Director: Juan Antonio Bardem
Country: Spain
Award: none
Movement: New Spanish Cinema
Death of a Cyclist is a 1955 social realist Spanish drama film directed by Juan Antonio Bardem and starring Italian actress Lucia Bosè, who was dubbed into Spanish by Elsa Fábregas. It won the FIPRESCI Award at the 1955 Cannes Film Festival. The Death of a Cyclist begins with the return of Juan Fernandez Soler (Alberto Closas), a university professor, and María Jose (Lucia Bosè), a wealthy married woman, from an adulterous endeavor. While speeding down the road, María Jose and Juan hit a cyclist with their car. Although the cyclist was alive when they left him, his reported death causes both María Jose and Juan great anxiety in their personal lives. For María Jose, the exposure of this crime (and thus the affair) would mean the potential loss of her world as a wealthy socialite. However, the cyclist's death causes Juan to instead reflect on his own life choices, including his life as a former falange soldier, and the hypocrisy of his world as a member of the upper class. The suspense of these anxieties is exacerbated by the meddling Rafa (Carlos Casaravilla), who is a lowly art critic that has spent the past few months observing the socialites that he has been surrounding himself with. His intentions to "purify" the upper class are revealed through his plan to expose María Jose and Juan. Juan and María Jose's differing responses to the cyclist's death are significant in the film's commentary surrounding the upper class. By the end of the film, Juan is ready to turn himself and María Jose into the police. However, María Jose would do anything to protect the world she is comfortable in. Thus, María Jose runs Juan over in an attempt to return to her life as it was before, presumably murdering him. The action of running over Juan represents the upper class's obsession with staying in power. Yet, while returning to her husband after committing this crime, she is run off of a bridge by a cyclist and falls to her death. The last shot of the film sees the cyclist riding away, intentions unknown.
Log in to comment.