This film was released 16th September 2016, and is no longer screening.

★★★★★ Ciné-Vue

IFI CLASSIC

Ten years after the success of The Spirit Of the Beehive (1973), his debut feature and one of the great films about childhood, director Victor Erice returned to filmmaking with El Sur, which once again places a young woman at its centre. Here, the focus is on the relationship between eight-year old Estrella (Sonsoles Aranguren) and her father Augustín (Omero Antonutti), who, despite their closeness, is a mystery to her.

At the age of 15, and now portrayed by Icíar Bollaín, Estrella and Augustín have drifted apart somewhat, and she realises that he has his own secrets, the keeping of which was intended to benefit her. Erice considers the film unfinished, as financing was pulled halfway through the planned shoot. However, the work as it exists was selected for competition at Cannes, and remains a landmark of Spanish cinema. (Notes by Kevin Coyne.)

Don’t forget we now schedule weekly.