Death of a Cyclist

One of the key films in the establishment of a neorealist tradition in 1950s Spanish cinema, this atmospheric thriller boldly attempted social criticism at a time of severe censorship. It was unsurprising that the Franco regime should insist that university professor Alberto Closas and his mistress Lucia Bosé should pay the ultimate penalty for the hit-and-run death of a worker. But Juan Antonio Bardem still manages to paint an unflattering portrait of the Madrid bourgeoisie, with its self-indulgence, hypocrisy and shameless ambition contrasting unfavourably with the dignity of the poor and the anger of the young. Hardly sophisticated, but historically significant.