SILVER

[LAS PAREDES HABLAN]
Always fascinated by the intricacies and surprises inherent in human evolution, legendary Spanish director Carlos Saura (CRÍA CUERVOS, FLAMENCO), in his final released film, brings his endless sense of wonder to the intrinsic human desire to create art and the massive stone walls, be they in dank, darkened caves or on sunlit city blocks, that have always been humankind's grandest canvasses. Alongside his brother Pedro, an expert on paleolithic art, Saura explores the very origins of human creativity, from the development of self-awareness and knowledge that life is finite, which led to the stunning images of the natural world that cover cave walls from Altamira to Lascaux, to Taki 183, widely thought of as the first graffiti tagger, and the shift in emphasis from representational art to codified images created solely for others to see. Be they the rectangles, discs and hand stencils that dot the Caves of Cantabria and Asturias or the giant, ghostly human figures of Madrid's own SUSO33, the images in Saura's film remind viewers that humans create art for the same reasons their ancestors did, and are part of the grand and ancient tradition to simply and profoundly say, "I exist, I am here, and this is my world." (Note adapted from Cine Latino.) Official Selection, 2022 San Sebastián Film Festival. DIR/SCR Carlos Saura; SCR José Morillas; PROD María del Puy Alvarado. Spain, 2022, color, 75 min. In Spanish with English subtitles. NOT RATED

In Memoriam: Carlos Saura (1932–2023)

No AFI Member passes accepted.