Bienvenido Mr. Marshall
To what do you owe this Sunday posting marathon?
Well, to Movie Night and to the ok-so-what-if-I-did-watch-a-movie-at-midnight freedom my new lifestyle affords me.
Bienvenido Mr. Marshall is on TV2 at 12:45am.
(Quickly, before you all suggest I ever so cleverly record it, so I can enjoy it at a less work-impactful hour, let me remind you that wanderers who quit good paying jobs to wander to Spain with a couple of suitcases do not immediately invest in DVD players.)
Bienvenido Mr. Marshall is a classic Spanish comedy (1952) about a small Spanish village preparing for the visit of 2 American officials who they expect to arrive bearing Marshall Plan gifts. It is without a doubt the cultural reference that most frequently flies directly over my poor little foreign head. I've heard friends quote lines from it; I'm reasonably sure I've heard them break into song about it. I can't possibly guess how many times my bewildered stare has been met by a giggly, out of breath "What? Haven't you seen Bienvenido Mr. Marshall?"
Well, tonight, gods of autonomía (self employment) be praised, I shall.
A brief summary from the New York Times:
Bienvenido Mr. Marshall is a comedy predicated on the Marshall Plan, which provided American financial aid to deserving European communities. When two Marshall-Plan representatives announce plans to drive through a small Spanish town on the Iberian peninsula, the mayor, in cahoots with a publicity agent, intends to make as good an impression as possible. As a result, all signs of Western culture are hidden, and the town is transformed into a picture-postcard version of Old Iberia. As the townsfolk await the arrival of the Americans, each citizen conjures up visions (mostly inaccurate) of what life might be like in the good old USA. The satirical thrust was misinterpreted as "leftist" by some observers when the film opened at the Cannes Film Festival.
And the NYT review.
C'mon 1245. C'mon 1245....
Well, to Movie Night and to the ok-so-what-if-I-did-watch-a-movie-at-midnight freedom my new lifestyle affords me.
Bienvenido Mr. Marshall is on TV2 at 12:45am.
(Quickly, before you all suggest I ever so cleverly record it, so I can enjoy it at a less work-impactful hour, let me remind you that wanderers who quit good paying jobs to wander to Spain with a couple of suitcases do not immediately invest in DVD players.)
Bienvenido Mr. Marshall is a classic Spanish comedy (1952) about a small Spanish village preparing for the visit of 2 American officials who they expect to arrive bearing Marshall Plan gifts. It is without a doubt the cultural reference that most frequently flies directly over my poor little foreign head. I've heard friends quote lines from it; I'm reasonably sure I've heard them break into song about it. I can't possibly guess how many times my bewildered stare has been met by a giggly, out of breath "What? Haven't you seen Bienvenido Mr. Marshall?"
Well, tonight, gods of autonomía (self employment) be praised, I shall.
A brief summary from the New York Times:
Bienvenido Mr. Marshall is a comedy predicated on the Marshall Plan, which provided American financial aid to deserving European communities. When two Marshall-Plan representatives announce plans to drive through a small Spanish town on the Iberian peninsula, the mayor, in cahoots with a publicity agent, intends to make as good an impression as possible. As a result, all signs of Western culture are hidden, and the town is transformed into a picture-postcard version of Old Iberia. As the townsfolk await the arrival of the Americans, each citizen conjures up visions (mostly inaccurate) of what life might be like in the good old USA. The satirical thrust was misinterpreted as "leftist" by some observers when the film opened at the Cannes Film Festival.
And the NYT review.
C'mon 1245. C'mon 1245....
Labels: an american abroad
posted by Erin at
9:16 PM
4 Comments:
I'm proud of you ... for embracing the best kind of lifestyle.
Here's to many more midnight movies of importance or simple bliss.
By
Di Mackey, at 8:15 AM
Later on came Nancy Gurruchaga, from Alabama:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnJnG0ltrw8
(From an 80's childrens tv programm called "La Bola de Cristal, which you may have heard from if you meet spanish 30 something)
By
Anonymous, at 8:44 PM
Alex, that's hysterical! Is it really fromm a children's programme? It reminded me of British show, Benny Hill, for eg.
(And ok, she looks a bit like an aging 80s Southern Belle, but they sound British, not American... don't you agree? The accent and the laugh---British British.
Thanks for the link. Pato's always posting youtube links. I need to get over to youtube and wander around...
Did you really watch that last night, that late?
I loved Mr Marshall.
By
Erin, at 10:45 PM
No, I didn't explain myself correctly, by later I ment many years later not after the film.
I'm glad you liked the film. I think it helps to explain us a little bit better.
Yes, it was a avant-garde mini space in a childrens programme. I don't think you could get off with it nower days though.
By
Anonymous, at 11:03 PM
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