In “La Mesías,” Veneno writers and directors follow, HBO Max US pickup, Spanish models Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrosi promise their biggest series yet, “a family drama near the end of the world,” puts it by Ambrosi, who chronicles the deep scars left by their trauma. childhood for decades.
In it, Enrique, in modern times, is deeply affected by watching a viral video of a Christian pop band of five sisters. Enrique himself still struggles with childhood memories of religious fanaticism and a mother with delirious messianic ambitions.
Sold by Movistar + Internacional, Movistar + Original is produced by Ambrossi and Calvo at Suma Content, the aggressively independent and internationally minded production house that Los Javis launched last year, as it is popularly known in Spain,
Part of the apocalypse brewing in late October was shown in scenes filmed in Macia, a traditional farmhouse converted into a family home, in the serene Mini Sierra of surprisingly forested hills an hour’s drive south of Barcelona.
diverse Meet them on set and get a taste of the unique shooting style of two partners that should definitely rank as one of the hottest acts in Spain’s entertainment business.
the scene
Hell has no fury like a Spanish mother. Lola Dueñas, “Veneno” star as a TV reporter, plays Montserrat, the mother of the family and the queen of tantrums. In the scene captured on the set, she conveys the news of a father’s imminent departure for her young daughters, aged 5 to 12. Many mothers do this kindly. It was not the case for Montserrat who wears a heavy fit, is tied to religious references, and leaves her children. Her unprofessional husband is a “martyr”. “You’ve got to do your errands,” Doñas roared. “I don’t have the strength.” Little girls are swaying. The first, the eldest, tries to comfort his younger sister; Montserrat returns to her bedroom in self-pitying disgust.
Heart of the material: childhood
“Mother or father, there is always someone who marks you forever, so you are always in a time loop: we repeat what we learned when we were young, and we look for it in different ways,” Calvo said, speaking during lunch. “It’s so hard to ignore what you’ve learned – I’m talking about education – the past reverberates in your body forever. It touches me in so many ways. As a son and a member of the LGBT community. The series talks about religion but as a form of education and that’s what makes it fun.”
no messias
Credit: Carla Ost
graduated scale
“La Mesías” isn’t just the story of Mother or Eric. It is a much wider range. The seven-episode series starts from the 1980s to the present day, and will also follow the lives of the older brother and little girls. We will follow life from childhood to adolescence, maturity, and sometimes even death. “It’s a very ambitious journey back in time and eras,” Ambrosi said. It does not involve any studio work whatsoever. 10 weeks out of 11 weeks into the first part of filming, the cast and crew were filming at 30-40 locations. If “Veneno” was that big, said Ambrosi, he extended his hands, “La Mesías double,” he added, double the distance between them. Movistar +, which is part of Telefonica – one of Europe’s largest telecommunications companies with revenues of €29.8 billion ($29.8 billion) in the first nine months – is a natural partner.
Photography is fun
So how does Javis act on the set? They spent a lot of time playing with child actors. They also laugh a lot. The scene they depict is full of pain: the mother slips into neurosis, opening the door to religious intolerance; The inevitable shock of young girls. But when Ambrose sat in front of the screen to check the footage, he was laughing with joy
Too young daughter on the raster performance. On-site brunch has a bit of a festive holiday camp air. Dueñas (“the sea within”) said the Javes have a certain way of directing live shoots, and they are connected. “They want everyone to be healthy, happy, give lots of love, and be totally committed. They bring out the best in you.”
mix type
However, there are other readings of Ambrosi’s laughter. He notes that Javis is always trying to do something different. The 2017 film “Holy Camp”, the first musical, was a musical. Paquita Salas, the first series to air from 2016, a major comedy show, the 2020 movie “Veneno” is biographical. Ambrosi said that “La Mesías” is “a heart-wrenching, emotional mystery story produced by two authors, each episode leaving questions and a desire to see more.” “But we never lose who we are,” Calvo added. The hallmark is the light found in any family drama. There is always something to make you smile.” Another type is the type cocktails. “We don’t like things to be just one thing. If you do a thriller, it doesn’t mean you can’t laugh or move. We love this mix and in this mix there is always one element that is our element and our element alone,” Calvo adds.
no messias
“Costumbrismo”
Costumbrismo – a detailed depiction of local, local, often rural life – flourished in the 19th century in Spain. But it has remained to this day. Part of the delight of “Veneno,” aside from what has been lauded as its accurate, authentic portrayal of transgender women and the transition, is the unbridled language of many of the characters and faithfully depicted, often chaotic habitats. ‘Holy Camp’ offers a lovable summer camp, where the light streams through the trees early in the morning. Ambrosi and Calvo screened seven Macias before choosing the person they shot for “La mesías”. His rooms are full of remnants of bourgeois respect and a rustic past – a large armchair and a sofa; A bookcase with kettle books that hasn’t been opened for decades; Art Nouveau glass tiled walls above the main entrance; White concrete Moorish arches form a second-floor facade – childhood waste: an old Barbie doll, a worn rocking horse, several smashed teddy bears: carefully rendered decor for a family on the slide.
high-end style
However, the elaborate Los Javes, sometimes brave in realism, uses a subtle style. La Mesías is no exception. A lot told in flashback, transmitted from period to period and filtered through (perhaps sometimes unreliable) memories of the main characters, past periods are depicted with the aesthetics of that time – 16mm and warmer colors. Ambrosi said the modern era is adapting itself to cooler, sterile aesthetics. Each character will have its own world, depicted in a different style; Episodes vary in genre, tone, and length: “some will be an hour or longer, others will be shorter, with comedic scenes, thrillers, drama, and even musical moments.” “When you mix past and present, the series becomes more than just a family story. It’s about the characters trying to reconcile the parts of their lives, deciding who they really are to see if they can recover from the past.”
So the Javi . Paradox
Realism, high style in Los Javes is one of the fruitful tensions. Another is combo control. “We know exactly what we want to edit,” Ambrosi said. They have to, given the massive narrative jigsaw they planned. Not for nothing, the development of the series, including research into the issues in question, took more than 18 months. But Javis then shot with two cameras, with Calvo instructing the children on how to act in the scene seen on the set. “I call it a moment of truth,” Calvo said, more than improvisation. “The thoughts you bring from home are enemies of what happens in a scene and they are real and surprising you can only be captured in that moment. I like to know what I want but also see how the actors, all of us, interpret it.”
[ad_2]
