I was able to catch the Toronto premiere screening of this film at the TIFF Lightbox a few days ago back in August.
The first 90 or so minutes of this is a definitive 5/5 for me. Some grisly images here that will forever stick in my mind for me. From the first bull killing, in which the bull’s eyes widen as a knife is stuck into its head to when Rey has a close call as the bull nearly impales him to a wall. Also enjoyed some of the other moments outside of the ring with Rey and his entourage in the car as well as in the hotel room. There is an interesting queer subtext with the scene where Rey is putting on the pink socks and what almost looks like a corset as part of his bullfighting uniform – nice juxtaposition with the whole masculine tradition and role of a bullfighter in Spanish culture.
There is a kind of repetition as we see Rey go from bullfighting event to bullfighting event, and the images do start to lose their lustre as we get to the second half especially as Rey tears through bull after bull. But the long-take cinematography is excellent. I’m very curious as well about the sound recording process – it seems like they used lav mics, but the constant movement during the bullfighting sequences seems to not have affected the recording all that much in spite of him even getting pushed around. Either way it sounds great, it’s crisp and clear.