304

More like "El Cocker Spaniel arms"

#323

A timeless classic that doesn't get the recognition it should. I am Spanish, so I am quite familiar with the recent history of the country and must say it is maybe one of the most important films ever made. One of the things I see ignored many times about "The Executioner" is that its message goes far beyond the critique of the death penalty. Yes, it is a strong declaration against this -in my opinion, horrid- judicial process, but also against the hipocrisy of a repressed and dormant society.

277

A very good dark comedy about a gravedigger who falls in love with an executioner's daughter. At times it gets a little repetitive but some sharp wit and criticism makes it worthwhile.

If Gogol lived in Franco's Spain . . . a dark comedy involving bureaucracy, real estate fraud, and the people that are stuck doing the dirty jobs. There are some amazingly staged scenes and emotional gut punches. José Isbert is retiring from his exectioner job, but needs his reluctant son-in-law to claim his mantle to score a sweet government apartment. When the old man compares the Spanish garrote to the barbaric American electric chair, there's some serious professional pride on display.

It concerns an undertaker who marries the executioner's daughter and then gets reluctantly roped into becoming an executioner himself. Reading comments by others, it seems that it's supposed to be a sharp critique of the death penalty. As an American viewer in 2009 I didn't get that from it, but in hindsight I can see it. It doesn't really change my opinion of the film either way. I thought it was very entertaining and the characters were quite funny, especially José Isbert as the elder hangman.

Certainly very good, and the main actor is extremely convincing as the unwilling executioner. I think if I had read an essay about this film before seeing it, I'd have gotten more out of it. I'm sure it was chock full of metaphor.

# 358