Ballade Triste

After the really disappointing "Oxford murders", Álex de la Iglesia returns with not only his best film to date, but with one of the best films in the last years. "Balada Triste de Trompeta" is a romantic-over the top-violent melodrama which mixes Tarantino, Hitchcock, Fellini, Todd Browning and of course it also has a lot of previous Álex de la Iglesia films like "Acción Mutante" or "El día de la bestia". Two men, one good and one bad, fighting for the love of a beautiful blonde trapeze artist (the gorgeous Carolina Bang) in a downward spiral of love and madness that also serves as a historical recount of the last 75 years of Spanish history.

I saw this film as part of the "Imagine" film festival 2011 in Amsterdam. It made a promising start with a good exposition of the main characters involved, the setting in which they lived (circus, civil war, etc), and personal motives behind dramatic developments later on. Actors did a great job, pictures well shot, and a perfectly fitting musical score supported the events on screen. I was fully in the mood to watch the remainder of a perfect movie. All necessary ingredients were there.

However, after an hour my appreciation changed 180 degrees. There were too many improbable situations, unrealistic events, and several inconsistencies in the story line. Apart from that, the overload of self inflicted injuries and mutual violence started to annoy me. Equally dramatic developments might have been possible with much less blood. On top of that, the finale disappointed grossly. It was obviously intended to be spectacular, but it completely failed in that respect. I did not expect a happy ending for most of the main characters, but such a massive amount of deaths and severe injuries is uncalled for.

When leaving the theater, I nevertheless gave a "satisfactory" score for the public prize competition, compensating the bad parts in the last ¾ hour with the good parts that made up the first hour. These film makers can do it, apparently, when they avoid their inclination to impress us with spectacular settings and special effects. I certainly hope they will in their next production.

A magic tale of terror, dark humour and tragedy!! I think that this film is like a mix of Rodrigues, Jarmush and Kusturica... gripping and strong whilst dark, random and ghastly at the same time. Romantic and disgusting in one film. de la Iglesia beautifully makes the whole film look like a circus performance with all characters exaggerated to the point that even Franco looks like a clown. Though I appreciate that this film is probably not for everyone, I think that it's an original and interesting portrayal of, amongst other things, love and war during horrors of Spanish civil war - an interesting contrast to del Toro's "El Labiirinto del Fauno"!

"Balada triste de trompeta" (Sad trumpet ballad, in Spanish -I have no idea why they translated it as "The last circus", as it's much poorer) is none short of a masterpiece, in my opinion. It is also a 100% Spanish film, meaning it is a tragicomedy, a totally Spanish genre and it also expands between two crucial moments of Spain's recent history, full of tragic events -the Civil War, the killings, Franco's repression and dictatorship- but also full of grotesque details, situations and characters that were real and now, in retrospect, feel utterly ridiculous, much more so than they were at the time -e.g. when the dictator went hunting, they really prepared the prey for him so that he would look as a great hunter- or are just seen as a byproduct of the times that Spain had to live. Director Alex de la Iglesia also cares to sprinkle the movie with historical events that are apparently disconnected to the main story -like the assassination of Franco's hard man and presumed heir as the new tyrant, admiral Carrero Blanco- but which I believe serve a function to the main metaphor that this movie is.

The movie starts in 1937, in the heat of the Spanish Civil War. A clown is recruited by force to fight with the Republican side, and manages to slaughter quite a lot of Franco's men. His young son, Javier, is traumatized by the whole event and later, in 1973, we meet him again as the new recruit in a circus, the Sad Clown. He can only be the sad clown because he is sad himself, and cannot make children laugh. They pair him up with the Funny Clown, a ruthless but charismatic man called Sergio, who turns out to be the partner to a beautiful trapeze artist, Natalia. Javi falls in love with Natalia and thus starts a rivalry between the two men for the love of a woman, with unforeseeable consequences.

The narration is so filled with colorful characters, crazy comedy, crazy violence mixed with comedy or with surreal elements, historical references, and an underlying sense of tragicomedy, and it is so excessive and full of surprises, one can't help but keep watching, much as it is over the top in many an occasion. You can enjoy the movie at face value and ride the wave of the story for what it is, but you can also watch this movie as a summary and insight into the recent Spanish history and how Spain seems doomed to always be split in two, similar people, brothers, always rivalling and even hating each other, seemingly beyond reconciliation, connecting episodes of sheer senselessness and absurdity with spine-chilling episodes of hate and violence, and all of it boiling down to a tragedy that you can only laugh at because it makes no sense.

I'm not surprised that Quentin Tarantino himself was so taken with this movie, and I wouldn't be surprised if an adaptation of this movie was made soon in an American context.

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.