Long Live Death

During the Spanish Civil War young boy named Fando is forced to watch as Garcia Lorca is executed by a taunting Fascist firing squad.He keeps asking his mother what happened to his father,and eventually learns that his mother betrayed him to the Franco government because of his unspoken leftist ideas.Fando imagines bizarre scenarios where his father is tortured and mutilated.Many of his visions present his mother as a monster who gouges out his father's eyes,or makes love to his captors in front of him,in addition to other gruesome and scatological horrors.Fando also shows signs of sexual interest in his libidinous aunt Clara and a neighbor girl,Thérèse,as he lives a miserable existence acting out the cruelty of his mother with small cruelties of his own.Fernando Arrabal is a well-known Spanish surrealist and "Viva la Muerte" is his first and most famous piece of work.The film has its share of shocking and unpleasant moments-the defecation scene and the bull slaughter moment especially come to my mind.Many of the hallucinatory scenes of violence,that include the father's head being stomped on by horses,a priest's genitals being cut off,and imagined sexual liaisons involving Fando's mother,were filmed on videotape,distorted via the use of colour filters and transferred to film.So if you liked this one I'd also recommend "Sweet Movie" and "The Cremator".7 out of 10.

After seeing this film my reaction was - who is this guy and what other films has he made? When I was told it was his first, I could hardly believe it. (I saw it when it first opened in 1970.) He was a writer in his 40's and the maturity shows.

It's surprising that this has not become a mainstay of the Art House cinemas. The use of allegory, childhood memories, repressed sexual desires, dream-like sequences (all those thing which evoke a visceral reaction in the viewer) are combined in a well directed, thought provoking, cinematic experience.

VIVA LA MUERTE does have amazing visuals and the idea of combining video with film was brilliant and ahead of its time. BUT the main problem of with VIVA LA MUERTE is that it's extremely repetitive. The film feels like it's made of 10 minute long short films that use the same direction, the same editing, the same pacing. With the film's running time at 90 minutes, it was like watching nine 10 minute long short films strung together, that all looked the same. So after the fourth or fifth 10 minute moments, I was slowly drifting away from the film, uninterested to whatever was happening on screen. It is an art film and should be viewed differently than your average movie but I thought the whole thing simply didn't gel together and the symbolism was heavy handed.

Whether you like them or not, the images are haunting. I saw this film 31 years ago and still remember some sequences vividly. You might argue that the anarcho-surrealism is intellectualised, a pose. But you cannot deny that it is effective. The message gets across, even if a sledgehammer approach is required. But it also is very poetic: the poetry of cruelty. I suppose this kind of establishment bashing was considered very chic in those days. Now it looks dated, unfortunately. But at the time, it shook me profoundly.

Fernando Arrabal is an author of books and plays. He was part of the panic movement of theater, which also included Alejandro Jodorowsky and Roland Topor. In fact, in the beginning of "Viva La Muerte" we see some morbidly surreal drawings by Topor. The film is semi-autobiographical and takes place during the Franco era in Spain during World War II. Fando witnesses his father seized by soldiers. Fando thinks that his father is dead. Later he finds out his father is still alive and that his mother turned him in to authorities for suspicion of communist activities. The film shows how war affects children. Fando has many grotesque, sadistic, surreal daydreams about his father being tortured by the fascist army. The daydream sequences are done in bright neon filters, with strange music and sound effects, even a children's song. The film makes a strong anti-war statement, and is filled with satirical and blasphemous imagery. Some of the images are extreme, including a real cow slaughter and Fando's mom torturing his dad. She even takes a dump on his head. The extended torture sequences may remind some of what the U.S has been doing to Iraqi prisoners. Although the film is brutal at times, it still is beautiful in its subversive poetry. "Viva la Muerte" is a masterpiece of surrealism and makes an important statement about the evils of war.