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

© thevoid99 2025

2017 Cannes Marathon: Dream of Light

(Winner of the Jury Prize and FIPRESCI prize at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival)

Directed by Victor Erice and written by Erice and Antonio Lopez Garcia, El sol del membrillo (The Quince Tree Sun or Dream of Light) is a half-documentary/half-narrative driven film about the artist Antonio Lopez Garcia and his attempt to paint the quince tree. It’s a film that explores Garcia’s process which is described as meticulous where the man also deals with his own sense of mortality and the drive to do this painting. The result is a rich and engrossing film from Victor Erice.

Shot from September to December of 1990 with additional shooting in the spring of 1991, the film is a simple exploration of Antonio Lopez Garcia’s attempt to paint the quince tree in his backyard. The film showcases his meticulous approach to painting the tree from the pegs on the ground where he would use it to maintain a certain position as he’s painting to the marks he would make on the tree to know the attention to detail of what he’s painting. With the usage of symmetry by tying strings on the tree and hanging a weight on it, Garcia would find a center of what to paint as the markings would also show where the position has changed during the days in his attempts to paint this tree. During the course of these four months, Garcia would have two attempts in painting this tree from the fullness in the early stages of autumn to succumbing to the cold winter and rotting fruit that would follow which include some of his markings.

With the aid of cinematographers Angel Luis Fernandez and Javier Aguirresarobe, director Victor Erice would capture Garcia as he attempts to paint this tree while also capturing Garcia’s life at home where his wife Marina Moreno, who is also an artist, is overseeing the remodeling of his home as they’re visited by their daughters as well as another artist in Enrique Gran. While Erice would shoot some of the conversations that Garcia is having with Gran who talks throughout while Garcia is painting. Chinese tourists arrive to meet Garcia as he goes into great detail into his process as he copes with trying to achieve a sense of realism into his paintings. Throughout the course of the film, Garcia goes into great detail to get the right look and tone of a leaf or a quince fruit as he would have something going until late October where he deals with a terrible storm in and around Madrid.

Erice’s usage of close-ups and wide shots doesn’t just capture the depth of this painting-in-the-works but also what Garcia would do to start over as it relates to the second attempt where it felt more like a draft of what he wants to do as he would start all over again during the film’s second act. With the help of editor Juan Ignacio San Mateo in assembling and capture the many hours of footage to showcase the evolution of Garcia’s painting through days and weeks into how it would come into fruition. The sound work of Ricardo Steimberg and Daniel Goldstein is excellent in maintaining something that is natural as well as the kind of music that Garcia plays in his radio along with the broadcasts that is happening in and around Spain. The film’s music by Pascal Gaigne is wonderful as it is mostly low-key with its string-based music to play into the determination that Garcia is in achieving absolute realism into his painting.

El sol del membrillo is an incredible film from Victor Erice. While it’s not an easy film to watch due to its slow pacing and can meander at times. It is still this fascinating film that is very unconventional in its tone where it may have the look of a documentary but it feels like a narrative-based film as it showcases what an artist does to try and achieve what he’s going for. In the end, El sol del membrillo is a remarkable film from Victor Erice.

Victor Erice Films: The Spirit of the Beehive - El Sur - Close Your Eyes

© thevoid99 2017

2015 Cannes Marathon: El Sur

(Played in Competition for the Palme d’Or at the 1983 Cannes Film Festival)

Based on the short story by Adelaida Garcia Morales, El Sur (The South) is the story of a young girl living in the north of Spain who is fascinated by the country’s southern region as it relates to her father. Written for the screen and directed by Victor Erice, the film is an exploration into a young woman’s journey to know the man she called her father. Starring Omero Antonutti, Sonsoles Aranguren, Iciar Bollain, Lola Cardona, and Aurore Clement. El Sur is a ravishing and touching film from Victor Erice.

