Romance de Valentía
Sonia Herman Dolz / NL, GB, 1993 / 88 min.
Documentary maker Sonia Herman Dolz (Yo soy así) follows young toreador Enrique Ponce during a series of successful corridas. On the art of bullfighting: an artform with a long tradition characterised by both cruelty and beauty.
'Bullfighting really can be art. Those few seconds when man and beast become one, that’s what it’s all about,' said Sonia Herman Dolz upon the release of Romance de Valentía, a dramatized documentary on the rise of – at the time – very young torero Enrique Ponce.
Sonía Herman Dolz doesn’t take a position, but rather portrays the importance – and also the beauty – of an ancient tradition associated with religion, dance, music and art. She evokes the early years of Enrique Ponces’ youth and provides insight, on the basis of interviews with breeders, gamblers and fans, into a fascinating but brutal world.
Romance de Valentía, which now enjoys the status of a classic, screens in the film programme accompanying the exhibition Liberté by Albert Serra, whose latest film – currently in post-production – is about bullfighting.
Screening of a 35mm print from the Eye collection.
This is part of
Details
Director
Sonia Herman Dolz
Production year
1993
Country
NL, GB
Original title
Romance de Valentía
Length
88 min.
Language
Spanish
Subtitles
NLD
Format
35mm
Part of
Albert Serra
Eye Filmmuseum presents the first exhibition in the Netherlands about the work of Catalan film and theatre director Albert Serra. Transforming the entire exhibition space into an immersive stage, Serra orchestrates nocturnal and clandestine encounters where theatre, cinema, and art converge.
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