My wife is kinda obsessed with non-American filmography and she insists on watching every non-American movie on a theater near us. Well, I can't say I am a fan of Hollyweird myself - on the contrary - but I like the independents and on occasion I can even rent a blockbuster for a couple of popcorn hours at home.
So, she dragged me (almost literally) to said theater to watch "a Spanish comedy". She's an avid Almodovar fan (I am not) and so gets pretty much excited over Spanish films.
We went into the theater along with 15 (yes, fifteen) other spectators... not much of an atmosphere, huh? I was not fairly predisposed towards the film, to say the least.
After the two hours have passed, though, I was in love with this little gem! Torremolinos '73 is a very smart film, and has lots to give to any open-minded person, especially if said person has a decent knowledge of Bergman's films.
The first part is extremely funny. Especially the scenes with the couple shooting the ...educating movies, are hilarious. Irony is all over the place, subtle references to Frankist Spain are obvious to those who know what they should look about, but everything serves the purpose to have a good laugh, even if you have to actually think about the film to do so.
The second part is not as funny, but I almost wet myself while the aspiring director Bergman-wannabe shoots a number of scenes with his utterly talent-less wife, imitating every last cadre of a Bergman film! To sum this up: If you are not annoyed by ample nudity (I have to say this since IMDb is also accessed by... ahem... cultures not quite fond of nudity), you like witty (the Spanish way) humor and you are a bit of a Bergman-geek (does such an animal even exist???) you are going to adore Torremolinos '73, as I did.
Probably the best comedy (by far...) I watched this summer.
