s Manolo Solo in a phenomenal performance as Miguel Garay as a novelist/filmmaker who was Arenas’ best friend as he laments over his friend’s disappearance and the past while confronts the idea that he is responsible for what might have happened. Even as he deals with the idea that this old man he meets is his long-lost friend where he ponders whether he should try to get this man to remember something or to just let him be as it is a somber and riveting performance from Garay.

Cerrar los ojos is an outstanding film by Victor Erice. Featuring a great cast, gorgeous visuals, and its compelling study of memory, loss, identity, and the idea of the soul. It is a film that explores the idea of who people were and who they are in the present as well as the idea of loss and regret as it relates to the past. If this film is Erice’s final feature-length film, then he goes out with a winner. In the end, Cerrar los ojos is a magnificent film by Victor Erice.

Victor Erice Films: The Spirit of the Beehive - El Sur - Dream of Light/The Quince Sun Tree

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