- Berlanga, Luis
- b. 1921, ValenciaFilmmakerOne of the famous three B" s (see also Buñuel, Luis; Bardem, Juan Antonio) during the Franco regime, Berlanga studied at the IIEC from 1947 to 1950 along with Bardem and produced with him Esa pareja feliz (That Happy Couple) (1951). They both wrote the script for Bienvenido, Mr Marshall (Welcome, Mr Marshall) (1952) but when Bardem had to sell his share in the company Berlanga became sole director. Both films broke with tradition by taking as their subject the lives, dreams and disillusionment of ordinary people, and, like Bardem, Berlanga was to be the victim of harsh censorship.When the script and the film of Los jueves, milagro (Every Thursday a Miracle) (1957), a satire on villagers" religious credulity, was severely handled by the censors, he produced nothing further until Plácido, originally entitled Siente un pobre a su mesa (Seat a Poor Man at Your Table) (1961). An exposé of the superficiality of the charity of the rich, the film was the first fruit of his collaboration with the screenwriter Rafael Azcona. El verdugo (The Executioner) (1963), a "black comedy" considered among his best, again met with official disapproval and he produced his next (and worst) film La boutique (1967) in Argentina. Tamaño natural (Life Size) (1973), made in Paris, was banned from Spain for two years.After the death of Franco Berlanga produced the first and most successful of a trilogy of farces featuring the Spanish aristocracy, La escopeta nacional (The National Shotgun) (1977). In 1985 he realized a project begun in the mid-1950s, La vaquilla (The Little Bull), a highly entertaining story set in Civil War times which was a boxoffice triumph. Todos a la cárcel (Everyone Off to Jail) won Goya Prizes for best film and best director in 1994.Further reading- Higginbotham, V. (1988) Spanish Cinema under Franco, Austin, TX: University of Texas Press (one of the most comprehensive surveys of this period).EAMONN RODGERS
Encyclopedia of contemporary Spanish culture. 2013.
