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

Director:

Álex de la Iglesia

Writer:

Álex de la Iglesia (written by)

Release Date:

17 December 2010 (Spain)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Clown | Sad Clown | Circus | Acrobat | Spain

Awards:

8 wins & 19 nominations

Cast

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)
Juan Viadas	...	Franco
Ángel Acero	...	Locutor / Actor
David Sánchez Calvo	...	Trapecista
Joaquín Climent	...	Padre de familia
Juana Cordero	...	Madre de los niños
Fernando Chinarro	...	Abuelo
Luis Varela	...	Manuel (Veterinario)
Terele Pávez	...	Dolores (Vet.)
José Manuel Cervino	...	Secretario
Isidro Montalvo	...	Amaestrador de osos
Fran Perea	...	Soldado nacional
Javier Botet	...	Preso enloquecido
Ignasi Vidal	...	Policía (Convoy)
Raúl Arévalo	...	Carlos (Chico cine)
Luz Valdenebro	...	Mª Ángeles - Chica Cine
Josu Ormaetxe	...	Millonario 1
Josean Bengoetxea	...	Millonario 2
Chusa Barbero	...	Señora enjoyada (as Chusa Barberó)
Fernando Soto	...	Médico
Elsa Cabo	...	Bailarina en el Kojak
Merche Romero	...	Bailarina en el Kojak
Anita Torres	...	Bailarina en el Kojak (as Ana Torres)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
David M. Antón	...	Miliciano (uncredited)
Mikel Bustamante	...	Figurante cine / Guardia civil (uncredited)
Diego Calderón	...	Trapecista Machete (uncredited)
Sixto Cid	...	Bestia (uncredited)
Ángel Cristo	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Alexander Estrella	...	Soldado nacional (uncredited)
Torcuato Fernández Miranda	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Manuel Fraga	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Francisco Franco	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Luis Lobos Negros	...	Cliente cafetería Loessa (uncredited)
Raphael	...	(archive footage) (uncredited)

Directed by
Álex de la Iglesia

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Álex de la Iglesia		written by

Produced by
Yousaf Bokhari	....	line producer
Vérane Frédiani	....	producer
Gerardo Herrero	....	producer
Adrian Politowski	....	executive producer
Franck Ribière	....	producer
Gilles Waterkeyn	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Roque Baños

Cinematography by
Kiko de la Rica

Film Editing by
Alejandro Lázaro

Casting by
Camilla-Valentine Isola

Art Direction by
Eduardo Hidalgo hijo

Set Decoration by
Federico del Cerro

Costume Design by
Paco Delgado

Makeup Department
Barbara Alonso	....	special makeup effects artist
Carlos Arenas	....	special makeup effects artist
Lola Damas	....	assistant makeup artist (as Lola Dama)
Tono Garzón	....	assistant makeup artist
Javier Hernández	....	special makeup effects artist
Raquel Candela López	....	assistant makeup artist
Kenyar Padilla	....	assistant hair stylist
Virginia Prieto	....	assistant makeup artist
Antonia Pérez	....	assistant makeup artist
José Quetglás	....	key makeup artist
Patricia Rodríguez	....	assistant makeup artist
Pedro Rodríguez	....	special makeup effects artist (as Pedro Rodríguez 'Pedrati')
Blanca Sánchez	....	key hair stylist
Nuria Tejedor	....	assistant hair stylist
Esther Tomás	....	assistant hair stylist
Carmen Veinat	....	assistant hair stylist

Production Management
Fernando Fortuño	....	first assistant unit manager
Roberto Padilla	....	unit manager
Paula Pérez	....	second assistant unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Domingo González	....	first assistant director
Virginia Maillo	....	trainee assistant director
Eva Ungría	....	second assistant director
Bruno Velasco	....	third assistant director

Art Department
Paco Calonge	....	set dresser
Rubén Cardeña	....	on-set dresser
Paco García	....	assistant property master
Paco Juez	....	property master
José Luis Moya	....	construction coordinator
Ramón Moya	....	construction manager
Clemente Rivas	....	assistant set dresser
Silvia Rodríguez-Bermejo	....	assistant decorator

