Tardes de soledad

Albert Serra may be the only contemporary filmmaker who could turn a documentary on bullfighting into a pure, fascinating vortex of ambiguity and transgression. A portrait of famous torero Andrés Roca Rey, TARDES DE SOLEDAD continues Serra’s exploration of forms of pleasure and desire that verge on absurdity and horror. Resilient and obsessive , Roca Rey is not so far removed from Serra’s depictions of Casanova and Dracula in HISTÒRIA DE LA MEVA MORT or the libertines of LIBERTÉ. He is also a self-absorbed character whose identity eludes definition—an enigma to others and even to himself, a lone king with the bloody arena as his secluded kingdom. Yet the film is also about the intolerable reality of what is perceived as show. Expressing the points of view of both the matador and the bull, Serra brings us as close as possible to their interaction. This experience contrasts with the mainstream view of the corrida, typically observed from a safe distance that diminishes the devastating reality of violence and death. Serra presents the bullfight as it truly is, something beyond any glory or meaning—a persistent barbarism that still manages to disguise and justify itself as spectacle, an almost religious ritual and the object of a voyeuristic gaze. (Evgeny Gusyatinskiy)

In the presence of Albert Serra.
With the kind support of Acción Cultural Española.
On thursday, October 24th 2024, there will be a talk with Albert Serra at the VIENNALE ZENTRALINO,. More information here!

Albert Serra: CRESPIÀ (2003), HONOR DE CAVALLERIA (2006), EL CANT DELS OCELLS (2007), ELS NOMS DE CRIST (2010), EL SENYOR HA FET EN MI MERAVELLES (2011), HISTÒRIA DE LA MEVA MORT (2013), LA MORT DE LOUIS XIV (2016), LIBERTÉ (2019), PACIFICTION (2022)