Aug 4, 2020

Celedonio and I Are Like this (1977)


(Original Title: Celedonio y yo somos así) A Spanish Alfredo Landa flick about a humble country bumpkin who's tasked with going to the big city for a wedding.  Along the way, he gets to know the young bride, and things start to spiral out of control.



Celedono is the prize bull of Daniel Martínez (Alfredo Landa)

 Cristina (Josele Román) is his fianceé 

 They try to have a little nookie...

 ...but they are interrupted by the sight of the bull's raging hard-on.

 Cristina's brothers are bullies toward the meek Daniel.

So, the plot of the film is set: Sr. Contreras (Antonio Ozores) is to file wedding documents for Daniel's friend Antonio.  Daniel is to go to Madrid and serve as Antonio's proxy in the wedding, as Ricardo cannot be there.  It's a weird setup - but I presume proxy weddings are a thing.

Daniel meets the bride-to-be Araceli Palomeque (Emma Cohen), meeting her in a diner based on her photograph.  Cohen is a stone cold fox - we amazingly haven't encountered her yet on VZ1, but there are many films we'll cover with the sensational Cohen.

 Araceli prepares to go out for an innocent dinner with Daniel.

We find that Araceli isn't the good-girl we think she is.  And her roommate Vicenta (Florinda Chico) is actually a call girl. Oblivious and naive, Daniel gives her a sweet present.

He comes across a Playboy, and the ladies quickly snatch it from him.  This humble country boy wouldn't know what to think if he saw such a thing.

At night Araceli and Vicenta work at a cool bar - it's in a club that looks like a cave.  You can see Araceli isn't the good-girl she portrayed herself to be for Daniel. 

As luck would have it, Sr. Contreras and Daniel come into the bar.

 Araceli hides her face in the shadows.

A customer pulls her arm, almost revealing her face to Daniel.

The wedding day has arrived.

 Cristina and her brothers are in attendance. 

With the marriage completed, we find that Araceli didn't want to get married, and gets hammered drunk to drown her misery.

 Daniel is constantly manhandled by Cristina's brothers.

 We find that the groom Antonio González García (Ricardo Tundidor) is a bit of a creep.

 Vicenta shows them that Araceli is passed-out drunk.

 This is going to be a problem because they have to transport her to Antonio.

 Araceli is placed on a train, still KO'd.

You can see the uncomfortable situation arise as Daniel has to share a room on the train with Araceli. 

 This is insane. Araceli, still out-of-it, strips off her clothes, and complains of the heat.



 Daniel does put a nightgown on her (after taking her bra off); but restrains himself and goes in the other side of the cab.

Araceli takes a liking to this silly man.  His goodness is endearing.

 She tries to get a rise out of him, but Daniel remains strong.

 Things heat up, but Daniel can't betray his friend.

 Eventually it's too much and they have sex in the hay.

 Finally they meet Antonio.

 Araceli is deeply unhappy and discretely begs Daniel to do something.

 As they tour the sights, Daniel and Araceli argue behind Antonio's back.

 Sr. Contreras, Cristina and her brothers are also on the trail.

 Daniel finds Antonio being absolutely abusive towards Araceli.

 I'll be honest, I didn't quite understand how this epiphany came to Daniel - but he determines that the proxy wedding wasn't done correctly (?) and he is actually the husband of Araceli, not Antonio.

Daniel and Araceli celebrate. THE END



A really endearing, funny, and sexy story.  While the story is a tad ridiculous and tired, it's made up for by Landa's ability to be so likable and hilarious.  Emma Cohen is just totally fucking amazing, full stop.  I'm not a huge "romantic comedy" fan, but this one is about as good as that genre can get.
★★★★★★☆

No comments:

Post a Comment