Poster of the Week- Ensayo de un Crimen

Happy 2006, everyone! Wring out the clothes! Wring in the dew! Let's start fresh, shall we? This week, I offer a startling image advertising Luis Buñuel's pitch-black serial killer comedy Ensayo de un Crimen, or, as it's otherwise known, The Criminal Life of Archibaldo Cruz. The boody straight razor makes the film look like a Grand Guignol spectacular, although it's nothing of the sort. Essentially, it's a film about frustration, as Archibaldo, our protagonist, never satisfies his desire to murder, although his intended victims usually meet their demise by circumstance or a wicked contrivance. Imagine Norman Bates, in cheap mother's wig and gingham, creeping into cabin 1, ripping open the shower curtain not to find a shrieking Marion Crane, but instead to find her dead, her head cracked open against a faucet after she slipped on a thin sliver of motel soap. A dejected Norman (Norma?)stares at his feet and then shleps his way to back to the house. Such is what happens to young Archibaldo, whose murderous rage never finds proper closure (as they say nowadays).
Ensayo de un Crimen is also known as the last film of the Czech-born Mexican actress Miroslava Stern, also known simply as "Miroslava". A great beauty, featured on magazine covers the world over, she led a complicated and dispirited life. Shorty after the film's production finished, Miroslava was found dead in her residence in Mexico City, the cause of death an overdose of barbiturates. Speculation has it that she took an overdose of her sleeping pills when she learned of the marriage of a former lover (a Spanish toreador) to an Italian actress. She was not yet 30. Her valedictory appearance in Ensayo de un Crimen remains her most famous work. Oddly, the most memorable image in the film is the slow melting of Miroslava's wax likeness as Archibaldo, once again thwarted from murdering the real Miroslava, cremates her wax figure (which he stole from a department store window) in its stead. As per her wishes, Miroslava's remains were cremated.
More Buñuel goodness. I have uploaded 94 Buñuel poster images to my Flickr page, and you can see all of them there, if you just can't get enough of advertising Buñuel.
Of course, click on the image on the left for a larger verson. 136K.