The Day of the Beast: the film that could no longer be made
A look back at The Day of the Beast 30 years on: masterpiece, progressive satire or self-fulfilling prophecy? The debate over Limpia Madrid, skinheads and satanism.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
The Day of the Beast: masterpiece or self-fulfilling prophecy?
A viewer rewatching it after years rediscovers it as «one of the best Spanish productions ever made». Another watches it every Christmas Eve «inside a satanic circle». Álex de la Iglesia's film, released in 1995, still sparks a debate that goes beyond cinema: was it a pogre satire of Spain at the time, or a film with «fascist humor» that would be impossible to release today?
The sticking point is the «Limpia Madrid» scene, the paramilitary group that cleans the city of misfits. In 1995, several discussion forums called it «pogre fantasy», because there were hardly any beggars or immigrants around. Others, however, remember that in the 90s skinheads roamed schools and streets at will, and that the 1992 murder of Lucrecia Pérez, a Dominican woman, proved racist violence was no invention. Memory, being selective, distorts the past.
Beyond its social portrait, the film plays with the satanic: the director's surname, the Trithemius cabala, the image of the devil as a collective hallucination. Some argue the real message is that the devil is not an entity but a social behavior: «when we do evil, we embody the devil». The controversy continues today: while some see it as «an unrepeatable masterpiece», others dismiss it as «subsidized crap» and cheap satanism.
There is unanimous agreement on whether it could be made today: «Impossible nowadays», say both its defenders and its critics. The uncomfortable question is whether we have ever understood it.
Related discussions in the forum
A viewer rewatching it after years rediscovers it as «one of the best Spanish productions ever made». Another watches it every Christmas Eve «inside a satanic circle». Álex de la Iglesia's film, released in 1995, still sparks a debate that goes beyond cinema: was it a pogre satire of Spain at the time, or a film with «fascist humor» that would be impossible to release today?
The sticking point is the «Limpia Madrid» scene, the paramilitary group that cleans the city of misfits. In 1995, several discussion forums called it «pogre fantasy», because there were hardly any beggars or immigrants around. Others, however, remember that in the 90s skinheads roamed schools and streets at will, and that the 1992 murder of Lucrecia Pérez, a Dominican woman, proved racist violence was no invention. Memory, being selective, distorts the past.
Beyond its social portrait, the film plays with the satanic: the director's surname, the Trithemius cabala, the image of the devil as a collective hallucination. Some argue the real message is that the devil is not an entity but a social behavior: «when we do evil, we embody the devil». The controversy continues today: while some see it as «an unrepeatable masterpiece», others dismiss it as «subsidized crap» and cheap satanism.
There is unanimous agreement on whether it could be made today: «Impossible nowadays», say both its defenders and its critics. The uncomfortable question is whether we have ever understood it.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (39 replies).
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