The Last Circus is Something That Must Be Seen to Be Believed
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The Last Circus is a rare breed of movie; On one level I know what it is about, on another the imagery is so bizarre it’s impossible to understand.
Written by James “Crypticpsych” Lasome
June 9, 2011
Movie Trailer
Image Gallery
Release: December 17, 2010 (Spain), August 12, 2011 (USA)
Written and Directed by: Álex de la Iglesia
Starring:
Carlos Areces as Javier
Antonio de la Torre as Sergio
Carolina Bang as Natalia
Santiago Segura as Padre-Payaso tonto
In Spain, 1937, young Javier was forced to watch as his father, a popular “happy clown” (Santiago Segura) was forcibly recruited into a militia mid-performance to fight against National soldiers during the Spanish Civil War. The action was so sudden that he is not even allowed to remove his costume or facepaint, being told (after having been given a machete as a weapon) “A clown with a machete? You’ll scare the shit out of them”. The battle seems to pull a new side out of the older man as he slaughters a slew of the enemy before being captured and put to work as a prisoner. In one of the last times he saw his son he found out he wanted to be a happy clown like his father and his father before him. In response he says he’s seen too much suffering to be “happy” and is doomed to be a “sad clown” unless he changes his fate through vengeance.
Fast forward to 1973 and Javier (Carlos Areces) has fulfilled his
father’s “sad clown” prophecy and is about to start work at a popular
circus as the straight man counterpart to the abusive and violent
“happy clown”, Sergio (Antonio de la Torre). While their act is a hit,
Javier finds himself 
on the wrong end of Sergio’s temper after he
doesn’t laugh at one of his jokes and becomes too close to his
seductive wife Natalia (Carolina Bang). Natalia appears interested in
Javier and the stability he provides but cannot escape her desire for
Sergio’s animalistic side and wild sexual desires. After Sergio
viciously assaults Javier in a jealous rage Javier attempts to exact
vengeance on Sergio and free Natalia from him, setting in motion his
own chaotic descent into madness in pursuit of love, revenge, and
happiness.
In case it wasn’t obvious, Spain’s The Last Circus (aka Balada
Triste de Trompeta or “A Sad Trumpet Ballad”), is not a horror
film. Much like Taxidermia, it’s an art film for horror fans.
The primary selling point for people of darker sensibilities is that The
Last Circus
is surprisingly violent and bloody, segueing the horrors of war into
the horrors of a love triangle and the descent into madness it can
bring. As if that weren’t enough, it then wraps the two together with a
general absurd tone and one of the stranger circuses I’ve ever seen.
The plot synopsis I just gave is the barest minimum of what actually
happens, but it is 
near-impossible to fully convey the artistry and
weirdness of this film in the written word. The film’s greatest flaw,
in fact, is that it seems to be trying to say SO MUCH that parts of the
message are lost. It’s true that a viewer can understand what’s
happening, but the why and how of it, at times, are a completely
different story.
The Last Circus’s strengths are the story and acting. The story itself reminds me of a typical “love triangle” movie viewed through a kaleidoscope and funhouse mirrors. Sure, we have the person who is “best” for the woman involved and the person “worst”, but this film differs from the archetype by first having the very real idea of a woman who is attracted to the abuse she experiences and combining it with two men so complex that the ideas of “good/best” and “bad/worst” blur completely. This, coupled with a liberal dose of black humor, makes the overall experience deeply unique.
The Last Circus’s complexity and absurdity will make or
break it in many viewers’ eyes. I must admit that I don’t fully
understand all the symbolism presented in The Last Circus.
For example, at one point a
clown outfit is fashioned out of religious
garments. While it’s a great scene that even incorporates some truly
violent self-mutilation, I also found myself wondering “is there an
underlying religious statement here? If so, what is it?”
Writer/Director Alex de la Iglesia (who also did The
Oxford Murders)
wrote a statement about “why” he made the film and I can barely
understand THAT; not surprising there could be trouble understanding
the film as a whole.
In the end, The Last Circus is well-told and acted enough to be engaging and entertaining. If you’re tired of the cookie-cutter and willing to take a walk on the whacked-out side, you will get some enjoyment out of this weird tale.
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