Directed by Luis García Berlanga • 1953 • Spain
Starring Lolita Sevilla, Manolo Morán, José Isbert
A distant land shrouded in myth and rumor, America looms large in the cultural imagination of a quiet Castilian village, whose impressionable inhabitants dream of benefitting from the country’s postwar plans to aid Europe. When word gets out that a delegation of U.S. diplomats plans to pay a visit, the townsfolk of Villar del Río waste no time in erecting a fantasy worthy of Uncle Sam’s favor, transforming their austere surroundings into a tourist-friendly vision of Andalusian kitsch. With a sly irreverence that led Cannes juror Edward G. Robinson to declare it un-American, Luis García Berlanga’s international breakthrough lampoons the smoke and mirrors that shape national identities from both within and without.
Directed by Luis García Berlanga • 1954 • Spain
Starring Josette Arno, Jorge Vico, Julia Caba Alba
The often unruly in-betweenness of adolescence is the subject of this bittersweet comedy from director Luis García Berlanga. It’s the summer of 1918 and fifteen-year-old Loli (Josette Arno) has bee...
Directed by Luis García Berlanga • 1956 • Spain
Starring Edmund Gwenn, Valentina Cortese, Juan Calvo
In one of Luis García Berlanga’s gentlest comedies, an aging American scientist (Oscar winner Edmund Gwenn) goes incognito, trading in his career as a prominent atomic-bomb expert for a tranquil ...
Directed by Luis García Berlanga • 1957 • Spain
Starring Richard Basehart, José Isbert, Paola Stoppa
Looking for ways to boost the local economy, leaders in the village of Fuentecilla set their hopes on a medicinal spa that was once a popular destination but has since fallen on hard times. With ...
