Patrimonio nacional

1981 [SPANISH]

Comedy

IMDb Rating 7.0 10 923

Plot summary



March 10, 2023 at 06:15 PM

Director

Luis García Berlanga

Top cast

720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
1.01 GB
1196*720
Spanish 2.0
NR
23.976 fps
1 hr 52 min
P/S ...
1.87 GB
1792*1078
Spanish 2.0
NR
23.976 fps
1 hr 52 min
P/S ...

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by morrison-dylan-fan 8 / 10

"Politics and banking are the new aristocracy!"

Experiencing the most incredible time I've ever had at the cinema, thanks to the four films I saw at the HOME cinema in Manchester during the Viva! The 28th Manchester Spanish & Latin American Film Festival being splendid, and the four in-depth Q&A's I attended,being a joy to take part in. As the last Q&A ended,I took a look at what movies were going to screen on the final week of the festival.

Having found Welcome Mr. Marshall! (1953-also reviewed) to be a superb satire,I was thrilled to discover an obscure title by auteur film maker Luis García Berlanga beig screened with English subtitles,leading to me discovering the national heritage.

View on the film:

Returning to the palace with the Marquis of Leguineche, co-writer (with Rafael Azcona) / directing auteur Luis Garcia Berlanga & cinematographer Carlos Suarez masterfully fill every corner of the screen with jokes, thanks to a depth of field clarity in the refine wide-shots, where the satirical dialogue is performed at the front, whilst Berlanga has broad, rowdy slap-stick comedy gags bouncing along in the background, reflecting the facade of the respectable image the palace attempts to present to everyone.

Crowned in the middle of the Leguineche trilogy, the screenplay by Berlanga and Azcona impressively make this entry one which can be enjoyed on its own, thanks to Berlanga continuing with the witty comedic one-liners of Mr. Marshall!, with wicked, cleverly written satirical dialogue being shared among the strange, quirky Leguineche family members (played by a hilarious ensemble cast), laying bare with ruthless jet-black comedy one-liners the hypocrisy of the aristocracy and the amoral attitude of the financial institutions coming out from the shadow of Franco, and presenting themselves as the new national heritages.

Reviewed by egue1968 6 / 10

An attack on aristocracy

This is Luis García Berlanga's second take on the Leguineches, a down and out aristocratic family who settle in their palatial home in the middle of Madrid and try to feign relevance. As the leit-motiv in most of Berlanga's films (people pretending to be something they're not), it marginally works. No matter how indebted the Count of Leguineche is, he nonetheless goes on to use his connections to get loans and re-establish himself in newly-democratic Spain.

Sure, the gags are all about how they simply ignore reality (and covet royalty's attention).

A first-rate cast saves the film from absolute tedium, that including the marvelous Mary Santpere and Luis Escobar as the unflappable marquises, and José Luis López Vázquez. Luis Ciges as the ever-loyal servant and Agustín González as the venal family priest provide a comfortable yet predictable performance.

The story in itself is spiral-like and, like the Leguineches, really looks good but goes nowhere.

If you like character-driven cinema soft on plot and big on redundant gags that lampoon aristocracy, this one is for you.

Reviewed by ma-cortes 6 / 10

Second installment to Leguineche saga , full of humor , sourness and deep critical

Second part of the Leguineche preceded by "The National Shotgun" and completed by "National III" . Spanish coral film with a merciless denounce to hypocrite society located at a luxury mansion , being professionally directed by the veteran Berlanga and full of a high level of ingenious humor , including relentless critical in malevolent intention . A bustling comedy with a big plethora of players and an interesting script . After the death of Franco (1975) and the restoration of the monarchy , the Marquis of Leguineche (Luis Escobar) along with his misfit family return to this palace in Madrid , at Cibeles Square . After thirty years of voluntary exile in his farm-mansion in Los Tejadillos , Guadalajara , the marquis intends to approach the King to resume the court life of yesteryear . However , it is not so easy to access to the Royal Family . In Madrid palace he meets his invalidated old wife (Mary Santpere) . Then , arguments and disputes emerge among the left-wing marquis , the Francoist marchioness and her ex-lover Nacho (Alfredo Mayo) . The marquis and his son Luis José (José Luis López Vázquez) , helped by his nephew Alvaro (José Luis De Villalonga) -married to beautiful French woman Solange (in real-life Villalonga spouse Syliane Stella)- attempt to incapacitate the marchioness . Meantime , they try to reform the ruined palace to give aristocratic parties . But then problems emerge when there appears two Finance Inspectors , and the resourceful marquis has to do everything to get his aims , as becoming the palace into a museum .

After getting success with the first part and a great popularity by Luis Escobar playing the offbeat marquis , it led to filmmaker Berlanga , writer Azcona and producer Alfredo Matas to make this second outing "National Heritage" , dealing with the national policy and monarchy restoration by Juan Carlos I . In the flick there are especially busy comedy , ironical humor , frantic pace , amusing gags , rowdy satire , strange roles , noisy hustle and social critical . Furthermore , it contains certain confusion and relies heavily in exaggerated mayhem ; being in anyway clearly inferior to former film . One time finished the Franquist dictatorship , Berlanga along with his regular screenwriter Azcona carry out the realization a known trilogy about the political and social Spanish situation , concerning on the peculiar aristocratic family of the Marquis of Leguineche . Shot in long , complex shots : ¨Planos Secuencia¨, with a lot of rare roles talking , shouting and walking . The main and support actors stand out under perfect direction of Berlanga very far from the tenderness that carried out in previous works , including a bitter , pessimistic mirror on the Spanish society by that time and of the egoistic aristocracy , especially . We can find very fun roles , all of them caricatures and mirrors of the Spanish society . The movie displays a Spanish star-studded , such as : the sex-hungry Jose Luis López Vázquez , the loud-mouthed priest Agustin González (Berlanga's also regular), Amparo Soler Leal (married to producer) , Chus Lampreave (Almodovar's ordinary), and , of course , Luis Ciges . And brief roles and cameos by the graphic humorist Mingote , writer Joaquin Calvo Sótelo , stage director José Luis Alonso and filmmaker Francisco Regueiro . Its big success originated ¨Nacional III¨(82) about the power rising of Socialists with Felipe Gonzalez . Berlanga's conceptual and political audacity, so evident in this film that achieved a considerable hit . It turned out to be a nice picture plenty of diverting situations as well as black humor and social hypocrisy .

Direction by Luis Garcia Berlanga is acceptable but inferior to precedent film , he shows his skill for edition , realizing long shots with crowd who moves easily and shows the miseries of an amoral society. 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 , including a strong portrait of Spanish society . His next joint venture was ¨Los Jueves, Milagro¨ (1957), it was modified by the censors and delayed for several years before its eventual release . Subsequently , Berlanga made ¨Placido¨ (1961) , 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 . Later on , Berlanga made one of his best films : ¨El Verdugo¨ (1963), one of the undisputed masterpieces and fundamental in filmography of Luis Garcia Berlanga and shot at the height of his creativity, in a period cultural difficult , where the enormous censorship of the political regime , exacerbated the ingenuity and imagination of the scriptwriters . He continued filming other interesting pictures , as in 1973 he went to Paris to begin filming ¨Grandeur nature¨ focusing on the fetishism of a man who falls in love with a doll . After Franco's death, he filmed the ¨Leguineche Trilogy¨ 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 . Soon after , he made ¨La Vaquilla¨ (1985) 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 Goya Awards ; being his final film : ¨Paris Tombuctu¨.

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