In the City of Sylvia (2008)

These are astonishing sequences, as anyone who has spent time doing the same thing can attest; Guerín conducts with ultimate patience, knowing that his gentle tone will take us along rather than make us impatient. Soon, our hero spies the beautiful Pilar López de Ayala and, in another long sequence, follows her through the streets. He loses her, finds her again and works up the courage to speak to her on a bus. He's looking for a woman he met briefly six years earlier and thinks she may be the one.

The film lasts only 84 minutes but the spell never once wavers. It's a majestic achievement. (Viewed at the San Francisco International Film Festival.)