Abstract

Alongside Alejandro Amenábar’s Los otros/The Others (2001), Santiago Segura’s Torrente, el brazo tonto de la ley/Torrente, the stupid arm of the law (1998) was one of the most spectacular commercial successes in Spain’s entire film history. In an age of increasing American international hegemony (punctuated by recent remake fever and the success of Spiderman (Raimi, 2002) and now Hulk (Lee, 2003)), how do relatively marginal national cinemas survive and compete? More to the point, how do we account for Torrente’s incredible national success, given that the main protagonist is a grotesque, parodic inversion of the American-cop super hero. This essay offers no definitive answers, rather a series of working hypotheses and pathways which deal with the film in relation to issues of genre, parody, the grotesque, excess and ‘paracinema’.

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.