Film

The Dark Night of the Soul

1989 · 1h 33m · War · Drama

IMDb

5.8

Pantheon filmmaker Carlos Saura bounced back from a handful of failures with 1989's La Noche Oscura (The Dark Night). Juan Diego stars as San Juan de la Cruz (St. John of the Cross), the legendary 16th-century poet-prophet. Galvanized into action by the spirit of Santa Teresa de Jesus, San Juan fought to install reforms in the Carmelite Order. Like many another visionary, he was regarded as a heretic, and promptly subjected to the most appalling of tortures. Writer-director Saura manages to draw several parallels between the religious persecution of the 1700s and the political despotism of Fascist Spain.

Juan Diego

San Juan de la Cruz

Julie Delpy

Virgen María

Fernando Guillén

Vailer

Manuel de Blas

Prior

Francisco Casares

Fray José

Fermí Reixach

Fray Gerónimo Tostado

Abel Vitón

Fray Jacinto

María Elena Flores

Superiora

Adolfo Thous

Fray María

• Carlos SauraDirector · Screenplay
• Andrés Vicente GómezProducer
• Teo EscamillaDirector of Photography
• Pedro del ReyEditor

Release date

February 23, 1989

Status

Released

Original language

Spanish

Runtime

1h 33m

Genres

War, Drama