The Moment of Truth (1965) review

Not wanting to spend the rest of his life working as a farmer like his parents, Miguel (Miguel Mateo Salcedo) leaves his hometown of Jaén and goes to the city to find work but struggles to make any kind of real money ... and then takes classes from a retired bullfighter named Pedrucho (Pedro Basauri Paguaga) and finds immediate success in the ring (before pushing his luck too far).  Rosi, along with his cinematographers (Pasqualino De Santis, Gianni Di Venanzo and Aiace Parolin), do an outstanding job making it feel like a documentary, and it helps tremendously that both Salcedo and Paguaga were actually matadors, which only adds to the authenticity.  It doesn't truly delve into the mindset of someone willing (and even eager) to "dance" with a killing machine - Miguel isn't exactly the "chatty type" - and all that commentary about how "the bull is sacred" (as Ms. Kael noted) is just machismo and delusion.  Unlike Hemingway - who romanticized the controversial "sport" - or Picasso or Welles, this doesn't quite have the same misty-eyed fascination: it's about fame, ego and money.