★ 6 / 10
**_Amusingly offbeat Spanish circus flick is overkill comic
Wuchak
**_Amusingly offbeat Spanish circus flick is overkill comic booky_** After a prologue during the Spanish Civil War, the time switches to 1973, Madrid, where a…
**_Amusingly offbeat Spanish circus flick is overkill comic booky_**
After a prologue during the Spanish Civil War, the time switches to 1973, Madrid, where a sad clown (Carlos Areces) joins a circus and an alluring trapeze artist catches his eye, but she’s abused by her beau, a supposedly happy clown (Antonio de la Torre). It can’t end well.
A Spanish/French production (with English subtitles), "The Last Circus" (2010) smacks of a Tarantino flick if he did one about a circus and shot it in Spain. Unfortunately, it lacks his compelling dialogues. It’s reminiscent of "Santa Sangre" from two decades prior, just overblown and with a plot revolving around two characters locked in an epic struggle in which a lose-lose scenario is likely.
As the story progresses, one of these characters is reminiscent of The Joker (Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger’s versions) mixed with Two-Face and Jonah Hex; the other meanwhile morphs into a pudgy version of Papa Emeritus. The last act recalls the climax of 1989’s “Batman,” albeit on amphetamines.
Statuesque Carolina Bang as the trapeze artist is basically Europe’s taller version of Margot Robbie, a few years before she made it big.
While outrageously madcap and brutal, it’s sometimes amusing and has its highlights. It’s basically too crazy for mass appeal, but no doubt has a cult following. As far as I’m concerned, less is more.
The film runs 1 hour, 47 minutes, and was shot in Spain (Comunidad Valenciana on the southeast coast; Madrid; and, for the last sequence, Valle de los Caídos, aka Valley of the Fallen, which is a half hour drive northwest of the city).
GRADE: C+/B-
Read full review
★ 7 / 10
Laugh Clown Kill
Billy_Crash
Laugh clown killA sad clown falls in love with a starlet – and challenges her misogynistic lover in post-war Spain.The logline above is far too simplistic for…
Laugh clown killA sad clown falls in love with a starlet – and challenges her misogynistic lover in post-war Spain.The logline above is far too simplistic for this multi-genre and multi-thematic film. Written and directed by Álex de la Iglesia, best known in the US for his 2008 feature THE OXFORD MURDERS, brings us a monster mix of mayhem that spans from the Spanish Civil War to 1973. Sort of like Tim Burton on a lot more acid.Soft-spoken Javier (Carlos Areces) survives the war to become a sad clown in a low budget circus. In the show, he plays second banana to Sergio (Antonio de la Torre), the happy clown who is ultra-hostile off stage and keeps the other performers walking on edge due to sudden tirades and extreme violence. His lover is the lithe Natalia (Carolina Bang) torn between Sergio's rage and the safety of Javier. Okay, that sounds like straightforward romance plot number one – but it doesn't come close. This tale engages war, politics, drama, comedy, horror and romance while exploring themes regarding obsession, response to trauma, politically induced Frankensteinian creations, and the failure of dreams within a fascist state. Fascism, whether it is Franco's or Sergio's, is the running thread that holds this wild fantasy together.Kiko de la Rica is the photographic genius that created one amazingly vivid cinematographic ride that even in the daylight never seems pristine or dreamy enough. The world is always tainted – darkened – by something from the edges as well as within the hearts of the characters, and his skill brings this to light frame after frame. The acting is absolutely brilliant and riveting, with Areces and de la Torre going toe to toe at every turn. I can only imagine how mind-numbingly drained the performances had left them. Then again, how could any actor in the film not embrace the quirky and enigmatic characters created by Iglesias? None of the characters were run of the mill or plucked off the shelf like so much Hollywood drek.However, though this falls under the realm of horror, I sincerely doubt many fans of the genre would embrace the movie. This is not because horror aficionados are stupid and only adore slasher films, but this is one of those movies that could easily make someone question the very definition of the genre. And with a multi-faceted feature such as this, horror plays a role, like a character, and does not permeate the tale.Regardless, there's something for everyone in THE LAST CIRCUS, and if you like freaky films that defy description, you should enjoy this riveting feature.
Read full review
★ 7 / 10
Outrageous film with odd characters , surreal imagery and twisted plot
ma-cortes
Alex De la Iglesia is an excellent Spanish director . He had much success as "Accion Mutante" , " El Dia De la Bestia" , "Perlita Durango" and ¨La Comunidad¨…
Alex De la Iglesia is an excellent Spanish director . He had much success as "Accion Mutante" , " El Dia De la Bestia" , "Perlita Durango" and ¨La Comunidad¨ , among others . De la Iglesia is back with a tragical comedy about two Spanish clowns of the 70s . Here deals with a homage to dark humor and Spanish history from the Civil War until the 7os . In the film there are comedy, tongue in cheek, humor, horror, action, drama and is pretty entertaining . It's an exaggerated drama/comedy giving the perfect tone through the entire film , you can either follow it or just wander about the ridiculousness of every single minute . Some may regard this kind of dramatic comedy dull or dumb , but the truth is its the most simple, minimalistic, rawest, and pretentious comedy you will ever watch . As the shy Javier (Carlos Areces) and the violent Sergio (Antonio De La Torre) are two clowns who reach the heights of success with their circus show , but eerie events and an acrobat woman (Carolina Bang , partner is director Alex De Iglesia) turning them into deadly enemies . However, the hate between them grows as fast, and as much, as their horrible faces . The picture blends thrills , suspense, tension as well as an intriguing script full of dark comedy , drama and exciting situations . Packed with scenes of absurd nature, this story is a fantastic farce, as we follow the ridiculous careers of a pair of clowns whose destination is dictated by a fateful love , rather than by their own decisions . The film works on various levels and is constantly reconfigured , however contains some embarrassing , contriving moments and also certain excess . Strong performance from three protagonists , Areces , Bang , De La Torre and excellent plethora of secondaries as Manuel Tejada , Gracia Olayo , Enrique Villen , Manuel Tallafe , all of them usual actors in ¨Pluton BRB Nero¨ series produced by Alex De Iglesia . Interesting screenplay Alex De La Iglesia who usually writes his films and bears remarkable resemblance to ¨Dying of laughter¨ or ¨Muertos de Risa¨ also with two comedians -Gran Wyoming and Santiago Segura , Alex's fetish actor- who reach the heights of success with their spectacle, becoming them into huge enemies . Atmospheric and dark cinematography by Kiko De La Rica with a good camera work . Suspenseful musical score by Roque Baños . The motion picture is well directed by De La Iglesia . He's a cool director has got much success as ¨Accion Mutante¨, ¨Crimen Ferpecto¨and ¨Oxford murders¨, and winner of several Goyas (Spanish Oscars), however his movies have not yet reached box office in USA, but he has strong followers . Nonsense, ridicule , laughters , absurdity , terror , disturbing scenes .. and many other issues ; you can find everything in this movie . The movie is a lot of fun, especially for those who know the historical period . This is without a doubt a thrilling and thought-provoking movie to be enjoyed for dark humor buffs and Alex De Iglesia fans.
Read full review
76%
TOMATOMETER
· 34 reviews
64%
AUDIENCE
· 5K ratings
6.5/10
16.1K
•••
Why the hard-coded subt???