The picture is well based on real events , as the real and dramatic situation happened in the forties and the fifties , the increasing demand for housing in Madrid , motivated by the exodus to the capital of the inhabitants of rural areas in search for better conditions for living . The extreme poverty of the post-Civil War (1936-1939) forced several families to live crowded into small apartments for rent , dreaming of being able at the future to access their own homes in the dilapidated Madrid . It deals with the humble Rodolfo (Jose Luis López Vázquez) and Petrita (Mary Carrillo) are a couple of eternal boyfriends , they have no home of their own and each living in separate quarters and rented accommodation in buildings that should be left . But in the 50s in Spain was not as easy to access to a decent housing and the couple found themselves in dire straits to fulfill their dream , living in the process the most comical situations . While they are looking to have a little apartment (or "pisito", in Spanish dialect) to get better their life style . Unfortunately their low salaries and misgivings prevent them from acquiring one . Their hope is to inherit the rented apartment where he lives and whose legal tenant is the good heart mistress "Doña Martina" (Concha López Silva) , a sick old lady early to die . Soonafter , Rodolfo's co-workers urge him to marry the old and frail Doña Martina , who is the main tenant in the apartment he boards in . According to Spanish rent-control law , he could inherit the lease from his wife . Then , the elderly woman finally accepts and she puts the only condition to take care of her belongings and the other tenants . But Doña Martina , animated by her new matrimonial state , lasts to die.
Splendid movie that mingles black comedy , drama , urban conventionality , Francoist social habits , criticism and ¨Esperpento¨ . This is a piece of absurdity and nonsense , full of comical situations , family tragedy and strange happenings such as : some children throwing a wheel-chair man , a little boy on a potty while people eating , a cripple young running , among others . Filmed in long shots showing the crude reality by that time , its black tone causes to not be censored by the stiff censorship ; however , other films dealing with the housing shortage , such as : ¨Historias De Madrid¨ (1956) by Ramón Comas , ¨El Inquilino¨(58) by Jose Antonio Nieves Conde and ¨La Vida Alrededor¨ (1959) by Fernando Fernán Gómez were really censored . This is not the typical comedy by that time , here there is a brief social denounce about the repression , shortages , housing problems , dealing with family ambition and egoism . This picture surprises us for the boldness of the social criticism on the situation of the housing and poorness of the the 50s . The origin of this peculiar film "El Pisito" is in the original novel written by Rafael Azcona , this one integrated into a literary trilogy , being completed by "El Cochecito" also adapted by Marco Ferreri and "Los Muertos No Se Tocan , Nene". Here writer Azcona and filmmaker Ferreri give satirical observations of social conventions and the 50's Spanish way of life . ¨El Pisito¨ was badly premiered , it lasted long time to exhibit itself and had awful critics , as Ferreri was really criticized for his stridently bleak view of human nature . José Luis López Vázquez is the central character that moves the whole action , capable of bringing his role a humanity that goes beyond his grotesque portrait , giving a masterful acting , as usual . As most of López's career was synchronous with Francisco Franco's 36-year repressive regime, when it was almost impossible for Spain to create a vibrant film industry and for talented film-makers to express themselves freely, the majority of his films were conveyor-belt comedies and melodramas, strictly for home consumption . Of the remainder of roles there stands out Mary Carrillo as the harpy , ambitious girlfriend who is busily looking for an apartment , at whatever cost . Support cast give sensational interpretation such as Concha López Silva as the understanding old woman , José Cordero as the sympathetic surgeon , Ángel Álvarez as his job colleague , María Luisa Ponte as Petrita's sister with several children and numerous uncredited cameos from a young Chus Lampreave , Almodovar's ordinary .
This classy Spanish movie was compellingly directed by Marco Ferreri . In the 1950s and 60s, despite restrictions, a distinctive Spanish art cinema managed to emerge, led primarily by the directors Juan Antonio Bardem, Luis García Berlanga , Carlos Saura and Ferreri. Marco was born in 1928 , Milan, Lombardy, Italy and died in Paris , 1997 . Marco firstly was a salesman and then , briefly, a journalist. First foray into film work was filming commercials, and as promoter of a cinema magazine . Worked in Spain from 1957 as Ferreri comes to work in the Spanish/Italian co-production titled ¨Toro Bravo¨ (1956) by Vittorio Cottafavi and he meets writer and graphical humorist Rafael Azcona , and he then debuts as filmmaker in ¨El Pisito¨, following ¨Los Chicos¨ and ¨El Cochecito¨ all of them co-written by Azcona . Many of his films are sour comedies achieving successes thanks to his trademark caustic humor and sharp dialogue and he usually gives ironical remarks about middle-class sexual mores . He was at times criticised for his fatalism and black view point . He was a successful writer and director , especially known for ¨The harem¨ (1967) , ¨Dillinger is dead¨ (1969) , ¨Le Grande Bouffe¨ (1973) , "Don't Touch the White Woman!" (1974) ,¨The last woman¨(1976) , and "Tales of Ordinary Madness" (1981) , among others .
