Juan Gómez (Alfredo Landa) is a car mechanic with a ¨Puente¨ or ¨Bank Holiday¨ to escape his doomed job ; to fail his scheme to stay the long weekend with his girlfriend (Mabel Escaño) he decides to have a good time . Juan takes his motorcycle ¨La Poderosa¨and decides to go from Madrid to Torremolinos . Along the way he meets several peculiar characters , suffers distresses and many others things . As Juan meets people (Pilar Bardem) who go to visit an inmate in Ocaña penitentiary , two girls (Isabel Luque , Jenny Llada) in bikini who banter from him while he is having graves . Later on , Juan watches a family of hungry Muslims and the traffic police puts him a fine by dressing in swimsuit . Then , he meets two old friends (Manuel Alexandre , German Cobos) who worked in Germany , he attempts to protect a coward bullfighter who is escaping from bullfighting in the arena , he meets some hippies and he makes love . Then , he finds a strange inventor (Jose Ruiz Lifante) in a rare artifact . Finally , he arrives in Torremolinos , at a lonely beach he smokes a cigar and goes back Madrid . At the end , he learns solidarity and to be united with his colleague workers and joins the Unions of the mechanic garage .
First film by Bardem after deceasing General Franco based on the homonym tale written by Daniel Suero and portraying in a particular manner the period of the seventies when took place the ¨Transition¨and the democracy establishment . Bardem's conceptual and political audacity as well as the social critique result to be very evident in this film . In fact , it turns out to be an elemental praise to then prohibited ¨Comisiones Obreras¨ Unions . Bardem directs this mostly political work in simple and plain way in which the protagonist meets along the journey a lot of outlandish roles , giving thought-provoking messages , brief social remarks and social criticism about racism , immigration , ecologism , unemployment , among others . Here stands out Alfredo Landa giving an awesome performance and far from his ordinary Spanish comedies in which he created a new genre : the ¨Landismo¨ .
The motion picture was professionally directed by Juan Antonio Bardem and won the big prize in Moscow Festival . Bardem deservedly considered one of the best filmmakers of the Spanish cinema . Bardem was a good filmmaker and older brother of Pilar Bardem and son of notorious actors as Rafael Bardem and Matilde Muñoz Sampedro . Furthermore , he is uncle of Oscarized Javier Bardem , Carlos Bardem , Mónica Bardem and father of Miguel Bardem . Bardem was an outspoken critic of the Franco regime, his political views prevented him from gaining a diploma from the Spanish cinema institute in 1947 . Thereafter, he worked as a critic and finally broke into films as writer/director , being his film debut ¨Esa Pareja Feliz¨ (1951) co-directed by Luis Garcia Berlanga . He , subsequently , made ¨Comicos¨(1953) about stage world , a feeling comedy : ¨Felices Pascuas¨(54) and the too much acclaimed ¨Death of a cyclist¨ or ¨Muerte De un Ciclista¨ (1955), about an adultery and its fateful consequences , which won the 1956 Cannes International Critics Award . Other classic films he wrote or directed are the followings : ¨Bienvenido Mr. Marshall¨ (co-directed by Luis Garcia Berlanga) , ¨Sonatas¨ (59) based on Ramón Del Valle Inclan , a rural drama : ¨La Venganza¨ (57) , ¨Nunca Pasa Nada¨(63) an ambitious portrayal of provincial life that failed in box office , among others . And , of course , ¨Calle Mayor¨ based on ¨Carlos Arniches's La Señorita Trevelez¨ , it resulted to be the best one , it was voted ninth best Spanish film by professionals and critics in 1996 Spanish cinema centenary and being prized in Festival Of Venice . He had to fight the censorship which didn't admit the some engaging scenes and obligated a determined ending . During the start of filming , student protests in Madrid, led to the arrest of director Juan Antonio Bardem, a communist, in the city of Palencia and carried out by the Brigada Politica Social . He was jailed for a few days and released on the condition that he could not talk about his personal life or beliefs during interviews related to the film . After Bardem's jailing and release, he decided to stop early filming in Palencia, and shot the remaining of the movie in other cities . The big hit ¨Los Pianos Mecanicos¨ with an international cast led him to European co-productions such as the Wartime : ¨Ultimo Dia De Guerra¨(68) with George Maharis , the Jules Verne adventure ¨La Isla Misteriosa¨ (72) with Omar Shariff , the Giallos ¨Corrupción De Chris Miller¨ (72) and ¨El Poder Del Deseo¨ (75) with Marisol , Jean Seberg and the Sara Montiel vehicle ¨Varietes¨(70) . With democracy founding , Bardem made again political cinema , such as ¨Siete Dias Enero¨ (78) about Atocha massacre , ¨La Advertencia¨(82) and his final film was ¨Resultado Final¨(97) with Mar Flores . And especially his successful TV adaptation ¨Lorca , La Muerte De Un poeta¨(1987) . ¨El Puente¨ , rating : Acceptable and passable , essential and indispensable seeing for Spanish cinema fans .
