Víctor Erice

Víctor Erice
Born Víctor Erice Aras
(1940-06-30) 30 June 1940
Karrantza, Biscay, Spain
Alma mater University of Madrid
Occupation
  • Film director
  • writer
Years active 1973–2010

Víctor Erice Aras (Spanish: [eˈɾiθe]; born 30 June 1940) is a Spanish film director. He is best known for his films, The Spirit of the Beehive (1973), that many regard as one of the greatest Spanish films ever made,[1][2] and El Sur (1983).

Early life

Erice was born in Karrantza, Biscay. He studied law, political science, and economics at the University of Madrid. He also attended the Escuela Oficial de Cinematografia in 1963 to study film direction.

Career

He wrote film criticism and reviews for the Spanish film journal Nuestro Cine, and made a series of short films before making his first feature film, The Spirit of the Beehive (1973), a critical portrait of 1940s rural Spain.

Ten years later, Erice wrote and directed El Sur (1983), based on a story from Adelaida García Morales, another highly regarded film, although the producer Elías Querejeta only allowed him to film the first two-thirds of the story. His third movie, The Quince Tree Sun (1992) is a documentary about painter Antonio López García. The film won the Jury Prize and the FIPRESCI Prize at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival.[3]

He was a member of the jury at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival in May.[4]

Critics

Geoff Andrew, in the Time Out Film Guide, praises Erice's contribution to Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet (Lifeline) as "quite masterly", adding "it only makes you wish he worked more frequently".[5] Excluding that short film, he has produced only three major works: The Spirit of the Beehive (1973), El Sur (1983) and Dream of Light (1992, The Quince Tree Sun). Critic Tony Rayns describes The Spirit of the Beehive as "a haunting mood piece that dispenses with plot and works its spells through intricate patterns of sound and image"[6] and of El Sur it has been said that "Erice creates his film as a canvas, conjuring painterly images of slow dissolves and shafts of light that match Caravaggio in their power to animate a scene of stillness, or freeze one of mad movement".

Filmography


Year Film Credited as
Director Writer
1973 El Espíritu de la Colmena Yes Yes
1983 El Sur Yes Yes
1992 El Sol del Membrillo (The Quince Tree Sun) Yes Yes

Shorts

  • La Morte Rouge, 2006

References

  1. ↑ Ebert, Roger (November 20, 2012). "Spirit of the Beehive Movie Review (1973)". Retrieved June 8, 2016.
  2. ↑ "1,000 Greatest Films (Full List)". They Shoot Pictures, Don't They?. February 7, 2016. Retrieved June 8, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Festival de Cannes: Dream of Light". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-08-14.
  4. ↑ "Hollywood Reporter: Cannes Lineup". hollywoodreporter. Archived from the original on April 22, 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-15.
  5. ↑ Quoted in "Time Out" Film Guide: 17, 2008, p. 1061.
  6. ↑ Quoted in "Time Out" Film Guide: 17, 2008, p. 1003.
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