So it was ... The Eagle moves 2021. Historical and heritage film series

If at the present time, proposing a mixture of genres, is something not only accepted but also desired, in the case of Edgar Neville's Carnival Sunday, it is presented as a clear antecedent of Spanish films that navigate through different codes. In this way, Carnival Sunday is a mixture of police films, comedy, farce, intrigue, and even horror, in a clear love letter to Madrid.   

Carnival Sunday is a black and white film, but in it you can guess a very specific color, that of Solana's paintings that portray those carnivals from the beginning of the last century, but also that of the Goyesque burials of the sardine or the pictures related by Galdós. And that was the goal of Neville, one of the best directors of our cinema, who with this film addresses the so-called criminal-manners trilogy composed of the fundamental The Crime of Bordadores Street, the wonderful The Tower of the Seven Hunchbacks, and the film that occupies us, by the way, for many experts, one of the best titles of our cinema.

Neville addresses a direction in which different aspects enter in an eclectic way, such as the portrait of the Rastro streets, with a very Dickensian air, sketches of neorealism, and a Viscontian touch, a certain aesthetic of German expressionist cinema, and always a vocation of entertainment cinema. The underworld world, in a Madrid of poverty and moneylenders, of picaresque, hustle and bustle and secrets. Perhaps echoes of the portraits of poverty present in Chaplin, whom Neville had met in Hollywood. 

The story told by Neville is contextualized in three days of carnival in 1917, but it is shot at a time when carnivals are prohibited by Franco, a question that reaches the Palacio del Pardo and is debated in the council of ministers itself. But, Neville was a very well connected man, so in this case the movie was not banned / censored.

The poster for Carnival Sunday is headed by Conchita Montes, then Neville's partner, a cultured actress, highly educated, and who had the virtue of filling and snatching the scene from the rest of the cast. And he is accompanied in the lead by Fernando Fernán Gómez, in a really well used role, which shows the immense interpretive possibilities of the actor. In this case, Fernán Gómez is the policeman who is lucky enough to solve the crime, and the first thing he does is fall in love with the daughter of the main suspect, which leads him to contradictions and motivations in his company, very well drawn in looks and gestures in a brilliant performance. Good chemistry between Montes and Fernán Gómez, highlighting some moments of great humor. 

Also noteworthy is the work of the rest of the cast, where Julia Lajos and Guillermo Marín stand out, as well as Manuel Requena, Joaquín Roa and Alicia Romay.

It certainly works Carnival sunday to make a portrait of Madrid at the beginning of the last century, little idealized, quite realistic, and with a shadowy point of darkness. And although some of the most traditional aspects of the film, such as the world of corralas, is recreated in sets on the set, in this case in the disappeared CEA Studios, the exteriors do give us an idea of ​​how the streets and squares were. and surroundings of the city. Thus we can appreciate the appearance of the Ribera de Curtidores, the Pradera and Hermitage of San Isidro, the Plaza del Cordón, or the Rastro and the Plaza de Cascorro, in that spring of 1945, which is when the film was shot. 

If El Rastro has been portrayed by different filmmakers, highlighting names such as Pedro Almodóvar, the streets of Madrid de los Austrias, they are present in other Neville films such as The seven hunchbacks's tower o The last horse, this one starring Fernán Gómez, or other genres such as comedy, with The white dove o Bajarse al moro, the horror with Screams in the night o Justin, a murderer of the third age, or co-productions like the Terence Hill / Bud Spencer adventure, And if not, we get angry. Madrid is an immense natural set, present in hundreds and hundreds of films, in which Neville was one of the main authors of the fundamental filmic portrait of the city. 

The critics of the time pointed out Fernando Fernán Gómez, and perhaps reproached, that Mambrú if the war was over It was the first time that the filmmaker took a risk, that he showed his personal vision as a director. Until then there was the proven trade, in titles as remarkable as The strange journey, and here was the implication. In any case, we are facing a rough and uncomfortable work, but it is necessary to remember.   

The song "Mambrú went to war" has been one of the most popular, especially in the female children's world. A French nursery rhyme, "Marlbrough s'en va-t-en guerre", popularized in the days of Louis XVI, and which satirically left the Englishman, John Churchill, for dead by his French enemies. But he was not dead, as is the case with the protagonist of Fernán Gómez's film.

A regular at Café Gijón, the screenwriter Pedro, Perico, Beltrán, called by his acquaintances as "the last bohemian", narrates in the libretto of Mambrú if the war was over, precisely the story of someone who has been presumed dead and is not. Although in this case, it places the action in Spain, in the last days of the Franco regime, and around the circumstances of "the moles", the republicans hidden after the Civil War.

Beltrán had previously written scripts for Fernán Gómez, the feature film The strange journey, in 1964, and the series The rogue, ten years after that. Both brilliant works, like that of Mambrú if the war was over, although on this occasion there was talk of other types of political and social connotations. 

When Fernán Gómez approaches the script, at first, he opts for comedy. But as he works on the text he finds two options: either to load the accent on the humorous part or the pathetic part. And he raises the dilemma to the screenwriter and producer, stating that personally he found more sincerity in the dramatic. And so it was done, that's why Mambrú if the war was over, despite swimming at times in the world of comedy, falls on the dramatic side, to the sour point, and on the other hand, real, possible. 

