Mad Circus - A ballad of love and death
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Mad Circus - A ballad of love and death |
| Original title | Balada triste de trompeta |
| Country of production | Spain , France |
| original language | Spanish |
| Publishing year | 2010 |
| length | 107 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 18 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Álex de la Iglesia |
| script | Álex de la Iglesia |
| production |
Vérane Frédiani , Gerardo Herrero , Franck Ribière |
| music | Roque Baños |
| camera | Kiko de la Rica |
| cut | Alejandro Lázaro |
| occupation | |
| |
Mad Circus - A ballad of love and death (originally Balada triste de trompeta ) is a Spanish - French film drama from 2010 directed by Álex de la Iglesia .
action
In 1937, at the time of the Spanish Civil War , Republican troops invade a circus during a performance and force the circus people to fight on their side against the Franco fascists. The funny clown of the circus slaughters many enemy soldiers armed only with a machete until he is incapacitated himself. While his comrades-in-arms are being executed, he is taken prisoner. Years later, his son Javier tries to free him from the labor camp. The action fails and the funny clown is killed by Coronel Salchedo, while Javier in turn seriously injures the Coronel . This swears revenge for him.
In 1973 the now grown-up Javier joins a circus as a sad white clown . There he works with the outwardly funny clown Sergio, who turns out to be a brutal sadist behind the scenes . Javier immediately falls in love with his lover, the trapeze artist Natalia. Sergio is very irascible outside of the stage and abuses Natalia. But Natalia feels drawn to Sergio precisely because of his brutality. Nevertheless, she secretly begins to meet with Javier. Soon they are surprised by Sergio, who beats Javier to hospital. After a nightmare , Javier escapes the hospital and surprises Sergio and Natalia during sex. Javier smashes Sergio's face with a trumpet and then flees. Sergio's life can only be saved by a veterinarian who takes care of the facial injuries. The disfigured Sergio can no longer work as a clown because the children are now afraid of him.
Javier takes refuge in a forest cave, where he feeds on dead animals. There he is picked up by hunters, among them Coronel Salchedo, and brought to his property. The coronel remembers Javier and forces him to take part as a dog in a drive hunt in honor of the contributor Franco . Javier bites Franco's hand while fetching and is locked up in the chapel on the Coronel's estate to be executed after Franco's departure. After a religious vision of Natalia, Javier bleaches his face with sodium hydroxide and burns his cheeks and lips with an iron to look like a clown forever. Disguising himself in a bishop's robe, he breaks out and kills everyone on the estate, including the Coronel. He tracks down Natalia, who is now working as a dancer in a night bar. This is in turn pursued by Sergio. When the three of them confront, Natalia chooses Sergio. But Javier does not give up and finally kidnaps Natalia in order to convince her of himself.
In the meantime, with the help of Sergio, the police have found Javier's hiding place. While the police are trying to arrest Javier, Sergio puts on his clown make-up and pursues Javier and Natalia. There is a showdown on the Valle de los Caídos , a 150 m high monument in the shape of a cross built during the Franco dictatorship, and Natalia confesses that she now loves Javier. The two try to escape from the cross with a long piece of fabric, but during the scuffle between Javier and Sergio, Natalia falls from the monument and breaks her spine.
Sergio and Javier are arrested and put together in a dolly. While Sergio laughs, Javier cries bitterly.
Reviews
“Maybe Iglesias had a big metaphor for Franco directing in mind when he directed his film. However, the film cannot fulfill this premise. It works a lot better than dirty midnight movies. But the filmmaker needn't be ashamed of that. "
“Iglesias 'Mad Circus - A Ballad of Love and Death' is a wonderfully grotesque reappraisal of the Franco regime, located somewhere between genius and madness. Although the film has noticeable lengths with its 107 minutes, it is only a little behind the films of Tarantino and Rodriguez. "
“De la Iglesia eschews realism like the devil shuns holy water. The stylized circus world looks more like a fantasy land. Once the make-up is off in the evening, there are absurd outbreaks of violence and violent sex. Dreams and visions invade the plot without resistance. The camera is constantly in motion, strings and drums are noisy from the soundtrack. Sometimes this aggressive opulence can get too much. Ultimately, however, the film's appeal lies precisely in its excess. Because as the running time increases, Mad Circus becomes more exuberant and aloof without ever completely detaching itself from its love story. "
“De la Iglesias exorcism is a real frenzy of images. Bright, exuberant, unbalanced, unfinished and precisely for that reason full of brute poetry and comedy. The Basque sees himself in the tradition of Goya, Dalí or Buñuel. They all tackled an unbearable present or the ghosts of the past with grotesque, macabre and surreal images. De la Iglesia fills those who do not want to see with a bloody cake and forces them to look in the mirror. Those who look back are: the friendly elderly Generalissimo Franco and two crazy clowns. "
Awards
- 2010: Silver Lion (Best Director), Golden Osella (Screenplay Award) and Young Cinema Award at the 67th Venice International Film Festival
- 2011: Goya in the special effects and mask categories, 13 further nominations
- 2011: Premio Sant Jordi for Carlos Areces and Antonio de la Torre (Best Spanish Actor)
- 2011: Premio Turia for Antonio de la Torre (Best Actor)
Web links
- Mad Circus - A ballad of love and death in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Denis Demmerle: Interview with Alex de la Iglesia: I always think of superheroes and super bad guys . In: Berlin Film Festival, December 8, 2011. Accessed October 12, 2014.
- Burkhard Müller-Ullrich : Film critic Suchsland on "Mad Circus - A ballad of love and death": There are very few splatter scenes ". In: Deutschlandfunk , December 8, 2011. Retrieved October 12, 2014.
Individual evidence
- ^ Certificate of Approval for Mad Circus - A Ballad of Love and Death . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , October 2011 (PDF; test number: 129 932 K).
- ↑ Patrick Wellinski: Mad Circus - A ballad of love and death . kino-zeit.de. 2011. Retrieved May 28, 2012.
- ↑ Ronny Dombrowski: Mad Circus - A ballad of love and death . cinetastic.de. 2011. Retrieved June 18, 2012.
- ↑ Michael Kienzl: Mad Circus - A ballad of love and death . Critic.de. 2011. Retrieved April 19, 2013.
- ^ Benedikt Eppenberger: Exorcising the devil with clowns: Spain's cinema processes trauma . Swiss radio and television . October 29, 2013. Retrieved October 12, 2014.
- ↑ Sofia Coppola clears the table . news.de. September 11, 2010. Archived from the original on October 4, 2010. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
