“Long-awaited” isn’t quite the term for Victor Erice’s “Close Your Eyes,” a film that dedicated admirers of the Spanish master may have hoped for, but didn’t dare expect. Instead, Erice’s first feature in 31 years — and only his fourth overall — arrives as something between a desert oasis and a mirage: a shimmery, nourishing culmination of ideas and ellipses in a career so elusive as to have taken on a mythic quality, to the point that his latest feels almost dreamed into being. But “Close Your Eyes” proves a disarmingly simple, emotionally direct film once its out-of-time aura settles. A story itself of disappearance and reemergence, and the potential of cinema to bridge past and present as if decades were days, it’s potent and poignant enough to reach newcomers to Erice’s work, even as fans pore over its self-reflexive details.
Having premiered at Cannes, “Close Your Eyes...
Having premiered at Cannes, “Close Your Eyes...
- 10/1/2023
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
Updated with festival response: Spanish director Victor Erice, who was absent from the Cannes Film Festival premiere of his film Close Your Eyes, has posted an open letter criticizing festival Delegate General Thierry Frémaux over his handling of the selection of his film and explaining his decision not to attend.
Revolving around an investigation into the disappearance of an actor during a film shoot, Close Your Eyes is Erice’s first feature in three decades.
The film premiered to strong reviews on May 22 in the Cannes Premiere sidebar, created in 2021 to welcome films from more established filmmakers, with key cast Helena Miquel, Jose Coronado, Ana Torrent, Manolo Solo and María León in attendance but without Erice.
In an open letter posted on the website of Spain’s El Pais newspaper on Thursday, Erice said he had submitted the film to Official Selection as well as the Cannes parallel section of Directors’ Fortnight.
Revolving around an investigation into the disappearance of an actor during a film shoot, Close Your Eyes is Erice’s first feature in three decades.
The film premiered to strong reviews on May 22 in the Cannes Premiere sidebar, created in 2021 to welcome films from more established filmmakers, with key cast Helena Miquel, Jose Coronado, Ana Torrent, Manolo Solo and María León in attendance but without Erice.
In an open letter posted on the website of Spain’s El Pais newspaper on Thursday, Erice said he had submitted the film to Official Selection as well as the Cannes parallel section of Directors’ Fortnight.
- 5/24/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
It’s been 31 years since the great Spanish auteur Victor Erice made his last feature-length film, and as Cannes topper Thierry Frémaux pointed out during a brief introduction to the 82-year-old director’s long-awaited return to the screen, Close Your Eyes (Cerrar Los Ojos), that beats a record previously set by Terrence Malick.
As amusing as Frémaux’s anecdote was, he may have to one day explain why he chose to program such a graceful and powerful tribute to cinema in his festival’s catch-all “Cannes Première” sidebar instead of the main competition, for Close Your Eyes is a consummate work of filmmaking by a major artist.
Slowly but deliberately paced, the movie builds to a crescendo in a closing act where a movie itself — a real movie shot and projected on celluloid — plays a pivotal role, resuscitating forgotten lives and memories as only the cinema can do. Erice has managed,...
As amusing as Frémaux’s anecdote was, he may have to one day explain why he chose to program such a graceful and powerful tribute to cinema in his festival’s catch-all “Cannes Première” sidebar instead of the main competition, for Close Your Eyes is a consummate work of filmmaking by a major artist.
Slowly but deliberately paced, the movie builds to a crescendo in a closing act where a movie itself — a real movie shot and projected on celluloid — plays a pivotal role, resuscitating forgotten lives and memories as only the cinema can do. Erice has managed,...
- 5/23/2023
- by Jordan Mintzer
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Giving UK horror fans yet another reason to attend their scare-packed festival, the fine folks at Film4 FrightFest have announced their short film lineup that features over thirty shorts, including the cannibalistic wrestling tale, El Gigante:
Press Release: "Film4 FrightFest 2015 has expanded its Short Film Showcase event, with three strands and over thirty shorts from around the world, including eleven World Premieres and seven European Premieres. With films from thirteen countries, this is the most diverse and exciting shorts event yet programmed.
Highlights include the London premiere of actress Karen Gillan’s intense directorial debut Coward, and the UK premiere of Shevenge, a darkly funny tale of revenge, directed by Buffy The Vampire Slayer alum Amber Benson. Local FrightFest alumni will also be returning: screenwriter and director James Moran is back with screams and laughter in Ghosting, and Dan Auty brings us nostalgia and magic children in his new...
Press Release: "Film4 FrightFest 2015 has expanded its Short Film Showcase event, with three strands and over thirty shorts from around the world, including eleven World Premieres and seven European Premieres. With films from thirteen countries, this is the most diverse and exciting shorts event yet programmed.
Highlights include the London premiere of actress Karen Gillan’s intense directorial debut Coward, and the UK premiere of Shevenge, a darkly funny tale of revenge, directed by Buffy The Vampire Slayer alum Amber Benson. Local FrightFest alumni will also be returning: screenwriter and director James Moran is back with screams and laughter in Ghosting, and Dan Auty brings us nostalgia and magic children in his new...
- 7/30/2015
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Last week we broke out news about the international lineup for the official section of the 59th San Sebastian Film Festival. Today we receive word on the Spanish titles that would be showcased at this year's edition including the latest from Enrique Urbizu, Isaki Lacuesta and Nacho Vigalondo (see pic). Competing for the Golden Shell award at the official section we find: “No HABRÁ Paz Para Los Malvados (No Rest For The Wicked)” from Enrique Urbizu, starring José Coronado, Rodolfo Sancho, Helena Miquel and Juanjo Artero. The comeback of one of the most gripping Spanish film noir directors after an eight year absence.“Los Pasos Dobles (The Double Steps)” from Isaki Lacuesta, a fictional documentary taking its inspiration from the biography of French artist and author François Augiéras. The artist painted every inch of the walls of a military bunker in the desert and let it sink into the sand...
- 8/5/2011
- IONCINEMA.com
There is no man more dangerous than a man with facial hair and a shotgun. This is a lesson American learned in the 1970s thanks to Charles Bronson and Enrique Urbizu clearly never forgot.Urbizu is the director of No Peace For The Wicked (No Habra Paz Para Los Malvados), an upcoming 'tough cop with big gun' movie coming out of Spain. José Coronado, Rodolfo Sancho, and Helena Miquel star in the sort of story we've seen many times before - a police inspector is part of a shootout that leaves three people dead and the suspect on the run, thereby casting suspicion on himself - but one that is always fun when executed with style. And Urbizu certainly seems to have that. Check the...
- 6/2/2011
- Screen Anarchy
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