Afternoons of Solitude

Tardes de Soledad

Director: Albert Serra
Country: Spain, France, Portugal

2024 | 123 min. | Spanish
Subtitles: German, English
FSK | Nicht geprüft / No clearance

Cast_ Andrés Roca Rey, Antonio Gutiérrez, Francisco Durán, Francisco Gómez Screenplay_ Albert Serra Camera_ Artur Tort Producer_ Albert Serra, Montse Triola, Luis Ferrón, Pedro Palacios, Ricard Sales Rights_ Films Boutique

Blood and dance. Albert Serra (›Pacifiction‹) accompanies Andrés Roca Rey, the “Messi of matadors”, and crafts a radical portrait of man and animal. Agonizing. Beautiful.

The costumes and confident moves of the matador, the charge and swipes of the bull, the shouts of the crowd. Serra shows the corrida for what it is: a ritual, a blood-red dance on sand. At its center are animal and man, two opponents who nevertheless form a choreographic unity. Observing in long takes, we are spectators and silent witnesses to a performance whose certain end is death. In-between, car rides and hotel rooms.

›Afternoons of Solitude‹ strikes a balance between documentary and art film. And whether we perceive what we see as aesthetic or brutal – or both – is for us to decide.

Director

Albert Serra works in the fields of film, theater, video art, and performance. His film ›Story of My Death‹ (2013) won the Golden Leopard at Locarno. ›Pacifiction‹ screened in competition at Cannes in 2022 and was shown at the IFFMH that same year. ›Afternoons of Solitude‹ was recently awarded Best Film at San Sebastián.

Trailer

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