Perry Kate Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Benas Mcloughlin Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Stephanie There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Roxie The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

MarieGabrielle on the Franco dictatorship, the class system of Spain in that era, and how people are in their own microcosm, and live in their own world until it is shattered by crime.Maria Jose Castro (portrayed by the lovely Lucia Bose) is married to wealthy Miguel Castro (Otello Toso). It is a marriage of convenience, she has everything she wants materially, but nothing of love or emotion left in the marriage. She spends her days in a circle of bored friends, attending lunches, but wishing to be with her lover Juan Fernandez Soler (Alberto Closas).The cinematography here is intriguing and sinister. Stark landscapes, cold winter, yet the people involved are comfortable and corrupt, drinking and dining.Of course the character of Rafa Sandoval (played by Carlos Casaravilla) is excellent and elemental to a pivotal part of the story. He has seen the couple in their car on the highway, but just how much he has seen he will not divulge to Maria Jose. It is an ongoing teaser that we watch in suspense...we are not certain what each character will do.Juan Fernandez, a professor of mathematics is merely existing, he resents his job which was acquired through his in-laws. He is tired of keeping up appearances.There is a twist and you should watch this film more than once for the subtle nuances and character actors who play a part in the mood.It begins with the death of a cyclist, but evolves into study of society, politics, and how people act out to endure their mortality, or the prison of their mortality. In the end it is their choice. 10/10.

david everard An excellent film and I've enjoyed the comments and observations. There's really not a lot I can add that hasn't already been written other than the following:For the most part, I don't see how the ending of this film can be classified as either being 'over-the-top' or as a 'deus ex machina'. I simply see it as the logical function of the analytical geometry motif Bardem employs throughout the film. Remember, Juan is an assistant professor of Analytical geometry and Bardem finds a number of ways to reinforce the idea throughout this fine crafted 1955 Spanish B&W film. In the opening scene we see a lone cyclist ride away from us and, essentially, out of the frame, but he never really leaves the film as he provides both a question and an answer to some of the many riddles this film presents to us. Early on, we see a mathematical formulation written on blackboard which shows a completed, albeit, circular construction: it is a wrong that is eventually righted, but, as in life, there is a cost attached. The music itself has a certain geometry and it too plays a role in the film. I may be wrong here but I don't recall Rafa ever completing an entire piece of music while at the piano.Juan eventually realizes his mistake (thanks in part to the incident set in motion by the blackboard scene) and wants to do what he thinks is the right thing by trying to correct the mistake, but there are just too many outside factors at play here for his solution to work.However, the geometrical motif is eventually completed - in its own ironic fashion - at the end of the film when the bicyclist apparently does the right thing and reports the accident.So,with that in mind, I think the ending is appropriate. Please note that I'm not saying that its the right ending or even the wrong one, just that its appropriate.But, if I've learned anything from watching Film Noir (and I'm not saying this is one -- although it does has a number of similar elements) sometimes you just have to let the idea of a clean & tidy plot go and allow the story find its own way home.Besides, there are just too many other great cinematic elements going on here - lighting, camera angles, acting, atmosphere - to enjoy rather than wondering whether or not the plot will be wrapped up in a nice pretty bow at the end.Symbolism plays a major role here as well: angular barren trees at the scene of the initial accident, athletes being timed while running around a circular track along with the ritualized marriage ceremony and funeral service -- which, in and by themselves, can be seen as a form of circular geometry as well. And, of course, there is the central issue of political allegory, but that's been discussed already. Sometimes, thanks to Hollywood, I think we tend to expect a story to have a 'neat and tidy' conclusion. As for me, I enjoy movies that are like life: because, to my way of thinking, I can't imagine all my big questions will get answered when my 'movie' ends either. peace,David"One thing led to another and then he led with his left" ~ The Dark Corner ~

t_zz Great film; a bit long. And I want a happy ending. And where is the colour?A short introduction about colour: Color or colour (see spelling differences) is the visual perceptual property corresponding in humans to the categories called red, yellow, blue and others. Color derives from the spectrum of light (distribution of light energy versus wavelength) interacting in the eye with the spectral sensitivities of the light receptors. Color categories and physical specifications of colour are also associated with objects, materials, light sources, etc., based on their physical properties such as light absorption, reflection, or emission spectra. By defining a colour space, colours can be identified numerically; for example, by their unique RGB and HSV values (see List of colours).Typically, only features of the composition of light that are detectable by humans (wavelength spectrum from 380 nm to 740 nm, roughly) are included, thereby objectively relating the psychological phenomenon of colour to its physical specification. Because perception of colour stems from the varying sensitivity of different types of cone cells in the retina to different parts of the spectrum, colours may be defined and quantified by the degree to which they stimulate these cells. These physical or physiological quantifications of colour, however, do not fully explain the psychophysical perception of colour appearance.The science of colour is sometimes called chromatics. It includes the perception of colour by the human eye and brain, the origin of colour in materials, colour theory in art, and the physics of electromagnetic radiation in the visible range (that is, what we commonly refer to simply as light).

o_cubitt Bardem's 'Death of a Cyclist' sees illicit lovers choose not to help the dead cyclist in question nor admit to their guilt. Forced to share this murderous secret their love affair turns torrid. Rafa the self penned 'Critic' of Spain archly ignites the touchpaper that sees the couple forcing themselves into making a decision about whether or not to live with the secret. They then both make their fateful decisions...Although much has been made of the ending, and that the ending is not something he agreed to, however it seems to offer hope for a society that at the time had been torn apart and in part corrupted by a violence and self aggrandisement. Juan's actions in the third act also hint at a goodness at the heart of the wormy apple.One for those who liked Malle's 'Lift to the Scaffold' and 'Double Indemnity'.