"Muerte de un ciclista" is a masterpiece of realism with a strong black style. It is a critical work that sharply reflects the hypocritical, arrogant and extravagant moral concept of the Spanish upper class in the 1950s. A masterpiece of implicit criticism of fallen humanity.
The film focuses on the incident of a cyclist being hit and killed, showing the general life of Spanish society in the 1950s, especially the so-called upper class, which is empty and hypocritical. The director tells a moral story with a clear stand and a critical point of view, which is both observable and realistic. Among them, the description of the psychological changes of the hero Juan in the whole incident is quite skillful. While enjoying the fun of cheating, he has to face the censure of his conscience, and he has to bear various pressures in the process of seeking self-redemption. The helplessness and fate in the predicament appear simple and meaningful under the black-and-white images and the lens with strong contrast and profound meaning. The heroine of the film, Maria, has a suffocating and delicate face, but beneath this delicacy hides emptiness and a disgusting pursuit of materialism. That greed wiped out true love that should have been pure. Perhaps his affection for Juan is not so much love as it is an emotional consolation that fills the void, tinged with falsehood, pretense and contrived. The director gave the whole film a strong noir style from the very beginning. Although Juan makes the film a little brighter in a self-salvaging way, the director quickly drowns the light in the despair of humanity in a ruthless way. Perhaps the death and hesitation at the end did not seem inevitable, and the silky light spots in the layers of fog can give us hope and warmth
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The different attitudes of the hero and heroine in "Muerte de un ciclista" on the incident of the cyclist being killed represent the psychology of more people behind them. The film's discussion of moral issues makes the dialogue seem abstract, and the painful silence of the protagonist is torture for the audience. The end of the film has a deep meaning and is very ironic
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