Albert Serra’s latest documentary, “Afternoons of Solitude,” offers a mesmerizing and unflinching look at the life of Andrés Roca Rey, a renowned Peruvian bullfighter. The film, released on June 24, 2025, by Grasshopper Film, presents a stark and intimate portrait of a man who faces death in the ring. Serra’s approach is marked by restraint and austerity.
There are no talking-head interviews, voice-overs, or superimposed text to explain the action. Instead, the film focuses on three main settings: the van where Roca Rey and his team travel, the hotels where they stay, and the bullrings. The film builds anticipation by first showing Roca Rey in a van after a bout, still adorned in his ornate traje de luces (suit of lights), chatting with his team.
Even in a hotel room, Roca Rey is seen bleeding from an unhealed wound, hinting at the danger he faces. Once Roca Rey is in the ring, Serra’s observational method takes over. The cameras, always somewhere in the audience, capture Roca Rey and the bulls in extreme detail, all while maintaining a sense of distance.
The long takes and continuous shots unfold the choreographic splendor of bullfighting and convey the relentless nature of the sport.
Bullfighter’s solitary journey
The soundtrack enhances the sense of drama, with Roca Rey’s team wearing tiny radio microphones to capture their voices and emotions.
The language from Roca Rey’s entourage exudes a grandiloquent machismo, evoking both Hemingway and the martial spirit of the bullring. Serra pays respectful attention to the bulls as well, capturing their fierce vitality and agonizing demise with dignity. The film’s closing moments are somber, showing the bulls’ lifeless bodies being dragged off, completing the cycle of life and death that defines bullfighting.
“Afternoons of Solitude” avoids the economic, business, and political aspects of bullfighting, instead remaining a pure exploration of the sport as a cinematic experience. This approach is consistent with Serra’s career, marked by a commitment to formalist drama and visual composition. The film’s authentic depiction of the bloody Spanish tradition could serve as an argument against the much-protested practice, but Serra’s vision is more hypnotic than polemic.
He captures spangled ceremonies steeped in the fear of death, presenting an X-ray of the male ego and its costly upkeep. “Afternoons of Solitude” is a stark and compelling documentary that captures the beauty and brutality of bullfighting. It’s not an easy watch, but it’s a deeply rewarding one, offering a rare glimpse into a world where glory and gore coexist in a dance with death.
