Like the protagonists in Albert Serra's fiction films, the main character of his documentary Afternoons of Solitude is consumed by a single obsession: becoming the world's greatest bullfighter. Serra places viewers within the primitive and violent ritual where bull and bullfighter face each other, delivering a cruel yet immersive experience where the breathing of human and animal becomes the soundtrack to a duel to death. Dressed in an elaborate ceremonial outfit as intricate as a corset, the bullfighter stands in contrast to the violent imagery of combat. By presenting the macho legend of a fragile human body facing a massive animal as a modern spectacle, the film shows how bullfighters live within a self-created fiction where they regard one another as knights under divine protection. (Sung MOON)