El sur

Lights in the Dusk

Intimate to the point of privacy. So subtle & delicate in its handling of serious themes that the important events occur almost by happenstance; childhood trauma caught up in the greater flow of memories that run throughout. As a young woman looks back on an evocation of the past, the filmmakers tease out a whole tapestry of political history, familial relationships; with 'the South' itself as a yearning for escape.

LauraPalmer

This is my favorite Erice and one of the most shocking films I've ever seen. Watching El sur is like if Erice were showing me my childhood: as if he knew my father, as if he knew who I am, I can't imagine how this film could be better: it's just impossible. One of the best (Spanish) films of all time.

El Biffo

Pacific Film Archive 31 July 2015 Victor Erice appeared in person for this screening. He spoke extensively about the second half of the film, which was never made, in which Estrella goes to Andalucia, and meets Irene Rios. This film is so beautiful to look at, the use of light so eloquent in every frame, that I could hardly bear to look at the subtitles. Sweet, sublime, mystical and melancholy.

ASHES IN THE HOURGLASS

Following Spirit of the beehive seems suicidal, but the beauty of Erice prevailed in the long run. Who the F cares that it's an incomplete film. Frankly, there is more fear, joy, discovery, sorrow in here than almost any so called finished films. The characters have been brought to life with such warmth that I wish all the more to be able to be there and to share the ups and downs of this family's life. MUST SEE

kartina obskura

"jer on je bio sve to istovremeno, veliki bolesnik i histerična žena, žena bremenita od neke večne i lažne gravidnosti kao od nekog golemog tumora, a bio je i dete, veliko dete svoga doba i svoga plemena, kao što je bio i nesposoban za rad, za svaki rad, fizički i umni podjednako, jer se krivulja njegove genijalnosti i njegove aktivnosti opasno izvijala...

T. J. Harman

A beautiful film equal in merit to Erice's more known SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE. (this guy needs to direct more often). The performances he gets out of non-professional children are amazing. The dynamic between the daughter and father was pretty interesting too.

Francisco R.

A superb companion to his previous Spirit of the Beehive, with a somewhat bittersweet ending since I would have loved to watch the supposed continuation as much as I would like to leave the film as it is.

InsertOzuReferencehere

The cinema of honest and wise reflection. This film is a poetic take on memory (opposed to a dramatic one) ... It's amazing how much we feel we know someone, when knowing little about their past ... yet as soon as we gain even a small amount of information, we suddenly feel we dont know them anymore. Sometimes knowing more can result in a feeling of knowing less.