Crimen ferpecto (2004)

Director:

Álex de la Iglesia

Writers:

Jorge Guerricaechevarría (screenplay) &
Álex de la Iglesia (screenplay)

Release Date:

22 October 2004 (Spain)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Thriller

Plot:

Rafael is the best salesman in the biggest department store of Madrid. He is a fascinating man; all his colleagues fell in love for him...

Plot Keywords:

Salesman | Corpse | Promiscuous Man | Death | Dismemberment

Awards:

2 wins & 13 nominations

Cast

Guillermo Toledo	...	Rafael González
Mónica Cervera	...	Lourdes
Luis Varela	...	Don Antonio Fraguas
Enrique Villén	...	Comisario Campoy
Fernando Tejero	...	Alonso
Javier Gutiérrez	...	Jaime
Kira Miró	...	Roxanne
Rosario Pardo	...	Señora despistada
Gracia Olayo	...	Concha
José Alias	...	Matías
Penélope Velasco	...	Susana
Montse Mostaza	...	Helena (as Montserrat Mostaza)
Eduardo Gómez	...	Taxista
Enrique Martínez	...	Pepón
Alicia Andújar	...	Desiree

Also Known As:

Crimen perfecto (Italy) (DVD title)
El Crimen Perfecto (The Perfect Crime) (USA)
Ferpect Crime (International: English title)

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

Spain | Italy

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:Unrated | Brazil:14 | Australia:MA | Netherlands:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Spain:18 | Argentina:13 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Chile:14 | Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Madrid, Spain

Company:

Sogecine

Trivia:

In last scene, several of the clowns and journalists were really fans of Álex de la Iglesia. They were invited by the director himself for supporting him through his official website.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The inspector pulls Don Antonio's bridgework out of the hot furnace on a shovel, picks it off the shovel with tweezers, and drops it into a plastic bag. It should have melted the bag!

Quotes:

Don Antonio: What you really have to do is kill her once and for all.
Rafael: Don Antonio, this is not right at all. You are dead, you can't chat with me.

Movie Connections:

References "MacGyver" (1985)

Soundtrack:

Message personnel

Outstanding black comedy

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