Sound Department
Manuel Corrales	....	foley artist (as Manolo Corrales)
Nicolas de Poulpiquet	....	assistant sound editor
Romain Drouillon	....	french dubbing mixer
Diego Garrido	....	sound re-recording mixer
Mario González	....	foley recordist
Sergio González	....	assistant sound editor
Sergio González	....	boom operator
Javier Losantos	....	assistant sound re-recording mixer
Carlos Schmukler	....	supervising sound editor
Ricardo Viñas	....	dolby sound consultant

Special Effects by
César Abades	....	special effects technician
Reyes Abades	....	special effects supervisor
Óscar Abades	....	special effects technician
Ángel Alonso	....	special effects technician
Miguel Barragán	....	special effects technician
Daniel Reboul	....	special effects technician
José Manuel Rodrigo	....	special effects technician

Visual Effects by
Juanjo Alcaraz	....	visual effects producer
Juan Alonso	....	digital compositor
Helmuth Barnert	....	digital compositor
Manuel Barrero	....	visual effects artist
Juan Ignacio Cabrera	....	colorist
Kepa Casado	....	technical director
Carlos Cervera	....	visual effects producer
Yusef El Khadir	....	matchmove artist
Gaston Emery	....	visual effects artist
Sergio Fernandez	....	massive technical director
Ricardo G. Elipe	....	senior visual effects compositor
Rafael Galdó	....	production coordinator
Hugo García Torres	....	animator
Carmen García	....	digital effects artist
Juanjo González	....	visual effects coordinator
Francisco Palomares Pozas	....	digital compositor
Óscar Perea Marcos	....	digital compositor
Ferran Piquer	....	visual effects supervisor
Miriam Piquer	....	visual effects artist
Francisco Porras	....	compositor
Yela Román	....	visual effects producer
Javier Sanz	....	visual effects artist
Rocío Soriano Piquer	....	visual effects producer
Erasmo Torallas	....	digital artist
Pepe Valencia	....	previsualization supervisor
José Miguel Zapata	....	digital effects artist

Stunts
Luis Miguel Arranz	....	stunts
Dacio Caballero	....	stunts (as Dacio Díaz)
Daniel Cancela	....	stunts
Javier Cancela	....	stunts
José Julián Cancela	....	stunts (as Julián Cancela)
Ignacio Carreño	....	stunt coordinator
Pablo Casillas	....	stunt performer
Daniel Willy Defense	....	stunts
Eduardo Fedriani	....	stunts
Jesús Fernández	....	stunts
Joaquín Fernández	....	stunts
Gema García Moresco	....	acrobatics
Diego Herberg	....	stunt performer
Álvaro Hernández	....	stunts
Cintia Martínez	....	stunts
Fernando Millán	....	stunts
Eduardo Moratilla	....	stunt double: Antonio de la Torre
Tomás Ordóñez	....	stunts
José Juan Ramos	....	stunts
Ricardo Rocca	....	stunts
David Rodríguez	....	stunts
Juan José Rodríguez	....	stunts (as Juanjo Rodríguez)

Camera and Electrical Department
Diego L. Calvin	....	still photographer
Jon Corcuera	....	digital imaging technician
Raul del Hoyo	....	second assistant camera
David Fernández	....	assistant camera (as David Mayo)
David Fernández	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera (as David Mayo)
Carlos Garcés	....	electrician
Carlos Sascha García	....	electrician
Raúl García	....	camera operator
Daniel Guirles	....	electrician
Josu Inchaustegui	....	camera operator
Diego López Calvin	....	still photographer
Antonio López	....	electrician
Almudena Melida	....	video assist
Raúl Morales	....	camera operator
Imanol Nabea	....	assistant camera
Javier Portabales	....	electrician
Peio Portabales	....	electrician
Daniel Puyol	....	electrician
Cristina Rodríguez	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera
Ricardo Rodríguez	....	gaffer
Juan Rubio	....	digital imaging technician trainee
Edmundo Sanz	....	key grip
Daniel Sánchez	....	second assistant camera: "b" camera
Anselmo Villalba	....	assistant key grip
Anselmo Villalba	....	grip
Manuel Álvarez	....	assistant camera (as Manu Álvarez)

