That old chestnut, the mistaken identity, is the basis for this whimsical 1930s-set Spanish comedy. The mistake in question is made by the inhabitants of the inappropriately named backwater town of San Hilario, a depressed community that has kept itself alive, as it were, by catering for the dead.
The eccentric townfolk are counting on the arrival of an old codger named Germán Cortes — who is willing to pay to be buried in San Hilario’s pretty cemetery — to revive their fortunes. But when Cortes dies en route and a gangster (played by Lluís Homar, last seen in the UK in Bad Education) with a sack of stolen loot turns up instead, confusion ensues. The laughs are a bit thin on the ground, but the hulking Homar is a watchable presence in this handsomely shot period piece.