Set in the late 1940s through the late 1950s in post-war Spain in its northern regions, the film revolves around the life of a young girl and her relationship with her father as it plays into a part of Spain that her father used to live in. It’s a film that is about roots in some respects as it is told from the perspective of this young woman named Estrella (Sonsoles Aranguren as a child and Iciar Bollain as a teenager) who tries to know who her father is and why his homeland is intriguing. It is film that is mostly told from Estrella’s perspective as she reflects on her life with her father Augustin Arena (Omero Antonutti) who was a very gentle and warm man as he created a quaint and idyllic life with his wife Julia (Lola Cardona). Once the young Estrella learns a lot about her father and why he is so drawn to Spain’s southern region where it plays into not just her father’s past but also the life he once had.

The film’s screenplay has an unconventional structure as its first two acts is largely focused on the young Estrella as it plays into her youth and coming of age as she is amazed by her father. Notably as he carries a pendulum for small things which she would get later on as she also wonders what does he do in this attic. The film is largely set in this small town in north of Spain as it is a major character of the film as Estrella’s encounter with Southern Spain is through postcards as it plays more into a sense of fantasy. The story would progress into Estrella starting to learn more about her father’s past as it doesn’t just relate to his homeland but also an actress named Irene Rios (Aurore Clement) who was an old lover of Augustin. It serves an act of innocence lost where its third act revolves around the teenage Estrella who not only deals with growing pains but also this fascination for the world of Southern Spain.

Victor Erice’s direction is very understated as he doesn’t really go for anything vast in his direction but rather something that is very intimate and low-key. Shot on location in the north of Spain with a few shots in Madrid, the film does play into a world that is definitely removed from more traditional ideas of the country for something that is very rural. While Erice does use a lot of wide and medium shots, his approach to framing is very entrancing in not just where he places the actor into a frame but also in creating something that feels like a moment in time where things were much simpler. Even in his approach to close-ups and the way he manages to bring something natural into the performances of his actors such as an intimate scene between the young Estrella and her grand-aunt Milagros (Rafaela Aparicio). Erice’s direction also has some stylish usage of tracking shots and some crane shots but it’s often very low-key as it plays to things surrounding the characters.

Even in its third act as it plays into Estrella coming to terms about her father as well as dealing with the world that he left behind. Yet, it is only half the story as Erice’s intention for the film was much longer than its 95-minute presentation as a second half was to be set in the South of Spain. Due to financial and creative issues with the film’s producer Elias Querejeta, only half of the story was told. However, the final film that Erice would bring manages to be just as entrancing as well as very touching where it adds a lot of interpretation and ideas of what Estrella might encounter in this world that her father was from. In the end, Erice crafts a very evocative yet rapturous film about a young coming of age in the Northern Spain.

Cinematographer Jose Luis Alcaine does incredible work with the film‘s cinematography to play into naturalistic look of the locations as many of its daytime exteriors are shot with available and natural light along with some of its interiors in day and night that have some unique lighting as it is among the film‘s highlights. Editor Pablo Gonzalez del Amo does excellent work with the editing as it‘s very straightforward as there‘s not a lot of stylish cuts but rather methodical rhythmic cuts to play into the drama. Production designer Antonio Belizon does fantastic work with the look of the house known as the Seagull as it is a major character in the film that plays into the world Estrella and her family live in as well as the café that her father would go to.

Costume designer Maiki Marin does nice work with the costumes from the suits that Augustin wears to the very ordinary dresses of Estrella that plays into the sense of innocence that she would exude in her life. The sound work of Bernardo Menz is amazing for not just its approach to sparse sound textures for many of its natural locations but also in some of the scenes involving crowds and party such as a quiet lunch late in the film where a wedding party is happening in the next room. The film’s music by Enrique Granados is brilliant for its somber yet low-key orchestral score that plays into the drama along with some flamenco pieces for a few scenes and classical contributions from Maurice Ravel and Franz Schubert.

