Dir: Víctor Erice
Cast: Manolo Solo, Jose Coronado, Ana Torrent
Spanish with English Subtitles

Celebrated Spanish director Víctor Erice (The Spirit of the Beehive, El Sur) returns with a new feature after 30 years away from the camera.

The film-within-a-film structure tells the story of a famous Spanish actor, Julio Arenas (José Coronado), disappears while on a shoot. Although his body is never found, the police conclude that he’s been the victim of an accident by the sea. Many years later, the mystery surrounding his disappearance is brought back into the spotlight by a TV programme outlining his life, and death, and showing exclusive images of the last scenes he filmed, shot by his dear friend, the director Miguel Garay (Manolo Solo).

★★★★★ ‘The very idea that there now exists in the world a new feature film by the long-absent Spanish director Victor Erice is a cause for celebration in and of itself. That the feature, named Close Your Eyes, also happens to stand shoulder to shoulder with the works upon which he made his name, supremely-lyrical stories that explore the profound intersections between landscape, history and art, such as Spirit of the Beehive, El Sur and The Quince Tree Sun, is nothng short of a miracle.’

Though his oeuvre is small, Erice only deals in masterworks, and this one is no exception. The slow and detailed build-up is worth it to feel the full impact of its astounding final passage.’ David Jenkins, Little White Lies

★★★★ “One of the most influential films to ever emerge from Spain, Victor Erice’s 1973 debut The Spirit of the Beehive is about a young girl who retreats into a world of cinema to escape the trauma of life in post civil war Spain. Erice’s latest, Close Your Eyes, only his fourth film in his 50 year career, is about an old man who has retreated from cinema.”

‘”.. a perfect bookend to a career that began with a child discovering the power of cinema and now might end with an old man rediscovering its importance.” Eric Hillis, Movie Waffler

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