“Victor Erice's Greatest Film” 'The South', 4K Remastering Release Confirmed for February 25

A living legend of Spanish cinema, director Victor Erice's masterpiece 〈The South〉 will be coming to domestic audiences in a 4K remastered version on February 25. This release is an opportunity to experience the master’s breath in the most perfect quality on screen, and cinephiles are already eagerly anticipating it.

〈The South〉 tells the story of Estrella, a girl who grows up in a quiet remote house in northern Spain, facing the hidden secrets of her father, who possesses a mysterious ability to find water veins, and developing an intimate emotion towards the unattainable space of ‘the South’.

Unfinished flaws as aesthetic completion… A ‘masterpiece of silence’ revered by critics worldwide

Although production was halted in 1983 due to funding issues, leaving it unintentionally unfinished, paradoxically, the ‘margins’ and ‘the unspoken’ have been praised for completing the film's aesthetic peak. Upon its release, it competed at the Cannes Film Festival alongside masters like Andrei Tarkovsky and Robert Bresson, and director Pedro Almodóvar praised it as “a life film filled with breathtakingly intense emotions.”

In South Korea, the film 〈Close Your Eyes〉, released in 2024, was selected as the best work of the year by critics, creating a Victor Erice craze, and the re-release of 〈The South〉 is expected to be the period that completes the master’s worldview.

The magic of light and shadow, teaser poster infused with Baroque painting

The teaser poster released alongside the confirmation of the release overwhelms the viewer with its ‘chiaroscuro’ effect reminiscent of masterpieces by Caravaggio and Rembrandt. The face and fingertips of the girl revealed in the pitch-black darkness, relying solely on a single beam of light, symbolize the mysterious secrets and depth of thought that the film holds.

The restrained acting and subtle tuning of light create a visual beauty akin to classical painting, promising audiences an increasingly profound cinematic resonance as time passes.