A walk through the work of Luis García Berlanga (1921-2010) that is neither a documentary nor a narrative movie, but a tribute to one of the greatest directors of Spanish cinema. Anything can happen: the performers are not themselves, but their characters; there are no interviews, but greetings; a series of entrances and exits. A joyful reunion, a celebration of life.
Salva working as security guard in an industrial estate on the outskirts of Madrid. There he meets Leo, a girl who makes a living collecting cardboard. Gradually Salva be falling in love for the young, but the life of Leo holds a dark past.
Maqroll, Ilona, and Abdul all share a common dream: to sail the world in a tramp-steamer. But who could afford such a thing? Over the years they have become separated. Alone in Panama City, smuggler Maqroll is finding neither great success nor happiness — until the tropical rains come, bringing Ilona: friend, lover, and partner in crime. Abdul, in Morocco, has found a steamer to suit them. In Panama, Ilona and Maqroll begin a new scheme, in search of impossible wealth. But fate has further twists in store.
Ana works side by side with her mother Maria Rosa in the fight to save the anti-Franco militants from the death penalty during the process of Burgos. Ana's mother is a former actress and Ana, her mother and a few other actors prepare an act of protest in the theater where an international festival on Strinberg is being held. But there are more things in Ana's life. The mother lives with her uncle, the brother of his father, Norman, an old doctor of devious methods. Helped by Fatima, an old nurse who loves her father, the doctor will try to experiment with Ana's ideas and feelings as well
In an anguished triangle of silences and unspoken words, a man secretly loves a woman who loves another man.
With more than thirty years, Malena Fonseca is a spinster and provincial woman who, after coincidentally meeting a Frenchman named Lucien, also a thirty-something bachelor like her, decides to marry him. However, after that, and having moved to Madrid in the company of her unbearable and possessive mother-in-law, Malena will gradually discover that her husband is a very rational man whose zero interest in sex despairs her, making the woman feel attracted to the pharmacist in the corner and the hunky bread delivery man.
In a fictitious South American country there's lots of political tension, the labor-unions have all their members on strike. The public demands the return of politician B. from exile. However private trucker Pal can't afford to strike, so he's beaten up and his truck burned. In the headlines he's described as strike-breaker. This is only part of an intrigue which shall get him to murder B.
A band of young musicians will do the impossible to boycott a song they didn't like at all, and that's supposed to represent Spain in a famous musical contest. An unusual film by the odd Zulueta in which, after the success of Spanish singer Massiel in Eurovision contest, this kind of contests are parodied with an insane story shot without a script and with the performance of several top music bands of that time.
Jose Antonio Amor co-stars with Sonia Bruno and Maria Blanco in this comedy drama about a married man with three children. When his family leaves on vacation, the man has an affair with a pretty office worker. The relationship between the two develops slowly before they end up in bed together. Speeded up shots are used effectively to illustrate the thoughts of the characters. Technical aspects and performances are fine and overshadow some uneven editing.