In the City of Sylvia

José Luis Guerín's 2007 Spanish film contains almost no dialogue. A young man returns to a city to find a woman he met once six years earlier and believes was called Sylvia. He sits in cafés, watches people and draws faces in a sketchbook. When he sees a woman he thinks might be her, he follows her through the streets. The film consists almost entirely of looking: who is looking at whom, when the person being looked at notices, and at what point looking becomes a violation. Guerín uses reflections in tram windows, glass doors and movement in the background to make the act of looking visible. The result is both extremely beautiful and uneasy, and the film never romanticises the man's behaviour. Who it's for: viewers who like slow cinema, formal experiment and near-wordless narration. Who it's not for: anyone wanting plot, dialogue and character development; the film offers none of the three.