Luis Garcia Berlanga: El Verdugo (1963)

poster of El Verdugo
(http://www.fotos.org/galeria/showphoto.php/photo/125141)
no copyright infringement intended

An old executioner (José Isbert, the unforgettable alcade from ¡Bienvenido, Mister Marshall!) is approaching retirement age (we are in the Spain of the early 60's, and death penalties are carried out by strangulation, it seems). This brand of professionals are quite rare, so he (a very gentle and nice man, caring, and proud of traditions) begins to worry about who might take his place. He has a daughter, but, unfortunately, she seems doomed to perpetual spinsterhood: as soon as any prospective groom learns about her dad and her dad's job, he runs away from her, scared. However, a new character enters: the local undertaker (Nino Manfredi), a young handsome man who has exactly the same problem... No girl wants him given his profession. So, you have the woman whom almost nobody would marry and the man whom almost nobody would marry. Obviously, they are meant for each other. But here the old executioner has something to say: he does not object to her daughter marrying the young undertaker; he seems a decent man, but only on condition that the groom agrees to take the executioner's job when he will retire. And, anyway, as the old executioner says to the worried young man.... don't worry, they sentence people, but, in the last moment, they're going to pardon them.

(wiki)

El Verdugo called in my mind Koshikei. Sure, the two movies are very different each other. A totally different cinematic language, Neorealism (the Spanish way) versus New Wave (Japanese flavor). But, like Ôshima, also Berlanga is nothing short of a madman genius.



Look at this scene: the guy dragged to the place of execution is not the convict, far from that. He's the new executioner. If I find an integral copy I would love to put it here.
 

scene from El Verdugo
(video by davidmelillo)

(Luis García Berlanga)