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

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

. He is best known for his first two feature fiction films, '' The Spirit of the Beehive'' (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 ( ; ; ), is a province of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the Bay of Biscay, eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilb ...

. 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 the 1940s rural Spain. Erice was among other filmmakers, such as

Luis Buñuel Luis Buñuel Portolés (; 22 February 1900 – 29 July 1983) was a Spanish and 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. Biograp ...

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. Erice worked in the development of (and was set to direct) '' The Shanghai Spell'', the adaptation of the Juan Marsé's namesake novel, but producer Andrés Vicente Gómez eventually tasked the project to

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

instead. This rejection entailed "a great deal of frustration" for Erice. He was a member of the jury at the

2010 Cannes Film Festival The 63rd Cannes Film Festival took place from 12 to 23 May 2010. American filmmaker Tim Burton served as jury president for the main competition. Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul won the Palme d'Or, the festival's top prize, for the dram ...

in May. At the 2014

Locarno Film Festival The Locarno International Film Festival is a major international film festival, held annually in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narr ...

, 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'') 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 autononomous community by an Act of Parliament in its ...

was revealed to be in development. The film premiered in the following year at the

2023 Cannes Film Festival The 76th annual Cannes Film Festival took place from 16 to 27 May 2023. Swedish filmmaker Ruben Östlund served as jury president. With the French film ''Anatomy of a Fall'' winning the Palme d'Or, the festival's top prize, Justine Triet became ...

and was met with very positive reviews.

Appraisal

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". Excluding short films, Erice has produced only four major works: '' The Spirit of the Beehive'' (1973), the unfinished '' El Sur'' (1983), '' Dream of Light'' (1992, ''The Quince Tree Sun''), and '' Close Your Eyes (2023 film)''. 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" 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 da Caravaggio (also Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi da Caravaggio; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), known mononymously as Caravaggio, was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the fina ...

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

Legacy

Erice's work would go on to influence filmmakers such as

Carla Simón Carla Simón Pipó (born 22 December 1986) is a Spanish film director. Most known for her films '' Summer 1993'' (2017) and '' Alcarràs'' (2022), for the latter she received the Golden Bear at the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival. Biog ...

Carlos Vermut Carlos López del Rey (born 1980), known professionally as Carlos Vermut, is a Spanish filmmaker. Born in Madrid, he worked as illustrator, comic book artist and storyboard designer prior to filmmaking. Following his involvement in the animated te ...

Alejandro Amenábar Alejandro Fernando Amenábar Cantos (born 31 March 1972) is a Chilean-Spanish film director, screenwriter and composer. He has won nine Goya Awards—including Best Director for his 2001 film '' The Others''—and two European Film Awards amon ...

Oliver Laxe Óliver Laxe Coro (; born 11 April 1982) is a French-born Spanish film director, screenwriter and actor of Galicians, Galician ancestry. His feature directorial debut, ''You All Are Captains'', premiered at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, where i ...

, Estibaliz Urresola, and Jaione Camborda. His portrayal of children dreaming and their attraction to fantastic worlds during and around times like the Spanish Civil War inspired Mexican director

Guillermo del Toro Guillermo del Toro Gómez (; born 9 October 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and artist. His work has been characterized by a strong connection to fairy tales, Gothic fiction, gothicism and horror fiction, horror often blending the genres ...

and his respective films, including '' The Devil's Backbone,'' and '' Pan's Labyrinth.''

Political views

In December 2023, alongside 50 other filmmakers, Erice signed an open letter published in ''

Libération (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968 in France, May 1968. Initially positioned on the far left of Fr ...

'' demanding a ceasefire and an end to the killing of civilians amid the 2023 Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, and for a humanitarian corridor into Gaza to be established for humanitarian aid, and the release of hostages.

Filmography

Feature films

Short films

Source:

Awards

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