Ocho apellidos vascos

This is indeed a very funny Spanish comedy, with good acting by all the leads, a solid script boasting plenty of amusing situations and dialogues that never become too over- the-top or superficial, and some beautiful shots of both País Vasco (Basque Country) and Andalucía (Andalusia).

A word of warning, though: This film plays with local accents and stereotypes, current and past Spanish politics, and memes that you will have to be familiar with ahead of time to understand the gags. It is also heavily reliant on how Spaniards envision Basques, thus limiting its comedic effect to Spanish audiences (or at the very least, people familiar with the aforementioned themes).

I, being a Spaniard, had no problem having fun with this film. As enjoyable as it was, however, I can't help but find it undeserving of being the most successful film at the Spanish Box Office of all time, considering all the great cinema and the superior films this country has created in the past. But perhaps it's not so much the quality but the timing of this film that has led to its success: This film makes you laugh and sends a message of unity and love despite our differences. This may just be what Spaniards need in such hard times.

Don't miss one of the funniest film of the year, for sure.Dani Rovira, a famous actor from El club de la comedia, (Rafa)has to travel to the Basque Country to follow Amaia, a basque girl he has met in Seville, despite of the advisements of his friends, who think he will fail in his attempt to seduce Amaia. Once there, he mets Anne, a middle aged lady from Caceres, who also lives in the Basque Country because she felt in love a long time ago, now she is a widow, and she will help Rafa when he wants to give up. We will met Amaia's father, a basque fisherman who hates everything and every people out of his land, but finally he accepts Dani like her daughter's boyfriend ans treats him like a real basque. Me and the rest of the audience spent and hour and a half laughing, and I guess you will do exactly the same.

Utter Tosh. A highly predictable dirge of a film taking stereotypical characters (lazy but cheerful Andalusians, defensive nationalistic Basques) and then placing them in situations to which you know exactly how it is going to finish. The comedy is supposed to be slapstick and an ironic look at the two distinct areas of Spain but it quickly becomes tedious and in places offensive. It's repetitive (proud Basque father, intimidated daughter, happy go lucky Sevillian) and would be fine as a five minute sketch. Despite this being one of the highest grossing films in Spanish Cinema, many Spanish friends of mine have also commented how "simple" and childish the comedy is. A case of the "Emperor's New Clothes" as there is nothing really here. Truly truly horrible.

8 BASQUE SURNAMES This romantic comedy was released in 2014 by the director Emilio Martinez-Lazaro. The main characters of this family-friendly film are played by Clara Lago, Dani Rovira, Carmen Machi and Karra Elejalde. It is a love story between two people who live in different parts of Spain, one is from the south and the other one from the north. Rafa, who lives in Sevilla, goes to Amaya's village for trying to make her fall in love with him.

This film is said to be the best Spanish film ever because it shows the different topics from each part of Spain, making us laugh about our defects. In addition, the actors have managed to learn different accents, which make it extremely funny.

On the other hand, it may be annoying for people from the north of Spain because of its jokes are about them. Although it is the funniest film I have ever seen, unless you're Spanish it's hard to understand.

When it was released, Spanish cinemas were very crowded, beating the record of the most tickets sold. I would recommend this terrific film to all Spanish speakers, I reckon you must watch this film at least once in your life!

I really enjoyed this. I'm a big fan of romantic comedies even though most provide many eyeroll moments. They can put a smile on my face, and this did. Very lighthearted. It plays into every romcom trope! From "we have to pretend to kiss" to "we have to share a bed", they had it all. Nothing is even close to realistic, and there's very little depth, hence 6/10 despite my enjoyment.

As an American, I took some time beforehand to read up on Basque country which really helped me get the jokes more. I would recommend this if you like romcoms, foreign films, and getting a taste of other cultures. (Really what WAS up with her hair though?!)