''Atilano for President'' () is a 1998 black comedy film directed and written by (Santiago Aguilar and Luis Guridi) which stars

Manuel Manquiña Manuel Prieto Comesaña (born 2 August 1953), known artistically as Manuel Manquiña, is a Spanish actor from Galicia. Biography Manuel Prieto Comesaña was born on 2 August 1953 in Vigo. He began his career in 1982 in several television co ...

alongside

Ramón Barea José Ramón Barea Monge (born 13 July 1949), known as Ramón Barea, is a Spanish actor. Biography José Ramón Barea Monge was born in Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Bis ...

and Laura Conejero.

Plot

A group of bankers find low-key funeral worker and conman Atilano an apt prospect for becoming President of the Government, so the interests of the

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

and

Big Business Big business involves large-scale corporate-controlled financial or business activities. As a term, it describes activities that run from "huge transactions" to the more general "doing big things". In corporate jargon, the concept is commonly ...

be safeguarded.

Cast

Production

The film is a Shangri-La PC, DMVB Films, and Fabrica de Imagens Spanish-French-Portuguese co-production. It was shot in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

in 1998.

Release

Distributed by Cine Company, the film was released theatrically in Spain on 25 September 1998.

Reception

Jonathan Holland of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' deemed the film to be a "an energetic, Berlanga-esque take on

Spanish politics The politics of Spain takes place under the framework established by the Constitution of 1978. Spain is established as a social and democratic sovereign country wherein the national sovereignty is vested in the people, from which the power ...

’90s style".

References