Death of a Cyclist (Muerte de un ciclista) (1958)
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82% of users liked it
(614 ratings)
An adulterous couple is forced to take responsibility for their actions in this tense drama from Spanish filmmaker Juan Antonio Bardem. Maria Jose (Lucia Bose) is a beautiful woman whose husband Miguel (Otello Toso) is a wealthy and powerful businessman. Juan (Alberto Closas) is a mathematics… More An adulterous couple is forced to take responsibility for their actions in this tense drama from Spanish filmmaker Juan Antonio Bardem. Maria Jose (Lucia Bose) is a beautiful woman whose husband Miguel (Otello Toso) is a wealthy and powerful businessman. Juan (Alberto Closas) is a mathematics instructor at a Spanish college who is distantly related to Miguel, and owes his position to Miguel's influence. Juan was also Maria Jose's boyfriend when they were younger, and now they're carrying on an affair behind Miguel's back. One night, while driving home from an assignation, Juan and Maria Jose accidentally run over a man on a bicycle; the stranger quickly dies, and the lovers speed away rather than deal with the consequences. But over the next few days, Juan's conscience begins to bother him, and finds it hard to bear the knowledge that he took another man's life. Maria Jose is also troubled, but for different reasons; Rafa (Carlos Casaravilla), a devious socialite, infers to Maria Jose that he knows about her secret life, but she's not certain he he's just speaking about her infidelity or her role in the cyclist's death. A major critical success in Spain, Muerte de un Ciclista (aka Death Of A Cyclist) was released in Europe in 1955, the same year director Bardem published a controversial essay on the decline in Spanish cinema under the rule of Franco. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Directed By
- Juan Antonio Bardem
- Written By
- Juan Antonio Bardem & Luis Fernando de Igoa
- Genres
- Art House & International, Drama
- In Theaters
- Aug 18, 1958 Limited
- On DVD
- Apr 22, 2008
- Studio
- Criterion Collection
Critic Reviews
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Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
[Transposes] the ugliness of power relations in a repressive society to the spheres of sex and gossip.
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Sean Axmaker, Turner Classic Movies Online
Imagine a Michelangelo Antonio drama of upper class disaffection by way of a film noir...
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Fernando F. Croce, Slant Magazine
Explicitly designed as a shock to the system, Death of a Cyclist too often settles for academic subversion.
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Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
A mannered guilt trip melodrama made with a great deal of difficulty under the Franco regime.
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Cast
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Lucia Bosé
as Maria Jose
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Alberto Closas
as Juan
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Otello Toso
as Miguel
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Carlos Casaravilla
as Rafa
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Bruna Corrà
as Matilde
- Manuel Alexandre
- Antonio Casas