LA CHISPA DE LA VIDA

A successful ad man is made redundant, but is soon fed up with being unemployed. In a desperate state, he decides to surprise his wife by taking her to the same hotel where they spent their honeymoon. But the hotel has been replaced by a museum about to hold its inaugural opening, with a press tour for several journalists. Robert suffers a serious fall. In a few minutes he steals the show and becomes the No. 1 media attraction, and begins to realise how this accident can work in his favour.

Alex de la Iglesia is back in top form with this satirical comedy, and an excellent cast led by Jose Mota and a moving Salma Hayek as a wife trying to preserve her husband’s dignity. An acerbic critique of the media and politicians, neither does the film spare its viewers. The décor of antique theatre rekindles our ancestral fascination with morbid spectacles.

An emblematic Spanish filmmaker, Alex de la Iglesia’s first feature film was Acción mutantein 1992. Since then he has enjoyed international success with films such as The Day of the Beast, La Communidad, The Perfect Crime and The Last Circus.