First film by Bardem after deceasing General Franco based on the homonym tale written by Daniel Suero and portraying in a particular manner the period of the seventies when took place the ¨Transition¨and the democracy establishment . Bardem's conceptual and political audacity as well as the social critique result to be very evident in this film . In fact , it turns out to be an elemental praise to then prohibited ¨Comisiones Obreras¨ Unions . Bardem directs this mostly political work in simple and plain way in which the protagonist meets along the journey a lot of outlandish roles , giving thought-provoking messages , brief social remarks and social criticism about racism , immigration , ecologism , unemployment , among others . Here stands out Alfredo Landa giving an awesome performance and far from his ordinary Spanish comedies in which he created a new genre : the ¨Landismo¨ .
The motion picture was professionally directed by Juan Antonio Bardem and won the big prize in Moscow Festival . Bardem deservedly considered one of the best filmmakers of the Spanish cinema . Bardem was a good filmmaker and older brother of Pilar Bardem and son of notorious actors as Rafael Bardem and Matilde Muñoz Sampedro . Furthermore , he is uncle of Oscarized Javier Bardem , Carlos Bardem , Mónica Bardem and father of Miguel Bardem . Bardem was an outspoken critic of the Franco regime, his political views prevented him from gaining a diploma from the Spanish cinema institute in 1947 . Thereafter, he worked as a critic and finally broke into films as writer/director , being his film debut ¨Esa Pareja Feliz¨ (1951) co-directed by Luis Garcia Berlanga . He , subsequently , made ¨Comicos¨(1953) about stage world , a feeling comedy : ¨Felices Pascuas¨(54) and the too much acclaimed ¨Death of a cyclist¨ or ¨Muerte De un Ciclista¨ (1955), about an adultery and its fateful consequences , which won the 1956 Cannes International Critics Award . Other classic films he wrote or directed are the followings : ¨Bienvenido Mr. Marshall¨ (co-directed by Luis Garcia Berlanga) , ¨Sonatas¨ (59) based on Ramón Del Valle Inclan , a rural drama : ¨La Venganza¨ (57) , ¨Nunca Pasa Nada¨(63) an ambitious portrayal of provincial life that failed in box office , among others . And , of course , ¨Calle Mayor¨ based on ¨Carlos Arniches's La Señorita Trevelez¨ , it resulted to be the best one , it was voted ninth best Spanish film by professionals and critics in 1996 Spanish cinema centenary and being prized in Festival Of Venice . He had to fight the censorship which didn't admit the some engaging scenes and obligated a determined ending . During the start of filming , student protests in Madrid, led to the arrest of director Juan Antonio Bardem, a communist, in the city of Palencia and carried out by the Brigada Politica Social . He was jailed for a few days and released on the condition that he could not talk about his personal life or beliefs during interviews related to the film . After Bardem's jailing and release, he decided to stop early filming in Palencia, and shot the remaining of the movie in other cities . The big hit ¨Los Pianos Mecanicos¨ with an international cast led him to European co-productions such as the Wartime : ¨Ultimo Dia De Guerra¨(68) with George Maharis , the Jules Verne adventure ¨La Isla Misteriosa¨ (72) with Omar Shariff , the Giallos ¨Corrupción De Chris Miller¨ (72) and ¨El Poder Del Deseo¨ (75) with Marisol , Jean Seberg and the Sara Montiel vehicle ¨Varietes¨(70) . With democracy founding , Bardem made again political cinema , such as ¨Siete Dias Enero¨ (78) about Atocha massacre , ¨La Advertencia¨(82) and his final film was ¨Resultado Final¨(97) with Mar Flores . And especially his successful TV adaptation ¨Lorca , La Muerte De Un poeta¨(1987) . ¨El Puente¨ , rating : Acceptable and passable , essential and indispensable seeing for Spanish cinema fans .
