Review of The Bar

The Bar (2017)
7/10
Devilishly entertaining and twisted thriller/drama/comedy in which a group of strangers become involved into incredible incidents
27 April 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Black comedy , amusing situations , and rare roles by offbeat filmmaker Alex De La Iglesia . Roaring and bustling film by the king of black comedy , Alex De La Iglesia . Outrageous movie with odd characters , surreal imagery and twisted plot . Alex De la Iglesia is an excellent and outlandish Spanish director , he had much success as "Accion Mutante" , " El Dia De la Bestia" , "Perlita Durango" , ¨Crimen Ferpecto¨ , ¨La Comunidad¨ and several others . De la Iglesia is back with a tragic action/comedy/drama about a group of strangers are trapped inside a bar . They are the followings : a beautiful young woman called Elena (Blanca Suárez) , a 30-ish publicist agent and bearded hipster called Nacho , (Mario Casas) , a middle-aged man who wears a strange briefcase called Andrés (Joaquín Climent) , the old woman and bar owner named Amparo (Terele Pávez) , the barman (Secun De La Rosa) and a religious fanatic beggar , Israel (Jaime Ordóñez) . Later on , an ill man shows up in the bar , he has a weird and rapacious virus and , then , things go wrong . After that , the hate between them grows as fast , and as much , as their strong facing off and there takes place murders . The peculiar members of this freak group are now forced to face the wrath themselves . It all ends with a breathtaking and operatic duel in the bar , basement , and sewers . Black humor gives way to suspense , closely followed by embarrassing events that doesn't take long in coming to a head in undisguised pandemonium happened in the sewers . Here Alex deals with a homage to dark humor and a typical Spanish story in which there are comedy , tongue-in-cheek , killings , noisy action , drama and results to be pretty entertaining . It's an exaggerated thriller/drama/comedy giving the perfect tone through the entire film , you can either follow it or just wander about the ridiculousness of every single minute . Some may regard this kind of dramatic comedy dull or dumb , but the truth is its the most simple , minimalist , rawest, and pretentious comedy you will ever watch .

This is a full-on surreal Psychotronic black-comedy that blends thrills , suspense , tension as well as an intriguing script full of dark humor , drama and exciting situations . Packed with scenes of absurd nature , this story is a fantastic farce , as we follow the ridiculous situations of a varied group of quirky characters whose destination is dictated for their survival . The narration is so filled with colorful characters with a very peculiar community of selfish individuals , nutty comedy , crazy violence mixed with humor or with surreal elements and an underlying sense of tragicomedy , and it is so excessive and plenty of surprises , one can't help but keep watching , much as it is over the top in many an occasion . The film works on various levels , including good acting , and it is constantly reconfigured , however contains some embarrassing , contriving moments and also certain excess . Alex De La Iglesia has created a picture here that in all honesty is very difficult to categorise in terms of genre , as there's a little bit of action , quite a lot of comedy , a good deal of suspense and a host of extreme gruesomeness ; but it does not fit into any one genre very well at all , in truth this is one of the things that makes it nice . De La Iglesia reigns in his style this time around and delivers a utterly watchable takedown of ambition , obsession and egoism that certainly delivers a few madly inspired moments . ¨El Bar¨ captures the essence of the best Álex De La Iglesia, a film maker who, at this point in his own story , is respected and admired worldwide and has the most committed fans in the film universe . Acting personnel all do excellent work in bizarre roles . Excellent actors , but special notice needs to be made for Jaime Ordóñez as an unscrupulous waif ; furthermore , Terele Pavez also being quite ridiculously role throughout . Interesting screenplay Alex De La Iglesia and Javier Guerricaechevarria who usually work united . Atmospheric as well as glamorous cinematography by Angel Amorós with a good camera work . Suspenseful and thrilling musical score by Carlos Riera and Joan Valent , the soundtrack flows great with the film in every way , and creates fantastic atmospheres in every moment.

The motion picture was well directed by De La Iglesia . He's a cool director has got much success as ¨Accion Mutante¨ ,¨Dying of laughter¨ or ¨Muertos De Risa¨ , ¨Baby's room¨ , ¨Oxford murders¨ , ¨Balada Triste De Una Trompeta¨ and ¨Perdita Durango¨ is probably the weirdest Javier Bardem film ever made . Alex won several Goya prizes (Spanish Oscars), and a turning point in his meteoric career ; from then on he became his own producer , beginning with '800 bullets' (2002) through the Pánico Films company . He also made the successful 'La Comunidad' (2000) ; however his movies have not yet reached box office in USA , but he has strong followers , as his films have a kind of comic edge to them . Nonsense , ridicule , laughs , absurdity , disturbing scenes .. and many other issues ; you can find everything in this flick . 'El Bar' obtained the unanimous praise of both the critics and the public and results to be a lot of fun , especially for those who enjoy surrealist humor . This is without a doubt a thrilling and enjoyable movie to be enjoyed for dark humor buffs and Alex De Iglesia fans.
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