In his youth, Berlanga studied law and philosophy, but in 1947 he decided to enter the Institute of Cinematographic Investigations and Experiences [es] (Instituto de Investigaciones y Experiencias Cinematográficas) in Madrid.

[14] Characteristic of his films are their sense of irony, the satires of different social and political situations and the use of the long take full of superimposed characters and dialogues.

[16] During the Francoist State, his ability to outwit the censors allowed him to make daring projects such as The Rocket from Calabuch (1956), starring Edmund Gwenn,[17] and Miracles of Thursday (1957), with Richard Basehart in the lead role.

[21] In 1973 he filmed Grandeur nature [fr] (Life Size, 1974), a French-Italian-Spanish coproduction about a married man (Michel Piccoli) who falls in love with a female mannequin, which was not released in Spain until 1978 due to Franco's censorship.

[26] Other films include the period comedy Boyfriend in Sight (1954), the Argentine production Las Pirañas (1967), and Moors and Christians (1987), his last collaboration with Azcona.

"[34] His accolades also include the National Cinematography Prize [es] (Premio Nacional de Cinematografía) in 1980[35] and the Italian Commendatore Order,[36] the Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts (Medalla de Oro de las Bellas Artes) in 1982,[37] the Number One award for European cinema at the EuropaCinema [it] film festival in Rimini in 1985,[38] the membership at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando in 1988,[39] the honorary doctorate of the Complutense University of Madrid in 1989,[40] the Goya Award for Best Director for his 1993 comedy Everyone Off to Jail,[41] the honorary doctorate of the University of Valencia in 1997,[42] and the Gold Medal of Merit in Labour (Medalla al Mérito en el Trabajo) in 2002.

The president of the Academy Álex de la Iglesia said "he changed my life", while the director José Luis García Sánchez would affirm that Berlanga "dignified an entire aesthetic tradition.

And noted that Berlanga was "one of the best representatives of the Spanish culture of the 20th century, a generation of great illusionists who knew how to survive in a sordid Spain with very strict censorship.

"[47] Berlanga had an influence in many contemporary Spanish filmmakers, which include Santiago Segura, Javier Fesser, Borja Cobeaga, Alberto Caballero, and Víctor García León.

[50] French actor Michel Piccoli, who worked with Berlanga in Grandeur nature (1974) and París-Tombuctú [es] (1999), said of him: "He's Don Quixote" and added: "Well, he could also be Sancho."

"[51] In 2008, Berlanga deposited in the Caja de las Letras number 1034 of the Instituto Cervantes an envelope containing a secret, which he asked not to be revealed until 12 June 2021, when the centenary of his birth would be celebrated.

[59] In December, the Spanish Ministry of Culture acquired the Berlanga Archive, made up of 74 boxes, containing photographs, scripts, correspondence, awards, drawings and personal objects.