Watch the trailer for El Sur (1983), Victor Erice’s stunning tale of memory, longing and loss.
Spain/Italy 1983
Directed by Victor Erice
With Omero Antonutti, Sonsoles Aranguren, Icíar Bollaín
95 min
DCP
Recalling her youth in northern Spain in the 1950s and her relationship with her beloved father, Estrella realises how little she knew about him. Raised in the south, he’d had his secrets… Delicate, nuanced, mysterious, Erice’s film reveals his abiding fascination with memory and missed opportunities, longing and loss, the passing of time and the links between private dreams and political realities.
The performances – like the meticulously lit compositions and the evocative soundtrack – are superb throughout; Omero Antonutti is especially charismatic as Agustín, while Sonsoles Aranguren and Icíar Bollaín shine, respectively, as the young and teenaged Estella. Exquisitely beautiful, profoundly moving.
Geoff Andrew, programmer-at-large
Venues
20 November
Duke’s at Komedia, Brighton
20 November
Cambridge Arts Picturehouse
20 November
Picturehouse Central
20 November
Clapham Picturehouse
20 November
Crouch End Picturehouse
20 November
East Dulwich Picturehouse
20 November
Edinburgh Cameo
20 November
Exeter Picturehouse
20 November
Hackney Picturehouse
20 November
Little Theatre Bath
20 November
Liverpool Picturehouse at FACT
20 November
NMM Bradford
20 November
Norwich Cinema City
20 November
Oxford Phoenix Picturehouse
20 November
Stratford East
20 November
Southampton Harbour Lights
20 November
York City Screen