Long Live Death (1971)

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. His mother is religious, sympathetic to the Fascists; his father is ... See full summary »

Director:

Fernando Arrabal (as Arrabal)

Writers:

Fernando Arrabal (by) (as Arrabal), Fernando Arrabal (novel) (as Arrabal)

Stars:

Anouk Ferjac, Núria Espert, Mahdi Chaouch

Cast

Complete credited 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
Victor Garcia	...	Fando - 20 ans

Storyline

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. His mother is religious, sympathetic to the Fascists; his father is accused of being a Red. Fando discovers that his mother may have aided in his father's arrest. Sometimes we witness Fando imagining explanations for what's going on; sometimes we see him at play, alone or with his friend Thérèse. Oedipal fantasies and a lad's natural curiosity about sex and death mix with his search for his mother's nature and his father's fate. Will Fando survive the search?

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Plot Keywords:

nihilism | death | spanish civil war | boy | turkey the bird | 

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

France Tunisia

Language:

French

Release Date:

12 May 1971 (France)

Also Known As:

Long Live Death

Filming Locations:

Tunisia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Isabelle Films, Satpec

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Directorial debut of Fernando Arrabal.

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Goofs

When Fando is up at the lighthouse and urinates on the city, a hose behind his legs is clearly visible at times.

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Connections

Featured in Jonas in the Desert (1994)

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Soundtracks

Siesta
Written by Raymond Le Sénéchal and Eddie Barclay (as Édouard Ruault)
Performed by Jean-Yves Bosseur Et Ses Amis

User Reviews

Mildly interesting and shocking surrealistic film.

During the Spanish Civil War young boy named Fando is forced to watch as Garcia Lorca is executed by a taunting Fascist firing squad.He keeps asking his mother what happened to his father,and eventually learns that his mother betrayed him to the Franco government because of his unspoken leftist ideas.Fando imagines bizarre scenarios where his father is tortured and mutilated.Many of his visions present his mother as a monster who gouges out his father's eyes,or makes love to his captors in front of him,in addition to other gruesome and scatological horrors.Fando also shows signs of sexual interest in his libidinous aunt Clara and a neighbor girl,Thérèse,as he lives a miserable existence acting out the cruelty of his mother with small cruelties of his own.Fernando Arrabal is a well-known Spanish surrealist and "Viva la Muerte" is his first and most famous piece of work.The film has its share of shocking and unpleasant moments-the defecation scene and the bull slaughter moment especially come to my mind.Many of the hallucinatory scenes of violence,that include the father's head being stomped on by horses,a priest's genitals being cut off,and imagined sexual liaisons involving Fando's mother,were filmed on videotape,distorted via the use of colour filters and transferred to film.So if you liked this one I'd also recommend "Sweet Movie" and "The Cremator".7 out of 10.