Alex de la Iglesia’s intentions are very clear at the start of Balada triste de trompeta. He wants to take the audience for a wild ride. The year is 1937, the place: Madrid in the middle of civil war. A clown gets recruited by a communist rebel leader to fight the Francistas. The following scene is one of the most hilarious scenes ever. A clown with blonde corkscrew curls and a beard, armed with a machete butchering Franco’s fascists like John Rambo in his heyday. When the audience is just catching it’s breath after this openings sequence de la Iglesia rattles them with one of the most powerful opening credits ever. Fascist Franco symbolism is intercut with popular icons from 1937 to 1973, the present time of the movie from this point on, cleverly jumping from one point of the narrative to the next spanning more than three decades. The film sustains this visual bravado till the very end on this rollercoaster ride through the violent recent Spanish history.
Balada triste de trompeta is shot in a way reminding the old master Fellini. Multiple absurd characters and chaotic events happen in rapid succession taking place in a mise en scene set up like a choreography. The art direction is flawless and reflects the period, yet pumped up to surrealistic proportions. Think ‘La Strada’ on acid.
The characters are bigger than life. Carlos Areces convinces as the lovesick Sad Clown (son of the ‘warrior clown’ mentioned before), craving for Natalia, the beautiful acrobat of the circus he just joined, trying to save her from a violent relationship with the Happy Clown, Sergio. Antonio de la Torre as the Happy Clown delivers the best acting performance of this film and one of the best I’ve seen all year round. He plays an irresistibly charming bad guy. He’s a misogynist, he’s cruel and mean, but you can’t stop loving him. Natalia is touched by the kindheartedness of Javier, thus arousing intense jealousy in Sergio. Neither man backs down commencing a bloody battle for Natalia in which both clowns turn into grotesque figures of themselves. It all results in fear of Natalia (read: Spain) for both men (read: Francistas and the communist rebels) and leading up to an exhilarating culmination, in which the admiration of the director for Alfred Hitchcock and Fritz Lang is clearly visible.
Beneath all absurdity there is a malicious undercurrent, represented by the fascist colonel belonging to the inner circle of the Generalissimo. A colonel who seeks vengeance against Javier for something he did to him in the past when he was vindicating his father. An undercurrent reflecting the central theme of this black comedy is the, at times literally, explosive atmosphere of the country de la Iglesia grew up in. Balada triste de trompeta is a highly creative, exciting and well crafted cinematic experience of the very complex history of a torn nation threatening to destroy what they love most.
Rating: ****
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