'Murder in the Central Committee' (Vicente Aranda, 1982): A Grotesque and Absurd Ending for Spanish Political Thriller Articles uri icon

publication date

  • January 2017

start page

  • 125

end page

  • 138

international standard serial number (ISSN)

  • 1138-3305

electronic international standard serial number (EISSN)

  • 2340-5007

abstract

  • Murder in the Central Committee (1982) is the second film adaptation of Pepe Carvalho, the famous literary detective created by Manuel Vazquez Montalban (following Tatuaje by Bigas Luna in 1976). The film is a political thriller which was poorly received both by critics and at the box office, and was also partially forsaken by its own director, Vicente Aranda. Nevertheless, the passing of time allows us to revisit the film and evaluate its clearly grotesque and absurd roots, which the text considers to be a symptom of the abundance of thrillers produced during the very specific historic and cultural context of the time.

keywords

  • Pepe Carvalho; Vazquez Montalban; Vicente Aranda; political thriller; grotesque and absurd