Synopsis
Julia (Carmen Maura), who is a real estate agent, accidentally finds a bundle of cash at a client's apartment. The money belonged to a recently deceased resident who won the lottery, but who was afraid to leave the building lest the money is stolen. The other tenants who also know about the money desperately try to track it down, and discover that it is in the hands of Julia. Hence begins the tale of a bloody fight for the money among the neighbors. Áex de la Iglesia shows his penchant as a film mania. Loosely based on Roman Polanski's , is a familiar tale about a supposed great fortune turning out to be chaos, unleashing the vanity and avarice of human beings. However, using his unique editing techniques, Álex de la Iglesia succeeded in making a comedy with a twist of horror and action, destined to become a cult classic. From Hitchcock's films, to , endless parodies of well-known films will surely evoke a smile or two from the viewers. In addition, by using an apartment building as the film's main stage, the director succeeds in creating claustrophobic tension throughout the film. Although compared to the first half, the last half-concentrating on action rather than plot-lacks tension, Álex de la Iglesia nevertheless can be called one of Spain's seminal directors, along with but different from Almodovar, creating socially critical films-with a twist of black comedy. (SIM Young-seop)