''The Last Circus'' (; ) is a 2010 Spanish-French

comedy horror Comedy horror (also called horror comedy) is a literary, television and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as having three types: "black comedy, parody and spoof." Comedy horror can a ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

written and directed by Álex de la Iglesia, which stars Carlos Areces, Antonio de la Torre and Carolina Bang. It premiered at the 2010 Venice Film Festival.

Plot

In 1937, Republican Militia force a

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...

troupe to fight on their side in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

. The Funny Clown (Santiago Segura) slaughters dozens of Nationalist troops, armed only with a machete, before being shot and disarmed. While his fellow troupe members are executed, the Funny Clown is sentenced to work as a slave laborer, at the monument of the Valle de los Caídos. His son, Javier (Sasha Di Bendetto) tries to free him by setting off dynamite where he was working. But Colonel Salcedo (Sancho Gracia) tramples the Funny Clown to death with his horse. Javier knocks him down, gouging out his eye in the process. Salcedo vows to remember Javier for this insult. In 1973, Javier (Carlos Areces) joins a circus as its sad clown, following his father's wishes. His counterpart as funny clown is Sergio (Antonio de la Torre), an arrogant, crude, violent man who admits that were he not a clown, he would probably be a murderer. Javier begins to fall in love with Sergio's girlfriend, the trapeze artist Natalia (Carolina Bang). After Sergio becomes drunk and enraged at dinner one night, Sergio beats Natalia unconscious then storms out. Javier encourages Natalia to leave Sergio, but when Sergio returns she engages in rough sex against a window while Javier cowers below. She later tells Javier that she is sexually and emotionally attracted to Sergio's violent nature. Sergio admits that Javier is an excellent sad clown but grows suspicious about his attention to Natalia. Natalia encourages Javier to develop feelings for her, as she was impressed by his refusal to laugh at an offensive joke told by Sergio at dinner previously. They begin to see one another behind Sergio's back. One night, at an amusement park, Natalia admits she has begun to love Javier as well and kisses him tenderly. Sergio suddenly appears and beats them both savagely; Javier's wounds land him in the hospital. Natalia tells Javier they must never see one another again for his sake. After having a dream in which Sergio foils his repeated attempts to rescue Natalia from various situations, Javier escapes from the hospital and returns to the circus. Despite the efforts of the other troupe members to stop him, Javier finds Sergio and Natalia having sex. Now insane, Javier beats Sergio mercilessly in the face with a trumpet, leaving him mauled and near death. As Javier escapes through the sewers, the circus troupe takes Sergio to the closest doctor – a

veterinarian A veterinarian (vet) or veterinary surgeon is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, veterinarians also play a role in animal r ...

– for medical care. The doctor is able to save Sergio, but his face is horribly scarred with a

glasgow smile A Glasgow smile (also known as a Chelsea grin/smile, or a Glasgow, Smiley, Huyton, A buck 50, forced smile or Cheshire grin) is a wound caused by making a cut from the corners of a victim's mouth up to the ears, leaving a scar in the shape o ...

. The circus is forced to close down. Natalia and several of the other troupe members become performers in a nightclub. Javier lives in the forest, naked and covered in filth. He survives on wild animals that fall into his cave. One day he is captured by hunters – including Salcedo, who recognizes him. Salcedo forces him to behave as a hunting dog but ultimately intends to kill him. At one point Javier viciously bites Generalísimo

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...

, one of Salcedo's guests. As a consequence he is locked in a room while Salcedo plans exactly how to kill him. Javier has a vision of Natalia, as the Virgin Mary, ordering him to become her Angel of Death. He scars his face with

sodium hydroxide Sodium hydroxide, also known as lye and caustic soda, is an inorganic compound with the formula . It is a white solid ionic compound consisting of sodium cations and hydroxide anions . Sodium hydroxide is a highly corrosive base (chemistry), ...

and a clothes iron to make it look permanently like that of a clown, then dons a clown's costume patterned after a

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

's vestments. He then kills Salcedo and escapes into the city. Afraid that Sergio intends to harm her, Natalia prepares to leave the nightclub. Sergio and Javier both arrive at the same time, Javier armed with machine guns. Forced to choose between them, Natalia chooses Sergio, and they drive away together. Police try to arrest Javier, but some of the remaining troupe members help him escape. Repulsed by Sergio's mauled face and crude ways, Natalia leaves him again. Javier steals an ice cream truck and stalks her through the city. He uses the occasion of

ETA Eta ( ; uppercase , lowercase ; ''ē̂ta'' or ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel, . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative, , in most dialects of Ancient Greek, it ...

