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BIENVENIDO MR MARSHALL
Luis Garcia Berlanga, Spain, 1952
24 July 2002 10.50pm-12.05am
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Don’t let the playful opening of this Castilian comedy fool you –
Welcome, Mister Marshall is a smart satire with real bite. Initially
misinterpreted as an anti-American tract, it caused a stir at Cannes
in 1953, claiming the festival’s international prize.
This caustic picture almost single-handedly raised global awareness
of the Spanish school of neo-realism, a revolutionary cinematic style
practiced to wider recognition by Italian filmmakers Roberto Rossellini
(Rome, Open City) and Vittorio De Sica (Bicycle Thieves). In true
neo-realist fashion, director Luis Berlanga profiles the arduous lives
of the lower classes. However, his picture has a greater sense of
comedy than those directed by his contemporary Italian counterparts.
The opening of the film embraces the audience, as our cordial and
easily distracted narrator introduces us to the sleepy Spanish village
of Villar del Rio. News reaches the inhabitants of this threadbare
backwater that American officials representing the post-World War
II European Recovery Programme (the Marshall Plan) are soon to arrive.
With an eye to snaring a hefty slice of economic aid, the locals quickly
prepare a welcoming fiesta, reinventing their village as an alluring
Andalusian town.
Berlanga co-wrote this small gem with an acquaintance from filmschool,
Juan Antonio Bardem (uncle of Live Flesh’s handsome actor Javier Bardem).
The pair had previously collaborated on a number of scripts, co-directing
one – That Happy Couple – in 1951. Their witty, multi-layered screenplay
for Welcome, Mister Marshall ensures some astute comic performances
from a talented ensemble cast. Berlanga skilfully captures the intrigues
and insecurities of village life, proving himself a master caricaturist
in the process. Villar del Rio’s many distinctive figures – including
an ailing mayor, an ambitious impresario and his winsome protégé
– each exploit and observe social stereotypes and wrestle for attention
during the film’s relatively short running time.
Dark, sardonic and occasionally absurd, Welcome, Mister Marshall closes
with some memorable dream sequences.
Chris Wiegand
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