FilmCriticLalitRao Spanish film 'El Sur' is a poetic meditation about an extraordinarily complex father-daughter relationship which takes place in a remote location in North Spain.Although this film does not have any grandiose narrative structure, nevertheless it manages to attract viewers' sympathies as all characters have been given ample screen time to present their view points.Taking today's films as yardstick,the pace of this film is little slow but a fairly regular sequences of events does all possible justice to the topic portrayed.By making 'El Sur' Spanish director Victor Erice has created a sincere work of art about the richness of family life.Based on a novel by Spanish writer Adelaida García Morales,El Sur gives a very clear idea about the hidden identity of a person.It is through this film viewers learn that the secrets of some identities are revealed only when somebody is compelled to come to the bottom of a past life in order to throw some light on that person's motives for putting oneself in that situation.Lastly,every country is made to grapple with its north versus south division.It is also evident in this film as people from south left their area in order to settle in north Spain.

zetes I don't really keep a list of most-wanted-but-unavailable movies, but, if I did, this film, the second of only three features of Victor Erice, director of Spirit of the Beehive, would have been very high on it. It is, to understate, far from a disappointment. Very much a sister film to Spirit, it's about a woman, Estrella, who as a narrator remains off screen, reminiscing about her relationship with her father (Omero Antonutti). As a child (where she is played by Sonsoles Aranguren), she worshiped the man. Behind the perceived god, though, he was quite a sad man, haunted by history. Estrella discovers a particular secret which dominates the man's mind. In her teenage years (where she's played by Iciar Bollain), that secret comes back. This is an achingly gorgeous film, very quiet and largely shot in shadowy, cold sunlight. The images are every bit as gorgeous as Spirit's, and the story is, too. Criterion apparently owns the rights to this. Many of the films that are only streaming on Hulu will never see a home video release, but they really should put this one out there. It's a masterpiece.

ay9a It must be almost twenty years since I saw this movie (and I saw it only once, when I was in Japan), but the memory of this movie remains in me like an old haunting dream from childhood. Cinematography at its best. I think, for the first time, this film made me think that the best media for poetry is not words, but vision.I would want to recommend this to anyone who loves "Spirit of the Beehive" and thinks it cannot be surpassed. But alas, I don't know how you get this movie in USA with English subtitle.

mac-55 Surely, at least for me, this movie is the best one of Spanish movies since the times of BIENVENIDO Mr. MARSHALL. The best of all is the interpretation of the first girl, SONSOLES ARANGUREN and the Italian actor, OMERO ANTONOUTTI. But about all, the best of the movie is the photograph with the marvelous darkness. I recommend it for all the people that love the real and authentic "CINE".