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Death of a Cyclist

Original title: Muerte de un ciclista · Turkish title: Bir bisikletlinin ölümü

“Death on the road.”

1955 · 1 h 28 min
Directed by Juan Antonio Bardem
CrimeDrama

Cast

Lucia Bosé Alberto Closas Carlos Casaravilla

Credits

Written by: Juan Antonio Bardem

Plot

María José and her lover Juan, a university lecturer, are driving home from a rendezvous when they run over a cyclist and leave him to die. Their guilt and fear of exposure grow, especially when a blackmailing acquaintance appears. Juan Antonio Bardem's 1955 film, a thriller that is also a critique of the Spanish upper classes under Franco, was a prizewinner at Cannes and helped revive Spanish cinema.

Sinekatalog’s take

Juan Antonio Bardem's Spanish drama follows two lovers who flee after hitting a cyclist, trapped by guilt and class. Tense and sharp, with Lucia Bosé strong, it slipped past Franco's censors as a bitter social critique.Sinekatalog’s own editorial review – not a user or critic quote.

Ratings

IMDb: 7.7 / 10 (4,976 votes)
IMDb rating and vote count from the IMDb ratings dataset (October 2026). Scores change over time.

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