Nice and amusing film made in 1987, Ricardo Palacios made this directorial debut with the comedy film ¡Biba la Banda! starring the great Alfredo Landa as Sergeant Pérez , and in 1997 he directed the TV-series La Banda De Pérez . During the Spanish Civil War on the frontline , Nationalist troops led by a commandant called Bonafé (Antonio Ferrandis who also starred other Civil War officer : General Escobar) , who is also musical conductor , live peacefully . Bonafé directs a military orchestra with the usual members : trumpet , clarinet , trombone , saxophone , cornet , kettledrum , triangle , xylophone, accordion , cello and flute . Meanwhile ,in a nearby village lives Encarna (Fiorella Faltoyano) with his daughter Verónica (Morales) who are about to be evicted by a land lord (Ricardo Palacios) . Soldier Agustin (José Sancho) , Veronica's boyfriend , flees from his headquarter to help them to harvest . Later on , there appear Sergeant Pérez (Alfredo Landa) and other band members . After that , a group of Republican soldiers (Miguel Ayones , among others) infiltrate the Nationalist side and attempt to blow-up a bridge . While the stressed commandant as band leader is on the verge of a nervous breakdown why the band has to play an important concert between Generals , authorities and a German delegation and the missing group doesn't appear and ruining the nationals' celebration .
Funny and entertaining War Comedy about a group of Nationalist who escape to help a mother and her daughter and have to go through a series of ridiculous and fun events before they can get back to their side . It deals with a serious and thorny issue : the Spanish Civil War , but here developed in comedy style , including several offbeat and nutty characters and grotesque humor . The film has a nice cast plenty of a plethora of portentous actors who give sympathetic characters interpreting attractive as well as pathetic roles , such as : the great Alfredo Landa as Sergeant Pérez here delivering an overacting , though he was Nominated Fotogramas De Plata Best Movie Actor . The serious/comical officer Antonio Ferrandis , a Nationalist Commander who has to deal with his undisciplined musical band and troops , and his sex-hungry wife played by Florinda Chico . José Sancho is a National soldier coming from a military camp across the frontline , where his girlfriend is about to be foreclosed . Fiorella Faltoyano , mother of Verónica , who has to hide the Nationalists . Oscar Ladoire as a Nationalist officer courting Commandant's wife against the stiff lieutenant Urquiza who is well played by Mario Pardo . Furthermore , the usual comedian Manuel Alexandre as a likable priest . The picture gives a hilarious rendition of how things might have been during the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) . This ¨Biba La Banda¨ was made in imitation to ¨La Vaquilla¨ it is a 1985 Spanish comedy film written and directed by Luis García Berlanga and Rafael Azcona , it was the first (¨Viva La Banda¨ was the second) comedy made about the Spanish Civil War and one of the most successful by the time , starring Alfredo Landa , José Sacristán , Adolfo Marsillach , Santiago Ramos , Guillermo Montesinos , Amparo Soler Leal and Musical Score by Miguel Asins Arbó who composed both films . ¨Biba La Banda¨ film has an acceptable cinematography by Domingo Solano and was shot mainly in Comunitat Valenciana with many locals as extras. And particularly in Alcira , Cullera , Oliva , València, Moguer, Huelva, Isla Mayor, Seville , Andalucía , and Villaviciosa Odón, Madrid
The motion picture was decently directed by Ricardo Palacios . Ricardo Palacios (2 March 1940 – 11 February 2015) was a Spanish actor, film director and screenwriter . Born Ricardo López-Nuño Díez in Reinosa, Cantabria , Palacios graduated from the Official Film School in Madrid as an actor and director . He debuted in the 1961 TV series Poly . He participated in about 150 films and television series, being mainly active in the spaghetti western genre, and he was also a recurring presence in films directed by Jesús Franco who here was producer and assistant . He starred as secondary a lot of of Spahetti/Paella Westerns , and played all kinds of genres including films as Cry Chicago (1969) , Nothing Less Than a Real Man (1972) , The Legion Like Women (1976) And in the Third Year, He Rose Again (1980) , Spoiled Children (1980 film) (1980), The Autonomines (1984) . After spending over a month in hospital with heart problems, Ricardo died on 11 February 2015 of heart failure
