The functioning of power is quite homogeneous in the different regions of the planet, but there is something especially particular in how the ins and outs have been formed in a country like Spain. Many people make a mistake in diagnosing who is really pulling the strings and how they have really got there, letting themselves be carried away by incendiary hoaxes that run like gazelles on networks like WhatsApp that properly divert attention.
Who commands here
There are not many current films that are going to highlight (or are going to know how to highlight) the problem, but luckily the one that can best explain it already It was released almost 45 years ago and is still valid. And, in addition to being able to be seen on platforms such as FlixOlé or Filmin, it can already be seen on Netflix. Is about ‘the national shotgun‘, the first installment of the essential National Trilogy by Luis García Berlanga.
In this first film we see how a Catalan manufacturer of electronic door entry systems tries to establish relationships and connections with the most powerful people in Spanish society so that his business prospers, and he does so through a hunt. Berlanga and Rafael Azcona dissect the fauna that wielded power during the Franco regime and that has established the roots so as not to stop being present.
‘The national shotgun’ also points out with tremendous bad drool and fantastic black humor the impunity of the ruling classes, charging against their corrupt, inbred and hypocritical nature that led them to make political and business decisions in clear conflict with what they then defend in front of the gallery. Double standard of virtuous and religious façade that later has no support behind it.
A true hack that is still hilarious and essential, where Berlanga evolved on several fronts. From changing the target of his satire from common people to high society to his elegant staging that pulls fabulous long sequence shots that he tries to follow at all times with a highly inspired cast. Everything worked in such a way that even the film became the biggest commercial success of his career.
Nonsense and wonderful absurdity that reveals the bitter reality that exists in Spain and that is still rooted. Her fabulous creation of hilarious situations and her well-placed shotgun blasts keep her as an essential gem of Spanish cinema.
In Espinof | The best comedies in movie history