El verdugo

1963 [SPANISH]

Action / Comedy / Drama

13
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 89% · 500 ratings
IMDb Rating 7.9/10 10 8291 8.3K

dying and death death penalty spain mallorca island, spain retirement hangman

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Plot summary

An undertaker gets married to an old executioner's daughter and, although he doesn't like it, must continue the profession of his father-in-law after his retirement.

Director

Luis García Berlanga Photo
Luis García Berlanga

Top cast

María Luisa Ponte Photo
María Luisa Ponte as Estefanía, esposa de Antonio
Goyo Lebrero Photo
Goyo Lebrero as Hombre que pelea en la calle nº 2
Emilio Laguna Photo
Emilio Laguna as Funcionario de Aduanas
María Isbert Photo
María Isbert as Ignacia, esposa de Álvarez
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU
845.27 MB
1280*682
Spanish 2.0
Not Rated
Subtitles
23.976 fps
1 hr 32 min
Seeds 1
1.53 GB
1920*1024
Spanish 2.0
Not Rated
Subtitles
23.976 fps
1 hr 32 min
Seeds 8

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by R T 7 / 10

Luis García Berlanga's black comedic attack on the

Luis García Berlanga's black comedic attack on the death penalty (and Franco's rule more broadly) apparently evaded the censors of the day and is now heralded as a masterpiece in Spain. Well, it isn't a laugh riot but it does subtly lampoon the practice of execution by showing the lengths that the main character (José Luis Rodríguez played by Nino Manfredi) will go to try to avoid the job of executioner and the norms and pressures that hem him in. Moreover, there are bureaucratic advantages to holding the job (a plum apartment, higher wages, other perks) if one can only look the other way at the horror and avoid the stigma applied by society. The comedy arises from a) the oblivious nonchalance of the retiring executioner (and father-in-law by shotgun wedding of the protagonist) and b) the various indignities and embarrassments suffered by José Luis throughout the film. The payoff (and darkest moment) comes when José Luis has to be dragged, kicking and screaming, to perform an execution while the actual prisoner is calmer and more resigned. In the end, of course, the caustic bite of the film comes from the choice to tackle an issue this serious in a light comedy of manners rather than addressing it head-on. So, instead of challenging Franco's government for its inhumanity, we get a bit about a prisoner who was offered champagne for the first time but turned it down to the shock and surprise of the prosecutors. Jokes about the garotte and electric chair may be in extremely bad taste but they drive the point home.
Reviewed by R T 7 / 10

A charming movie about a guy who really

A charming movie about a guy who really, really, really, really does NOT want to be an executioner. Yes, really.
Reviewed by william d 5 / 10

I only got a couple of chuckles out

I only got a couple of chuckles out of this, and any social commentary it was trying to make almost sixty years ago seems rather dated today. Plus, all the dialog is overdubbed in the studio - I'm talking about the original Spanish - rather than recorded when the scene was shot, something I find rather annoying.
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