The South (1983) review

Demure Estrella (Sonsoles Aranguren as a child, Icíar Bollaín as a teenager) grows up (in "the North") being fascinated with her father Agustín (Omero Antonutti) - who has a "magical pendulum" and performs "experiments" in the attic - but as she digs deeper into his personal life, she finds out he's fascinated with an actress named Irene Ríos (Aurore Clément) and has a drinking problem.  There's an attempt by Erice to show "youthful innocence" becoming slowly wizened by time, and while the movie is a bit stiff and low-effort - with an abundance of symbolism (the color red, for example, makes several appearances) - I think he makes a good point about the "mystery" of our parents, and how despite the best detective work, we really can't "know" them (and their past) the way we might want to.  There are other filmmakers who tackled childhood that simply have a "lighter touch" - Malle, Truffaut and Fellini spring to mind immediately - though there's a dark poetry to this that cannot be dismissed.