Welcome Mr. Marshall

Director: Luis García Berlanga Cast: José Isbert, Manolo Morán, Lolita Sevilla 1952, 75', black & white Spanish with Turkish subtitles

The witty, multi-layered and subversive Welcome, Mr Marshall – a watershed in Spanish cinema history – captures the intrigues of a Castilian village that rouses at the news that Americans, representing the post-WW2 European Recovery Program (the Marshall Plan), are due to visit. With the help of Juan Antonio Bardem and humorist Miguel Mihura, Berlanga transformed what began as a hymn to Spanish hospitality into a sinister critical farce about meek villagers and their incompetent leaders, as the local mayor kits out all the men in traditional Andalusian costume and the women as flamenco dancers. Ironically, the film missed out on a Cannes prize when jury member Edward G Robinson complained of its anti-Americanism.