The manager of a ladies department store struggles to keep his life of luxury and elegance in the comedy drama The Perfect Crime (El Crimen Ferpecto).
Rafael (Guillermo Toledo) lives the life to which he has always aspired to - a life of glamour and elegance. At work, as manager of a ladies clothing section in a department store, he keeps company with all his attractive sales associates, and has two lackeys who follow him as if he's a god. He's charming, good-looking and can sell the skin off a snake if he needed to.
When his rival for the position of store manage goes missing, Rafael is the prime suspect - but is saved by Lourdes, a co-worker who has pined for Rafael for years. Lourdes knows Rafael's secret and is the only women in the department Rafael has not bedded due to her less than attractive features. Forced to marry, an act which goes against his entire being, Rafael concludes that she must be eliminated.
Nominated for 6 Goyas (Spanish Academy Awards), Best Lead Actor (Guillermo Toledo), Best New Actress (Monica Cervera), Best Supporting Actor (Luis Varela), Best Sound, Best Special Effects and Best Production Supervision, The Perfect Crime is a funny, over-the-top and a ridiculously entertaining film from beginning to end. What starts out as an ego maniac caught in a bad situation turns into a game of cat and mouse and one-upmanship between two leading characters. It's a twisted black comedy which follows Rafael's transition from aiming and sitting on his perch at the top of his game to becoming satisfied with the mediocre and the ordinary - something he was strongly opposed to becoming from the beginning.
It's a very stylized film in where each scene holds its own place in the context of his ridiculous situation. Borrowing from and paying tribute to other iconic films, The Perfect Crime mixes styles, starkly contrasting nods to cinematic pop culture with a stark colour palette, resulting in a world with a heightened sense of reality for his characters.
Those who enjoyed Volver, may enjoy The Perfect Crime as they share a similar comedic sensibilitily with The Perfect Crime leaning more towards the ridiculous.
Special features included on the DVD release by Tartan Video is a Making Of Featurette with cast and crew interviews and behind the scenes footage during shooting, Trailers and English subtitled Audio commentary by director Alex de la Iglesia.
