A platoon of misfit Republican soldiers formed by lieutenant Broseta : Jose Sacristan, Brigade Castro : Alfredo Landa , Limeño : Santiago Ramos , ex-priest Carlos Velat and botcher Mariano : Guillermo Montesinos who wishes to find his girlfriend : Violeta Cela , all of them cross the front line to rob a bull that the National enemy has to fight on the village's patron-saint day . In addition , they attempt to spoil the Nacional celebration of the Francoist army at the popular square where to be jointed the local population to the noisy party . Along the way , they get caught in a lot of incidents . As they have to go through the Zaragozan village : Sos Rey Catolico and facing a series of silly misadventures , pursuits , confinements and misfortune .
Amusing film with full of disconcerting and dirty humor , dealing with a mismatched group of outlandish and deranged characters who go across the enemy lines suffering insane messes , misadventures , confusion , mayhem and nutty happenings . The film is a continous succession of incidents with no much sense , such as a procession in which our protagonists pose as religious people , the enclosure in a hidden place : behind a wall while the Republicans look for them , the bullfighting on the village Plaza , among others . La Vaquilla contains adequate production design by Enrique Alarcon , atmospheric cinematography by Carlos Suárez and evocative musical score by Miguel Asins Arbo .
Resulting to be a fun and entertaining war comedy written by prestigious Rafael Azcona and Luis García Berlanga himself about a Republican team going behind enemy lines and undertaking a series of unfortunate incidents before they can get back to their side . It concerns a serious and thorny theme : the Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 , here set in Aragon Front , during the famous Battle Del Ebro . This motion picture displays a nice cast with plenty of portentous Spanish actors who give sympathetic roles, interpreting attractive as well as pathetic characters . Although being a coral film stands out Alfredo Landa as brigade , a grumpy lieutenant performed by Jose Sacristan, bullfighter Limeño : Santiago Ramos , along great secondary cast filled with familiar secondaries, such as : Agustín González, Adolfo Marsillach , Amelia De La Torre , Rafael Hernández, Amparo Soler Leal , Maria Luisa Ponte , Juanjo Puigcorbe , Maria Elena Flores, Carlos Tristancho , Eduardo Calvo, Valeriano Andrés, Luis Ciges : Berlanga's regular , among others . This picture titled The Heifer or La Vaquilla was professionally directed by Luis García Berlanga and it had the highest grossing at the Spanish boxoffice , but far from other successes he made in old times as Bienvenido Mister Marshall , El Verdugo , Placido , Calabuch , El Jueves Milagro , Vivan Los Novios , Escopeta Nacional , and others . Rating : 5.5/10 , passable and acceptable Berlanga movie but very inferior than his past hits .
