La Petite Suisse

A charming remake of the classic Ealing Comedy "Passport to Pimlico", transported from wartime central London to modern rural Spain.

Compared to clumsy American attempts to remake Ealing classics (The Ladykillers), the Spanish do a much better job of recapturing the spirit of gentle British comedies.

Very funny comedy. Lovely characters. Great for family watching together.

"Little Switzerland" is located in Tellería, a fictional Castillian village but located in Basque Country tries become part of Switzerland after a surprising discovery. They find in the town's sanctuary, information that makes its inhabitants apply for membership in Switzerland. Discovering a medieval sepulcher, it seems to be the tomb of Walter Tell, son of legendary Swiss hero William Tell. Finding an ancient documents that prove the creation of Tellería (Tellstadt in English and rest of languages) as a gift given to Walter Tell after his help to the King of Castile Alfonso XI in a battle . But the government denies that request . While Gorka (Jon Plazaola) , in love with his co-worker, Yolanda (Maggie Civantos), but she has a Portuguese boyfriend and in the middle is Nathalie (Ingrid García Jonsson), a city council official and Gorka's friend since she was a child . Love and trouble over territorial identity are the bases for this comedy.

This enticing comedy contains emotion , humor , amusement and lots of jokes and laughs . This is a bemusing film that contains comical sketches , tongue-in-check , grotesque incidents , but above all , it especially packs humor and irony ; concerning interesting issues as the competition between the Spanish autonomous communities, the abandonment of the towns by the authorities, the governmental selfishness, and the Basque idiosyncrasy itself. The main premise is the following one : our protagonists get mixed up in all kinds of absurd , hilarious and even romantic incidents when a fictitious little town, Telleria , which wants to belong to the Basque Country and after Switzerland, resulting to be the best scenes : the publicity spot of the town to introduce us to Switzerland. In Spanish comedy, a subgenre is being born based on cultural confrontation as the center of humor. Basques, Galicians, Andalusians enter the gags of this trend that includes films such as "Ocho apellidos vascos" (Spanish Affair) and "Perdiendo el norte" (Off course) . Sometimes, the political reality of a country collaborates with the scriptwriters when it comes to creating movies and here the hilarious situations happen between Basques and Castilians , causing laughter enough . The difference between one idiosyncrasy and another is usually exploited to tell light and absurd stories, where making fun of the other is paramount . The film moves in fits and starts most of which would be desirable, with more traps the viewer resists any kind , and moments of enjoyment and others quite a few embarrassing . This enjoyable Spanish comedy has humor , nice players , entertaining situations and lots of fun .The script isn't right, it's quite flat, but the ensemble cast ends up saving the film. However , the picture attempts to spread optimism about the events of life , culture differences and love , including its amusing sides . The roles in this film are all lovable despite being rather pathetic and silly. And here standing out a large number of notorious secondaries gving notable and sympathetic acting , such as: Ramón Barea , Secun de la Rosa , Antonio Resines , Anabela Teixeira, Maribel Salas and Kandido Uranga-Enrique Villén , both of whom provide the best comical moments. And of course the indispensable and always likable Karra Elejalde.

Kepa Rojo's direction is a bit sloppy, though acceptable, since he puts too many subplots on the board that make the main story confusing, but he also manages to make the protagonists constantly find themselves in trouble and that causes laughter in the viewer. This was his second sucessful film , the first was the unknown : El síndrome de Svensson . It fulfills its objective of making people laugh out loud, as long as the viewer does not think a little further. Rating : 6.5/10 . Worthwhile watching . You don't take any risks, but that's okay movie , it is not intended to deceive anyone. "Little Switzerland" is a comfortable comedy, with a continuous joke about geographical identity, which sometimes shortcomings on the repetitive side. The flick will appeal to Spanish comedy fans.

I thought it was a good comedy. The main cast works well off each other and the gags are well timed. The dialogue too. The relationships between the cast is believable. You wanted to see them succeed, be it a bit ridiculous. I'd say check it out.

Very funny. Especially for anyone who knows Switzerland. And/or possibly Spain.