When he was young, Berlanga decided to study law and then philosophy, but in 1947 he decided to enter the Institute of Cinematographic Investigations and Experiences (Instituto de Investigaciones y Experiencias Cinematográficas) in Madrid.
In his youth he enrolled in the Blue Division in the Eastern Front of World War II to avoid his father’s execution as a Republican politician.
His film debut as a director in 1951 was That Happy Couple in which he worked with Juan Antonio Bardem.
Alongside with Bardem, he is considered to be one of Spain’s film renovators after the Spanish Civil War.
Several of his films deal with chapters of Spanish history, such as Welcome Mr. Marshall! or The Executioner.
Bardem and he cofounded a film magazine, “Objetivo,” in 1953, and it existed until 1956.
He had teamed seven times with the screenwriter Rafael Azcona.
His films are marked by a sense of irony and the satires of different social and political situations. During Franco, his ability to outwit the censors allowed him to make daring projects such as Miracles on Thursdays.
In 1968, he was head of the jury at the 18th Berlin Film Festival.
In 1986 he received the Prince of Asturias Award for Arts and in 1993 the Goya for best director for Everyone to Jail!
His film Plácido was nominated in 1961 for Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.
He received the Gold Medal for Fine Art (Medalla de Oro de las Bellas Artes) in 1981, Spanish National Cinematography Prize (Premio Nacional de Cinematografía) in 1980, and has been named member of the Italian Commendatore Order.
Berlanga won international prizes at several film festivals: Cannes, Valencia, Montreal, and Berlin.
At the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, he won a prize as one of the world’s ten most prominent directors.
Filmography as director
Welcome Mr. Marshall! (¡Bienvenido Mister Marshall!) (1952)
Esa pareja feliz (1953) co-written and co-directed
Novio a la vista (1954)
Calabuch (1956)
Miracles on Thursdays (Los jueves, milagro) (1957)
Plácido (1961)
Las cuatro verdades (1962)
El Verdugo (1963)
Las Pirañas (aka La boutique, in Spain) (1967)
¡Vivan los novios! (1969)
Tamaño natural [es] (1973)
La escopeta nacional (1977)
Patrimonio nacional (1981)
Nacional III (1982)
La vaquilla (1985)
Moros y Cristianos (film) (1987)
Everyone to Jail! (¡Todos a la cárcel!) (1993)
París-Tombuctú (1999)
El sueño de la maestra (2002)
Filmography as actor
Días de viejo color (1968) (actor)
No somos de piedra (1968) (actor)
Corazón de bombón (2000) (actor)
Hola Artemio (2001) (actor)
Strangers to Themselves (Extranjeros de sí mismos) documentary (2001) (actor)