's successful attempt on Admiral Carrero Blanco (Franco's heir apparent) to kidnap Natalia. He takes her to the Valle de los Caídos, hewn from rock, where the circus has kept its animals since going out of business. There he pleads with her to love him for his mind and body as much as she loved Sergio for his. At first she refuses but admits she no longer loves Sergio. Sergio, meanwhile, has learned of Javier's hideout. He informs the military police, which has been looking for Javier in connection with the terrorist bombing, and accompanies them on their attempt to arrest him. Sergio puts on his clown make up and chases Javier and Natalia through the Monumental Cross at the Valle de los Caídos (a visual homage to the climactic Mount Rushmore scene in the Hitchcock classic ''

North by Northwest ''North by Northwest'' is a 1959 American spy thriller film produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, and James Mason. The original screenplay written by Ernest Lehman was intended to be the basis for ...

''). They proceed to climb to the highest point of the cross, several hundred feet above the ground. Natalia admits her love for Javier and they attempt to escape by wrapping lengths of drapery around their waists and lowering themselves to the ground. Before this can be accomplished, Sergio arrives and fights with Javier. Seeing an opportunity to save Javier, by ensnaring Sergio's leg in drapery, Natalia leaps from the ledge, dragging Sergio with her. Natalia is killed when the drapery draws taut around her waist and snaps her spine. The military police place Sergio and Javier in custody. As they sit opposite one another, the Funny Clown and the Sad Clown begin crying so hard, it appears they are laughing.

Cast

Production

Produced by Tornasol Films, Castafiore Films and La Fabrique 2 with the participation of TVE and Canal+, the film began shooting on 18 January 2010. The film was shot in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

as well as at the Ciudad de la Luz studio in

Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...

. The neighborhood of El Partidor (in a state of

urban decay Urban decay (also known as urban rot, urban death or urban blight) is the sociological process by which a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude. There is no single process that leads to urban decay. ...

) in Alcoy also served as shooting location.

Reception

The film received positive reviews; it currently holds a score of 77% on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

with the consensus being that the film was "an uneven but winningly insane blend of hard violence, sex, black humor, and social satire." Cole Abaius wrote that "Over all, the film is incredible. In the oldest sense of that word, it is awe-inspiring and

grotesque Since at least the 18th century (in French and German, as well as English), grotesque has come to be used as a general adjective for the strange, mysterious, magnificent, fantastic, hideous, ugly, incongruous, unpleasant, or disgusting, and thus ...

. Stunning and heartfelt. It is a love letter to a country, a time and a frowning clown singing mournfully about a weeping trumpet."

Awards

At the 67th Venice International Film Festival the film was nominated for the

Golden Lion The Golden Lion () is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguished prizes. In 1970, a ...

and Álex de la Iglesia received the

Silver Lion The Silver Lion (, also known as Silver Lion for Best Direction) is an annual award presented for best directing achievements in a feature film in the official competition section of the Venice Film Festival since 1998. The prize has been awar ...

award for Best Director. The film received the Méliès d'Or for Best European Fantastic Film.Méliès d'Or Winners
Méliès International Festivals Federation. Retrieved 30 January 2021. , - , rowspan = "3" align = "center" , 2010 , , rowspan = "3" , 67th Venice International Film Festival , , colspan = "2" ,

, , , , rowspan = "1" , , - , Silver Lion for Best Direction , , Álex de la Iglesia , , , , rowspan = "2" , , - , Golden Osella for Best Screenplay , , Álex de la Iglesia , , , - , rowspan = "16" align = "center" , 2011 , , rowspan = "15" , 25th Goya Awards , , colspan = "2" , Best Film , , , , rowspan = "15" , , - , Best Director , , Álex de la Iglesia , , , - ,

Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award (also known as an Oscar) for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best ...

, , Álex de la Iglesia , , , - , Best Original Score , , Roque Baños , , , - , Best Actor , , Antonio de la Torre , , , - , Best Supporting Actress , , Terele Pávez , , , - , Best New Actress , , Carolina Bang , , , - , Best Production Supervision , , Yousaf Bokhari , , , - , Best Cinematography , , Kiko de la Rica , , , - , Best Editing , , Alejandro Lázaro , , , - , Best Art Direction , , Edou Hydallgo , , , - , Best Costume Design , , Paco Delgado , , , - , Best Makeup and Hairstyles , , José Quetglas, Pedro Rodríguez "Pedrati", Nieves Sánchez Torres , , , - , Best Sound , , Charly Schmukler, Diego Garrido, Charly Schmukler , , , - , Best Special Effects , , Reyes Abades, Ferran Piquer , , , - , Méliès d'Or , , colspan = "2" , Best European Fantastic Film , , , , , - , align = "center" rowspan = "1" , 2012 , , 17th Forqué Awards , , colspan = "2" , Best Film , , , ,

References

External links

* *
Official blog (Spanish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Last Circus 2010 films 2010 black comedy films 2010 comedy-drama films Circus films Films directed by Álex de la Iglesia Films set in 1973 Spanish Civil War films Spanish black comedy films Spanish films about revenge Films about Francisco Franco Films scored by Roque Baños Films shot at Ciudad de la Luz Films shot in Madrid Golden Osella winners Warner Bros. films Films set in the Community of Madrid Tornasol Films films French black comedy films 2010s Spanish films 2010s Spanish-language films 2010s French films Spanish-language French films Films about clowns