Marcos, a young reporter, goes to a circus to write a Sunday supplement piece. As he is leaving, the next act is about to start. It involves a woman riding a horse and performing tricks; the presentation ends in shooting balloons from a horse while it is moving. Marcos is taken by the beauty of Ana, the equestrian sharpshooter, and returns to interview her. She invites him to dinner with the troupe. They dance, and then spend the night together. He falls in love with the beautiful horse-riding circus girl. An affair between them ensues; he considers following her around Europe and promises he would follow her to hell. Soon, Marco has to leave to cover a concert in Barcelona. Fate intervenes when three young mechanics come to repair circus equipment and the owner gives them complimentary tickets for the show. The trio makes a racket as they watch Ana perform. After the show, they follow Ana to her trailer and brutally rape her. Although she is badly hurt, she decides to take matters into her own hands. Bruised, humiliated, and bleeding, she picks up her rifle and goes to hunt them down. She finds them easily at the mechanic shop where they work. She kills them all and leaves without being clearly identified. Ana, who is bleeding badly, has to visit a doctor who reveals to the authorities that she has been raped. The police initially have no clues about the culprit of the triple homicide, but after interviewing the doctor, they begin to suspect Ana. Ana is stopped in a highway by two officers; she panics and kills them too, a decision that she regrets immediately. Marco who goes to Ana's trailer, finds traces of blood all over the place and he and the authorities go in search of Ana. She finds refuge in a country home where a couple and two small children live. Marcos is responsible for breaking the impasse between Ana and the police, but he arrives too late to help her; the police open fire on her, and she dies in his arms.
Cast
Francesca Neri as Ana
Antonio Banderas as Marcos
Eulalia Ramon as Lali
Coque Malla as rapist
Christopher Atkins as Spence
Reception
remarked in its 3/5 star review "A well-acted revenge drama, seems rather anomalous to the career of acclaimed director Carlos Saura... It's not that his skills... aren't in evidence, but that they service a merely workmanlike screenplay... Even if we're not in Charles Bronson-DEATH WISH territory, the film lacks the quirkiness and depth of melodramas like 1988's THE ACCUSED or 1987's SHAME. OUTRAGE piques viewer involvement without ever suggesting that this well-crafted outcry is a project close to the director's heart."
DVD release
¡Dispara! was released in the US on DVD on January 30, 1997 with the English title Outrage!. The transfer and English dubbing is of poor quality and makes it look like Banderas is the main star of the film by prominently featuring him on the DVD cover. The DVD is of pan-and-scan quality and remastered in Dolby Digital Stereo and was distributed by Allumination.
