movie factory Entertainment has acquired the international sales rights of Victor EriceThe highly anticipated “Cerrar los ojos,” which marks the fourth feature from the legendary Spanish filmmaker, writer and director of “The hive spirit”, reuniting him with Ana Torrent, the very young wide-eyed star of that cinematographic milestone.
Now that it is finishing its filming in Granada, Almería and Asturias before moving to Madrid, “Cerrar los Ojos” will be released in Spanish cinemas in 2023 by the distributor “Alcarràs” avalon.
Erice's fourth feature film, after 30 years of Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize winner “El sol del quince”, “Cerrar los ojos” is written by Erice and Michel Gaztambide, winner of the Goya Award for Best Screenplay from the Academy Spanish for "There is no rest for the wicked." The story of a disappearance, the film revolves around "issues such as identity and memory," its producers announced on Monday.
The producer Cristina Zumárraga directs the production through tandem moviescompany that he co-directs with Pablo E. Bossi, in co-production with José Alba's Pecado Films, Erice's production company Nautilus Films, Argentina's Pampa Films, also directed by Bossi, and the fiscal vehicle La mirada del adiós, AIE
With Spanish actors Manolo Solo ("The Good Boss", "Marshland") and José Coronado ("No Rest for the Wicked", "Way Down"), "Cerrar los ojos" revolves around a famous Spanish actor, Julio Arenas, who disappears during the filming of a movie.
Although his body is never found, the police conclude that he has suffered an accident on a cliff by the sea. Many years later, the mystery is revived by a television program that tries to evoke the actor, offering for the first time images of the last scenes in which he participated, filmed by his great friend, the director Miguel Garay. The beginning and the end of an unfinished film.
Close the eyes
Courtesy of Film Factory
Further cast members take in Torrent, María León (“The Sleeping Voice”), Petra Martínez (“La vida era eso”), Soledad Villamil (“The Secret in Their Eyes”), Mario Pardo (“El hoyo”), Elena Miquel (“No Rest for the Wicked”) and José María Pou (“The Sea Inside”).
Valentín Fernández, who filmed Erice's shorts “La Morte Rouge” and “Broken Windows”, serves as DOP. Other key team includes the sound technician for “La piel que habito” and “El buen jefe” Iván Marín and Juan Ferro from “Mar adentro” for sound post-production.
Curru Garabal from “Intemperie” works as art director, Helena Sanchís (“La carta esférica”) as costume designer, Ascen Marchena (“La isla interior”) as editor. “El secreto de sus ojos” Federico Jusid is composing the original soundtrack for the feature film.
“Cerrar los ojos” has the backing of the Spanish public broadcaster RTVE, the regional operators Canal Sur and EiTB, the paybox/SVOD service Movistar+, the Spanish film agency ICAA and the Autonomous Communities of Andalusia and Madrid.
Erice: a quick take
Erice's first solo feature film, “The Spirit of the Hive”, a meticulously layered tale open to psychological, cinematographic and historical readings, won the San Sebastián Golden Shell in 1973. “El Sur”, from 1983, a reflection on myth, on love and creativity. it was never finished, missing its shorter second part set in southern Spain. However, it did win the Golden Hugo Award at the Chicago Festival in 1983.
Regarding the feature film direction, “Cerrar los ojos” follows “El sol del quince”, in which the artist Antonio López speaks to the viewer through his painting of a quince. It also won a Fipresci International Critics Award at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival, among other awards.
Although Erice hasn't made a feature film in 30 years, he's hardly been idle, writing screenplay adaptations of Juan Marsé's "The Haunting of Shanghai" and Jorge Luis Borges' short story "Death and the Compass," which fared better than the original. and directing shorts like 2006's "La Morte Rouge" and 2012's "Broken Windows," the latter part of the "Historical Center" compilation film, "important achievements despite its half-hour runtime," wrote British critic Geoff Andrew in his Erice 2020 review “stone and sky,” a video installation on two screens.
Erice's work has garnered extraordinary applause. "The Spirit of the Beehive" is considered by many critics as one of the best Spanish films ever made. "Sueño de luz" was voted by movie theaters and cultural centers around the world as the best film of the 1990s.
Part of the anthology feature “Ten More Minutes: The Trumpet”, Erice's “fascinatingly poetic” interlude, “Lifeline”, represented “the most impressive 11 minutes of film presented at Cannes this year”. Variety announced in 2002.
It is not surprising that "Cerrar los ojos" –which seems willing to take up some of the reflections on the state of cinema explored in "The Spirit of the Beehive", where a girl begins to open her eyes– is already qualified as one of The most anticipated Spanish films of 2023.
Close the eyes
Courtesy of Film Factory