Casting Department
Cristina Monzón	....	extras casting
Pilar Moya	....	extras casting coordinator
Erica Vega	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Alejandra Albert	....	costumer (as Alejandra Albert Flores)
Ana Cuerda	....	costumes
Maite Herruzo	....	costumer (as Mayte Herruzo)
Sonia Isla	....	wardrobe assistant
Eva Martín	....	costumer
Roberto Menargues	....	costumer
Joaquín Montull	....	wardrobe assistant
Leticia Palomares	....	costumer
Ignacio Povedano	....	costumer
Rosa Pérez	....	set costumer
Karin Quijada	....	costumer
Raúl Ramos	....	costumer (as Raúl Ramos Molla)
Pepo Ruiz Dorado	....	aging artist (as Pepo Ruiz)
Eva Salas	....	costumer
Carlos Urbano Cabido	....	costumer (as Carlos Cabido)

Editorial Department
Manuel Bauer	....	assistant editor
Javier Martín Penagos	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Roque Baños	....	conductor
Roque Baños	....	orchestrator
Ginés Carrión	....	assistant orchestrator (as Ginés Carrión Espí)
Ginés Carrión	....	music copyist
Ana Carolina Diz	....	soprano
Tessy Díez	....	music producer (as Tessy Díez Martín)
Vladimir Harvan	....	musician
David Hernando	....	music supervisor
Sergio Martínez	....	musician
Alberto Pinto Velasco	....	music recording engineer
Manuel Tallafé	....	voice
Stefan Karrer	....	soundtrack album producer (uncredited)

Transportation Department
José Albadalejo	....	driver (as Jose Abadaejo)
Iván Alepúz	....	driver
Juan Aracil	....	transportation
Javier Cifuentes	....	driver
Frederic Fabrega	....	driver
Richard Fábrega	....	driver (as Richard Fabrega)
Miguel Lora	....	driver
Mauricio Lozano	....	driver
Manuel Marín	....	driver
Javier Molto	....	driver
Fernando Pardal	....	driver
Laurent Preira	....	driver
Agustín Ruiz	....	driver
Denis Schiavo	....	production driver
Javier Sánchez	....	driver

Other crew
Piti Alonso	....	press
Juan Casado	....	production assistant
Mohmoudy El Ghayeb	....	security
Salvi García	....	press
Belen Goñi	....	cashier
David Guaita	....	titles and credits designer
Abba Hayub	....	security
Pierre Philippe Hendrickx	....	legal advisor: Belgium
Asia Jarzyna	....	production coordinator
Cristina Manzanares	....	assistant location manager
José Manuel Mesteller	....	choreographer
Elena Moreno	....	cashier
Eduardo Moyano Fernández	....	making-of (as Eduardo Moyano)
Ana Pastor	....	location manager: Alicante
Juan Vicente Riuve	....	script supervisor
David Rodríguez Paya	....	security
Vicente Rodríguez Paya	....	security
Nuria Santiago	....	location manager
Bastien Sirodot	....	production executive
Edgaras Subunas	....	security
David Sánchez	....	press
Mónica Torronteras	....	press
Noelia Villodre	....	production assistant

Thanks
Jeremy Burdek	....	special thanks
Lon Chaney	....	thanks
Narciso Ibáñez Serrador	....	the director wishes to thank (as Chicho Ibáñez Serrador)
Boris Karloff	....	the director wishes to thank
Nadia Khamlichi	....	special thanks
Antonio Mercero	....	the director wishes to thank
Paul Naschy	....	the director wishes to thank
Pedro Olea	....	the director wishes to thank
Raquel Welch	....	the director wishes to thank

