The Last Circus

If you’re anything like me and clowns scared the absolute shit out of you as a kid, Alex de la Iglesia’s The Last Circus will likely do little do redress any residual fear you might have of garish circus folk. 

The action begins in the months following Franco’s attempted coup, where anyone who can hold a weapon is recruited by the desperate Republican army.  In this case the recruits are a Happy Clown and his carnival cohorts, who thankfully prove quite handy with both bladed weapons and firearms.  Following a berserker-type machete raid on some of Franco’s Nationalist forces the Happy Clown is arrested, where before his death he passes on some advice to Javier, the son anxious to follow in his father’s footsteps: You haven’t had a childhood, and you’ll never be able to make children laugh.  Therefore your fate is to be a sad clown. 

Fast forwarding almost 40 years to 1973, we see Javier (Carlos Areces) eking out a living by joining a small troupe.  The star of the show is the Happy Clown (Antonio de la Torre) played by Sergio, a raffish psychopath with a penchant for getting violently drunk and beating his hapless girlfriend senseless.  The girlfriend is question is Natalia (the lovely Carolina Bang, who earned a Goya Award nomination for her role), with whom Javier promptly falls in love.  Thereafter the struggle between the pair of clowns for Natalia’s hand reaches surreal, bloody and downright loony heights, with so much of the unexpected occurring in such rapid-fire succession that mere words alone can’t come close to doing it justice. 

Incorporating elements of pantomime, horror, black comedy and historical revisionism, The Last Circus is a madcap exploration of jealousy and doomed love, a denunciation of fascist rule and a technicolour assault on the senses that constantly keeps you on your toes.  I must say that this is one of the most downright bizarre films I’ve ever watched, and also one of the most unique.  It’s a striking and unforgettable entry into the canon of de la Iglesias, whose previous films include The Oxford Murders and The Day of the Beast, and highly recommended for those who like their films to explode onto the screen, not merely be projected from it. 

Special Features

International Trailer 

Audio & Video

Aspect Ratio:  2.35 anamorphic

Audio:  Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 surround

Subtitles:  English