Le crime farpait

It's hilarious. It's poignant. It's artistic. It's even philosophical at times. I can't imagine anyone not liking this film. "Crimen ferpecto" is a great surrealistic comedy along the lines of "Being John Malkovich", "One Night at McCools" or even the masterpiece "Brazil".

The plot begins bizarre, and from there it gets ever bizarrer. Set in a department store (the perfect metaphor for the human condition!), this film brilliantly weaves the themes of glamorous/plastic life versus the mundane/real. Trapped between worlds and desperately trying to achieve the former is our hero Rafael, a man whose entire life exists within the ladies' clothing department. Somehow he gets wrapped up in murder, blackmail and ectoplasmic visitations from lovable corpses. Yeah, I told you it gets bizarre.

But despite the zany plot, there's a very poignant & sober message that runs just below the surface. It's subtle, but it comes to fruition during the magnificent climax when we realize exactly what this whole wacky movie is about. If you've paid attention to symbolism, metaphor, allegory and all that intellectual jazz, you'll get it, and you'll see how everything fits into place. If not, fine, you'll enjoy the picture anyway because it's just plain funny. The beauty is that you can take it at your own pace. Great film. Damn near perfect. Er... ferpect.

After his latest experiment with new genres (no less than a western) with "800 balas", Álex de la Iglesia goes back to his habitual black comedies and proves he is still in top form. "Crimen ferpecto" is probably his most accomplished film so far, and surely the funniest.

Looking back at his oeuvre, there are very good films ("La comunidad" is still his best) but also average ones ("Muertos de risa" had its edge, but was pointless). "Crimen ferpecto" is the deserving follow-up to "La Comunidad", after the failure of "800 balas", and keeps showing the evolution of the director/writer towards creative maturity.

Guillermo Toledo plays Rafael, de la Iglesia's best leading male character so far. He is at his best playing this womanizer in trouble, elegant, seductive and utterly charming. He is accompanied by Mónica Cervera, who will certainly break through in this film after his impressive turn as a retarded young woman in "Piedras". She plays the wicked witch of the men's department, ugly, manipulative, evil but yet a character one can sympathize with.

The high point of this comedy is certainly the part in which the couple visits the girl's family (Gracia Olayo is brilliant in a bit part as Lourdes' mother), the audience could hardly stop laughing. The rest of the footage combines lighter comedy, dark comedy, thriller and even a little share of action.

It's a shame, however, that I could not be pleased by the ending. It's difficult to find a satisfying ending when one has sympathized with both Rafael and Lourdes, who both have played the roles of "good" and "bad" in turns. Eventually both of them get what they deserve, but is life really like that? I expected an edgier ending, but still appreciated "Crimen ferpecto" as one of the best comedies of the year.

Overall rating: 8/10

And obviously try not to copy... What about this movie? I loved it! De La Iglesia hit perfectly the target using very well Spanish actors playing style. Spanish language, if well managed, allows movie to get a fast sequence of dialogs and scenes, that fits well black comedy style. I usually like all Spanish movies, that always bring all enthusiastic feelings of the recent country welfare. Spanish society deeply enjoy democratic and rich lifestyle, and Spanish movies communicate its happiness to the world. Raphael character reflects "Spanish dream", i.e. reaching success (such as "american dream") and also deeply enjoy life! Lourdes is a "clichè" of modern Spanish movies: the ugly, determined and sexual woman, who desires to be loved and struggle to obtain it. This movie is another strong lesson to the worldwide filmmakers: you don't need enormous budget to have a great movie: simply pick a good screenplay, good actors and manage all in the right way. Then you have to add some spices: foolish characters (Lourdes family) and grotesque elements (inspector squinting, the accident in Luna Park). Then put all together in the good environment (the shop: a little world that represent all characters life) and you have a magic movie!

This Spanish film, Crimen Ferpecto, doesn't sound so appealing based on its fairly typical plot. Rafael, a women's department manager at a Spanish clothing store, is a womanizer concerned only with his own personal advancement and achieving what he believes to be a perfect life, is thwarted by Lourdes, a sales clerk in the same store, and a rather unattractive woman, blackmails Rafael into a relationship, after discovering a secret Rafael cannot have revealed.

However, I was pleasantly surprised at how often I laughed out loud. Crimen Ferpecto moves at a fairly quick pace with lots of entertaining situations.

First off, both Guillermo Toledo, as Rafael, and Monica Cervera, as Lourdes are convincing in their portrayals. What makes their performances enjoyable is their mutual ability to create interesting dynamics within their characters. Rafael, is, essentially a boorish lout, yet Toledo manages to make him sympathetic at times especially as his entanglement with Lourdes get more and more complicated. By the same token, Lourdes, the "ugly" sales clerk, proves, as a twist on the character type, to be just as ugly on the inside. They are constantly sparring, as Lourdes tries to rope Rafael into marriage, and he tries to remove her from his life. While amusing, the sparring, as the film reaches its climax, does get a little wearing. The first half of Crimen Ferpecto working better then the latter half.

Also, a standout is Luis Varela as Don Antonio, Rafael's rival in becoming store manager. Without giving too much away of the plot, his character gets a surreal treatment and haunts Rafael as he attempts to deal with Lourdes. I thought some of the interplay between Rafael and Don Antonio were among the best in the film.

Crimen Ferpecto is light entertainment at it's best. It offers some genuinely funny moments that are well conceived and executed. Guillermo Toledo and Monica Cervera also give stand out performances in their roles as Rafael and Lourdes with Luis Varela, as Don Antonio, backing them up admirably.

Rafael Gonzalez (Guillermo Toledo), is a salesman in the ladies section of a fashionable department store in Madrid who has it all: good looks, a sharp wardrobe, and a confident, brash manner that allows him to get his way with women and in the workplace.

Rafael has clear goals, too, the most important of which is to lead a "perfect life," and little patience for anybody who settles for less. Such a proud man, of course, is perfectly set up to take a fall and Rafael plunges very far indeed in this hilarious black comedy by Spanish director Alexis de la Iglesia.

Rafael's slide begins when a hated rival, Don Antonio (Luis Varlea), wins a coveted promotion. An argument follows and Don Antonio ends up dead. Rafael's role in the accident goes undetected by the police only because Lourdes (Monica Cevera), an unattractive coworker he has long ignored, helps dispose of the corpse.

Lourdes assistance comes with a price. She has long carried a torch for Rafael and uses the threat of police exposure to get her own "perfect life." She insists Rafael become her lover, meet her parents, and marry her. In short, Rafael is about to be trapped in the kind of dull, mediocre existence he has always mocked.

Watching Rafael try to escape from the world Lourdes plans for him – raising children in a badly decorated suburban apartment filled with clown paintings and spending evenings collecting ugly miniatures -- provides lots of laughter and entertainment and plenty of insights into contemporary Spain. In the end, each character gets what they want – but as usually happens in life itself – there is a clear winner and loser. Highly recommended.

9/10