El Verdugo
Director: Luis García Berlanga
Genre: Black comedy, Black-and-white, Comedy, Comedy-drama, Drama
Year: 1963
Country: Spain
Language: Spanish Language
Starring: José Luis López Vázquez, Nino Manfredi, José Isbert, Emma Penella
Not on your Life is a 1963 Spanish black comedy film directed by Luis García Berlanga. Its original Spanish title is El Verdugo, which means "The Executioner". It is widely considered one of the masterpieces of Spanish cinema.
The story starts with the main character (an old executioner in Spain in the early 60's) approaching retirement age. As his profession is quite rare, he (a very gentle and nice man, caring, and proud of traditions) begins to worry about who might take his place when he retires. He has a daughter, but, unfortunately, she seems doomed to perpetual "spinsterhood": as soon as any prospective groom learns about her dad and her dad's "trade", he runs away from her, scared. However, a new character enters: the local undertaker, a young handsome man who has exactly the same problem... No girl wants him given his profession. So, you have the woman whom almost nobody would marry and the man whom almost nobody would marry. Obviously, they are meant for each other. But here the old executioner has something to say: He does not object to her daughter marrying the young undertaker; he seems a decent man, but only on condition that if the groom agrees to take the
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