Production Companies

• Tornasol Films
• La Fabrique 2
• uFilm
• Canal+ España
• Castafiore Films
• Le Tax Shelter du Gouvernement Fédéral de Belgique (with the support of)
• Televisión Española (TVE)

Distributors

• Films Distribution (2010) (worldwide) (all media)
• Warner Bros. (2010) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Cinéart (2011) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Cinéart (2011) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Distribution Company (2011) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Filmtrade (2011) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Koch Media (2011) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Madman Entertainment (2011) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Magnet Releasing (2011) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Nettai Museum (2012) (Japan) (theatrical)
• SND (2011) (France) (theatrical)
• Shaw Organisation (2012) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Argentina Video Home (2011) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Audio Visual Entertainment (2011) (Greece) (DVD)
• Film1 (2012) (Netherlands) (TV) (limited)
• Twin Pics (2011) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Codex Digital  digital recording equipment
• Dolby Laboratories  sound mix
• Milan Records  soundtrack
• uFund  funding

Also Known As:

"Balada triste de trompeta" - Spain (original title)
"A Sad Trumpet Ballad" - International (English title) (informal literal title)

MPAA:

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

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

Spain | France

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #46512) | Hong Kong:III (film festival rating) | Singapore:R21 | Australia:MA (2011) | Netherlands:16 | Argentina:16 | South Korea:18 | Italy:VM14 | Germany:18 | New Zealand:R18

Filming Locations:

Alcoy, Alicante, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain

Company:

Tornasol Films

Trivia:

A still of Cannibal Holocaust (1980) appears in opening credits. Luis Varela, who plays Manuel in this film, dubbed 'Carl Gabriel Yorke' in Cannibal Holocaust in Spanish.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: 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").

Movie Connections:

References Flash Gordon (1980)

Soundtrack:

Balada de la trompeta (Ballata della Tromba)

Laugh Clown Kill

Laugh clown kill

A sad clown falls in love with a starlet – and challenges her misogynistic lover in post-war Spain.

The logline above is far too simplistic for this multi-genre and multi-thematic film. Written and directed by Álex de la Iglesia, best known in the US for his 2008 feature THE OXFORD MURDERS, brings us a monster mix of mayhem that spans from the Spanish Civil War to 1973. Sort of like Tim Burton on a lot more acid.

Soft-spoken Javier (Carlos Areces) survives the war to become a sad clown in a low budget circus. In the show, he plays second banana to Sergio (Antonio de la Torre), the happy clown who is ultra-hostile off stage and keeps the other performers walking on edge due to sudden tirades and extreme violence. His lover is the lithe Natalia (Carolina Bang) torn between Sergio's rage and the safety of Javier. Okay, that sounds like straightforward romance plot number one – but it doesn't come close. This tale engages war, politics, drama, comedy, horror and romance while exploring themes regarding obsession, response to trauma, politically induced Frankensteinian creations, and the failure of dreams within a fascist state. Fascism, whether it is Franco's or Sergio's, is the running thread that holds this wild fantasy together.

Kiko de la Rica is the photographic genius that created one amazingly vivid cinematographic ride that even in the daylight never seems pristine or dreamy enough. The world is always tainted – darkened – by something from the edges as well as within the hearts of the characters, and his skill brings this to light frame after frame.

The acting is absolutely brilliant and riveting, with Areces and de la Torre going toe to toe at every turn. I can only imagine how mind-numbingly drained the performances had left them. Then again, how could any actor in the film not embrace the quirky and enigmatic characters created by Iglesias? None of the characters were run of the mill or plucked off the shelf like so much Hollywood drek.

However, though this falls under the realm of horror, I sincerely doubt many fans of the genre would embrace the movie. This is not because horror aficionados are stupid and only adore slasher films, but this is one of those movies that could easily make someone question the very definition of the genre. And with a multi-faceted feature such as this, horror plays a role, like a character, and does not permeate the tale.

Regardless, there's something for everyone in THE LAST CIRCUS, and if you like freaky films that defy description, you should enjoy this riveting feature.