Viva La Muerte (Fernando Arrabal, 1971 French/Spanish Surrealism) DVD NEW/SEALED

At the end of the Spanish civil war, Fando, a boy of about ten, tries to make sense of war and his father’s arrest. His mother is religious, sympathetic to the Fascists; his father is accused of being a Red. Fando discovers that his mother may have aided in his father’s arrest. Sometimes we witness Fando imagining explanations for what’s going on; sometimes we see him at play, alone or with his friend Thérèse. Oedipal fantasies and a lad’s natural curiosity about sex and death mix with his search for his mother’s nature and his father’s fate.

The film is semi-autobiographical of Fernando Arrabal, a Spanish-born absurdist playwright, novelist, and filmmaker who is also the co-creator (with Roland Topor and Alexandro Jodorowsky) of the famous Panic Movement. The story paints a surreal portrait of the Spanish Civil war criticizing the brutality of Catholicism, with a strong oedipal undertone, enormously violent and erotic scenes accompanied by macabre visuals.

DIRECTOR Fernando Arrabal CAST Anouk Ferjac, Núria Espert, Mahdi Chaouch

CONDITION New/Sealed
COUNTRY OF MANUFACTURE Australia
REGION 0 (please ensure your machine will play the disc)
LABEL Hard Corps
NUMBER OF DISCS 1
RUNNING TIME 90 mins
SPECIAL FEATURES Fernando Arrabal interview, lobbycard gallery, trailer
LANGUAGE(S) French/Spanish
SUBTITLES English
ASPECT RATIO 16×9
RATING R 18+ (please confirm you are 18 years or older)