Comedy, migration and post-crisis anxiety in Perdiendo el norte/Off Course (Nacho García Velilla 2015) and Perdiendo el este/Off Course to China (Paco Caballero 2019)

Abstract

Comedy in Perdiendo el norte/Off Course (2015) and its sequel Perdiendo el este/Off Course to China (2019) is a tool for mitigating national anxieties related to migration and economic exchange following the global financial crisis. Both films follow Spaniards who emigrate in the wake of the economic crisis. While Perdiendo el norte follows a tradition of comedic españoladas (typically Spanish films), employing the familiar foil of Germany, Perdiendo el este introduces China as an economic challenger. Perdiendo el norte borrows heavily from its predecessor, Vente a Alemania, Pepe/Come to Germany, Pepe (1971), but ultimately flips the script on Vente’s nationalist nostalgia, advocating for greater transnationalism. Perdiendo el este, on the other hand, reinscribes a nationalist agenda by framing the Chinese as incompatible with Spanish national identity. Its preoccupation with Chinese investment in post-crisis Spain can be read as a reflection of the region’s angst about its own economic and cultural capital in the twenty-first century.