Wednesday 8 June
10am, 2:30pm, 5pm, 7:30pm
Director Fernando Leon de Aranoa
Drama
Spain (subtitles)
120 minutes
A piercingly clever satire from Spain, featuring Academy Award winner Javier Bardem. Blanco (Bardem), the charismatic owner of a family-run scale factory, is under pressure as he covets a local award for business excellence. Everything needs to be perfect! But the veneer of the perfect company cracks as Blanco has to deal with a vengeful fired worker, a depressed supervisor, and an infatuated ambitious intern. To win the award, the manipulative “good boss” shamelessly meddles in his employees’ private lives and crosses every line imaginable, unknowingly starting an explosive chain reaction with wild consequences that may leave the prize and his future hanging in the balance.
It’s a comedy, but no laughing matter. It’s the blackest of satires — the kind in which a smiling face hides a monstrous heart. – Paul Byrnes, SMH
Bardem is obviously enjoying himself in this movie, playing a strong, charismatic leader who has to keep smiling as he deals with one crisis after another. – John McDonald, AFR
Hilarious and accomplished dark comedy about the indignities of working life. A tour de force satire. – Cinema Europa