Title: A Thousand Fools AKA: -- Year: 2011 Original title: Mil cretins | Mil cretinos Runtime: 1 hour, 32 minutes Country: Spain Language: Catalan | Spanish Subtitles: English (.srt) Genre: Drama | Comedy
Director: Ventura Pons
Cast Aleix Albareda ... Albert Toni Albà ... Guillem i Gualter Tell Carol Badillo ... Noia Dafnis Balduz ... David Guillot Roger Batalla ... Josep Roger Berruezo ... Sergi Joan Borràs ... Pare Jordi Bosch ... Ignasi Pere Brasó ... Brunock Ariadna Cabrol ... La noia preciosa Nil Cardoner ... Gualter nen Marc Clotet ... El príncep Mercè Comes ... Mestressa Joan Crosas ... Beneset Aida Flix ... La bella dorment
Plot / Synopsis
Fifteen stories, some contemporary and some historical, based on short works by Quim Monzó and directed by Ventura Pons, where through humour, sarcasm and bravery accounts pain, old age, death and love but above all the human stupidity, without concessions, looking straight in the eyes of the difficult balance between life and human misery.
Dropped forks, high rise plunges, overzealous donators, and a fiercely liberated Virgin Mary are just a few of the subjects covered in director Ventura Pons’ masterfully random, occasionally interlocking collection of fifteen vignettes, delivered at a rapid-fire, pin-wheeling pace. Split into three parts and featuring a gaggle of Spanish stars, the film first delivers a variously blistering and tender take on modern foibles and breaches of etiquette, before moving on to a bawdy reexamination of classic myths and parables, all rendered in a delightfully chintzy silent film fashion. The final section, concerning a screenwriter’s exasperated relationship with his headstrong parents, finishes things off in fine form, with one last caustic sting in the tail. Moving with breathtaking assurance, SIFF favorite Pons (Life on the Edge, Forasters, Drifting) quick draws between savage black comedy and unexpected pathos to deliver an exhilarating and dazzlingly modulated ride. Everyone who sees it will have a different favorite part. ~ siff.net