Crimen Ferpecto, released as The Perfect Crime in the United States,[1] and as The Ferpect Crime in the United Kingdom,[2] is a 2004 Spanish-Italian black comedy film co-written, produced and directed by Álex de la Iglesia. It stars Guillermo Toledo and Mónica Cervera.

Crimen Ferpecto
Directed byÁlex de la Iglesia
Screenplay by
Produced byRoberto di Girolamo
Gustavo Ferrada
Álex de la Iglesia
Starring
CinematographyJosé L. Moreno
Edited byAlejandro Lázaro
Music byRoque Baños
Production
companies
Distributed byWarner Sogefilms (Spain)
Release date
  • 22 October 2004 (2004-10-22) (Spain)
Running time
106 minutes
Countries
  • Spain
  • Italy
LanguageSpanish

Plot

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Rafael is a women's clothing clerk at a large Madrid department store, Yeyo's. His department is filled with beautiful, comely young women whom Rafael routinely seduces. When Rafael vies for a management position with Don Antonio, a men's clothing clerk whom Rafael despises, a fluke causes Don Antonio to win the promotion. He fires Rafael and a fight ensues in which Rafael accidentally kills Don Antonio. Lourdes, an ugly and unassuming clerk at the store, witnesses the outcome of the fight, helps Rafael incinerate the body, and provides an alibi for the police. Rafael wins his coveted promotion, but at a terrible cost: Lourdes blackmails Rafael into an unwanted relationship. He is forced to fire his many former lovers, to marry Lourdes (she proposes on a live reality TV show) and to support clown-like women's clothing of her design. Rafael becomes so depressed he begins to hallucinate, seeing the ghost of Don Antonio who suggests Rafael should kill Lourdes. As the police are also pressing him again, he causes a fire in the department store and fakes his death, in front of his wife and a police officer. Five years later, he (with a false identity) has a small business selling ties and socks, but Lourdes' clown-like clothes are a success and she becomes a millionaire, the film ending with Rafael gobsmacked at a clown fashion parade and Lourdes catwalk, panning out to a huge digital billboard reading "Our Love Is Forever".

Cast

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Production

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A Spain-Italy international co-production, the film was produced by Pánico Films and Sogecine alongside Planet Pictures,[4] with the participation of TVE, Canal+ and EiTB.[3]

Release

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Distributed by Warner Sogefilms,[5][6] the film was theatrically released in Spain on 22 October 2004.[3]

The film had a limited US release in theatres of New York and Los Angeles in August 2005.[7]

Reception

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The film received very positive reviews from critics, 85% of critics gave the film a positive review based on 53 reviews and an average score of 7.1/10 according to Rotten Tomatoes.

Accolades

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Year Award Category Nominee(s) Result Ref.
2005 19th Goya Awards Best Actor Guillermo Toledo Nominated [8]
Best Supporting Actor Luis Varela Nominated
Best New Actress Mónica Cervera Nominated
Production Supervision Juanma Pagazaurtundua Nominated
Best Sound Charla Schmukler, Jaime Fernández, Sergio Burmann Nominated
Best Special Effects Félix Bergés, Juan Ramón Molina Nominated

See also

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References

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Citations
  1. ^ Gonzalez, Ed (July 30, 2005). "Review: The Perfect Crime". Slant Magazine. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
  2. ^ Churchill, Chris (January 10, 2008). "Álex de la Iglesia's CRIMEN FERPECTO aka THE FERPECT CRIME Receives DVD Release In The UK". Screen Anarchy. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Buse, Triana Toribio & Willis 2007, p. 186.
  4. ^ Silió, Elisa (24 February 2005). "'Crimen ferpecto', de Álex de la Iglesia, se estrenará en EE UU". El País.
  5. ^ "Film #22518: Crimen ferpecto". Lumiere. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  6. ^ Sánchez Noriega, José Luis (2006). "La cultura cinematográfica en la prensa escrita. Un estudio de la información, crítica y publicidad de estrenos en el diario El País". Ámbitos (15): 229.
  7. ^ Widginton, Jason (20 March 2007). "The Perfect Crime (El Crimen Perfecto) (2004) | DVD Review". Ion Cinema.
  8. ^ "Crimen Ferpecto". premiosgoya.com. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
Bibliography
  • Buse, Peter; Triana Toribio, Núria; Willis, Andy (2007). The cinema of Álex de la Iglesia. Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press.
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