''The Executioner'' ( es, El Verdugo) is a 1963 Spanish black comedy film directed by

Luis García Berlanga Luis García-Berlanga Martí (12 June 1921 – 13 November 2010) was a Spain , Spanish film director and screenwriter. Acclaimed as a pioneer of modern Spanish cinema, his films are marked by social satire and acerbic critiques of Spanish culture ...

. It was filmed in black and white, and is widely considered a classic of Spanish cinema. The film won several awards, both in Spain and internationally.

Plot

Amadeo, an executioner in Madrid, meets José Luis, a funeral parlour employee who is going to pick up the prisoner that Amadeo has just executed. José Luis cannot find a girlfriend, since all girls leave him when they find out that he works in a funeral parlour. Amadeo's daughter, Carmen, cannot find a boyfriend, because all the candidates leave when they find out that her father is an executioner. Carmen and José Luis get to know each other and start a relationship that they declare to Amadeo when Carmen becomes pregnant. Amadeo hopes that the government will give him a flat (given that he is a civil servant), but they refuse it because by the time they give it to him, he will be retired. He and his daughter trick José Luis into accepting the role of executioner to keep the housing, assuring him that he won't have to kill anybody. When an order arrives for an execution in Mallorca, José Luis is horrified and wants to resign, but this would mean losing the flat and returning the salary he has earned. Amadeo and Carmen tell him to wait until the final moment, since the prisoner is ill and will surely die before being executed. In the end, José Luis is dragged to the execution in despair, as if he were the convict instead of the executioner.

Cast

Nino Manfredi Saturnino "Nino" Manfredi (22 March 1921 – 4 June 2004) was an Italian actor, voice actor, director, screenwriter, playwright, comedian, singer, author, radio personality and television presenter. He was one of the most prominent Italian a ...

as José Luis Rodríguez, the undertaker *

Emma Penella Manuela Ruiz Penella (2 March 1931 – 27 August 2007), better known as Emma Penella, was a Spanish film and television actress. Biography Manuela Ruiz Penella was born on 2 March 1931 in Madrid, the child of far-right politician Ramón ...

as Carmen, the daughter of Amadeo *

José Isbert José Enrique Benito y Emeterio Ysbert Alvarruiz (3 March 1886 in Madrid – 28 November 1966 in Madrid), also known as José Isbert and/or Pepe Isbert, was a Spanish actor. Biography Early life In 1903 he worked at the Court of Accounts (Trib ...

as Amadeo, the executioner (as Jose Isbert) *

José Luis López Vázquez José Luis López Vázquez de la Torre MML (11 March 1922, in Madrid – 2 November 2009, in Madrid) was a Spanish actor. Career José Luis López Vázquez was born in Madrid, Spain, on 11 March 1922. He originally worked in theater as a costume ...

as Antonio Rodríguez, the older brother of José Luis * Ángel Álvarez as Álvarez, an undertaker, Rodríguez's colleague (as Angel Alvarez) * Guido Alberti as director of the prison *

Julia Caba Alba Julia Caba Alba (31 July 1902 – 14 November 1988) was a Spanish actress who appeared in more than a hundred films and television series during her career. She was a noted character actress.Mira p.83 Her sister was the actress Irene Caba Alba. ...

as Mujer visitante de la obra nº 2 *

María Luisa Ponte María Luisa Ponte Mancini (21 June 1918 – 2 May 1996) was a Spanish actress. She appeared in more than 130 films and television shows between 1952 and 1995. She appeared in the 1977 film ''Black Litter'', which was entered into the 27th ...

as Estefanía (as Maria Luisa Ponte) *

María Isbert María Vicenta Ysbert Soriano (21 April 1917 – 25 April 2011) better known as María Isbert was a Spanish actress whose credits included more than 250 Spanish films during her career. Isbert worked with most major Spanish film actors and direc ...

as Ignacia (as Maria Isbert) *

Erasmo Pascual Erasmo is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Claudio Erasmo Vargas (born 1974), Mexican race walker *Erasmo Carlos (born 1941), Brazilian singer and songwriter *Erasmo Catarino (born 1977), Mexican singer, winner on the TV show ' ...

* Xan das Bolas as Guarda de la obra *

José Orjas José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

(as Jose Orjas) *

José María Prada José María Prada Oterino (31 March 1925 – 13 August 1978) was a Spanish film and television actor. He appeared in more than 80 films and television shows between 1954 and 1978. Partial filmography * ''Comedians'' (1954) - Decorador * ...

(as Jose Maria Prada) * Félix Fernández as Monaguillo nº 2 (as Felix Fernandez) * Antonio Ferrandis

Real events

The final scene is inspired by the execution of Pilar Prades Expósito, carried out by the executioner Antonio López Sierra. Curiously, years after, José Monero also accepted the role of executioner, convinced that he wouldn't have to act, and wanted to resign when he was required for the execution of Heinz Ches, which he eventually carried out.

Awards

Director

won the FIPRESCI Prize at the Venice Film Festival for the film. At that moment, Francoist Spain was under international pressure because of the death sentence for the Communist leader

Julián Grimau Julián Grimau García (18 February 1911 – 20 April 1963) was a Spanish politician, member of the Communist Party of Spain, executed during Francisco Franco's Francoist State. Political activities Initially active in the Federal Republican ...

. The Spanish ambassador to Italy, Sánchez Vega, criticized the film as " communist."

Box office and reception

The film took an estimated gross of ESP 4,107,300 in Spain and there were some 32,907 viewers in cinemas across the country.

External links

*
''The Executioner: By the Neck''
an essay by David Cairns at the

Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinep ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Executioner, The 1963 films Films shot in Mallorca Films set in the Balearic Islands 1960s Spanish-language films Spanish black comedy films Italian black-and-white films Spanish black-and-white films 1963 comedy-drama films Films directed by Luis García Berlanga Films about capital punishment Films produced by Nazario Belmar Films with screenplays by Rafael Azcona