"Death of a Cyclist" starts with Juan(Alberto Closas) and Maria Jose(Lucia Bose) hitting a cyclist with a car Maria Jose was driving. Juan notices that he is still alive and wants to help but she persuades him to leave. She is married to a wealthy businessman, Miguel(Otello Toso), while Juan is the black sheep of his
family, accomplishing nothing on his own, and only gaining his assistant professor position through the patronage of his brother-in-law. In class one day, he reads in the newspaper that the cyclist has died, interrupting a student's presentation. To make matters worse, a member of their social circle, Rafa(Carlos Casaravilla), has been insinuating to Maria Jose that he knows what happened... "Death of a Cyclist" is a compelling drama that explodes out from a simple idea. The movie is well directed and edited, but loses some of its momentum in the second half by laying on its central theme of selfishness a little too thick. But the movie takes the theme of selfishness and uses it as a veiled criticism of the Franco regime which ruled Spain at the time. Remember, that the best govenment serves the people, the worst only concerned with its own interests.
November 30, 2011
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