The Year of Berlanga

Berlanga, master of cinema

Luis García Berlanga was born in València, at number 13 of what was then Císcar Street, now the intersection of Conde Salvatierra and Sorní streets.

There began a life that from a very early age shone with an intense inner light. As a child, he asked the Three Kings (who are the ones to bring Spanish children their Christmas holiday gifts) for a projector, but what he found when he unwrapped his present was a toy camera. Such disappointment!

All he needed was to have a little patience before he would hold in his hands the projector which marked the beginning of a meteoric career.

In 1942–43, he attended the València School of Philosophy and Literature, but in 1944 he decided to undertake a career in the cinema. In 1946, he was accepted at the Institute of Cinematographic Research and Experiences (IIEC), entailing a permanent move to Madrid.

In what would be the first IIEC class, he met Juan Antonio Bardem, with whom he would make his first feature film in 1951: Esa pareja feliz (That Happy Couple).

This would be followed by ¡Bienvenido, Míster Marshall! (Welcome, Mister Marshall!), Calabuch, Plácido, El Verdugo (The Executioner) and others … so many titles that earned him critical recognition and the appreciation of his peers at Cannes, Venice and even in Hollywood. Discover his complete filmography.

12th June 2021 will mark the 100th anniversary of his birth, and in his native town, we will be celebrating this event as it deserves.

Berlanga's València

Following the trail of Berlanga through València is really very simple. It’s just a matter of sorting out a path that will take you along all those other personal paths that Berlanga trod and made his own through such films as París-Tombuctú (Paris–Timbuktu) and Los jueves, milagro (On Thursday, Miracle).

Rialto Cinema

Our first stop takes us to the area near Plaza del Ayuntamiento (City Hall Square). Specifically, the Rialto Cinema, now the Filmoteca de València (València Film Archive), where Berlanga most likely saw the film that would lead him to become a filmmaker: Don Quixote by director Georg Wilhelm Pabst. Berlanga frequented the cinema throughout his life, so often that one of the auditoriums bears his name.

Martí Alegre Building

The 1930s saw the opening of the Martí Alegre Building, formerly the Hotel Londres, which belonged to the filmmaker's family and became a temple for him. Despite trying to get out of it by pretending that he was involved in sport, the troops that paraded along the avenue Gran Vía Marqués del Turia enlisted him to go to war, sending him to the Russian Front. He would later serve as a nurse at the Battle of Teruel and a member of the Blue Division.

Old Modelo Prison

But back to València, where, for example, the old Modelo Prison, near Turia Garden, was the setting of his film Todos a la cárcel (Everyone to Jail). Berlanga not only came to film, but he also felt the need to connect with the terreta from time to time. The homeland of those boulevards where he would converse with anyone he came across. They might just as easily be an influential personality or somebody simply walking along.

Albufera Natural Park

From those return trips to València, there are still recollections of gatherings at the Hotel Astoria with his brother and other well-known artists of the time, including Antonio Ferrandis, José Luis López Vázquez and Toni Leblanc, and his rooms near the sea at the Hotel Recatí, near Albufera Natural Park.

Olympia Theatre

Berlanga is often quoted as saying that his films were highly theatrical, with characteristic elements of the Fallas Festival, pyrotechnical. Something made in València in every sense of the phrase. He was a regular visitor to the Ruzafa Theatre, the Olympia, the Eslava and the Alcázar.

Mercado Central

He would stop in to purchase red mullet, squid and charcuterie at the Central Market, where one of the aisles is named after him.

La Pepica

It was common to find him sipping horchata (tiger nut milk) or drinking chocolate at Casa Daniel, having lunch at El Rincón, enjoying tapas at Cervecería Madrid or ordering a nice rice dish at La Pepica.

Mestalla Stadium

He never missed the football and always visited Mestalla Stadium whenever he could to cheer on his team.

IVAM (Valencian Institute of Modern Art)

Bookshops, the Flea Market in Nápoles y Sicilia Square, the Círculo de Bellas Artes cultural centre, the IVAM (Valencian Institute of Modern Art), the Museum of Fine Arts and the Council of Culture were other places where the filmmaker spent long hours nourishing his appetite for culture.