With Slaughterhouse 5 Kurt Vonnegut revealed that humour can be exploited in two ways: to make people roll over the floor laughing and to underscore the graveness of earnest problems. While Antonio Mercero’s Spanish dramatic comedy Planta 4ª (The 4th Floor) doesn’t tackle WWII but “only” possibly terminally ill children, its use of humour is similar. While it would be harsh to nickname the film Slaughterhouse 4 (the young patients of the cancer ward on the titular fourth floor all have at least one amputated limb), it shares with Vonnegut its exploitation of laughter in the face of the incomprehensible, or indeed the only sane way to confront the inexplicable madness of disease and death.Read More »
Antonio Mercero
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Antonio Mercero – Planta 4ª aka The 4th Floor (2003)
2001-2010Antonio MerceroComedyDramaSpain -
Antonio Mercero – Los pajaritos aka The birds (1974)
1971-1980Antonio MerceroShort FilmSpainSynopsis
‘An elderly couple in Madrid each buy a pet bird. Weirdness abounds.’
– IMDbRead More » -
Antonio Mercero – La cabina AKA The Telephone Box (1972)
1971-1980Antonio MerceroMysteryShort FilmSpainSynopsis:
‘A man gets trapped inside a telephone box. Onlookers unsuccessfully try to free him. Then the men from the telephone company arrive, but relief turns into puzzlement, then horror, as it transpires what they have in store for him.’
– Donald FiskRead More »