The Last Circus (2010)
"Balada triste de trompeta" (original title)

A young trapeze artist must decide between her lust for Sergio, the Happy Clown, or her affection for Javier, the Sad Clown, both of whom are deeply disturbed.

Director:

Álex de la Iglesia

Writer:

Álex de la Iglesia

Stars:

Carlos Areces, Antonio de la Torre, Carolina Bang

8 wins & 19 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Carlos Areces	...	Javier
Antonio de la Torre	...	Sergio
Carolina Bang	...	Natalia
Manuel Tallafé	...	Ramiro
Alejandro Tejerías	...	Motorista-fantasma (as Alejandro Tejería)
Manuel Tejada	...	Jefe de pista
Enrique Villén	...	Andrés
Gracia Olayo	...	Sonsoles
Sancho Gracia	...	Coronel Salcedo
Paco Sagarzazu	...	Anselmo
Santiago Segura	...	Padre-Payaso tonto
Fernando Guillén Cuervo	...	Capitán miliciano
Jorge Clemente	...	Javier (Joven 1943)
Fofito	...	Payaso listo
Sasha Di Bendetto	...	Javier (Niño 1937) (as Sasha Di Bendetto)

Storyline

1937, Spain is in the midst of the brutal Spanish Civil War. A "Happy" circus clown is interrupted mid-performance and forcibly recruited by a militia. Still in his costume, he is handed a machete and led into battle against National soldiers, where he single handedly massacres an entire platoon. Fast forward to 1973, the tail end of the Franco regime. Javier, the son of the clown, dreams of following in his father's career footsteps, but has seen too much tragedy in his life-he's simply not funny and is only equipped to play the role of the Sad Clown. He finds work in a circus where he befriends an outlandish cast of characters, but as the Sad Clown he must take the abuse of the brutish Happy Clown Sergio, who humiliates Javier daily in the name of entertainment. It is here that he meets Natalia, a gorgeous acrobat, and abused wife of Sergio. Javier falls deeply in love with Natalia and tries to rescue her from her cruel and violent husband, unleashing Sergio's jealousy. But Natalia ...

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Plot Keywords:

clown | sad clown | circus | acrobat | spain | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for brutal and bloody violence throughout, some strong sexual content, nudity and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Blog [es] Official Facebook

Country:

Spain France

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

17 December 2010 (Spain)

Also Known As:

The Last Circus

Filming Locations:

Alcoy, Alicante, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain

Box Office

Budget:

€7,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$4,757 (USA) (19 August 2011)

Gross:

$40,029 (USA) (4 November 2011)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Tornasol Films, La Fabrique 2, uFilm

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Edward James Olmos was interested in working with Álex de la Iglesia. He was in talks to play one of the main characters, but finally he couldn't accept because of his busy schedule.

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Goofs

When Andres is arrested, he says "maderos" to the policemen, but this word was not yet used at this time. He shoould have said "grises" (grey) because this is the color of the police uniform - only years later would it become brown. ("Madero" is log or piece of wood, which is why people called policemen "maderos").

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Connections

References One Million Years B.C. (1966)

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Soundtracks

"La quiero a morir"
(Je l'aime a mourir)
Written by Francis Cabrel
Adapted by Luis Gómez Escolar
Performed by Francis Cabrel

User Reviews

Alex de la Iglesia, the Spanish Fellini.

To watch this movie and enjoy it one must suspend all judgment.

It doesn't pretend to show us scenes of everyday living, or the girl next door shopping at the supermarket.

It deals with the same magic world that García Márquez deals with in his exotic novels. Marvellously created world. As thrilling as any Fellini movie. The circus world is the perfect setting for developing this view, between fantasy, nightmares and awful reality.

The pacing is relentless, a thousand things happening during the 120 minutes or so, all of them linked within the main story and showing a whole range of human emotions among the three main characters: The Smiling Clown, The Sad Clown (his sidekick) and the beautiful trapeze girl, the object of jealousy, fury, rancor between the two clowns.

Every scene is visually baroque in essence, since action takes place in the foreground but also in the background, with secondary characters.

There is a full color palette, dazzling as an old kaleidoscope making all sorts of beautiful patterns that change in front of our eyes delighting us continuously.

The acting is superb, from the principal actors to the last extra. The delivery of the lines in Spanish is done at full speed, clean as a whistle and sharp as a cracking whip by all the actors.

The digital effects perfect. Top entertainment from beginning to end. What a SEN-SA-TION-AL movie!!!