Non-stop humor, energy and delight in Alex de la Iglesia's latest fun-fest, MY BIG NIGHT

Is there a more energetic moviemaker than Alex de la Iglesia? I kind of doubt it. Amazingly, the guy just gets more so with age -- at the same time that his films grow alternately richer and stronger (The Last Circus, As Luck Would Have It) and more lunatic fun (Witching and Bitching and now MY BIG NIGHT). His new film begins with an incident similar to the one that sets off As Luck Would Have It, but this time it is used for pure farce rather than an occasion for satire and sadness about the way we live now. (The satire is still here, but the movie is so crazy and funny that you'll barely have time to breath between laughs, shocks, surprise.)

Señor de la Iglesias, shown at left, whisks us immediately into his location -- the taping of one of those ridiculous TV Specials celebrating the New Year -- in which at least a half dozen delicious and very crazy plots immediately begin unfurling, each involving characters who are hosting, presenting or entertaining on-stage, as well as some other characters who are in the "hired" audience, being paid to watch all this.

We get singing, dancing, dating, fighting (that's Hugo Silva and Carolina Bang as married co-hosts, below), an assassination attempt, a blow-job, semen-stealing (via the attractive duo shown at bottom), and some simply terrific musical numbers, along with an utterly sweet budding love story, a mother-and son reunion, possible patricide, and a whole lot more -- all performed by some of Spain's top-notch talent, many of whom have worked with Iglesias before and undoubtedly can't wait to do it again.

To go into the plot(s) would overtax my feeble brain, but the very fact that the filmmaker (who co-wrote this mischievous delight with Jorge Guerricaechevarría) is able to keep all his balls in the air and allow us to follow the crazy plotting without letting the energy flag is a mark of farcical filmmaking skill we've seen far too little of lately.

Alex's knock-out visual sense remains unparalleled, and how he and his cast, editors, production crew and effects people manage it all provides the kind of comedy accomplishment that would win every award in the book -- if only comedy were given its due. Among the wonderful cast, just about everyone stands out. But I have to mention Blanca Suárez's lovely turn (she's at right, above) as a lady whose fellows tend to meet accidental fates, Pepón Nieto as her newest paramour, Mario Casas (the blond, below) as the rock-star-cum-fireman whose semen starts the ball rolling, and the ever-amazing Carlos Areces (prone, on the poster at top) as the neglected son with daddy problems.

I suppose there will be those for whom a film like this is simply not their glass of sangria. But for anyone who wants to laugh, even as s/he is trying to keep up with all the intersecting plot lines, this is the movie to see. Iglesias is firing on all cylinders here, and if there's a funnier, more inventive, energetic and enjoyable piece of cinema this year, then we'll be doubly blessed.

From Breaking Glass Pictures and running 97 minutes, My Big Night opens tomorrow, Friday, April 15, in a dozen cities: at New York City's AMC Empire 25; in Miami at the Tower Theater, Coral Gables Art Cinema, and O-Cinema Miami Beach; in San Francisco at The Roxie; in Philadelphia at The Roxy Theater; in Houston at the Alamo Drafthouse; in Vintage Park, Lubbock, Texas, at the Alamo Drafthouse; in Santa Fe at the Jean Cocteau Cinema; in Los Angeles at Laemmle's Music Hall 3 and Playhouse 7; Hollywood, Florida, at the Cinema Paradiso; in Chicago, (at a theater yet to be determined); in Dallas at the Texas Theater; in San Diego at the Digital Gym; and in Seattle at a theater also yet to be determined.

THE LAST CIRCUS -- Álex de la Iglesia's latest surprise -- opens in New York City

With THE LAST CIRCUS (Balada triste de trompeta), writer/
director Álex de la Iglesia is working at the absolute peak of his powers so far. This is not to say that the guy doesn't have a ways yet to go: As usual, his movie's over the top -- it has to be, given what is going on -- but it is also, as usual, too long. Yet it is so compelling, thought-provoking, riveting and entertaining that you're likely to forgive it its trespasses right on the spot.

When I first saw this film -- at last year's Spanish Cinema Now series via the Film Society of Lincoln Center, I was impressed. Seeing it again last week, it seemed every bit as strong. Maybe stronger. As a metaphor for a put-upon (if not downright masochistic) Spain under Franco, it is disturbingly provocative. From the first scene, in the late 1930s, when soldiers (above) break into a circus as it is performing and insist that the male performers take up immediate arms, we feel "anti-military."  But these are not Franco's troops; they're the army of the Republic: the good guys. Not so fast, de la Iglesia is telling us, and by the time his movie reaches its fevered climax, just about everybody has egg -- not to mention blood -- on his face.

This engaging filmmaker/provocateur (shown at left) -- Day of the Beast, Perdita Durango (aka Dance With the Devil), La Comunidad, Dying of Laughter, The Perfect Crime -- enjoys forcing us to confront some dearly-held notions that's he has turned upside down (here it's our take on the Spanish Civil War) and then played out (and out and out: there's that length problem again) until we cry uncle. His penultimate film, The Oxford Murders (well worth seeing and now streaming via Netflix) seems at first oddball for de la Iglesias because it is so cerebral. But even in its intelligence, it manages to go over the top (and into too-lengthy territory) before hurtling us to the brink of brilliance and insanity.

The Last Circus begins with a scene of enormous shock quotient, done with amazing skill: You'll hardly be able to take a breath for the fast few minutes, so fast and furious do events, bullets and bodies fly. (Machete waving has rarely seemed such fun.) From here, we skip ahead in time and are introduced to three characters who remain with us throughout the film, growing, changing and keeping our mouths agape.

This threesome is played by Carlos Areces (shown above), Antonio de la Torre (at right, center -- from last year's SCN film Gordos and many more of our favorite Spanish movies) and Caroline Bang (below, swinging). I don't think I am giving away the store when I say that you can view them, respec-tively, as the Repub-lican left (passive variety, for awhile), the Fascist right, and Spain herself. That's if you want to do the "symbols" thing, and as The Last Circus is definitely an anti-war movie, go ahead. Yet it is also such an eye-poppingly wonderful piece of visual art and a humdinger of a story, feel free to consider those symbols at a later date.

I could go on (and on -- just like de la Iglesias) about this terrific, visual knock-out of a movie, but as Magnolia Pictures has picked it up for U.S. distribution and is releasing it today, I'll just say: See it. In New York City, it has opened at the Cinema Village. To see other playdates, cities and theaters across the country, simply click here.