MANILA, Philippines - Instituto Cervantes, in cooperation with the Film Archives of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) and the Spanish Embassy, presents the film cycle Those Funny Spaniards: La comedia española, a series of Spanish films to be shown during the Saturdays of July at the Instituto Cervantes cinematheque.
The film cycle will kick off on July 5, 2 p.m., with a classic of the genre and one of the masterpieces of Spanish cinema: the movie Bienvenido, Mr. Marshall, directed by Luis García Berlanga in 1952. It tells the story of a poor Spanish village in La Mancha, which hears of the visit of American diplomats and begins preparations to dress up as a colorful Andalusian town to impress the American visitors, in the hopes of benefitting under the Marshall Plan.
Along with that classic masterpiece, the lineup of Those Funny Spaniards: La comedia española features three modern comedies tackling some of the issues of contemporary Spanish society, like family values, love, marriage, unemployment or football.
The well-acted and crafted comedy Días de fútbol (David Serrano, 2003) will be shown on July 12, 2 p.m. A very popular movie at its release, it is about a group of childhood friends who in their 30s gather again to play football together and try to win something in their lives — even though it is just a football match. Like the typical Spanish comedies of the 1960s, the movie gets quite well the spirit of its time.
Nacidas para sufrir, directed by Miguel Albaladejo in 2009, is a black comedy about a group of women (a sweet old lady, her religious niece, her servant and the latter’s disabled mother), all so generous and selfless that they almost compete with one another to see who can make the greatest sacrifice for the others’ wellbeing. The outcome? As the well-known saying goes: “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” The movie will be shown on July 19, 2 p.m.
Directed by Daniel Sánchez Arévalo in 2011, Primos will close the film cycle on July 26. The movie focuses on three cousins who, on the occasion of the wedding of one of them, meet again at the village where they would spend summer vacations as kids.
All films will be shown in their original version in Spanish with English subtitles. The screenings will take place at 2 p.m. at the Cinematheque of Instituto Cervantes, 855 T. M. Kalaw, Ermita, Manila.
Entrance is free on a first-come, first-served basis. For information, visit www.manila.cervantes.es and www.facebook.com/InstitutoCervantesManila, or call 526-1482.