☆ ☆ ☆ ½
The
Executioner (1963) – L. G. Berlanga
Luis García Berlanga’s black comedic
attack on the death penalty (and Franco’s rule more broadly) apparently evaded
the censors of the day and is now heralded as a masterpiece in Spain. Well, it isn’t a laugh riot but it does
subtly lampoon the practice of execution by showing the lengths that the main
character (José Luis Rodríguez played by Nino Manfredi) will go to try to avoid
the job of executioner and the norms and pressures that hem him in. Moreover, there are bureaucratic advantages
to holding the job (a plum apartment, higher wages, other perks) if one can
only look the other way at the horror and avoid the stigma applied by society. The comedy arises from a) the oblivious nonchalance
of the retiring executioner (and father-in-law by shotgun wedding of the
protagonist) and b) the various indignities and embarrassments suffered by José
Luis throughout the film. The payoff
(and darkest moment) comes when José Luis has to be dragged, kicking and
screaming, to perform an execution while the actual prisoner is calmer and more
resigned. In the end, of course, the
caustic bite of the film comes from the choice to tackle an issue this serious
in a light comedy of manners rather than addressing it head-on. So, instead of
challenging Franco’s government for its inhumanity, we get a bit about a
prisoner who was offered champagne for the first time but turned it down to the
shock and surprise of the prosecutors.
Jokes about the garotte and electric chair may be in extremely bad taste
but they drive the point home.
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