Runtime: 119 minutes
Directed by: Jose Luis Garci
Starring: Alfredo Landa, Maria Casanova, Manuel Tejada, Miguel Rellan, Manuel Lorenzo
From: Several different Spanish companies
Giggle-worthy title aside, this is worth tracking down if you like the neo-noirs of the 70’s. The distinct difference is that this is a product of Spain; however, there’s a dedication to Dashiel Hammett in the opening. That tone is reached as the viewer follows the policeman turned private eye lead, German Areta, masterfully portrayed by Alfredo Landa. The opening is tactfully done: a small cafĂ© is robbed by a pair of hoodlums; German is present, eating dinner. He does nothing until he’s provoked—after that, he demonstrates how badass he is. Lest you think Areta’s a one-note character, German serves as a surrogate dad to the young daughter of the mom he’s seeing.
The case itself: the father of a young woman is terminally ill, but she went missing several years ago. Is it really a spoiler to suggest in this genre that the simplistic nature of the case upon first appearances belies how complex it was in actuality? German has several pals he associates with, including an underling who stereotypically is known as… The Arab. Yeah, a few moments were of their time but it wasn’t anything offensive at all to my tastes.
The key note I’ll pass along to anyone interested in tracking this down (how I saw this will be explained at the end): be patient with the movie and its measured, assured pace. Some may find the first half slow; personally, the deliberate pace proved to be quite rewarding in the second half as the build-up crescendos to a satisfying release. This includes a little more than 10 minutes where the action moves from Madrid to one of the most famous cities in the world.
Those that enjoy neo-noirs from the 70’s stand a decent chance of finding this journey rewarding. I first heard of this via the Rupert Pupkin Speaks blog from years ago; tracking down a copy w/ English subtitles (or even dubbed) was impossible--until a copy appeared on archive.org. It is DVD-quality but that was sufficient for the circumstances. There was a 1983 sequel which is even more difficult to track down but if there’s ever the chance…
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