In 1960s Spain, an unlikely romance brews between an undertaker, Jose (Nino Manfredi), and an executioner’s daughter, Carmen (Emma Penella). Carmen’s father, Amadeo (José Isbert), is near retirement from his morbid profession, but he’s having a difficult time finding a replacement. When Carmen and Jose get married, Amadeo persuades a reluctant Jose to take over his old job. The newly instated executioner vows to never kill, but his pledge is put to the test with an already-scheduled execution.
This masterpiece of black humor, beloved in Spain but too little seen elsewhere, threads a scathing critique of Franco-era values through a macabre farce about an undertaker who marries an executioner’s daughter and reluctantly takes over her father’s job so the family can keep their government-allotted apartment. As caustic today as it was in 1963, this early collaboration between Luis García Berlanga and his longtime screenwriter Rafael Azcona is an unerring depiction of what Berlanga called “the invisible traps that society sets up for us.” A furiously funny personal attack on capital punishment, The Executioner evaded the state censors who sought to suppress it, and today is regarded as one of the greatest Spanish films of all time.
- Director: Luis García Berlanga
- Cast: José Isbert, Nino Manfredi, Emma Penella, José Luis López Vázquez, Ángel Álvarez
- Genre: Comedy | Satire. Black Comedy. Cult movie.
- Duration 90 min.
- Nationality: Spain.
- Language: Spanish.
- Production Companies:Naga Films, Zebra Films.
