Muerte de un ciclista aka Death Of A Cyclist (1955) Spanish Noir

Considered one of the best movies of Spanish Cinema

Directed by Juan Antonio Bardem (as J.A. Bardem), Written by Juan Antonio Bardem and Luis Fernando de Igoa. The films superb bleak Cinematography by Alfredo Fraile contributes to the films overall melancholia. The Music was by Isidro B. Maiztegui.

The film stars Lucia Bosè as María José de Castro (as Lucia Bose). Alberto Closas as Juan Fernández Soler, Bruna Corrà as Matilde Luque Carvajal, Carlos Casaravilla as Rafael "Rafa" Sandoval, Otello Toso as Miguel Castro, and Alicia Romay as Carmina.

Juan a professor and  María José a socialite, are lovers. Maria is married to wealth, bored but attached to her comforts. Driving back from a weekend tryst Maria accidentally kills a cyclist on a side road. They leave the man to die because they fear being caught together and the scandal that will follow.

María José de Castro (Lucia Bosè) and  Juan Fernández Soler (Alberto Closas) 

Things get complicated when Rafa, an eccentric social gadfly, hints that he knows something, and he threatens to expose them to  María José's husband, Miguel.

Rafael "Rafa" Sandoval (Carlos Casaravilla)

Rafa and Miguel Castro (Otello Toso) 

Things however don't quite work out the way Juan and Maria plan. Maria is able to forget about it putting the accident out of her mind while the dead man eats away at his conscious. It all goes Noirsville when Juan decides to turn himself in.

Noirsville

The film was made during the Franco years when the Catholic Church had a lot of power. Some folks claim that it was a miracle the film even was screened. The Spanish censors considered it dangerous.  Other criticisms and complaints have run from the film has way too many social cliches to that it was filled with anti-bourgeois propaganda. Bardem and de Igoa in their scrip wanted to spotlight the dynamic between Franco and the bourgeois of Spain and it's complemented by Fraile's Black & White cinematography.

This is an area that I don't have any knowledge of, so it obviously has more gravitas for Spaniards and of course adds more depth to the film.

The whole cast is marvelous, particularly Italian actress Lucia Bose, she makes quite the femme fatale. Carlos Casaravilla is great as the slimeball blackmailer Rafa who obviously wants sex instead of money from Maria to keep him quiet. 7/10.