A Philosopher in the Arena

Feb 1, 2019

1h 45m

★ 2.0

They reflect on mankind’s relationship with animals and nature, but most importantly on our relationship with death and the meaning of the ultimate journey: life itself.

Overview

After his retirement, french philosopher and bullfighting enthusiast Francis Wolff decides to embark on a journey to France, Spain and Mexico joined by two mexican filmmakers who hardly know anything about bullfighting, a culture whose days seem to be numbered. During their road trip, they encounter numerous personalities with whom they reflect on mankind’s relationship with animals and nature, but most importantly on our relationship with death and the meaning of the ultimate journey: life itself.

Genres

Documentary

Production Companies

Santa Lucía Cine

A Philosopher in the Arena Trailers

Cast

Self

Francis Wolff

Self

Juan Ramón de la Fuente

Self

Eduardo Matos Moctezuma

Self

José Cueli

Self

Mario Vargas Llosa

Self

Joselito Adame

Self

Miquel Barceló

Self

Claude Lanzmann

Self

Georges Didi-Huberman

Self

Catherine Millet

Self

Agustín Díaz Yañez

Self

Antonio Calera-Grobet

Orson Welles pitches to potential investors his vision of a largely improvised bullfighter movie about an existential, James Dean type troubadour who sets himself apart from other matadors. In front of an audience of wealthy arts patrons, Welles pontificates on the state of cinema, the filmmaking process, and the art of bullfighting.

0.0

Curro Romero, Maestro del Tiempo

Nov 30, 2021

No overview available.

6.0

You Alone

Sep 1, 1984

In their spare time, after their studies or their work, children and adolescents between the ages of eight and sixteen meet at the School of Bullfighting in Madrid to learn the Art of Cúchares: Torear. In their stomachs there is no hunger as in the past, their dreams do not lie in having a farmhouse and being famous. Their only dreams are to be in front of a bull, animal with which death goes, fact of which they are fully aware, as their teachers continually remind them. These, retired bullfighters, some by age, others by force and all with their bodies full of scars produced by the horns of a bull. The nude bullfighting scene is fascinating without being exploitive, and it serves as an analogy for the vulnerability these young bullfighters have when in the ring with the bulls.

5.5

52 Sundays

Jan 24, 1965

The misadventures of a group of young people who seek a better life by becoming bullfighters, the only way to leave their poor existence in the slums of Barcelona.

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5.0

Torerillos, 61

Jan 1, 1962

This short film "Torerillos 61" is one of the first works of the master Patino, which tries to portray the Spanish society of the time outside the state convention and dodging the hand of censorship. Social commitment is the brand director throughout his long career, starting with short films such as this one, made in the early sixties, in the wake of the statements in Talks Salamanca. The sadness off the characters portrayed is bleak, "Maletillas" (aspiring bullfighters) in search of luck to pull them out of poverty.

6.3

Death: The Ultimate Horror

Jan 1, 1995

This grisly documentary presents horrifying journalistic footage of suicides, assassinations, bombings, mob hits, decapitations, and more in bloody detail. Not for the faint of heart.

7.2

Afternoons of Solitude

Mar 7, 2025

The life of the bullfighter Andrés Roca Rey during a day of bullfighting, from the moment he dresses up to the moment he undresses.

5.0

L'Atelier du Val de Grâce

Dec 29, 1935

Home movie from Man Ray with a view of his home/gallery

0.0

Bull Jumping

Sep 18, 2016

Little known on this side of the pond, “course landaise” consists of confronting a bull and dodging his powerful charge by way of acrobatic somersault. French athlete Emmanuel Lataste is the first to try to garner attention in North America for this extreme sport.

6.5

Tjuren Ferdinand - den sanna historien

Dec 24, 2014

Ferdinand the bull was real. And everything was just like in the fairy tale. But the ending was something completely different. Meet the family who cuddled with the friendly bull in the paddock, the grandson of the keeper who accompanied him on the fateful journey to the arena, and the man who actually saw the bullfight in 1936 and has never been able to forget it. They all have their own story. And of course, we meet the beloved bull in a unique newly discovered film.

6.7

Arruza

Aug 23, 1972

Eight years in the making, Boetticher’s portrait of his longtime friend, the famous bullfighter Carlos Arruza, was a labor of love that the renowned director of westerns pursued despite contending with illnesses, bankruptcy, jail time, and lucrative offers from Hollywood. The result is an astonishing work of poetry, immediacy, and violence that fearlessly wrestles with the filmmaker’s own ambivalence about the titular matador’s triumphs prior to his death by automobile accident at the age of 46.

0.0

Born to Fight

Oct 12, 1956

A showcase of bullfighting in Portugal, explaining how the country's version of the sport differs from those in Spain and Latin America and helps define the national character. After showing the training techniques for the bulls and horses, a bullfight is presented.

5.5

Méditerranée

Apr 23, 1963

[Here] Pollet made a work that is the very definition of what French critics like to call an ovni or ufo (as in ‘unidentified filmic object’). [It] has been described as being ‘like a comet in the sky of French cinema,’ an ‘unknown masterpiece,’ and an ‘unprecedented’ work that refuses interpretation even as it has provoked reams of critical writing. Its rhythmic collage of images – a girl on a gurney, a fisherman, Greek ruins, a Sicilian garden, a Spanish corrida – is accompanied by an abstract commentary written by Sollers, and only the somber lyricism of Antoine Duhamel’s score holds the film’s elements together. At first viewing, you fear that [it] might fly apart into incoherent fragments. Instead, over the course of its 45 minutes it invents its own rules, and you realize you’re watching something like the filmic channeling of an ancient ritual. – Chris Darke, FILM COMMENT

7.0

Cordobés 65

Jan 1, 1965

A brief portrait of famous and brave bullfighter Manuel Benítez el Corbobés; an account on still photos of his triumphs and failures.

0.0

A French Youth

Nov 15, 2024

In the heart of the Camargue region, in the south of France, Jawad and Belka find freedom in their love of Camargue races. For these young Maghrebi men, the event is more than a simple tradition. Facing off with a bull is an opportunity to establish their place in the arena—and in French society. But at what cost?

4.1

Spanish Bullfight

Jan 1, 1900

With a crowded arena in the background, a stationary camera records a bull charging a picador astride his horse. An attendant on foot throws stones at the rump of the horse to get it to move. Various toreadors run past the bull to try to get him to charge or at least run about.

No Image Available

0.0

Our Forest Moon

Apr 29, 2015

Colombian teenagers study the traditional art of bullfighting in the sleepy town of Choachi. They live and train in an oasis of teen aged camaraderie and dreams for the future. But when bullfighting becomes banned in Bogota, the boys' sanctuary slowly becomes susceptible to society's larger struggles of class and conflict. Inspired by the watchful eye of retired bullfighter Nicolas, the bullfighting students strive to succeed first as Matadors, then as role models themselves. Interpreting bullfighting as a living metaphor for personal, social and historical struggles, the film focuses on the individual experiences of these boys and their mentor as they try to break free of the bleak future being dictated to them by Colombian society.

0.0

Taurobolium

Apr 2, 1994

Have you ever been to the bullfights in Tijuana? Larry Wessel's TAUROBOLIUM is not only cinema verite at it's best, Larry Wessel's TAUROBOLIUM is the best documentary on bullfighting ever made!

0.0

Las Toreras

Oct 2, 2023

Jackie Brutsche tries to unravel the dark secrets of her family and answer unanswered questions about her mother.