The last part was a little confusing.
So, "Clean Madrid", this vigilante group that kills beggars around town, killed the newly born Antichrist?
Who was the devil-figure that the priest saw? Wasn't he part of "Clean Madrid"?
I'll try my best, but it is my point of view, it might be worth *beep* !!
Anyway, you seem to have forgotten that the priest, the heavy metal fan and the charlatan took drugs during the ritual and were stoned (more than stoned imo) until the "Antichrist scene".
The newly born Antichrist (as you've called him) was simply the child of a homeless family, that's all. Only the Charlatan and the priest thought this child was somehow linked to devil or something. (Don't forget that Alex de la Iglesia does not hesitate to criticize religion in general, and thus make the priest look like a fool during the whole movie). The crimes carried out by "Clean Madrid" just kept going on randomly and ended up there, in this building with this poor and helpless family.
The Antichrist creature was just an allegory, a metaphor of the Clean Madrid neonazi gang. In other terms, human nature can be terribly evil.
The drug effect made the gang leader look like this (I guess it was one of the leaders, actually we don't know *beep* about them).
One point seems unclear for me though, we (as spectator + priest pov) witnessed the heavy metal fan being carried and falling from the creature's hands. It should mean that the creature is real somehow. But it was the first time the priest took drugs (remember him smoking his first cigarette), the effects could have been way harder compared to the 2 others. Besides he even said "we see what we want to see" or something. The heavy metal fan did die unfortunately and was no hallucinations.
The "signs" which would lead them to the twin buildings were just signs caused by paranoia/drugs.
To conclude, HUMAN NATURE can be EVIL (here represented by a neonazi gang, which is even represented by a devil-look-alike creature), religion can be stubborn and clueless, trash tv IS dumb and use people's idiocy everyday.
Remember the charlatan walking in the supermarket and not even paying attention to the immigrant owners who had just gotten murdered by the same gang. The violence in Spain, especially in Madrid, must have been very harsh back in the 90's. Hence this film.
10/10
Hoffentlich habe ich dich geholfen !!
That's an interesting take on it, but I was pretty convinced the Satan/Antichrist theme had some truth to it. Well, in-movie-truth ;-)
I would never have blamed it all on the LSD alone. But it's possible, maybe I get another chance to watch it again.
I will now end this debate with you.
Madrid has never been that harsh. Alex de La Iglesia just loves to exagerate. His movies can't be seen as a refelction of reality, they are more like a comic book caricature. One of the manu achievemetns of this film is the way it portrais Madrid, a city I know very well. It's simultaneously very recognisable but totally insane and exagerated.
shareI generally go along with the whole "It was a drug trip" / "Humanity is the true evil" suggestions, the only (possible) loose end is that they all saw the Devil transform from goat to horned beast, and it's very unlikely that three people would suddenly have the same hallucination. And the letters did spell out "This is not a game" which would be a pretty huge coincidence if it was by chance. Then again I suppose there could have been other combinations.
Either way it's a fun film anyhow, and things like this don't really matter that much to me.
I think the letters are just another "You get what you want"-thing. Kinda like with Ouija Boards where people spell out words but then claim it was a demon talking to them.
As for the Hallucination: I think it's possible, that 2 or more people can see the same thing. I experienced multiple times on messengers that i and a friend i talk to write the same exact thing at the same time.
They all took the same drugs, did the same ritual, forced themself into believing the whole Anti-Christ thing
My humble opinion:
I think what the ending is trying to show is that the Antichrist wouldn't be born the "natural" way ( a baby being born, growing up, and so fourth ). The Neonazi group, "Limpia Madrid", they would be the reincarnation of Satan. Or someone within that group.
Try to remember that, although when they ( the priest, the Tv guy and the metalhead ) arrive in that place ( the weird looking buildings, similar to the mark of Satan, etc... ), and there's a newborn, it's the neonazi group that showed up and killed the child and his parents. And then we see the Devil there, with the assailants. Kind of a contradiction isn't it ? The Devil killing his own son/reincarnation ? Thats because the baby wasn't the Anti-christ. That was what we were supposed to believe ( the Devil, being born in a child ). But the truth is, in that place, the Devil would reincarnate in someone within that group ( or the whole group, i don't know ). They were so filled with hate, and had done such cruel things to helpless people, that they would be the Devil's seed, his "receptacle". The "Three Mages", being in "collusion" with the Devil ( remember, Father Angel sold his soul ), could seen him clearly.
That's what I understood.
Everything was real, and the next time I see a tramp on the street talking nonsense I'll believe him, because he may have saved the world.
share