We know of Sergio that he killed his parents when he was a minor; that he has just been released from prison and that the police have been monitoring the house with cameras with which he is trying to redeem himself if something bad should happen. But the guy (Aron Piper) doesn’t give up. He speaks only in front of his spiritual director, a Protestant pastor. It’s the premise of El silencio (Netflix, premieres Friday), the new film by Aitor Gabilondo (San Sebastián, 49 years old). The producer who grew up with the limited productions of the 1990s (Journalists or The Inspector: “You had to find excuses to get the news or the crime into the newsroom or the police station because there was no money for outside shooting”), he is today , thanks to Patria or Entrevías, one of the great Spanish companies of Spanish television in the age of streaming.
Questions. Silence speaks of the influence of evangelicals in Spanish society. Did you see a massive pull ingredient there?
Answer. Since the pandemic, people have needed answers. And when life is no more… Sergio, the protagonist, has few arguments to support his own life, so he turns to magical thinking. And there are a lot of magical thoughts lately.
Q Didn’t you think it was an extreme protagonist?
R We spoke to a man who had killed someone when he was a minor. He told us, “Only my wife and my parents know what I did.” He has an entire work and friendship circle that is unaware of his violent past. He’s reintegrated, he’s got a life, a son… And they don’t know anything. He would like to say it to be at peace, but he knows that if he says it, the way he looks at him will change.
Arón Piper, in a moment of the first episode of “El silencio”.LANDER LARRAÑAGA/NETFLIX (NETFLIX)
Q Can we reintegrate well in Spain?
R What to do if you don’t believe in reintegration? I believe in culture, in education, in dealing with emotions. That’s what this character is about. And, well, all men. Like everyone else, I am also, how do you say, questioned myself.
Q As?
R Deconstructing myself, listening to what is being said, reviewing my own life.
Q And what did you discover?
R There is a first moment of instinctive self-defense. “But what have I done?” I think it makes sense. You were so calm and suddenly everything is wrong. Once you’ve recovered from the shock, say, “Yes, it’s true.” In the world of television, if you’re male, white, and straight, you have it easier no matter how you act. It bothers you a bit because you’re thinking, “With what I’ve struggled with, with what it’s cost me…”. But you learn to see the women around you how complicated it is for them and what are you going to do? Embrace it and leave room.
Q Is that why you produce series for others?
R others and others. Also, they called my series Aitor Gabilondo series and, man, I’m not Danone, I’m a person.
Q What other stories would you like to see?
R By immigrants. People who come from abroad and are in Spain. We’re used to seeing them in France or England, and although there are novels here, they don’t have series or films. How they experience our reality, what their reality is, if there are ghettos if not… I would like to see it.
Q In the end, he will be better known as a producer than as a screenwriter.
R It makes me angry… I would have loved to be a writer and that’s it. Stay on the fringes, publish in impedimenta, and defend super-radical authorship.
Q What happened?
R What did I have to eat?
Q And now look at the triumph that sends you.
R Success is always suspect. “Well, if it’s very, very successful, it’s not very good.” You have to assume they’ll always say it.
Q And what do you think?
R This public success in certain environments is underestimated. If you do poorly, you have the reputation of the person who does poorly. That gave me a certain reputation, especially in the beginning.
Q Does success always lead to failure?
R Whenever you do one thing, do the opposite. Whoever invented airplanes also invented air crashes.
Arón Piper, in a moment of the first episode of “El silencio”.LANDER LARRAÑAGA/NETFLIX (NETFLIX)
Q Today’s television is criticized for increasing the number of series, but the increase in quality is a different story.
R We’ve gone from 12 series a year to 100; Some reach a lot of people and make it possible to make, I don’t know, self-defense, cardo, self-adhesive tape, which I really liked and wouldn’t even have existed seven years ago. It would have been a short film or a film that 12 people would see. Are you still a minority? Yes, but they are ongoing. There will always be more pizzerias than fancy restaurants.
Q With everything going so fast, does that make you think they’ll be replacing you anytime soon?
R I’m not an athlete, I don’t break records. And even less so in this country where the sport is throwing the goat from the top of the bell tower. Raise someone up high to drop them down. Moreover, it is not that someone comes to do something, but that there are already many doing a lot.
Q Does your last name give you a competitive advantage?
R My name is Gabilondo because of my father who is a butcher. Just by doing more intense shows, especially Homeland, maybe they associate me more with my uncle [el periodista Iñaki Gabilondo].
Q Did Patria take the time to come out in this interview?
R It always comes out in the end. It was an emotional and intellectual journey, intense. The normal thing about television is that there are no expectations. With Patria, there were problems that went beyond the artistic adaptation: they were ideological and emotional in nature. And that, well, weighs. It is a backpack that cannot be abstracted from. I started the series with doubts and ended it with even more doubts about whether it was worth it.
Q Because?
R Because it didn’t matter what he did. The offices have been determined. That leaves a bad aftertaste.
Q Have you lost the desire to make committed series?
R We have to continue with that because if done well they are addictive even if initially they have less audience than the commercial ones. We miss the Spanish Argentina of 1985: state terrorism, state torture, an uncomfortable series. It’s important to do it.
Q Better than a documentary?
R I think fiction helps to understand reality. They see Chernobyl and believe it more than the thousands upon thousands of articles that have been written on the subject. Because there are emotions, there are characters, there is no obvious language, you let the viewer draw conclusions. That makes me think a lot about the responsibility we have.
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