The Wheelchair

Marco Ferreri's 1960 Spanish film is a black comedy that turns an ordinary wish into a catastrophe. Don Anselmo, retired, notices that all his friends have motorised invalid carriages and starts wanting one himself, though he can walk perfectly well. His family finds it absurd, refuses, will not give him the money and considers the matter closed. The old man does not give up and resorts to increasingly extreme means to get what he wants. The screenplay is by Rafael Azcona, and the humour the two developed together is regarded as a foundation of Spanish black comedy. The film is about being made invisible in old age, the power relations inside a family, and the fact that nobody else can measure how small a desire is. It ran into trouble with Franco-era censorship. Who it's for: viewers who like Spanish black comedy and social satire. Who it's not for: anyone wanting comfortable humour; the film always places the laugh at the most uncomfortable point.