Cinema
La ciudad no es para mí
Pedro Lazaga · 1966
Synopsis
Calacierva, a small village in Aragon. Agustín Valverde, an elderly widowed peasant who has never left his land, decides to go and live in Madrid with his son, now a doctor, his daughter-in-law and their daughter. The family mixes in good society, and the grandfather, frank and always ready to help, sticks out there so much that he soon becomes a nuisance. He also discovers a household in trouble: the daughter-in-law, who has a taste for luxury, is tempted by an affair, and the granddaughter leads a frivolous life with scatterbrained friends.
Context
The film comes from a play that the philologist Fernando Lázaro Carreter had written under the name Fernando Ángel Lozano, premiered in 1962 and performed some three thousand times in Barcelona by Paco Martínez Soria, who reprises his role on screen. Pedro Masó, who produced it and wrote the screenplay with Vicente Coello, doubted he would recoup his costs; the actor, more confident, offered to buy the rights from him. The film launched Martínez Soria's film career. Alfredo Landa, Gracita Morales and José Sacristán are among the cast.
Who it is for
A comedy of manners carried by its lead actor, whose humour comes from the clash between the ways of the village and those of the city.
Prizes and reception
The most-watched Spanish film of the sixties, with nearly 4.3 million spectators; Fotogramas de Plata for best performer for Paco Martínez Soria in 1966.
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