Close Your Eyes

Years ago a shoot was abandoned because its leading man vanished and was never found. Now a television programme reopens the case, and the film's director, a man who long ago gave up cinema, has to go back into those days. Víctor Erice made this after a gap of more than three decades, and that is exactly its subject: lost time, faces no longer remembered, and whether an image can bring a person back. The closing scene takes place in a cinema, and the entire argument of the film gathers there in a single look. It screened in the Cannes Premiere section in 2023. Erice objected publicly to being kept out of competition in an open letter and did not attend. The film later drew ten nominations at the Goya awards. The difficulty is a running time close to three hours, a very slow pace and a middle section built almost entirely on conversation. Who it is for: viewers who love cinema about cinema and the Spanish masters. Who it is not for: anyone who needs pace.