¡Biba la banda! (1987) Poster

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6/10
Entertaining and diverting film set by the time of the Spanish Civil War directed by the Cantabrian Ricardo Palacios
ma-cortes20 April 2017
Nice and amusing film made in 1987, Ricardo Palacios made this directorial debut with the comedy film ¡Biba la Banda! starring the great Alfredo Landa as Sergeant Pérez , and in 1997 he directed the TV-series La Banda De Pérez . During the Spanish Civil War on the frontline , Nationalist troops led by a commandant called Bonafé (Antonio Ferrandis who also starred other Civil War officer : General Escobar) , who is also musical conductor , live peacefully . Bonafé directs a military orchestra with the usual members : trumpet , clarinet , trombone , saxophone , cornet , kettledrum , triangle , xylophone, accordion , cello and flute . Meanwhile ,in a nearby village lives Encarna (Fiorella Faltoyano) with his daughter Verónica (Morales) who are about to be evicted by a land lord (Ricardo Palacios) . Soldier Agustin (José Sancho) , Veronica's boyfriend , flees from his headquarter to help them to harvest . Later on , there appear Sergeant Pérez (Alfredo Landa) and other band members . After that , a group of Republican soldiers (Miguel Ayones , among others) infiltrate the Nationalist side and attempt to blow-up a bridge . While the stressed commandant as band leader is on the verge of a nervous breakdown why the band has to play an important concert between Generals , authorities and a German delegation and the missing group doesn't appear and ruining the nationals' celebration .

Funny and entertaining War Comedy about a group of Nationalist who escape to help a mother and her daughter and have to go through a series of ridiculous and fun events before they can get back to their side . It deals with a serious and thorny issue : the Spanish Civil War , but here developed in comedy style , including several offbeat and nutty characters and grotesque humor . The film has a nice cast plenty of a plethora of portentous actors who give sympathetic characters interpreting attractive as well as pathetic roles , such as : the great Alfredo Landa as Sergeant Pérez here delivering an overacting , though he was Nominated Fotogramas De Plata Best Movie Actor . The serious/comical officer Antonio Ferrandis , a Nationalist Commander who has to deal with his undisciplined musical band and troops , and his sex-hungry wife played by Florinda Chico . José Sancho is a National soldier coming from a military camp across the frontline , where his girlfriend is about to be foreclosed . Fiorella Faltoyano , mother of Verónica , who has to hide the Nationalists . Oscar Ladoire as a Nationalist officer courting Commandant's wife against the stiff lieutenant Urquiza who is well played by Mario Pardo . Furthermore , the usual comedian Manuel Alexandre as a likable priest . The picture gives a hilarious rendition of how things might have been during the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) . This ¨Biba La Banda¨ was made in imitation to ¨La Vaquilla¨ it is a 1985 Spanish comedy film written and directed by Luis García Berlanga and Rafael Azcona , it was the first (¨Viva La Banda¨ was the second) comedy made about the Spanish Civil War and one of the most successful by the time , starring Alfredo Landa , José Sacristán , Adolfo Marsillach , Santiago Ramos , Guillermo Montesinos , Amparo Soler Leal and Musical Score by Miguel Asins Arbó who composed both films . ¨Biba La Banda¨ film has an acceptable cinematography by Domingo Solano and was shot mainly in Comunitat Valenciana with many locals as extras. And particularly in Alcira , Cullera , Oliva , València, Moguer, Huelva, Isla Mayor, Seville , Andalucía , and Villaviciosa Odón, Madrid

The motion picture was decently directed by Ricardo Palacios . Ricardo Palacios (2 March 1940 – 11 February 2015) was a Spanish actor, film director and screenwriter . Born Ricardo López-Nuño Díez in Reinosa, Cantabria , Palacios graduated from the Official Film School in Madrid as an actor and director . He debuted in the 1961 TV series Poly . He participated in about 150 films and television series, being mainly active in the spaghetti western genre, and he was also a recurring presence in films directed by Jesús Franco who here was producer and assistant . He starred as secondary a lot of of Spahetti/Paella Westerns , and played all kinds of genres including films as Cry Chicago (1969) , Nothing Less Than a Real Man (1972) , The Legion Like Women (1976) And in the Third Year, He Rose Again (1980) , Spoiled Children (1980 film) (1980), The Autonomines (1984) . After spending over a month in hospital with heart problems, Ricardo died on 11 February 2015 of heart failure
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