La Morte Rouge

Victor Erice revisits the experience of his first ever film, a rather insignificant Sherlock Holmes feature (The Scarlet Claw) that nonetheless left a deep impression on him. With 32 minutes to fill though, Erice also elaborates on a couple of related topics, like the theater where he watched the film.

Rather than watch Erice walk us through his recollections, he merely narrates La Morte Rouge and shows a series of (mostly) static, black and white images coupled to the music of Arvo Pärt, to create a more poetic impression. While this could've been interesting, it ends up making the film feel very distant and impersonal.

Erice's narration is way too labored. When empty buildings become "refuges for the shadows", I quickly start to lose interest and 30 minutes of that starts to feel like 3 hours. I don't think the presentation fit the theme very well, an unless you're a big fan of more classical arts, then I don't think there's much here.