The Heifer
La vaquilla is a 1985 Spanish comedy film written and directed by Luis García Berlanga. It was the first comedy made about the Spanish Civil War and the highest-grossing Spanish film in Spain at the time surpassing Los santos inocentes.
Plot
During the Spanish Civil War on the Aragón frontline the speakers of the Nationalist troops announce a festival in a nearby village which includes a bull run and religious procession. A group of Republican soldiers infiltrate the Nationalist side to steal the animal for two reasons; to ruin the holiday for the Nationalists and because their food stores are low.Characters
- Brigada Castro, a professional Republican soldier.
- Mariano, a Republican soldier coming from a village across the frontline, where his girlfriend Guadalupe remained.
- Limeño, a Republican soldier who was a bullfighter before the war. Chosen to kill the heifer, he is actually afraid of bulls.
- Lieutenant Broseta, a Republican officer who was a hairdresser before the war. He longs for his profession and threatens to punish failure with a complete head shave.
- Priest, a Republican soldier who almost became a Catholic priest. He still remembers many mannerisms.
- Republican Colonel
- Guadalupe, daughter of a Republican and girlfriend of the absent Republican Mariano, she is dating a nationalist Alférez.
- Nationalist Commander, has to deal with his troops and the local aristocrats.
- Juana, mother of Guadalupe, has to hide her Republican husband.
- Alférez, a Nationalist officer courting Guadalupe.
- The marquis is the local aristocrat. He tries to convince the commander to push the front so that all his enormous estate, falls in the Nationalist side. His "inherited" gout forbids him to walk.
Location