Spain
1955
87 minutes
Black and White
1.33:1
Spanish
427
Upper-class geometry professor Juan and his wealthy, married mistress, Maria José, driving back from a late-night rendezvous, accidentally hit a cyclist, and run. The resulting, exquisitely shot tale of guilt, infidelity, and blackmail reveals the wide gap between the rich and the poor in Spain, and surveys the corrupt ethics of a society seduced by decadence. Juan Antonio Bardem’s charged melodrama Death of a Cyclist (Muerte de un ciclista) was a direct attack on 1950s Spanish society under Franco’s rule. Though it was affected by the dictates of censorship, its sting could never be dulled.
| Juan Fernandez Soler | Alberto Closas |
| Maria José de Castro | Lucia Bosé |
| Miguel Castro | Otello Toso |
| Rafael "Rafa" Sandoval | Carlos Casaravilla |
| Director | Juan Antonio Bardem |
| Producer | Manuel J. Goyanes |
| Cinematography | Alfredo Fraile |
| Editing | Margarita Ochoa |
Robert Koehler takes a long “second look” at Death of a Cyclist in the summer 2009 issue of Cineaste, sizing up Juan Antonio Bardem’s 1955 political melodrama in terms of Spain’s national identity and the legacy of neorealism. Check it out on the magazine’s http://www.cineaste...
Juan Antonio Bardem’s Death of a Cyclist (1955), one of the first Spanish films to win the critics’ prize at a major European festival, was crucial in...
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