THE LAST CIRCUS (Alex de la Iglesia). 105 minutes. Subtitled. Opens Friday (September 30) at the Royal. See listing. Rating: NN
For a movie that’s about two clowns, The Last Circus is disappointingly low on laughs. Or thrills. Or much of anything, really. The latest from Spanish director Alex de la Iglesia (The Day Of The Beast, Ferpect Crime) tracks the rivalry of two circus clowns as they try to destroy one another in Franco’s Spain circa 1973.
Javier (Carlos Areces) is a sad clown, a perpetual sidekick who carries the psychic scars of his father’s incarceration and eventual execution by one of Franco’s lieutenants decades earlier. Newly arrived at a travelling circus, he’s introduced to his new boss, star clown Sergio (Antonio de la Torre), and quickly falls for Sergio’s girl, Natalia (Carolina Bang). Naturally, Sergio does not approve of their attraction, which leads to his assaulting Natalia and beating Javier half to death with one of those oversized mallets you use to ring a bell.
Sounds darkly funny, yes? As usual, de la Iglesia pumps up every beat for maximum impact, but this time the heightened reality gets away from him. The Last Circus goes over the top so quickly that its amped-up insanity becomes exhausting the characters are grotesques well before they turn into comic-book freaks. And the attempt to integrate real-life politics, complete with a cameo by the Generalissimo himself, doesn’t work at all.
