El Sur (1983)

A woman reflects on her childhood relationship with her father, attempting to understand the depths of his despair and the truth of his myths.

Director:

Víctor Erice

Writers:

Víctor Erice (screenplay), Adelaida García Morales (short story)

Stars:

Omero Antonutti, Sonsoles Aranguren, Icíar Bollaín

7 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Omero Antonutti	...	Agustín Arenas
Sonsoles Aranguren	...	Estrella - 8 años
Icíar Bollaín	...	Estrella - 15 años
Lola Cardona	...	Julia
Rafaela Aparicio	...	Milagros
Aurore Clément	...	Irene Ríos / Laura
Maria Caro	...	Casilda
Francisco Merino	...	Enamorado
José Vivó	...	Camarero
Germaine Montero	...	Doña Rosario
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
José García García Morilla	...	Chófer
María Massip	...	Estrella adulta (voice)

Storyline

The movie tells a melancholic story of a little girl who is living in a city in the north of Spain. She is fascinated by the secrets of the south which seem to be hidden in the personality of her father.

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Plot Keywords:

doctor | first communion | dancing | weather vane | cooking | 

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Taglines:

Sur est un seul et grand Tango

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Director Víctor Erice considers this to be an unfinished project. The original script consisted of more than 400 pages and was scheduled to be shot in 81 days. 48 days into shooting, when production was to be moved to north Spain, producer Elías Querejeta unexpectedly suspended the project, allegedly because of financing objections by Televisión Española, the backing television network. However, Querejeta revealed years later that he made the decision because he though the movie was finished with what they've shot so far.

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Connections

Referenced in Caso cerrado (1985)

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Soundtracks

Quintet in A Major
Composed by Franz Schubert

User Reviews

Just a little info

There's no doubt that Erice is one of the best Spanish directors ever, and each film he's made is an absolute masterpiece. I shall not comment anything about the plot, the acting, not even about cinematography. I'm writing this post in order to give IMDb's users a little information which, I think, may solve some questions about this film (why its plot is so "episodic"? why the DVD copy seems a low-quality one? etc): well, actually "El Sur" is an unfinished work! The production was stopped due to money trouble, and Erice wasn't able to complete his film with Estrella's travel to the mythical South named in the title. Many years later, Erice himself explained this film's odyssey in a recorded interview for the Spanish TV.

Details

Country:

Spain France

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

5 January 1984 (Netherlands)

Also Known As:

El Sur

Filming Locations:

Estella, Navarra, Spain

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$11,959

Company Credits

Production Co:

Chloë Productions, Elías Querejeta Producciones Cinematográficas S.L., Televisión Española (TVE)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1