“Critic’s Pick! Mesmerizing.” – Nicolas Rapold, The New York Times
“This new documentary by Albert Serra is one of the most transfixing I’ve seen in a while… With its blend of intimacy and majesty, of breathless action and overarching monumentality, he achieves a unity, a synthesis, and a far-reaching vision that he has only occasionally found in fiction.” – Richard Brody, The New Yorker
The new film from the visionary director Albert Serra (Pacification) is a spellbinding documentary that turns its gaze on the ceremonial splendor and devastating brutality of bullfighting in Spain. With quiet intensity, Serra follows famed matador Andrés Roca Rey from the solitude of his hotel room and the meticulousness of his preparations to the charged bloody spectacle of the arena. Through his immersive and unhurried lens, Serra reveals Roca Rey’s profound physical, spiritual, and aesthetic commitment to a centuries-old ritual—one that demands he take part in a timeless duel between man and beast.
In Spanish, with English subtitles.
