I saw this film when it was first released in the UK then quickly saw it again, to fix it in my memory as I feared its commercial life would be short. Later I saw it on BBC television and recorded it on videotape, which is the best I have been able to obtain so far. Infuriatingly, it is now available on import, but ONLY on Bluray, which I don't have. Suffice it to say that this film is one of the saddest yet sublimely beautiful films in history. At its heart is a mystery, sketched out for the viewer, but with much left to be surmised, while at the same time Estrella knows even less. She thinks her father has a magic quality, but as she matures she realises that the magic hid some deep unhappiness. She needs to know more about this man, but we know that her search is likely to be fruitless. This is why the "unfinished" ending is, to me the perfect place to end. The "South" is used as a metaphor for some place other, a place we may dream of, but not visit or know. Maybe a place of romantic dreams, a place where we imagine we can find lost loves. This is the father's tragedy : essentially a good man who seems to be living a private life of impossible dreams, when what he has in reality is so precious. This is heartbreakingly beautiful cinema, I can't recommend it highly enough.
Review of El Sur
