Víctor Erice Aras (; born 30 June 1940) is a Spanish

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, pr ...

. He is best known for his two feature fiction films, ''

The Spirit of the Beehive ''The Spirit of the Beehive'' (Spanish: ''El espíritu de la colmena'') is a 1973 Spanish drama film directed by Víctor Erice. The film was Erice's debut and is considered a masterpiece of Spanish cinema. The film focuses on a young girl named ...

'' (1973), which many regard as one of the greatest Spanish films ever made, and '' El Sur'' (1983).

Early life

Erice was born in Karrantza,

Biscay Biscay (; eu, Bizkaia ; es, Vizcaya ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao. ...

. 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, ''

'' (1973), a critical portrait of 1940s rural Spain. Erice was among other filmmakers, such as

Luis Buñuel Luis Buñuel Portolés (; 22 February 1900 – 29 July 1983) was a Spanish-Mexican filmmaker who worked in France, Mexico, and Spain. He has been widely considered by many film critics, historians, and directors to be one of the greatest and ...

, who lived in “such restricted societies as Franco’s Spain,” to take aim at the authoritarian rule in power. At the time his first film was released in 1973, Francisco Franco was still in power. One of the things ''The Spirit of the Beehive'' is known for is its use of symbolism to portray what life was like in Spain under Franco’s rule. Setting the movie in 1940, at the start of Franco’s rule, was a risk for Erice, given that the film “wasn’t a propagandist effort in which stalwart Francoists won victories against evil, priest-massacring Republicans.” 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 Elías Querejeta Gárate (27 October 1934 – 9 June 2013), also known as Elías Querejeta () and known in the Spanish film industry as "The Producer", was a Spanish screenwriter and film producer. He is the father of Gracia Querejeta. Biograph ...

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 Antonio López García (born 6 January 1936) is a Spanish painter and sculptor, known for his realistic style. He is criticized by some modern artists for what they consider neo-academism, but has been praised by leading art critics, such as ...

. The film won the Jury Prize and the

FIPRESCI Prize The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for Fédération Internationale de la PRESse CInématographique) is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world fo ...

at the

1992 Cannes Film Festival The 45th Cannes Film Festival was held from 7 to 18 May 1992. The Palme d'Or went to the '' Den goda viljan'' by Bille August. The festival opened with ''Basic Instinct'', directed by Paul Verhoeven and closed with ''Far and Away'', directed by R ...

. Erice worked in the development of (and was set to direct) ''

The Shanghai Spell ''The Shanghai Spell'' ( es, El embrujo de Shanghai, links=no) is a 2002 film written and directed by Fernando Trueba. The film is based on the 1993 novel of the same name written by Juan Marsé. It is an international co-production among companies ...

'', the adaptation of the

Juan Marsé Juan Marsé Carbó (8 January 1933 – 18 July 2020) was a Spanish novelist, journalist, and screenwriter who used Spanish as his literary language. In 2008, he was awarded the Cervantes Prize, "the Spanish-language equivalent" to the Nobel ...

's namesake novel, but producer

Andrés Vicente Gómez Andrés Vicente Gómez (Madrid, 16 September 1943) is a Spanish film producer, head of Lolafilms, with more than 100 films to his credit. Career Gómez is the winner of an Oscar in the category of Best Foreign Language film for ''Belle Époque'' ...

eventually tasked the project to

Fernando Trueba Fernando Rodríguez Trueba (born 18 January 1955), known as Fernando Trueba, is a Spanish book editor, screenwriter, film director and producer. Between 1974 and 1979, he worked as a film critic for Spain's leading daily newspaper '' El País' ...

instead. This rejection entailed "a great deal of frustration" for Erice. He was a member of the jury at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival in May. At the 2014 Locarno Film Festival, Erice was awarded with a Golden Leopard award for lifetime achievement. In July 2022, thirty years after his last full-length film, a project for a new Erice film (''

Cerrar los ojos ''Close Your Eyes'' ( es, Cerrar los ojos, links=no) is a 2023 Spanish-Argentine drama film directed by Víctor Erice from a screenplay by Erice and Michel Gaztambide which stars Manolo Solo, José Coronado, and Ana Torrent. It had its world pre ...

'') supported by Pecado Films, Tándem Films, Nautilus as well as

Canal Sur Canal Sur ('South Channel') is part of Radio y Televisión de Andalucía (RTVA), the public broadcasting company of Andalusia. It was created by means of the devolved powers given to this region by an Act of Parliament in its statute of autono ...

was revealed to be in development, reportedly in a "very early stage".

Critics

Geoff Andrew, in the ''

Time Out Film Guide Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to c ...

'', praises Erice's contribution to '' Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet'' (''Lifeline'') as "quite masterly", adding "it only makes you wish he worked more frequently". Excluding that short film, he has produced only three major works: ''

'' (1973), '' El Sur'' (1983) and ''

Dream of Light ''Dream of Light'' ( es, El sol del membrillo, lit. "The Sun of the Quince"), also known as ''The Quince Tree Sun'', is a 1992 Spanish narrative/documentary film directed by Victor Erice. The film centers on Spanish painter Antonio López García ...

'' (1992, ''The Quince Tree Sun''). Critic

Tony Rayns Antony Rayns (born 1948) is a British writer, commentator, film festival programmer and screenwriter. He wrote for the underground publication ''Cinema Rising'' (its name inspired by Kenneth Anger's '' Scorpio Rising'') before contributing to ...

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" 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 Michelangelo Merisi (Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi) da Caravaggio, known as simply Caravaggio (, , ; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the final four years of hi ...

in their power to animate a scene of stillness, or freeze one of mad movement".

Legacy

Erice's work portraying children dreaming and their attraction to fantastic worlds during and around times like the Spanish Civil War would go on to influence

Guillermo del Toro Guillermo del Toro Gómez (; born October 9, 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and actor. He directed the Academy Award–winning fantasy films ''Pan's Labyrinth'' (2006) and ''The Shape of Water'' (2017), winning the Academy Awards for Be ...

and his respective films, including ''

The Devil's Backbone ''The Devil's Backbone'' ( es, El espinazo del diablo) is a 2001 gothic horror film directed by Guillermo del Toro, and written by del Toro, David Muñoz, and Antonio Trashorras. The film is set in Spain, 1939, during the final year of the ...

,'' and ''

Pan's Labyrinth ''Pan's Labyrinth'' ( es, El laberinto del fauno, lit=The Labyrinth of the Faun, links=no) is a 2006 dark fantasy horror film written, directed and co-produced by Guillermo del Toro. A Spanish-Mexican(78% Spanish production, 22% Mexican productio ...

.''

Filmography

Shorts

*''Sea-Mail'', 2007 *''La Morte Rouge'', 2006 *''Alumbramiento'', 2002 *''Entre Vías'', 1966 *''Los Días Perdidos'', 1963 *''Páginas De Un Diario Perdido'', 1962 *''On The Terrace'', 1961

Awards

Jury Prize, 1992 Cannes Film Festival FIRPRESCI Prize, 1992 Cannes Film Festival Golden Leopard for lifetime achievement