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The Moment of Truth



The Moment of Truth, from director Francesco Rosi is a visceral plunge into the life of a famous torero—played by real-life bullfighting legend Miguel Mateo, known as Miguelin. Charting his rise and fall with a single-minded focus on the bloody business at hand, the film is at once gritty and operatic, placing the viewer right in the thick of the ring’s action, as close to death as possible. Like all of the great Italian truth seeker’s films, this is a not just an electrifying drama but also a profound and moving inquiry into a violent world—and perhaps the greatest bullfighting movie ever made.

Disc Features

- New high-definition digital restoration (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
- Interview with director Francesco Rosi from 2004
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Peter Matthews

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Thought I was going to be disappointed when I checked the price but I was pleasantly surprised.

Edit: Apparently I can't pronounce certain words when I type also.

I see what you mean. I might pick this up earlier than I initially thought than.

This title was made available on Hulu Plus last month. It's a darn good film. A lot of scenes were actually shot as a [silent] documentary and it gives the film an exciting immediacy - especially street scenes with bulls plowing into people.

But because of that some of the scenes don't have the sharp and clean look that movies shot in a controlled setting [in 35mm] would have. But no matter. I enjoyed it as much as most of the other Rosi films I have seen. That said, I am surprised this is showing up before some of his other big titles like Lucky Luciano or The Mattei Affair.

I'm thinking I can guess the answer, but does the documentary footage show real animal deaths?

I don't how it can't... It was made in a less politically aware time about animal rights, so the description 'visceral' probably means all the gore and roar!...

Might be a film I actually feel reall uneasy with because of that. Bull fighting is one thing that actually makes me quite angry. There's fewer more cowardly acts in the world, in my honest opinion.

Does the film glorify the act of bull fighting?

Rosenbaum...

Francesco Rosi's 1965 feature is widely (and plausibly) considered the best movie about bullfighting, in part because of its irony and finesse in capturing how the sport springs from and plays against the social reality of Spain. The young hero is played by Miguel Mateo Miguelin, Spain's third-ranking matador at the time.

While Geoff Andrew in Time Out...

The glare of the sun, the surge of flamenco, the roar of the crowd: Rosi's film about bullfighting is all this and more. On to a Blood and Sand-style story of an Andalusian boy abandoning his arid, poverty-stricken home for the supposed glamour of the urban corridas, is grafted an ambivalent, subtle analysis of the thorny byways bordering on the road to fame and fortune; exchanging hardship for the manipulative deals of entrepreneurial Dons and the contempt of bourgeois socialites, the hero's resolve to make good finally results in a blurred nightmare of disillusionment and death. Without glorifying the 'sport', the magnificent 'Scope compositions nevertheless display the matador's mesmeric grace and daring, while admitting the frenzied brutality that delights the bloodthirsty, callous crowds. It's a colourful, cruel world of senseless exploitation (of animals and humans alike) and tyrannical traditions, rendered with vivid brilliance by this uncommonly unsentimental director.

This is quite an interestingly timed (a coincidence?) release since Catalonia is becoming the first part of the Spainish mainland to ban bullfighting from January

Glad to see this one out, but disappointed there isn't more in the way of extras. After all, it's already available on Hulu. Why not add a documentary or commentary to give it some added value? Limiting the reasons to purchase on disc doesn't seem the smartest thing. Of course, the image quality on Hulu is usually not much to write home about. This alone may be reason enough for some to make a purchase.

But because of that some of the scenes don't have the sharp and clean look that movies shot in a controlled setting [in 35mm] would have.

"Moment of Truth" was filmed in Technicscope, Technicolor's half-frame 35mm process. That's an additional reason for some diminished sharpness. Further info from widescreenmuseum.com states: "Special processing could artificially sharpen the original negative and the nature of Technicolor's dye transfer process provided a further impression of sharpness. Despite all the efforts to produce an optimum image, Techniscope films were grainier appearing on large screens than were those produced with anamorphic camera optics and the full four perf negative area."

edit: I just noticed the lower price for this title. Much appreciated, of course. Still, I wouldn't mind paying more for more content (ie. doc and/or commentary).

Just watched this on Hulu (print looked very nice) and thought I'd share in the appreciation. I'd never seen anything by Rosi and was impressed by the mixture of documentary realism and dramatic staging. A lot of this is due to Miguelin's performance, which is pretty effortless for a non-acting bullfighter, and the amazing widescreen compositions that make everything, including the intimate, look epic.

One thing that struck me, aside from the sheer brutality on display (LOTS of animal death in this one), was the hypnotic quality of the film. This can probably be attributed to the simple nature of the story - the rise and fall of a bullfighter - and the laconic, but never boring, pacing. It's a beautifully conceived look into the experience of being a matador, including the economic realities of the business, with all the boring bits cut out. I got a real sense of time and place that I don't always get from movies. The neorealistic filmmaking techniques on display really make the film come alive and breathe. If you love Italian filmmaking of the period, I wholeheartedly recommend this one, provided you can stomach the graphic bullfighting.

Happy 89th birthday, Francesco Rosi!

I thought this movie's language was Spanish, but Italian is the original language? Is it partially in Spanish, as it takes place in Spain?

The Spanish version is cut because Franco's scissors.

