Fata/Morgana

In the not-too-distant future, a college professor doesn't realize "the bell tolls for thee" as he prepares for a lecture on how murder victims are born to be killed...

Vicente Aranda's disorienting, futuristic avant garde opus literally opens as a comic book and would seem to predict the look and ambiance of Truffaut's FARENHEIT 451 crossed with Antonioni's BLOW UP. As the professor's life begins to imitate academic art, helicopters and tanks with loudspeakers urge the populace to evacuate the city for reasons unknown. The entire film plays out in an eerily deserted Barcelona with many an enigmatic mis-en-scène reflecting a plot that unfolds with the illogic of a fever dream. Spanish actress Teresa Gimpera, the future Mrs. Craig Hill, makes a lovely red herring and I loved the murder weapon, a silver objet d'art that turns into a swordfish when you push a button and a switchblade pops out.