La morte rouge

Spanish director Victor Erice describes his experience of seeing 'The Scarlett Claw' as a five-year-old in 1944, the first film he ever saw. The film is predominately constructed from still photos of the period, as well as archival clips from newsreels. The historical context of 1940s Spain is explored, but form a deeply personal perspective. Erice himself provides the often poetic narration, as he melds history, memory and myth, perhaps suggesting an analogy for cinema itself. Childhood perspectives on history is clearly Erice's interest (previously explored in El Sur), and even the role that cinema plays in forming our memories of history (as in The Spirit of the Beehive). This doesn't rise to those heights, but as a short film (33 mins), it's a pretty neat 'capsule' of what Erice is all about.