Luis Garcia Berlanga's El Verdugo screens at MoMA tomorrow (Sat Oct 20) at 7 PM and again on Thursday Nov 1 at 8 PM. This is a must-see.
El Verdugo is hilarious, politically important, and also tragic. It is Berlanga at his best, and should be on any short list of Spain's best films. Don't miss it.
Victor Erice calls it "Berlanga-Azcona's masterpiece" (thanks to Harry for mentioning that). Azcona is a screenwriter who worked extensively with Berlanga, and together they made a number of films that qualify as masterpieces. El Verdugo is tops on that list. Essential viewing.
1 commentaire:
I really enjoyed it, thanks for recommending it to me. It's the only one Berlanga film I saw though.
There is a trivialized black humour, around death and death penalty, akin to the Czech New Wave (maybe most notably with The Cremator (1968/Herz).
The way this executioner takes his job at heart, like if it was the professional conscience of a baker, without enjoying it, but honoring the nobility of its necessity. It's both crazy and amusing. Not to mention all the misunderstandings ensuing because of the social taboo around this job.
It's definitely a politically incorrect comedy, and very funny at that. But it's not just a comedy, like you say, it's a satire of society, with a powerful playwright I think.
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