Maybe it doesn’t sound familiar to you Kibris, Spanish film taken out of circulation by its own authors and which some film archaeologists (about ten people) were able to see. The mists of mystery surround this film, but the fog that surrounds it Clown Day scream It will never be clear. Jerry Lewis wrote, directed and starred in this unknown film in 1972 and, after seeing it in theaters, decided that it would not be released in theaters.
That an author, especially one like Jerry Lewis, decides not to release his film is a symptom of disaster, and also a way to avoid a fatal discredit to his career (Paula Vázquez has spoken publicly about Kibris?). Jerry Lewis is for people of his generation or for coffee lovers, for real coffee lovers. A humor for those who laugh with Abbott and Costello (You saw King Mullet Mines?) and explode with Louis de Funès. Crazy humor and stupid jokes.
But what happens when a clown goes from wanting to make people laugh to making them think? What if Television clowns Would you like to be Charlie Rivel? A clown can move you or create the most incredible drama (like Fofito in sad trumpet ballador Raphael performing the song of the same name Without a goodbye). But woe betide them if things go wrong. Going from the most moving scene to becoming that crying clown of the paintings of our childhood, the sad harlequin of the dark bars of the post-Transition. Being a clown, far from being a demerit or an unfair insult, is a job of great merit and high risk.
In June 2024, the deadline set by Jerry Lewis for his release was met. The day the clown cried, never published but whose materials are preserved at the Library of Congress: the script, the raw material, 106 minutes of audio and material from doing of. I mean, the plans for the damn movie. I like to imagine Jerry Lewis in 1998 watching the Oscars, with that divine and very elegant Sofía Loren saying “Robeeerto”, while Begnini jumps over the chairs to collect the award for something that, on paper, is not that far from Lewis’ project. His film will forever be an unknown island of the seventh art, a beach where not even the bravest of adventurers will ever be able to reach. What mad scientist would accomplish such a feat? Just a clown. Neither more nor less.
