Review: In ‘Close Your Eyes,’ a Spanish master returns, still obsessed with the power of movies

As a lifelong cinephile and devotee of the enigmatic Victor Erice, I find myself utterly captivated by the haunting beauty of his latest offering, “Close Your Eyes.” Having spent over five decades immersed in the magical world of cinema, Erice has proven himself to be a master storyteller who weaves tales that transcend time and space.

In 1940s Spain, Victor Erice’s debut film, “The Spirit of the Beehive” (released in 1973), unfolds in a secluded rural town where a traveling cinema shows “Frankenstein.” Among the audience, a curious child named Ana (played by Ana Torrent) catches the eye. Her sister later comforts her by stating that death doesn’t exist in movies and it’s just an illusion. However, what Ana witnesses on screen starts to gradually influence her real life, causing a blur between the fate of the fictional monster and the events happening around her.

1983’s “El Sur” was a film project left incomplete by its director, Vicente Aranda, but still released. In this movie, another young girl discovers a vital clue to understanding her father’s silent distress through cinema. Erice, the director, proposes that opening one’s eyes is acknowledging our limited comprehension of others’ pain, even those we hold dear. For Erice, a skilled filmmaker, movies serve as a powerful tool for revelation, capable of exposing our deepest emotions and desires, despite some characters’ attempts to flee from their tormented pasts.

It seems as though Eric, who is respected by filmmakers like Pedro Almodóvar and Guillermo del Toro, has been passionately celebrating the art of cinema throughout his career, which is marked by occasional yet deeply thoughtful films.

Bucking all expectations, Eric has resurfaced after a 30-year hiatus (following a 1992 documentary titled “Dream of Light”), seemingly to make a conclusive statement about his artistic heritage. The consistent motifs that have haunted the 84-year-old – the ghost of the Spanish Civil War, daughters with complicated relationships with their fathers, and the relentless passage of time – come together in the contemplative and richly meaningful “Close Your Eyes,” his fourth film in half a century and what is believed to be his swan song.

In the film “Close Your Eyes,” the character Miguel (played by Manolo Solo) serves as the director’s stand-in to express his deep thoughts. The movie takes on a thoughtful, introspective tone, making viewers ponder whether understanding an artist truly lies in their work or if creation is merely another facade. During the filming of a period piece titled “The Farewell Gaze,” Miguel’s friend and acclaimed actor Julio Arias (portrayed brilliantly by José Coronado) mysteriously disappeared, leaving behind only two key scenes of their unfinished collaboration. These were the beginning and its poignant conclusion. The question lingers: can we truly grasp an artist through their work, or is creation merely a disguise?

Miguel delves into a specific period in his past as a TV show centered around unsolved cases attempts to discover whether Julio, a man fearing aging and known for womanizing, perished in an accident or took his own life, or if a mental breakdown erased all recollection of the person he used to be. However, halfway through “Close Your Eyes,” a hint towards the truth emerges, but this is merely another clue that director Erice uses to lure us further – certainly not a straightforward conclusion.

In a beautifully poetic manner, Erice crafts scenes that magnify ordinary instances into breathtaking milestones, allowing conversations between his characters to unfold naturally without pushing the narrative forward. If there’s a clear intention behind this approach, it seems to be deepening our understanding of the lives portrayed in his authentic tales. A significant portion of “Close Your Eyes” focuses on Miguel’s quiet life by the seashore, fishing, and we get glimpses into his personal struggles such as romantic disappointments, a deep bond with a film editor who adores celluloid, and the heart-wrenching grief over losing a child.

In his films, director Erice seems fixated on his actors’ captivating eyes and symbolism. This is evident in the casting of Solo, who shares a striking resemblance with the child protagonist from “Beehive.” You may recall this curious gaze in Torrent, now portraying Julio’s daughter in “Close Your Eyes,” at the age of 50. Interestingly, Torrent is older now than Erice was during their first collaboration, serving as a poignant reminder of the passage of time and the unchanging core essence of an individual. The cinema preserves Torrent as a child, but life has continued to evolve.

That Torrent returned to collaborate with Erice after five decades — again playing a movie lover searching for answers — reads beautifully self-referential. That’s the crux of “Close of Your Eyes,” and of Erice’s concise body of work: Cinema crystallizes something that reality alone can’t, convincing us that perhaps what we need exists somewhere outside of ourselves, somewhere we can only access through the screen. It’s a reflection and an illusion at once.

While watching a movie might spark a moment of self-realization rooted in memories, the film itself is not the solution, but rather a prompt encouraging introspection. It’s like it invites you to close your eyes, delve deep within yourself, and discover that which is inherent and unchanging about you.

At the climactic last scene of “Close Your Eyes,” the moving finale of the year, Erice’s camera symbolically blinks for the final time, a modest gesture that speaks of understanding and acceptance. Despite their own constraints, films are capable of perceiving our humanity.

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2024-08-31 21:01