Outside of the Spanish speaking world, bull fighting has a reputation as a cruel and unnecessary bloodbath where animals are killed for no purpose other than selling tickets. For those who know the sport’s cultural significance, the combination of cunning and violence has a sort of beauty to it. Of the few films that have been made on the subject, none cover it with such clarity and depth as Francesco Rosi’s The Moment of Truth. The bull fights are real, gallons of blood are shed, and the spectacle of the sport comes through in brilliantly rich colors. Even if you find the idea of killing animals for sport revolting, The Moment of Truth tackles bull fighting in a way that’s seldom seen in film and does it in a way that puts it into the proper religious context that many people never see.
Miguel Romero (Miguel Mateo) swears he won’t live the same life his father did and leaves his life farming in the countryside for one of industry in Barcelona—only to discover that finding work is hard, and making a living is almost impossible. To make the big bucks there is one answer: become a matador. Miguel studies beneath Spain’s most famous Matador, Jose Gomez Sevillano, and after a few lucky breaks, Miguel has the chance to show off his innate talent in the ring and his star begins to rise. Soon Miguel is the talent that everyone is talking about, and the press exposure and grueling schedule begin to wear him down. Eventually his fame sees him walking a fine line between pleasing the crowd and working to exhaustion. He secures the fortune he swore he’d earn, but it might come at an expense he can’t believe.
When a film calls for a protagonist to be a professional in some risky endeavor, a decision is made as to whether an actor should be cast and then subbed out by a stunt man or if a pro should be used and trusted to act well enough to carry the film between the sequences where they know best. With bull fighting, the latter strategy wins out for safety concerns alone, but in the case of The Moment of Truth Rosi couldn’t have hoped for anything better. Actual bull fighter Miguel Mateo dazzles in his scenes within the ring, and his expertise makes each moment a hypnotizing display of artistry and reverence. This isn’t just a man slaughtering a bull, it’s a human being putting themselves in harm’s way and risking his life to make the fight between man and beast a match of equals. Outside of the match, Mateo falters slightly in his acting, but overall the performance he gives is exceptional to say the least.
If you don’t live in Spain or Mexico, it’s easy to perceive of bull fighting as nothing but a cruel slaughter put on exhibition. The bull is certainly a powerful animal, but after being stabbed by a man on a horse and having spikes driven into its back but before receiving the fatal wound of a sword that will drop it to the dusty ground in a froth of blood, much of its strength leaves it in the form of the coat of blood soaking its back. When the matador finally delivers the killing blow, the bull is nowhere near full strength. The imagery is gruesome and real. It’s also breathtaking. Make any ethical argument you want about killing those bulls for the production of a film, but it gives The Moment of Truth its purest and most surreal moments.
As with most films, The Moment of Truth isn’t perfect; in its thematic elements and its editing, there’s much to be criticized if you’re not willing to grant the film the status of a brilliantly captured artifact of bull fighting culture. Thematically, the title’s implied meaning within the world of the sport has a very superficial feel; those seconds before and after the Matador plunge in his sword don’t have nearly the impact on the film as a whole as it does on introducing the audience to the sport so they can keep up. The narrative gets caught somewhere between a cautionary tale about fame and attempting to do too much too fast, and for nothing more than greed. These slips in storytelling arise as Rosi’s film comes together under sloppy editing that foolishly attempts to cover its tracks instead of embracing the sport’s spontaneous nature. When a shot didn’t work, Rosi replaced it with a make-up shot, and the they never sync with the original.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
The Criterion Collection hasn’t assembled much to complement Rosi’s film on Blu-ray, but the single featurette it does have, an archival interview from 2004,speaks volumes to the importance of portraying this sport in such an honest and vivid light. The inner booklet features an essay by critic Peter Matthews on Rosi’s choice of bull fighting for a film as a way to sensationalize a sport, in all its bloody glory, instead of truly examining the culture in which it resides.
"The Moment of Truth (The Criterion Collection)" is on sale January 24, 2012 and is not rated. Drama. Directed by Francesco Rosi. Written by Pedro Beltran. Starring Miguel Mateo Miguelin, Jose Gomez Sevillano.