Fernán Gómez pointed out over and over again about this film, that it was not about talking about politics, but about morality and ethics. In fact, here a good part of the characters go wrong, both those of ideology, let's say, of the right, and those of the left. Even more accentuated if possible, in the latter, characters who raise ideals and finally show the greatest moral misery. It is a portrait of a person who is not interested in remembering, a living dead, or without an identity, the worst of sentences. 

One of the most powerful aspects of Mambrú if the war was overIt is its cast, which works very well, in a cohesive way. Emma Cohen, as the capricious daughter, María Luisa Ponte, more comical, in the sister of the "not deceased" who speaks with him through medium sessions, or the grandchildren played by Jorge Sanz and Nuria Gallardo, who represent that new generation disbelieving. But above them stands out, Fernán Gómez aside, who is wonderful as always, María Asquerino as the long-suffering "not a widow", and especially, Agustín González, in the role of the son-in-law, an ambulance driver, as mean as he is terrifying. 

The film won several awards. Among these, the Goya of the Academy for the best leading actor, Fernando Fernán Gómez, as well as the nomination for Agustín González as best supporting actor and Pedro Beltrán for the script, in the first gala in the history of the awards, that of 1987 Similarly, Fernán Gómez, received the Fotogramas de Plata for best film actor, while Jorge Sanz had also been nominated in the same category. The film was also awarded at the Figueira de Foz and Cartagena de Indias international festivals. 

One of the collaborators that Fernán Gómez trusted when choosing natural settings was the decorator Julio Esteban. Perhaps he influenced the choice of Algete to shoot the film, but surely it also influenced the fact that Fernán Gómez himself lived in a neighborhood in the town.  

In this way, apart from the sets shot in the studio, such as the cave, the natural interiors and exteriors of Algete were used for the filming of Mambrú if the war was over, as is the case of the Plaza de la Constitución, with the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption (XNUMXth century) or the Town Hall, as well as other streets. 

Algete has been linked to cinema since films from the XNUMXs, such as Holy Queen, having also filmed Fernán Gómez, Witch, more than a witch !. Near the urban nucleus is the farm and palace of Zarzuela del Monte, where films such as The Fox o The French garden, as well as the set of an American fort, used for the filming of westerns such as Half Blood o The Mounted Police Charge, disappeared today. 

Being an absolutely fascinating period, it seems that Spanish cinema until Shear, he did not have much interest in tackling the Enlightenment, the Age of Enlightenment. Finally it is done with this production as luxurious as academic. A film that can be seen as a neat vintage portrait, or go a step further, and read a contemporary parable of Spain in the late eighties. 

When the director Josefina Molina, after having done such interesting works as Teresa of Jesus o Night Function, re-rereads the play by Buero Vallejo, “A dreamer for the people”, finds another reading in a social political key of the text, which can be captured in a film, and presents the company to producer José Sámano, with whom he had shared previous projects since his debut with Vera, a cruel tale. Together with Joaquín Oristrell, they put forward a script about the idea of ​​counting the forty-eight hours in which a powerful minister loses power almost due to an anecdote, after having tried to launch his particular utopia. The idea of ​​the absurd against reason, as well as power, corruption and envy.  

Set in motion, if something stands out about the project is the choice of the cast, absolutely luxurious, in which first names accepted small roles and in which the interpretation of Fernando Fernán Gómez as the Marquis of Esquilache stands out. The actor approaches a certainly Viscontian character, in a natural way and with many nuances, ranging from stupor to pure innocence, in that role of a serious and unpopular politician. The rest of the cast is in the same austere line of interpretation, perfectly characterizing the characters with small details and gestures, among which we could highlight the work of Ángela Molina, Adolfo Marsillach, Concha Velasco or Amparo Rivelles. 

Absolutely careful each shot, with an intimate atmosphere, excellently photographed, Shear has an exquisite direction of art and costume design, and makeup, here very important in the textures of the skins. The musical score, performed on this occasion with synthesizers, gives a timeless touch to the story, and updates it, being one of the references of the soundtrack, Vangelis's compositions, present in titles such as Blade Runner. 

The filming was not easy for Josefina Molina, so she said that, at the end of the last shot, she hugged Fernán Gómez to show him how grateful she was for all his help in the project. 

To the premiere gala of Shear In Madrid, in January 1989, held at the Real Cinema, the King and Queen Juan Carlos and Sofía attended. The film obtained two Goyas, for Adolfo Marsillach as a supporting actor and for Ramiro Gómez and Javier Artiñano, for the art direction, being nominated in nine other categories, including that of best actor for Fernán Gómez, who this time did not get it . Esquilache also won the Special Jury Prize at the Biarritz Festival and the Best Direction Award at the Latino Festival in New York, participating in the official section of the Berlin Festival.

One of the collaborators that Fernán Gómez trusted when choosing natural settings was the decorator Julio Esteban. Perhaps he influenced the choice of Algete to shoot the film, but surely it also influenced the fact that Fernán Gómez himself lived in a neighborhood in the town.  

In this way, apart from the sets shot in the studio, such as the cave, the natural interiors and exteriors of Algete were used for the filming of Mambrú if the war was over, as is the case of the Plaza de la Constitución, with the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption (XNUMXth century) or the Town Hall, as well as other streets. 

Algete has been linked to cinema since films from the XNUMXs, such as Holy Queen, having also filmed Fernán Gómez, Witch, more than a witch !. Near the urban nucleus is the farm and palace of Zarzuela del Monte, where films such as The Fox o The French garden, as well as the set of an American fort, used for the filming of westerns such as Half Blood o The Mounted Police Charge, disappeared today. 

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