Apparently they make good use of John Cale's Barracuda in that one.Palm Springs.
Apparently they make good use of John Cale's Barracuda in that one.Palm Springs.
It is the centenary of Berlanga, for me, the greatest spanish director ever. How was he able to shoot "The excecutioner" bending the censhorship rules of the dictatorship in Spain? nobody knows for sure, maybe the other great deceiver for the censhorship was Buñuel with Viridiana, but Berlanga was able to do it again and again, with a strong social message as subtext of his absurd "slice of life" comedy. Half Fellini, half Ken Loach, he was a satire master, with a portrait of corruption, hypocrisy, greed, and mediocrity of the Franco years, and the change to a democratic era that recycled all those flaws of the society. His signature was long sequence shots that needed a complex rehearsal and almost a choreography.
Must-see:
-The Executioner
-The National Shotgun
-Placido
People here is still perplex that this guy did this film. And that he went on working within the spanish system. I mean, it is a 1963 movie, and last use of capital punishment was in late 1975. Even so, he was the son of a politician of the Republic. He had to "volunteer" to go with the Blue Division to the aid of the nazis against Russia because his dad was in prison waiting to be executioned (and the end, the bribes did more to save his life). And even if he says he did not shot anyone in the russian front, that is strong, that is blackmail, that is sacrifice your principles for the life of your family because of the fascism system, and that is being pointed as a "dangerous element".I watched "The executioner" last night. Very good. Offbeat characters working entirely at cross purposes. Quite funny, actually hilarious in parts, with a serious undertone, like when they go to see their new apartment that's not been built yet, and there's a guy taking a shit on the building site. Might have to read up on the metaphorical bits to it, I feel like there's some subtext I'm missing.
Great actor portraying the father. Was also nice cos the dialogue, whilst overlapping like you say, was relatively slow and easy to follow, chance to practice a bit of Spanish.
It did feel quite similar to Almodovar, like an extended soap episode. One very memorable shot, where he's walking through the prison yard, the actual guy getting executed is all fine, and he's falling apart.
Did you imagine the characters as you're middle aged euro friends from the internetI would second that recommendation.
eh, I think we have a philosophic strain here, but maybe different than how its presented over there. not surePlus their whole impetus was ostensibly philosophic, which would have a tough time passing as normal here. Not sure who it would be appealing to.
impactful? can you speak english?Beautifully shot, thought provoking, emotionally impactful, etc.etc...