Justino (1994) Poster

(1994)

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6/10
Dark comedy filled with grisly murders , dealing with a retired man carries out a killing spree to take holidays in Benidorm
ma-cortes9 November 2016
Justino (Saturnino Garcia) was working as a bull-ring ¨Puntillero¨ (who uses a dagger to kill bulls) but now he is retired . Justino wishes to go Benidorm on holidays -the elderly paradise- along with his best friend named Sansoncito (Carlos Lucas) and he attempts to get the necessary money , at whatever cost , even killing . Finally , Justino is left at a retirement home called ¨Shangrai-La¨ run by a stiff ruler (Alicia Sánchez) where he goes on his killing slaughter .

Outlandish feature debut by two good screenwriters , Luis Gudiri and Santiago Aguilar , nicknamed ¨La Cuadrilla¨ , here they make a black comedy about a psycho-killer who exacts a criminal spree . Passable movie about a ¨Puntillero¨ who only wants to enjoy holidays in the touristic city of Benidorm ; it blends black comedy , drama , urban conventionality , social habits , criticism and ¨Esperpento¨. Made in a very low budget and in black and white and a peculiar plot following the Spanish tradition . It is a piece of absurdity and nonsense , full of comical as well as dramatic situations , family tragedy and strange happenings . Splendid acting by Saturnino Garcia in the title role as a retired senior who finds very difficult to adapt to the new situation although he will find soon a hobby without forgetting his profession . The best parts of this flick ¨Justino, a Senior Citizen Killer¨ result to be the enjoyable descriptions of the Justino's friends with colorful characters such as : the good Sansoncito well played by Carlos Lucas , the sympathetic Renco nicely acted by Francisco Maestre , the ingenuous social assistant interpreted by Marta Fernández Muro and the ambitious neighbour Doña Pura finely performed by the recently deceased Alicia Hermida . Furthermore , an intimate and emotional friendship between Justino/Saturnino Garcia and Sansoncito/Carlos Lucas . Remaining support cast formed by notorious actors who give brief but adequate interpretations , such as : Juanjo Puigcorbe , Enrique Villén , Fernando Vivanco , Félix Rotaeta , Vicky Lagos and Ramón Barea as a weird Police Inspector.

Atmospheric and evocative cinematography in ¨Castizo expressionism¨ by Flavio Martínez Labiano , also producer , considered to be one of the best Spanish cameramen , he photographed successes as "The Day of the Beast" , ¨800 bullets¨ , "Timecrimes" and subsequently working in Hollywood , including box-office movies as ¨Bones¨ , ¨Non-stop¨ , ¨Unknown¨ , ¨The gunman¨ and ¨Shallows¨. Being filmed on location in Madrid and Plaza De Toros , Salamanca, Castilla y León . This offbeat motion picture was decent though strangely directed by Luis Gudiri and Santiago Aguilar in short budget , being financed by crowdfunding and an amount of money delivered by Canal Plus . Shot in 16mm and extended in 35 mm. for its commercial exhibition . In spite of it , and the scabrous theme , ¨Justino¨ had certain success . ¨Justino¨ achieved several Awards , it won Goya Awards 1995 , Goya Best New Actor Saturnino García and Best New Director Santiago Aguilar ; it won Cinema Writers Circle Awards, CEC Award Best New Artist to Santiago Aguilar ; it Won Critics Award Montpellier Mediterranean Film Festival ; it Won Peñíscola Comedy Film Festival to Best Actor Carlos Lucas and Won Best Screenplay Santiago Aguilar , Luis Guridi ; and Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival 1994 Won Best Actor Saturnino García . It belongs to a trilogy directed by ¨La Cuadrilla¨ titled : ¨España Por La Puerta De Atrás¨ formed by ¨Justino , Un Asesino De La Tecer Edad ¨ , ¨Matiás Juez De Línea¨ and ¨Atilano Presidente¨ .
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10/10
__senior citizen killer__
bahoron30 December 2004
Warning: Spoilers
I watched Justino 3 hours ago and I very very enjoyed it. the film is absolutely a dark comedy( the best I ever seen for months) and is about an old man named Justino retired from a bull-ring living with his son and his daughter-in-law.

After retirement he has difficulties to adopt to his new life and he starts to kill ones that he cannot tolerate with his bull-dagger which is a retirement present. this is the fun of movie. he kills his son, daughter-in-law, an old woman in need of help to survive from couples of guttersnipes and so .I laughed a lot every killing scene because perhaps he is the nicest and the most cold-blooded killer ever seen. the most charming part of the movie is the final. Nearly in every film we see the killer is punished or killed but in Justino we do not see that. Despite his killings, he achieves to survive ridiculously at the end of the movie and ,to me,this is really the happy-ending.
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