Mark Ruiz (Madrid, 1999) we have seen him in movies and TV series such as ‘Cousins’ and ‘Las leyes de la frontera’. ‘Loop‘ And ‘Mothers: love and life’ And Michael of Arc (Madrid, 1965) is a playwright, screenwriter, theater and film director, and actor (he directed ‘Lalola’ and ‘La stick boba’ on television and was a translator for ‘El comisario’ and ‘Hospital Central’). And they are now the creator, co-director and protagonist of the series. ‘Tefía’s nights’, by responsive.
Airam, a shy and insecure boy who came to a concentration camp in the 1960s, is blamed by the actor in his life. a single sexual encounter With his first love. This is one of the characters that Miguel del Arco wants to represent those who come there for their different loved ones.
Miguel says he was afraid no one would want the show. Because?
Miguel del Arco: There were two considerations. First, it is difficult for us to talk about Francoism in this country. The topic of Francoism remains a thorny one, creating completely ridiculous symmetries that need to be respected, because there is still a part of the population that is dependent and flirts with a certain arrogance – because for me they would have to. keep quiet – even approving some positions that look cool. And the other, because, therefore, a priori, it’s a series about a concentration camp at a time when there is a trend towards fiction for fast-moving consumption and entertainment. While this is something not to be missed: fun does not contradict thought. So I thought they wouldn’t be interested. But I didn’t have to convince them.
There is drama because it has to be told and told, but there are also many moments of escapism. The audience is given a truce.
MA: It’s true that even though we’re not living in a dictatorship at the moment—fortunately—it does need a getaway. And these prisoners need to hold on to something that allows them to live. And humor appeared, which is an absolutely constant stamina of man. There are obvious examples, it’s definitely not an invention. There was a German concentration camp where they took the artists and continued their performances. It was important to me not to tell in a way that would not cause us to close our eyes. You had to find a medium for the audience to think: how awful but I want to keep seeing it!
When Marcos was offered this character, he would feel a great responsibility for what he represented.
Marcos Ruiz: A project like this shows that they will take care of it. Everything Miguel repeated about how he wanted to tell the story as it was and wanted to tell it the way he wanted to tell it without any difficulty, and that was it. And when you see everyone being so involved, you have a responsibility to do justice to the grain of sand you have to put into it. But when you start rehearsals, when you observe how they work, you get into character.
The character of Airam is assisted by La Vespa (Patrick Criado), a cheerful and experienced man in a concentration camp. Did the same thing happen to you with Patrick, a more experienced and extroverted actor?
MR: Yes, it was a great pleasure. We communicated without speaking, because the characters do not speak, they say everything with their eyes.
“Patrick Criado and I, who played La Vespa, were able to communicate without speaking”
True, it puts the burden of interpreting the character on the gaze..
Airam has a huge lack of self-confidence and is extremely lucky to have met La Vespa firsthand. And Charlie. Although La Vespa is even more the leader, because it attracts the group with its energy, optimism and strength. But even if he knows the group he’s relying on for survival, he finds it hard to trust. It prefers to be there and not make the mistake of opening up and getting hit again.
MA: I agree with Marcos that La Vespa is the leader of the group in everything that is vital to him. To live… to live at any cost. It’s the engine, and yet it says: Gentlemen, this needs to be carried forward. And here it is for everyone.
Miguel created three worlds: the black and white concentration camp and the colorful cabaret, and those from 2004 to the present.
MA: Already in the first document I sent to narrate the series, I said that I wanted the concentration camp part to be in black and white and the glowing colored part of the imaginary cabaret venue and it would be there. A more realistic color for 2004. It was one of the challenges for Atresplayer as it wasn’t easy. Without being recorded, you don’t know if the path to joining each of the worlds will be too slow or if it will flow naturally. And photography is brutal. It was absolutely necessary to seek beauty in this horror. We were looking for a formal beauty there, and once we’ve achieved that, it’s the beauty of the characters.
The colors behind black and white are not real. The flag of Spain was yellow and green.
MA: That’s part of the talent of the art team. So there is more contrast. Access stairs to the principal’s building are pistachio green. Like a flag. Because if it wasn’t, everything would be mixed up in a desert landscape. That’s how they painted the tomatoes green, blood, purple… It was a very fun contrast and a bit of a scratchy shot. It touched my heart when I saw a color photo from the shoot.
“For me, it was important for the audience to think how terrible it was! But I want to see it”
Marcos, I’m guessing you’d be shocked too if you saw that ladder. What made things easier for them was that they filmed the concentration camp first and then the cabaret.
MR: You forget the pistachio ladder, you get used to it and you accept the green yellow Spanish flag. The rest of the artwork was impressive. The first thing we saw was extras who weren’t dressed as prisoners yet, followed by the hole as seen in the series. And that’s where I had to go. I could see Patrick through the grille and hear him with some echo. He just needed the smell of pee and feces.
MA: There was no need (laughs).
They also needed to lose weight. Did it help you get into the role?
MR: Diet, like rehearsals, was a long process, but we got used to it. It gave us a drop of energy at first, but it became a topic of conversation between us. Like who got tofu and who got smoked salmon.
Miguel, there seems to be things that don’t change as they should, do you think it’s a necessary series?
MA: It is necessary to know where we came from. And even more, while there are many politicians who say that historical memory is not necessary. Rajoy boasted that he had not spared a single euro for himself. And Santiago Abascal said that Pride Day doesn’t make sense because as a heterosexual he has nothing to celebrate. It’s a lack of empathy, because the rights they want to underestimate are fundamental rights that are literally vested in the blood of many of our elders. It is meaningless to argue that neither steps back in the protection of fundamental rights nor the insistence that we should be constantly on the alert are meaningless.
Michael of Arc He wanted the barracks of the concentration camp to be eclectic, which he considered unrealistic because they separated homosexuals from “lazy and outlaws.” “There’s Charli, an alcoholicA victim of the Civil War and a man with a great culture.” But I wanted to tell the story through his eyes. ayram: “A very young boy who only had one homosexual intercoursebut the groom’s mother condemns it”. scooterHe is a spiritual leader with his optimism. I wanted it too a transgender: “La Sissi is a woman, but has not had surgery or transitioning.” There are also characters of those who had to live in closets during the Franco regime. “Like La Pinito who’s over 50, a big fluff, and everybody’s punching bag”