Los Angeles Times

In ‘Close Your Eyes,’ a Spanish master returns, still obsessed with the power of movies

The first feature that Victor Erice directed, 1973’s “The Spirit of the Beehive,” begins in the 1940s, when a traveling cinema arrives in a small rural town in Spain to project “Frankenstein.” In the ...
The New York Times

‘Close Your Eyes’ Review: The Case of the Unfinished Film

For his latest, the Spanish director Victor Erice, known for the classic “The Spirit of the Beehive,” weaves a meta tale of a director looking for an absent actor. By Manohla Dargis When you purchase ...
Rolling Stone

‘Close Your Eyes’ Reintroduces a Major Spanish Filmmaker

Some five decades separate director Victor Erice’s debut film, The Spirit of the Beehive (1973), and his latest, Close Your Eyes. In between these twin professional highlights, there are two other ...
IndieWire

‘Close Your Eyes’ Review: Victor Erice’s First Movie in 31 Years Is a Gently Shattering Tribute to the Magic of Film

NYFF: The "Spirit of the Beehive" director returns with a 169-minute epic that captures the essence of his entire career. Erice has only made three other features since his spellbinding debut, but all ...
Variety

‘Close Your Eyes’ Review: Victor Erice Returns From a 30-Year Absence With an Aching Ode to Film, Time and Memory

This exquisite, unhurried exercise in melancholy will mean most to existing fans of the Spanish master, but it's moving enough to make some new ones. We open, somewhat unexpectedly, on a grandiose ...
The New Yorker

With “Close Your Eyes,” a Legendary Filmmaker Makes a Stunning Return

At the beginning of “The Spirit of the Beehive” (1973), Víctor Erice’s sublime first feature, a travelling projectionist arrives at a remote Castilian village, bearing a print of James Whale’s ...