Death of a Cyclist - A Criterion DVD Review

Posted by Shawn S. Lealos on 04.27.2008

The Criterion Collection released one of the most important films in Spanish cinema history this week. Is the DVD worthy of the Criterion banner?

Director: Juan Antonio Bardem
Writer: Juan Antonio Bardem and Luis Fernando de Ioga
Cinematographer: Alfredo Fraile
Composer: Isidro B. Maiztegui

Cast:
Lucia Bosé … María José de Castro
Alberto Closas … Juan Fernandez Soler
Otello Toso … Miguel Castro
Carlos Casaravilla … Rafael “Rafa” Sandoval
Bruna Corrà … Matilde Luque
Julia Delgado Caro … Dona Maria



THE FILM

“Spanish cinema is politically ineffective, socially false, intellectually worthless, aesthetically nonexistent, industrially crippled.” – Juan Antonio Bardem

Juan Antonio Bardem was an outspoken filmmaker who made the majority of his films during Franco’s Spanish regime. What this meant was that his films, as with every other Spanish filmmaker of the time, were heavily edited by a politically oppressive censorship board. Originally titled Age of Infidelity, Death of a Cyclist was a film that was meant to be a critical examination of the social classes in present day Spain. It is a film rich in the neorealism style of long takes and long shots as well as deep in the themes and dynamics of the Film Noir movement. It would go on to be one of the first Spanish films to win the critic’s prize at a major European festival, and is regarded as one of the pivotal films to launch modern Spanish cinema.

The film begins with an interesting situation, as a bicyclist rides down the road and over a hill. We then hear a crash and a car speeds to the top of the hill and parks on the side of the road. Although, we did not see it, the car struck the bicyclist. The couple in the car includes upper-class professor Juan and his mistress María. We watch as they walk over and stand over the body of the cyclist, although we never see the victim, the camera focused solely on the couple. María begs Juan to leave the body of the cyclist, who is still alive, so their affair is not discovered. The two are filled with different levels of guilt when they learn the cyclist would die alone on that road, especially when a piano player begins to threaten María with extortion, claiming he saw her with Juan on the road that day.

While the film shows the rich and powerful in Spanish society, it shows them at their worst, their most deceitful and their most arrogant. The hero that comes out of this film is a man, very much like all the others, who is willing to step forward and go against the grain, against society, and against his own class. The egotism of the bourgeoisie is the area where Bardem is most content to attack the wrongs he saw existing in the time of Francoism. The issues approached in the film are based on taking responsibilities for one’s actions and the duty one holds to do what is right, compared to what is convenient. The film is connected to the Spanish Civil War, as Juan fought for the Franco regime and while away lost his lover María, who married a rich man named Miguel. It is no coincidence the accident that killed the cyclist took place at a location where Juan fought in during the Civil War. The death of the innocent working-class man is contrasted figuratively with the deaths of the many people during the war.

The film compares the choices that one makes, whether for righteous causes or for convenient causes, by comparing the way Juan dealt with the guilt to the way María did. There is a subplot involving a student whose grades were affected due to the lack of attention given by the distracted professor, Juan. He mentions to the girl that as he watches all her classmates gather round to support her in a protest, it made him remember what it was like to be young and have the fire to fight for what he believes. Juan becomes a man who believes what is important is to stand up for what is right, renouncing his class privileges and becoming accountable for his actions. María is the polar opposite, a person who will do anything necessary to save herself, and exemplary of Bardem’s idea of what was wrong with Spain during the Franco regime.

Unfortunately, the final image that Bardem wanted for the film – a concept that the rich and privileged prevailed in this society – was forced to be changed and another car accident was added at the end. Bardem was able to appease the censors as well as keep the tone of the story as the final shot you see in the movie is a reversal of the opening scene, and the actions of an anonymous Spanish cyclist who witnesses the accident shows what would have been the right thing to do in the situation. The scene is added to satisfy the Francoist cinema censors, as well as allowing the viewer to celebrate the comeuppance of the one truly unlikable character.

The film is about class divisions, and the separation between the upper class, that lives life by their own rules, and the lower class, that doesn’t even register important enough to save if it means inconveniencing oneself. No one comes out of this movie clean, and regardless of the insights a character might gain, no one has a happy ending. I do find it interesting that it is not the blackmailing Rafa who makes a difference in the story. He is a lower class individual and when he exposes the truth, no one will believe him. It is only when fate catches up to the bourgeois that the world is finally able to straighten itself out.

* interesting trivia - Juan Antonio Bardem is the uncle of Oscar winning actor Javier Bardem, from No Country for Old Men *

THE VIDEO

The movie does not look as good as you would expect from Criterion. The black and white looks nice, the levels done quite well, giving some beautiful shots. However, there is still dust and scratches in the print, something Criterion usually is able to clean up and fix. The job on this release, the 427th in the Criterion library, leaves a bit to be desired. It is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1, which means black bars appears on the sides of wide screen televisions.

THE AUDIO

The sound is decent, presented in Dolby Digital 1.0 and everything is clear and leveled out nicely.

THE PACKAGING

The DVD is in Criterion’s basic single disc case, with the included booklet in the case itself. When I removed the booklet to read, I was pleasantly surprised to find a House of Games postcard tucked inside.

THE EXTRAS

Calle Bardem (2005) (44:01) – The documentary, directed by Alberto Leal, is basically a talking heads interview feature with Bardem’s collaborators and peers, as well as critics and scholars. Both positive and negative critiques are brought out in the feature. It is all in Spanish and some of the subjects are just boring to listen to.

PLUS: A 28 Page Booklet – The first essay is by scholar Marsha Kinder, and is an informative read dissecting the movie and placing it in context with both the work of Bardem and the cinema movement in Franco Spain at the time. The second essay is a reprinting of Bardem’s “call to arms” for Spanish cinema, which is also a very interesting read.

The Film: 9.0/10.0
The Video: 8.0/10.0
The Audio: 10.0/10.0
The Packaging: 10.0/10.0
The Extras: 4.0/10.0

The 411: Death of a Cyclist is a spectacular movie that deserved the best release that Criterion had to offer. Unfortunately, this release was not given the love of other classic films in the Criterion library. The equally spectacular Spanish film Spirit of the Beehive included three video interviews and a great making of documentary. This film deserved at least that level of love, and the transfer itself does not even warrant the Criterion label. The book included is an good read for those interested in critical film study. Despite the less than stellar transfer and the pathetically small amount of extras, I still recommend this DVD, as the movie is worth the buy on its own.

Final Score:  8.2   [ Very Good ]