Albert Serra: Honour of the Knights

Albert Serra, Honour of the Knights / Honor de cavalleria Spain 2005, 35mm, colour, sound, 95 min

Serra’s masterful distillation on Miguel de Cervantes’s Don Quixote draws on the classic tale to create a mesmerising work conjured out of the raw landscapes and the unaffected performances of the nonprofessional cast. Enriched with Serra’s fascination with the past, the film draws equally on myths, landscapes and traditions of Europe as well as work of artists and writers such as Salvador Dalí, Luis Buñuel, Federico García Lorca, Pepín Bello. The film vividly captures a hermetic world and the camaraderie between the two principle characters. Filmed in atmospheric long takes that allow us to join Don Quixote and Sancho on their journey, their honour maintained in stark contrast to their increasingly futile adventure. Although no end is in sight their journey is coloured by their defiant nobility and filled with wonder at being in the world.