The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz

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The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz

1955

1h 31m

Comedy

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Popcornmeter

92%

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12 Reviews

93%

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1,000+ Ratings

The wealthy Archibaldo (Ernesto Alonso) is a potential serial killer. This might be the result of a childhood incident: his governess (Leonor Llausás) caught him trying on some of his mother's clothes and scolded him. He wished the governess dead, and she was immediately killed by a stray bullet from a revolution raging outside the window. Conflating violent death with sexual desire, the adult Archibaldo plots to murder numerous women, but his elaborate schemes are constantly thwarted.

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Basil Wright

Sight & Sound

03/18/2020

This is what makes Archibaldo so fascinating. It expresses one simple story idea. It goes straight ahead, sequence by sequence, and it never loiters or takes a wrong turning.

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Richard Brody

The New Yorker

06/30/2014

Against a background of revolution and restoration, Catholic mysteries and aristocratic manners, Buuel unfolds, in images akin to Freudian X-rays ...

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Vincent Canby

New York Times

05/09/2005

5/5

Though it's 22 years late in arriving, The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz is the only new movie in town about which I can say that it mustn't be missed.

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Jas Keimig

The Stranger (Seattle, WA)

12/08/2021

The fantasy murder sequences are disconcertingly surreal.

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Fernando F. Croce

CinePassion

12/16/2013

The central work of Buuel's career, a midpoint between the early savagery and the later urbanity

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Ken Hanke

Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

09/10/2008

4/5

Perhaps the lightest and most purely playful film of Buuel's career. It's an oddly charming black comedy dressed up as a kind of thriller.

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S R

@ScottR 04/03/2023

I saw this since it had good reviews and was on HBO's TCM list. This movie was unusual and interesting. It was almost half baked in conception, but it still manages to make you think. Was it as good as a psychological Hitchcock? Not quite, but it was still unique and praiseworthy, despite its inconsistencies.

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12/27/2019

Luis Buñuel dando càtreda de como hacer un buen film.

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05/13/2018

Buñuel celebra, sin restricciones, con humor e inclusive introspección, un relato sumamente profundo y analítico de la represión del verdadero impulso primitivo del humano que anhela el acto criminal, con el carisma y detalle que solo su dirección pueden ofrecer, complementada con un espectacular e interpretativo guion, que convierten este drama criminal en un festín psicológico, superado, únicamente, por la magnífica y deleitante presencia de Ernesto Alonso como el peculiar protagónico.

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04/15/2016

Rasúrese usted con máquina, Señor de la Cruz

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08/19/2015

M-F 8.4 [Luis Buñuel] [Mx]

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11/01/2012

Excelente film de Luis BuÃ±uel!! Humor negro, un thriller, con un final inesperado. Excelente interpretaciÃ³n del Sr. Ernesto Alonso (qepd)

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Luis Buñuel

Director

Ernesto Alonso

Archibaldo de la Cruz

Miroslava

Lavinia

Rita Macedo

Patricia Terrazas

Carlos Martínez Baena

Priest

Leonor Llausás

The Governess

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Synopsis

The wealthy Archibaldo (Ernesto Alonso) is a potential serial killer. This might be the result of a childhood incident: his governess (Leonor Llausás) caught him trying on some of his mother's clothes and scolded him. He wished the governess dead, and she was immediately killed by a stray bullet from a revolution raging outside the window. Conflating violent death with sexual desire, the adult Archibaldo plots to murder numerous women, but his elaborate schemes are constantly thwarted.

Director: Luis Buñuel
Producer: Alfonso Patiño Gómez
Screenwriter: Luis Buñuel, Eduardo Ugarte, Rodolfo Usigli
Distributor: Water Bearer Films, Dan Talbot, New Yorker Films
Production Co: Alianza Cinematográfica Española
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: Spanish
Release Date (Theaters): May 19, 1955, Original
Runtime: 1h 31m
Sound Mix: Mono

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