It is very difficult to explain why there is such an obsession with "La Escopeta Nacional", the first Berlanga where he went all the way with the sexual humour as a way to reinforced the ugliness. It is not that difficult to explain Berlanga, though, as he had a mood similar to the busier Robert Altman movies, with characters talking over each other while the camera gets besides them, between them, behind them. There is barely a plot in this movie, and there are barely no real characters: they are all archetypes, a grotesque satire of very specific Spanish members of the power hierarchy. Some actors play similar characters they played on other Spanish movies (Agustín González used to play that shouty character, José Luis López Vázquez was used to middle aged sexually frustrated characters...) and they go all in with the exaggeration.
Many of the best actors that have ever existed in the Spanish cinema are here, with the on and off lead of José Sazatornil (funny as ever) and that makes half of the quality. The other half is, as grotesque as it is, how familiar for anyone that has been closed to certain Spanish circles is what the movie talks about. I can even smell the movie. I have been in those awful Autumn celebrations where everything is uncomfortable.
Immensely quotable, I also think it has never been available with subtitles. I tried to start doing it but I gave up because there are so many words everywhere.
