Viva la muerte (1971)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Fernando Arrabal

Writers:

Fernando Arrabal (novel)
Fernando Arrabal (screenplay)

Release Date:

12 May 1971 (France)

Genre:

Drama | War

Plot:

At the end of the Spanish civil war, Fando, a boy of about ten, tries to make sense of war and his father's arrest...

Plot Keywords:

Mother | Death | Spanish Civil War | S&M | Dead Child In Dream

Cast

Anouk Ferjac	...	La Tante
Núria Espert	...	La Mère
Mahdi Chaouch	...	Fando
Ivan Henriques	...	Le Père
Jazia Klibi	...	Thérèse
Suzanne Comte	...	La Grand-mère
Jean-Louis Chassigneux	...	Le Grand-père
Mohamed Bellasoued	...	Colonel
Víctor García	...	Fando - 20 ans

Also Known As:

Long Live Death (International: English title)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

France | Tunisia

Language:

French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:R | New Zealand:R18 | France:-12 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Tunisia

Company:

Isabelle Films

Movie Connections:

Featured in Jonas in the Desert (1994)

Soundtrack:

Ekkoleg

typical of its time

Whether you like them or not, the images are haunting. I saw this film 31 years ago and still remember some sequences vividly. You might argue that the anarcho-surrealism is intellectualised, a pose. But you cannot deny that it is effective. The message gets across, even if a sledgehammer approach is required. But it also is very poetic: the poetry of cruelty. I suppose this kind of establishment bashing was considered very chic in those days. Now it looks dated, unfortunately. But at the time, it shook me profoundly.