The Spanish DVD is very bad, non anamorphic and Spanish audio solo. Review

According to that bluray.com review the interview shot with Rosi on that disc was conducted in 2004. What the hell took so long for this to come out?

I wish you went with the pun.

Wrote a little appreciation here with more to come when I finish my review for GreenCine.

It's a great film. Like MEDIUM COOL for the animal cruelty set.

I was happy to see that Jose Vizcaino was in this:

I just watched this...and I think this is utterly brilliant and beautiful. It's vibrant, engrossing and indeed poetic in its depiction of the pageantry and the senseless violence and cruelty of the kill. The picture is lush and full of gorgeous grain. The depiction of an old-time Spain, full of medieval Catholicism and superstition, along with the rather interesting rise to fame story of Miguelin is just so much icing on what is a powerful movie.

Oh my, I am thoroughly impressed with this...what a discovery for me. I'm planning on going back and re-visiting the other Rosi films with the perspective of this one, since I don't remember them being as compelling as this.

On the other hand, a true guilty pleasure for me because the bull baiting and slaughter is simply legalized cruelty...and good for Catalonia for having banned this nonsense. But if you can get past the horribles of the kill, you're in for a treat.

This film had a lot to over come with it's premise (even something only as tangentially related as Talk to Her affects my viewing when it comes to bullfighting), but Rosi really does overcome the ugliness of this slaughter because of a knowing eye. The film is really simple and beautiful in a way that let's it pass in and out of the documentary with ease and works to add a new spice to it's old curtains. I do wish a full Spanish dub existed though because the Italian is really poorly synced to the point of distraction. The image though really is far better than I expected. It looks as if it was shot yesterday with some really gorgeous detail in the shadows.

matrixschmatrix wrote:I'm thinking I can guess the answer, but does the documentary footage show real animal deaths?

I'm a vegetarian and animal-rights kind of human, so I thought I'd address what might be some people's reluctance to watch this. I think there were 4 or 5 brief scenes of bull killing which were a bit tough to watch and gruesome. Fairly brief enough and you know they are coming, so you can avert your gaze (as I did).

It's a powerful film, with an impressive performance by actual bullfighter Miguelin. And a vivid period piece of the time. The church rituals alone are worth seeing, reminding me of an Iberian version of Louis Malle's India doc when they carry huge altars out of the church and into the streets.

Does the film glorify the act of bull fighting?

It somewhat takes an objective look at the sport, and business, of bullfighting.
It's a job and a grind -- and they try to squeeze out as much money as possible during the season, without much regard for the performers, patrons, and of course the bulls.
They did show many scenes of matadors and picadors falling, looking frightened, making dangerous errors. Which I took as a negative comment on the proceedings.
Towards the end of the film there's also a montage of horses getting rather abused in the ring.
But there are also moments where the costumes and daring and skill come together capturing the "magic" of bullfighting.

Some of the camerawork is very impressive. Tracking the bulls, impressionistic glimpses of action. Also, I had never seen that style of bullfighting before. I think the fact that it's from 1965 and clearly a period piece -- bullfighting and religion both on the decline now -- makes it easier to watch the film as well.

Considering the lack of special features on this release (as bemoaned by other posters), I thought I might say a word or two about Bullfighting. I viewed this film the previous evening and adored it, but it left a lot to the imagination regarding the details of an organized bullfight, it did not leave out the gruesomeness. I've never attended a bullfight, I have however done some reading and I've seen a documentary on the subject of the modern state of this venerated though barbaric tradition.

First of all, there are in a typical Corrida three matadores will fight two bulls each. Each bull is fought in a series of three stages, and takes the form of a passion play with the bull as the unwilling "martyr" (sacrificial victim to the crowds blood-lust). In each of the three stages the bull is injured and weakened. In the first stage the Matador examines the bull and executes a number of passes with the muletta. There's very little to object to at this stage and it's not improbable that the bull is having more fun than the torero as he calculates the creatures abilities and tendancies. Next, a picadore (in the employment of the matador de toros, he is also himself a type of torero) enters the ring on horseback. The bull of course charges the horse. The armor on the flank of the horse protects it and blinders prevent it from flying into a panick. As the bull tries in vain to gore the horse, the picador lances the "morillo", a mound of muscle above the bulls shoulders. This is the first injury to the bull and will cause it to charge with its horns lower to the ground.

With the picador's job finished, the toreros de plata take the field, they apply the colorfull banderillas to the bull. These rods are barbed and when embedded in the morillo, will cause pain at any sudden movement the bull makes. At times the matador himself may take part in placing the banderillas himself.

The last, and bloodiest part of the spectacle involves the bull, now tired and injured, making a number of passes at the matador, who now demonstrates the fullness of his bravery, style, and ability. Finally, when the bull is fit for little else, it is time for the "moment of truth", when the matador impales the bull with a curved sword, passing over its horns as near as he dares. The bull's goose is now cooked, although the animal does not generally die from this wound. A member of the matador's cuadrilla will now swoop in and administer the coup de grace with a dagger. The entire procedure, if conducted by a "brave" matador against an unusually bold and fearsome bull, is one of extreme beauty and agility performed in the very teeth of death. None-the-less, witnessing the agony of the bull in the ring is a nauseating experience, and if it does nothing to undermine the pagentry you witness, if you experience no ambivilence what so ever, you're hollow inside, or seem so to me.