In the last two years of his life, Carlos Saura thought about and fell in love with Federico García Lorca. He combined this love with his documentary Las paredes hablanda and with other works, but in the background he had in mind a series, his series, about the artist from Granada. The project was called and bears the title Las voces perdidas (Saura seeks Lorca) because the momentum is maintained even though its creator has died. It’s supposed to be filmed in the fall. It might have been his last big job; Now his eldest son, Carlos Saura Medrano, has become the custodian of that legacy, six 50-minute episodes – each titled with a Lorca verse – scripted and most pre-production complete. There will be saura after saura.
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The series could exist during the lifetime of the filmmaker who died 10 days ago. But RTVE didn’t get involved in the project and Saura Medrano, then the main producer, decided to contact Antonio Pérez of Maestranza Films (Solas, La voz dormida), who got it going again. “My father wanted to direct the six episodes,” says his son, who is now committed to hiring five directors from among veteran and new-generation directors, where there are many creators who have defined themselves as Saura’s grandchildren. The sixth could be Saura Medrano himself. “So it would be a kind of homage to Lorca and my father.” The entire development was completed by the director of Cría cuervos and Deprisa, deprisa after two years of work both in pre-production and in the script together with Borja Echevarría and with the historical advice of Agustín Sánchez Vidal. Poet and businessman Alejandro Roemmers provides the financial impetus, the safety net that pushes the series to be produced without any platform or national television to back it up.
Carlos Saura, during the presentation of his theater show “Lorca de Saura” at the Ateneo de Madrid at the end of October.chema Moya (EFE)
In the dossier, Saura explained: “As the character is studied, the more material is consulted, however, a lesser-known surprise Federico García Lorca emerges; a nice charming guy, a good person and a friend of his friends […]. A cheerful man who suffered from acute attacks of melancholy and fear of death from time to time. Speaking of the series and its tribute, he pointed out: “Vital, curious and imaginative creator Federico García Lorca is an unknown figure to today’s youth and they would be delighted to address him if he is associated with vitality and… Vitality presents a modern pace. For this reason, I have structured the episodes of this series into different levels, both current and historical, that allow me to capture the attention of viewers who travel from one world to another, from a dream to a recreation.”
With the different shots, he refers to the four narratives that overlap: that of Ana, her protagonist, who is commissioned to create an audiovisual show combining theatre, music and biographical elements about Lorca; the second illustrates his relationship with his co-workers and with a rebellious teenage niece he has to take care of in present-day Spain; the third level consists of the recreations resulting from Ana’s work and finally there are the authentic episodes of the life of the artist from Granada.
Adrià Collado, right, as Lorca in Buñuel and King Solomon’s table (2001).
Antonio Pérez insists the scripts are “beautiful, with some wonderful female characters to guide the audience” who are now in the process of choosing the cast – although names have been mentioned during Saura’s lifetime – and finalizing the locations. “In addition, we are on the list of filmmakers who would like to contribute their talents to this tribute to two world-renowned figures,” explains the producer.
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Saura Medrano, who worked extensively with his father, recalls that the filmmaker particularly enjoyed rehearsals. “He loved this process of stopping, changing, shaping and adjusting. And improvise. And so the series exemplifies that work through the work that Ana does, and therefore escapes from the biopic. That’s what the Bardem series is for [Lorca, muerte de un poeta], which is very well done.” So he decided to change his approach. “Today, there is already a lot of information available to the public, so my father focused on the dramatic moments of Lorca that interested him the most and decided “to infuse them through the staging of the play. And with a young guide, Lux, Ana’s niece, because she wanted to talk about the mystery and fascination that the people of Granada can have for the new generations,” recalls her eldest son.” I was very excited. When we investigated we discovered his charm that he was a very nice guy. When Lorca entered a place, the place became Lorcan. He started out as a musician, a friend of Falla, and had to choose between melodies and poetry. And it cost him. He also suffered from the betrayals of friends and lovers.
For this reason, Saura Medrano emphasizes the pain at the murder of the poet and playwright: “Aside from the barbarity of the military coup and the injustice of every death, it is also true that Lorca has never killed a fly. He didn’t belong to any party, although he was always pro-rural.” And he explains about his father’s relationship with the man from Granada, which was already seen in the 2001 film “Buñuel and the Table of King Solomon”. the series and currently touring play Lorca de Saura: “He was so keen on Lorca’s world and it imbued him so much that when the project of the work was overstepped he accepted it. It’s almost childish about our profession: you get addicted, you get addicted and you believe it. You live it, you want to tell it well, and that enthusiasm made my father want to continue the series.
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