The film’s superb cast include some notable small roles from Jose Vivo as a hotel barman, Maria Caso as the family cook/maid, Francisco Merino as Irene’s co-star in a film that Augustin watches, and Germaine Montero as Estrella’s grandmother who comes from the south of Spain as she brings more intrigue to Estrella. Rafaela Aparicio is wonderful as Estrella’s grand-aunt Milagros who would tell Estrella stories about her father and be the one to get him to attend Estrella’s first communion. Aurore Clement is terrific in a small role as the actress Irene Rios who is an old flame of Augustin as she only appears in a film as a femme fatale. Lola Cardona is fantastic as Augustin’s wife Julia who would also be a teacher for Estrella as she copes with not just Augustin’s sudden isolation but also with Estrella’s sudden anger towards her father.

Omero Antonutti is amazing as Augustin Arenas as a man who can create small miracles in his surroundings while being a great father but is anguished by elements of his own pasts and roots which causes him to isolate from everyone including his daughter. Finally there’s the duo of Sonsoles Aranguren and Iciar Bollain in phenomenal performances in their respective roles as the 8-year old and 15-year old Estrella. Aranguren brings a naturalistic yet enchanting approach to her performance that is very engaging and full of innocence as a young girl rocked by the secrets about her father. Bolain brings the same quality of innocence and naturalism but also a bit of angst as well as a melancholia as it relates to her father’s isolation. Adding to the performance is the voice-over narration by Maria Massip who brings an intoxicating quality to the narration as it brings a glimpse into who the adult Estrella might be.

El Sur is an exhilarating film from Victor Erice. Armed with a great cast and a fascinating story about innocence and curiosity, it’s a film that isn’t just a tender coming-of-age story. It’s also a very captivating film about a young woman’s relationship with her father. In the end, El Sur is an incredible film from Victor Erice.

Victor Erice Films: The Spirit of the Beehive - Dream of Light - Close Your Eyes

© thevoid99 2015

The Spirit of the Beehive

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 10/31/08.

When Mexican director Guillermo del Toro released the widely acclaimed film El Laberinto del Fauno (Pan's Labyrinth) in 2006, del Toro acknowledged the influence of Spanish director Victor Erice. Though he's only made three feature films in his entire career, he is considered to be one of the influential Spanish film directors to come out of that country since Luis Bunuel. In 1973, Erice released his seminal debut feature about a six-year-old girl whose life would change after seeing the film Frankenstein in her rural small town entitled El Espiritu de la Colmena (The Spirit of the Beehive).

Directed by Victor Erice with a script he co-wrote with Angel Fernandez Santos and Francisco J. Querejeta , El Espiritu de la Colmena is about a young girl in 1940 rural Spain whose life would change when she sees a screening of Frankenstein as she becomes possessed by its images. Set after the Spanish Civil War, the film explores the development of a young girl as her perception of reality blurs. Starring Ana Torrent, Fernando Fernan Gomez, Teresa Gimpera, and Isabel Telleria. El Espiritu de la Colmena is a gorgeous yet haunting film from Victor Erice.

It's 1940 in rural Spain where a truck is carrying some movies to play at the local city hall to an excited group of children. The film to played for the day is James Whale's Frankenstein as adults and children watch the film. Transfixed by its images is a shy, six-year old girl named Ana (Ana Torrent). Along with her older sister Isabel (Isabel Telleria), they see this film while their mother Teresa (Teresa Gimpera) writes a letter to a long-lost lover she had many years ago. The girls' father Fernando (Fernando Fernan Gomez) is an aging beekeeper which he often writes about. Later that night, Ana asks her sister about the Frankenstein monster where Isabel reveals that it's no monster but a spirit.

Ana's curiosity that the monster could be real leads her and Isabel to an abandoned sheepfold where they believe the monster lives in there. Yet, Ana finds a footprint as her curiosity increases. During a day with their father, they learn a lesson about mushrooms as Ana is given a lesson about life and its fallacies. When Isabel plays a trick on Ana, Ana's fascination over the monster ends up taking Isabel's prank seriously until she realize it was a prank. Ana's idea of fantasy and reality blurs when a fugitive soldier (Juan Margallo) arrives into the sheepfold. Ana befriends the man through silent dialogue but he is suddenly killed by some soldiers. Ana returns to the sheepfold where she's shocked in what she sees as her idea of fantasy and reality is blurred even more right to the end.

