tardes de Soledad

“A two-hour immersive documentary that captures the heroism of the bullfighter and the precise choreography of his craft up close—alongside the brutality of the deadly duel and the animal’s tragic suffering.” (taz)

Best Film, Golden Seashell, San Sebastián International Film Festival

Albert Serra’s portrait of star matador Andrés Roca Rey unfolds in intoxicating images, exploring the ancient and controversial tradition of bullfighting—and uncovering beauty in brutality, and brutality in beauty. Serra’s cameras follow Rey, a young man with an angelic face, as he prepares for his ritualistic dressing, during car rides before and after his “performances,” and of course in the moment of confrontation with the bull—where dance and the archaic converge. These are images that neither romanticize nor condemn, but simply show, inviting viewers to witness rather than to judge.