Dream of Light (Spain, 1992) 138 min color DIR: Victor Erice. SCR: Victor Erice, Antonio López García. PROD: Maria Moreno, Carmen Martinez. MUSIC: Pascal Gaigne. DOP: Ángel Luis Fernández, Javier Aguirresarobe. CAST: Antonio López García, Maria Moreno, Enrique Gran. (Facets Video)
A beautiful work (also known as The Quince Tree Sun) from Spanish filmmaker Victor Erice, whose output is with the regularity of a Bresson (three features, one per decade: including 1973’s Spirit of the Beehive and 1983’s El Sur). Directed with the patience of a Bresson, it details the meticulous efforts of a painter who attempts to commit to canvas the quince tree in his yard. As the season passes, he is eluded by the lighting that he wishes to capture, and nature’s path keeps interrupting the posture of his subject (as the quince fruit ripens, it gets heavier and branches droop). A simple film about time, it is structured diary-like, chronicling the artist’s daily life and his artistic endeavours. The film is really only spoiled by an abstract ending, while certainly not wrong, seems out of touch with the realistic setting. This is a wonderful work about the pains to capture a fleeting moment- art is a permanent capsule of something quickly ushered past by time.
Originally published in Volume #1, Issue #1.
Greg Woods
Greg Woods has been a film enthusiast since his teens, and began his writing "career" at the same time- prolific in capsule reviews of everything he had watched, first on index cards, then those hardcover dollar store black journals, then an old Mac IIsi. He founded The Eclectic Screening Room in 2001, as a portal to share his film love with the world, and find some like-minded enthusiasts along the way. In addition to having worked in the film industry for over two decades, he has been a co-programmer of films at Trash Palace, and a programmer/co-founder of the Toronto Film Noir Syndicate. He has also written for Broken Pencil, CU-Confidential, Micro-Film, and is currently working on his first novel. His secret desire is for someone to interview him for a podcast or a DVD extra.