A surrealist movie with a lot of ridiculous and absurd incidents and all-Spanish-star-cast . Year 2598. Three days ago the end of the world to come to London , a small lost town with a Castilian atmosphere in middle of a barren landscape. A sheepherder named Lorenzo (Agustin González) recounts the extraordinary events that have heralded the apocalypse: the cows want to go to school, Doña Paquita (Maria Luisa Ponte) appears in the most unexpected places , then a miracle finder : Miguel Rellán comes to village to investigate the weird facts . While the pastor's son (Manuel Alexandre) suddenly ages and becomes older than his father.
A short film filmed in the 80s, which inaugurated the stage in the filmography of José Luis Cuerda based on absurd humor with several peculiar and outlandish characters. With ¨Total¨, this director who years later would stand out with ¨La Lengua de las Mariposas¨, begins a kind of very personal trilogy that completes with ¨Amanece que no es poco¨, following : ¨Asi en el cielo como en la tierra¨ or ¨As in heaven as on earth¨ and finally : ¨Tiempo después¨ (2018) that was set in 9177 in which world is limited to a high skycraper surrounded by small isolated slums and ruined shacks where live the lower classes , at the building lives the upper class and an absented-mind king governs along with a mayor, a management staff, while two Guardias Civiles watch and control by entering through the multitude of doors at the skycraper, and repeats Agustin González as a veteran shepherd caring his sheep across the scenario , being Cuerda's last feature film . Cuerda shows his special sense of humor in which blends social as well as political critique, life, death, religion, fight of classes and upheavals. This ¨Total¨ was shot after his debut feature ¨Pares y nones¨ and despite having numerous ups and downs , it has managed to win a group of followers who acclaim it as an absolute revolutionary comedy.
This ¨Total¨is a draft to ¨Amanece Que No es Poco¨ (Dawn that is not Little) and the subsequent films , all of them forming a quartet of surrealist films. This is an embarrassing flick providing Spanish star-studded, including a numerous cast with 20 protagonists, at least . Standing out the starring Agustín González, a sheep herder, tells us a series of extraordinary events that have heralded the end of the world . Being accompanied by a lot of familiar faces , being the following ones : Manuel Alexandre as his son , the baker who draws a gun on his customers , Eusebio Lázaro as the school teacher married to Alicia Sánchez ,María Luisa Ponte as the woman who suddenly appears here and there , Miguel Rellán as the alleged discoverer of miracles who falls in love for Enriqueta Carballeira ,José María Caffarel Alicia Sánchez , María Elena Flores married to blind Luis Ciges that miraculously recovers sight , Chus Lampreave , Carles Velat , Fernando Vivanco , among others. The picture relies heavily on repetitive situations, silly happenings, long speeches, sentences without sense and absurd deeds.
It packs an evocative cinematography by Juan Martín Benito , filmed in 3 municipalities of the Tierras Altas de Soria region : Oncala, Soria, San Pedro Manrique, Yanguas, Soria, Castilla y León. And atmospheric , enjoyable score by notorious composer José Nieto . This film was written by Jose Luis Cuerda who also produced and directed, as usual. Cuerda is an expert professional, being his film debut Pares y Nones, a typical Madrid comedy. He subsequently made El Bosque Animado with writings by Rafael Azcona and himself, being based on Wenceslao Fernandez Florez novel. He followed shooting drama : La viuda del Capitan Contreras and more and more comedies as Tocando Fondo and La Marrana. His biggest hits correspond as a producer, as he produced for Alejandro Amenabar : Tesis and Abre Los Ojos. This film belongs to a surrealist trilogy made in similar style : first the successful Amanece que no es poco 1989 and Asi en el cielo como en la tierra 1995, and Tiempo despues (2018) , these movies provide the peculiar absurd humor of this good filmmaker Jose Luis Cuerda. His highest acclaimed film as a director was Lengua de las Mariposas that won various Goya Awards, prizes and nominations. Rating 7/10.
