Blog del Instituto Cervantes Nueva York

Referencing the movie The Executioner by Luis García Berlanga, and the documentary Dearest Executioners by Basilio Martín Patino – banned by the Spanish  Francoregime for years -, the  Instituto  Cervantes  of New  York  intends to  delve into the psychology of «executing sentences», an euphemism that, ironically, documentary-maker Patino uses in his film.  In both movies, it becomes clear that  reality  mimics  fiction,  and reveals  the  miserable  environment  that surrounds the figure of the executioner, who continues to be another victim of the system. Both films are a sour look at Franco’s Spain, where the death penalty remained in force until 1974. That year, the regime executed his last sentenced-to-death- prisoner: Salvador Puig Antich.  The panel seeks to establish a parallel between the Spanish and American executioner (the latter still present), while raising some questions about the U.S. justice system.