Set at the beginning of the 20th century . A young infant leaves the Royal Palace to go to school to take an exam. There the teachers on the dispute of the Bourbons. To which the infant responds: The kings of the Bourbon house are Felipe V, Luis I, Fernado VI, Carlos III, Carlos IV, Fernando VII, Isabel II, Alfonso XII and dad. Next, Enrique (Jorge Vico , son of Antonio Vico who has a short role) is examined and asked about the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but he does not know anything and he is suspended. Then, a young girl (Josette Arno) accompanied by her parents goes to a touristic beach to find a suitable fiancé. Her mother (Julia Caba Alba) would rather see her marry an older engineer (José Maria Rodero) , but the girl falls in love with Enrique, a student of her age, who needs to prepare his exams.
A heavily cut film that displays a sour critique of the kitschness of the "Belle Epoque" and the summer vacationers on the beaches of northern Spain through the eyes of a group of teenagers from wealthy families during the summer holiday . This is an enjoyable story that contains busy comedy , humor , frantic pace and blatant critical against the old Spanish habits .The second film made by Luis Garcia Berlanga, one of the most important filmmakers in the history of Spanish cinema. It should be noted that prestigious filmmakers as Juan Antonio Bardem participated in the script, he was co-director of the first feature film by Berlanga : "Esa pareja feliz" , and Edgar Neville , the latter was an essential writer/filmaker in the forties and fifties . Furthemore , financed by the powerful producer Benito Perojo who was a fundamental pioneer in the Spanish cinema , whose career expanded from the 20s to 60s .
It was massacred by the censorship at the time that suppressed or softened a large part of the icinoclast charge that Berlanga wanted to have arranged for the film. Film benefits itself from an excellent plethora of secondaries from the 40s , 50s and 60s , such as : José Luis López Vázquez, Julia Caba Alba, Antonio Riquelme , Julia Lajos , Irene Caba Alba , Fernando Aguirre, Alicia Altabella , Luis Pérez de León , Terele Pávez , Mercedes Muñoz Sampedro , among others.
The motion picture was well directed by Luis Garcia Berlanga. Berlanga filmed several polemic movies during the 50s , all of them were beset by difficulties with the censors caused by real critical to social stratum such as ¨Bienvenido Mister Marshall¨ (1953) , a very good film which tended not to be very well received by the censor for its acidity and considered to be one of the best Spanish films of the history ; however, his strong portrait of Spanish society , plenty of sharpness , didn't please the pro-Franco authorities . His next joint venture was ¨Los Jueves, Milagro¨ (1957), it was modified by the censors and delayed for several years before its eventual release . Later on , Berlanga made one of his best films ¨Placido¨ (1961) masterfully played by Cassen , this is the film debut for the great producer Alfredo Matas and received an Oscar nomination in 1963 , being well-received at the International Festivals , reviewing the useless charity , it's a sublime film but with censorship realized by this great maestro Luis Garcia Berlanga . He continued filming other interesting pictures as in 1973 he went to Paris to begin filming ¨Grandeur nature¨ with Michael Piccoli , another problematic film , focusing this time on the fetishism of a man who falls in love with a doll . Several years later , after Franco's death, he filmed a trilogy comprising ¨La Escopeta Nacional¨ (1978), ¨Patrimonio Nacional¨ (1981) and ¨Nacional III¨ (1982), where he clarified the evident disorders in the Spanish upper , middle-class upon being confronted with a new political status quo , realizing a sour denounce of the Spanish society . Berlanga ulteriorly shot a peculiar film titled ¨La Vaquilla¨ (1985) with plenty of Spanish-star-cast and set in the Spanish Civil War , resulting to be the first time dealing with this convulsive period in comedy style . Following the same themes, he went on filming coral films , such as ¨Moros and Cristianos¨ and ¨Todos a Carcel¨ (1993) that won three Goya Awards for Best Film, Best Director and Best Sound ; being his final film : ¨Paris Tombuctu¨. Rating : 7/10 , Good . Essential and indispensable watching for Berlanga aficionados . Better than average and well worth seeing .
