The National Shotgun

The National Shotgun (original title La escopeta nacional) is a Spanish comedy written by Luis García Berlanga with Rafael Azcona, released on September 14, 1978. The film draws on a real incident from the Franco era: during a hunt in Ciudad Real on February 1, 1964, minister Manuel Fraga Iribarne accidentally shot Franco's daughter Carmen Franco with buckshot, an incident Franco brushed off as an ordinary hunting accident. Starring José Sazatornil in his first collaboration with Berlanga, the film won Best Film at the 1978 Círculo de Escritores Cinematográficos awards and became Berlanga's first major commercial hit in years. It's the first installment of the director's Nacional trilogy. Who it's for: anyone curious about the first film in a trilogy that satirizes post Franco Spain's business class, inspired by a real hunting accident from the Franco era. Who it's not for: viewers with no context on the period, since the satire relies directly on the political and social climate of the time.