''Moors and Christians'' ( es, Moros y cristianos, links=no) is a 1987 Spanish comedy film directed by

Luis García Berlanga Luis García-Berlanga Martí (12 June 1921 – 13 November 2010) was a Spanish film director and screenwriter. Acclaimed as a pioneer of modern Spanish cinema, his films are marked by social satire and acerbic critiques of Spanish culture under t ...

. The cast features

Fernando Fernán Gómez Fernando Fernández Gómez (28 August 1921 – 21 November 2007) better known as Fernando Fernán Gómez was a Spanish actor, screenwriter, film director, theater director and member of the Royal Spanish Academy for seven years. He was born i ...

Verónica Forqué Verónica Forqué Vázquez-Vigo (; 1 December 1955 – 13 December 2021) was a Spanish stage, film and television actress. She was a four-time Goya Award winner, the most award-winning actress alongside Carmen Maura. She had a knack for charact ...

, Agustín González,

Chus Lampreave María Jesús Lampreave Pérez (11 December 1930 – 4 April 2016), known professionally as Chus Lampreave, was a Spanish character actress who starred in more than 70 films. She is internationally known for her roles in films by Pedro Almodó ...

José Luis López Vázquez José Luis López Vázquez de la Torre MML (11 March 1922, in Madrid – 2 November 2009, in Madrid) was a Spanish actor. Career José Luis López Vázquez was born in Madrid, Spain, on 11 March 1922. He originally worked in theater as a costume ...

, Andrés Pajares,

María Luisa Ponte María Luisa Ponte Mancini (21 June 1918 – 2 May 1996) was a Spanish actress. She appeared in more than 130 films and television shows between 1952 and 1995. She appeared in the 1977 film ''Black Litter'', which was entered into the 27th ...

Antonio Resines Antonio Fernández Resines (born 7 August 1954) professionally known as Antonio Resines, is a Spanish film and television actor known for his performance in comedy films and series. Biography He was born 'by accident' on 7 August 1954 in Tor ...

, Pedro Ruiz and

Rosa María Sardá Rosa or De Rosa may refer to: People *Rosa (given name) * Rosa (surname) *Santa Rosa (female given name from Latin-a latinized variant of Rose) Places *223 Rosa, an asteroid * Rosa, Alabama, a town, United States *Rosa, Germany, in Thuringia, G ...

Plot

The Planchadell y Calabuig, a family of

turrón Turrón (), or torrone (), is a southwestern European nougat confection, typically made of honey, sugar, and egg white, with toasted almonds or other nuts, and usually shaped into either a rectangular tablet or a round cake. It is frequently c ...

-makers from

Xixona Jijona () or Xixona () is a town and municipality in the Valencian Community on the eastern coast of Spain. Turrón The town is famous for a type of soft nougat, known in Spanish as '' Turrón de Jijona'' and in Valencian as ''Torró de Xixona'' ...

( province of Alicante), travel to

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

to sell their product. Once there, they are approached by an image consultant.

Cast

Production

The film had a budget of around 200 million ₧. Filming began in

by May 1987.

Release

''Moors and Christians'' premiered on 23 October 1987 at the 32nd

Seminci The Valladolid International Film Festival, popularly known as Seminci (short for ; ), is a film festival held annually in Valladolid, Spain. First held in 1956 as ('Valladolid Religious Film Week'), the Seminci is one of the longest-standing fi ...

, screened as the opening film of the festival. It was theatrically released in Spain on 28 October 1987.

Reception

Fotogramas ''Fotogramas'' is Spanish digital and print film magazine which has been in circulation since 1946. It is one of the early film magazines in Spain. History Founded in Barcelona, it was first published on 15 November 1946 by Antonio Nadal-Rodó a ...

'' gave the film 2 out of 5 stars, deeming it to be one of the most disappointing films in Berlanga's filmography.

Ángel Fernández-Santos Ángel Fernández-Santos (1934–2004) was a Spanish film critic and screenwriter. Born in Los Cerralbos, province of Toledo, in 1934, he was the younger brother of Marxist philosopher . He studied for a brief spell at the in the early 1960s. As ...

of '' El País'' considered that what was a "state of grace" in '' Plácido'' had seemingly slipped into "a state of disgrace" in ''Moors and Christians''. He also noted that while Pajares, Forqué and Ponte's performances worked just fine, the rest of performances only worked intermittently or not at all.

Awards and nominations

, - , align = "center" rowspan = "4" , 1988 , , rowspan = "4" ,

2nd Goya Awards The 2nd Goya Awards were presented in Madrid, Spain on 22 March 1988. '' The Enchanted Forest'' won the award for Best Film. Winners and nominees Major award nominees Other award nominees Honorary Goya *Rafaela Aparicio Rafaela Díaz ...

, , Best Screenplay , , Rafael Azcona & Luis García Berlanga , , , , rowspan = "4" , , - , Best Supporting Actress , , Verónica Forqué , , , - , rowspan = "2" , Best Supporting Actor , , Agustín González , , , - , Pedro Ruiz , ,

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * {{authority control 1987 films Spanish comedy films Films directed by Luis García Berlanga 1987 comedy films Films shot in Madrid Films set in Madrid 1980s Spanish-language films Spanish-language comedy films