Subscribe to watch - 14-day free trial, then £4.99 a month
El Sur
Victor Erice’s second masterpiece, following The Spirit of the Beehive, is a meditation on memory, deception and Spain’s 20th-century history.
Director: Víctor Erice
Overview
A young girl in northern Spain is fascinated by her father’s past and his childhood in the pre-civil-war south. Spain’s enigmatic master Victor Erice has completed only three features since 1973, but each one is an exquisite masterpiece. El Sur is the second of these, a film which endured torrid production difficulties and a troubled distribution history – but whose power and beauty endures.
It was intended to be twice as long, with the second-half moving from northern to southern Spain. But shooting was curtailed by the producer, and Erice was urged to edit existing footage into the cut that we know today. It’s tempting to think of what might have been, and the director considered this to be an incomplete drama; Pedro Almodóvar is one of many who disagree, telling an audience at BFI Southbank “I cry every time I watch it.”
Scenes of implied suicide
Related
Pharaoh Pharaoh
Historical drama 1965 146 mins Director: Jerzy Kawalerowicz
Dazzling epic, in which the young Pharaoh Ramses XIII clashes with Egypt's clergy over influence on the affairs of the state and its coffers.
Je t'aime, je t'aime Je t'aime, je t'aime
Drama 1968 95 mins Director: Alain Resnais
A mysterious time-travel experiment becomes a warped voyage through memory, in this mesmerising sci-fi from acclaimed director Alain Resnais.
La Reine Margot La Reine Margot
Historical drama 1994 158 mins Director: Patrice Chéreau
Sumptuous historical drama starring Isabelle Adjani and Daniel Auteuil; a thunderous yarn full of dastardly plots, familial hatred and perverse desire
Scrubbers Scrubbers
Drama 1982 93 mins Director: Mai Zetterling
1980s borstal drama – billed as the female Scum – featuring Amanda York and Kathy Burke as inmates in a ruthless women’s prison.
Mona Lisa Mona Lisa
Gangster 1986 100 mins Director: Neil Jordan
An ungainly cockney chauffeur navigates the seedy streets of London, gradually falling for the elegant and mysterious prostitute who is his passenger.
The Outrun The Outrun
Drama 2024 118 mins Director: Nora Fingscheidt
Saoirse Ronan gives a bracing performance as a young recovering alcoholic returning home to Orkney in this moving adaptation of Amy Liptrot’s memoir.
Wild Tales Wild Tales
Comedy 2014 122 mins Director: Damian Szifron
This Oscar-nominated, Almodóvar-produced anthology of six tales of ordinary madness is the most riotously enjoyable portmanteau film since Pulp Fiction.
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!
Drama 1989 101 mins Director: Pedro Almodóvar
A kidnapped woman falls in love with her captor in this controversial drama from Pedro Almodóvar.
Live Flesh Live Flesh
Drama 1997 97 mins Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Pedro Almodóvar’s sexy and suspenseful thriller follows the intertwining destinies of a cop (Javier Bardem) and the criminal who paralyses him.
Volver Volver
Drama 2005 121 mins Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Family secrets echo around a Spanish clan, ringing loud enough to rouse the dead, in Pedro Almodóvar's assured melodrama.
I'm So Excited! I'm So Excited!
Comedy 2013 90 mins Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Pedro Almodóvar’s highly enjoyable over-the-top comic satire is set on an aeroplane experiencing in-flight difficulties.
Bad Education Bad Education
Drama 2004 101 mins Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Film director Enrique (Fele Martínez) is visited by a man claiming to be Ignacio (Gael García Bernal), his first love.
Close Your Eyes Close Your Eyes
Drama 2023 169 mins Director: Víctor Erice
At once a mystery about an actor’s sudden disappearance, and a meditation on memory, identity, friendship – and the power of cinema.
Pharaoh Pharaoh
Historical drama 1965 146 mins Director: Jerzy Kawalerowicz
Dazzling epic, in which the young Pharaoh Ramses XIII clashes with Egypt's clergy over influence on the affairs of the state and its coffers.
Je t'aime, je t'aime Je t'aime, je t'aime
Drama 1968 95 mins Director: Alain Resnais
A mysterious time-travel experiment becomes a warped voyage through memory, in this mesmerising sci-fi from acclaimed director Alain Resnais.
Desire: The Carl Craig Story Desire: The Carl Craig Story
Documentary 2024 91 mins Director: Jean-Cosme Delaloye
An intimate portrait of legendary techno producer, DJ and record label creator Carl Craig and an ode to his beloved city, Detroit.
La Reine Margot La Reine Margot
Historical drama 1994 158 mins Director: Patrice Chéreau
Sumptuous historical drama starring Isabelle Adjani and Daniel Auteuil; a thunderous yarn full of dastardly plots, familial hatred and perverse desire
Scrubbers Scrubbers
Drama 1982 93 mins Director: Mai Zetterling
1980s borstal drama – billed as the female Scum – featuring Amanda York and Kathy Burke as inmates in a ruthless women’s prison.
Mona Lisa Mona Lisa
Gangster 1986 100 mins Director: Neil Jordan
An ungainly cockney chauffeur navigates the seedy streets of London, gradually falling for the elegant and mysterious prostitute who is his passenger.
