New Release: The Last Circus DVD and Blu-ray

Release Date: Oct. 18, 2011
Price: DVD $26.98, Blu-ray $29.98
Studio: Magnolia


The Last Circus movie scene

Carlos Areces takes the concept of clowning around to shocking new heights in The Last Circus.

The bizarre comedy-drama The Last Circus, by Spanish cult filmmaker Álex de la Iglesia (Dance With the Devil), takes subjects that are usually regarded as happy and warm — circuses and clowns — and makes them fodder for a genuinely strange and violent cinematic tale.

The story kicks off in 1930s Spain, where a “Happy” circus clown is interrupted during a performance and forcibly recruited to serve in the Spanish Civil War. On the battlefield, he massacres an entire platoon with a machete while still in costume.

More than 40 years later, in 1973, the clown’s son, Javier (Carlos Areces), follows in his father’s footsteps to become a clown, but he is too miserable to be funny and is instead relegated to play the part of the “Sad” clown. There he is repeatedly humiliated by Happy clown Sergio (Antonio de la Torre) for the entertainment of others. Things change when  Javier later falls in love with Sergio’s gorgeous acrobat wife, Natalia (Carolina Bang), prompting a love triangle and a horrific battle between the two costumed circus employees….

Following a year of playing film festivals around the world — highlighted by Álex de la Iglesia winning the Silver Lion award for Best Director at the Venice Film Festival — The  Last Circus enjoyed a limited run in theaters in the U.S. in August, 2011.

Though it sounds reminiscent of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s Santa Sangre, The Last Circus is definitely a film that stands up on its own merits.

On the DVD and Blu-ray, the R-rated film is presented in Spanish with English subtitles.

Check out the movie’s trailer and tell us it doesn’t look nuts!

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About Laurence

Founder and editor Laurence Lerman saw Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest when he was 13 years old and that’s all it took. He has been writing about film and video for more than a quarter of a century for magazines, anthologies, websites and most recently, Video Business magazine, where he served as the Reviews Editor for 15 years.