Presented out of competition, this investigation into the disappearance of an actor during the shooting of a film aroused a lot of emotion and received a very enthusiastic reception, critics even deploring that he was not in the running for the Palme d'Or.

This film marks the return of this iconoclastic 82-year-old filmmaker -- only four feature films in 50 years -- whom audiences had not seen at Cannes for 30 years. "This is the Spanish Terrence Malick," praised the festival's general delegate, Thierry Frémaux, in reference to its production pace.

During the screening Monday evening, many curious were present but also the Japanese Hirokazu Kore-Eda (in competition with "Monster") or the Mexican Amat Escalante (who presented "Perdidos en la noche").

His absence is linked "to personal reasons, at least that's what we were told," actress Ana Torrent, who was discovered at the age of six by the filmmaker and known for her role, as a child, in "Cria Cuervos", told AFP on Tuesday.

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In the film, she plays the daughter of the missing actor, Ana. As in "In the Spirit of the Hive", which she shot under Erice's direction 50 years ago, she keeps her original name.

"Most personal film"

But unlike "The Spirit of the Hive", presented at Cannes in 1973, this new film is nourished by dialogue.

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It tells the story of the disappearance of an actor (José Coronado) and the search reactivated 22 years later by his friend and at the same time the last director who worked with him (Manolo Solo).

"This is perhaps his most personal film," Manolo Solo told AFP. The idea of filming with Erice was intimidating, admits the actor who has made a name for himself as a supporting actor in films like "El buen patrón" (2021), which won six Goyas.

"I felt intimidated by this huge character and the communication was not quite fluid. But at the same time, I felt it was like a gift," he adds.

Victor Erice is an admired filmmaker in Spain and abroad, awarded at festivals such as San Sebastián and Cannes, and whose visual discourse has influenced generations of filmmakers. He is the only Spaniard present in the ranking of the 100 best films of all time, made by the British Film Institute and unveiled at the beginning of the year.

"I tried to adapt to the way he worked. At first, I asked a lot of questions. Until he told me: +You break your head too much. Surrender to the mystery+", explains the actor.

Few details had filtered out about the film, which the actors discovered Monday night.

Ana Torrent admits that she had an advantage over the other actors: that of having already shot with Victor Erice.

"The character was kind of made for me. He knows a part of me that I wanted to bring back," she reveals. "We were both very surprised during the shoot. We looked at each other, there was a lot of love."

"Closing Your Eyes" is Victor Erice's return to fiction after three decades of documentaries ("The Dream of Light", Jury Prize at Cannes in 1992), commissions and aborted projects. The film indirectly evokes some of Erice's failures, such as the failed adaptation of a novel by Juan Marsé. "Maybe it's injuries," Manolo Solo said.

© 2023 AFP