''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 Spain , 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 ...

. The cast features Fernando Fernán Gómez,

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 Andrés Pajares Martín (Madrid 6 April 1940) is a Spanish actor, director, writer and comedian, in theater, film and television. He started as a comedian in 1968, and during his early career he mixed regular shows with theater performances bot ...

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, Pedro Ruiz and Rosa María Sardá.

Plot

The Planchadell y Calabuig, a family of turrón-makers from Xixona (

province of Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a province of eastern Spain, in the southern part of the Valencian Community. It is the second most populated Valencian province. Likewise, the second and third biggest cities in the Valencian Community (Alica ...

), travel to

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

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'' 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 of ''

El País ''El País'' (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. ''El País'' is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . ''El Pa ...

'' 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