The film is just a simple tale about a young girl transfixed by a film and her fascination with the world of spiritual beings. It's also a film about life and death in all of its mysteries. While the film isn't very plot driven, it's more about curiosity from the mind of a young girl and how she's enamored with this film. Victor Erice and co-writer Angel Fernandez Santos create a story that's about a child being enamored by all of these ideas of spiritual beings and death. While the script is more loose in its storytelling, Erice's directing is truly superb and imaginative.

While some might compare him to reknowned American auteur Terrence Malick both visually and on a personal level considering that both directors don't make films very frequently. Erice, like Malick, creates natural images and shots of huge landscapes to create a feel that is gorgeous with a pacing style that's elliptical in letting the story unfold for its characters. Unlike Malick, Erice is more in tune with a spiritual tale as he, like the character of Ana, prefers to remain curious in what might happen. With a lot of long shots and gorgeous compositions, Erice creates a film that is truly magical and haunting.

Cinematographer Luis Cuadrado, who was going blind during production, creates a gorgeous look with naturalistic, colorful exterior shots that are wide and epic in its imagery. The interior look with the use of the sun and lights are awashed with sepia colors and shading as the cinematography is truly exquisite to look at in every frame. Editor Pablo Gonzalez del Amo creates amazing work in the editing with uses of jump cuts, dissolves from day to night in some sequences, and smooth transitions to give the film a fluid, transcendental feel. Art director Jaime Chavarri and set decorator Aldolfo Cofino create a great look at the home of Ana and Isabel in its natural, Spanish-tile look. Costume designer Peris does excellent work with the film's costume to give it a 1940s look and feel that matches the look of the entire film.

Makeup artist Ramon de Diego does excellent work in creating makeup for the look of the monster that Ana seems intrigued by late into the film. Sound effects team Luis Castro and Jean Michel Sire create unique sound work for horror and dramatic tension to help with the film's eerie mood. The music of Luis de Pablo is brilliant in its melodic, flute-driven score to play up the film's sense of innocence and haunting tone with other woodwinds.

The cast is excellent with notable small roles from Estanis Gonzalez as the chief inspector, Miguel Picazo as the doctor, Laly Soldevila as the girls' schoolteacher, Ketty de la Camara as the maid, Juan Margallo as the fugitive, and playing the monster near the end of the film is Jose Villasante. Teresa Gimpera is excellent as the girls' mother who seems to be longing for a lost love as she drifts into her fantasy world while being devoted to her husband. Isabel Telleria is great as the older sister who increases Ana's intrigue in the supernatural while trying to play a prank on her that only furthers Ana's interest. Fernando Fernan Gomez is superb as the father who shows Ana and Isabel the fallacy about life and death as he examines his own world of beehives and nature.

The film's best performance is Ana Torrent as Ana, the girl who is intrigued by the film Frankenstein. Torrent's performance is amazing for a young girl as her observant and innocent curiosity drives the film as she takes the audience into a journey. With very little dialogue, her performance is mesmerizing from start to finish as it's clear that it's the heart of the film as Torrent brings a performance like no other. It should also be noted that she helped create the film's opening credit sequence of children's drawings as well.

El Espiritu de la Colmena is a gorgeous, haunting, and imaginative film from Victor Erice. Fans of Spanish cinema will no doubt consider this essential while those new to Spain's great film work will see this as a great introduction. Audiences intrigued by some of the art films of Guillermo del Toro will see where he gets his influence. Thanks to a great cast led by Ana Torrent along with exquisite cinematography and a mesmerizing film score. El Espiritu de la Colmena is a film that revels in the power of imagination from the mind of a child.

Victor Erice Films: El Sur - Dream of Light - Close Your Eyes

© thevoid99 2011