On November 23, 2017, Berlin was shot. It happened at the end of La casa de papel if it had not come into contact with Netflix, and with an unexpected combination of elements that made the series, originally from Antena 3, a worldwide hit on the platform. When it was confirmed that Netflix wanted more seasons, those in charge initially thought about how they could continue writing stories for Berlin, the psychopathic villain that viewers had enjoyed so much. They decided the best option was to find him again through flashbacks showing his past. At that moment they knew that if there was a series derived from La casa de papel, he would be their first choice. Little did they know it, but this moment would mark the birth of the Berlin series. “Firstly because of the charisma of the character and because, surprisingly, the audience loved him,” explains Álex Pina, co-creator of Berlin and Money Heist.
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The production, which premieres on Netflix on December 29, focuses on the role of Pedro Alonso, that twisted psychopath who was the main voice in the hostage kidnapping at the Mint Factory, and moves into the character's past with the atmosphere of a blockbuster According to those responsible, the 1990s put him in a different situation than the public had previously seen him. “We let him do comedy and didn’t know how it would turn out. We had to measure the tone. When we balanced him, we saw that it was wonderful to make him the loser of a love triangle, to make him angry,” says Álex Pina. Because this time Berlin falls in love with the preparation of an economic robbery in an auction house. Of course he will do it his way, with surveillance and lies. “He's a psychopath, but he also functions as a great dandy, a Spanish Great Gatsby, a sybarite, an old-fashioned hedonist,” Pina continues.
Tristán Ulloa and Pedro Alonso, in the first episode of “Berlin”. TAMARA ARRANZ/NETFLIX
For the creators of Money Heist, leaving Berlin dead was never an option. “He's someone who creates a lot of things when he walks into a room, even if it doesn't have any lines in it, and those characters are hard to recreate. People on the street waved to him,” says Esther Martínez Lobato, co-creator of the two series. She remembers that in order to revive him, they thought of ways to do it, such as saying that he didn't die or doing it through a futuristic series where Berlin was a robot. They couldn't lose such character. “Charismatic villains are very pathological. You know this guy will entertain you because he has fewer red lines and will go further. It's much more fun to write to someone like that than to a real person. In the times we live in, we take risks as creators, but what is politically correct is usually boring. I'm sorry for the inaccuracy we will make, but we assume that we have to entertain the public. We are committed to being wrong,” Pina adds. So do you regret killing Berlin in the first phase of Money Heist? “No, I wouldn't delete it, it was very epic. And thanks to that, we managed this very difficult exercise of how to revive a deceased person,” says Martínez Lobato.
From left: Joel Sánchez, Julio Peña, Michelle Jenner and Tristán Ulloa, with the Eiffel Tower in the background, in an image from “Berlin”.TAMARA ARRANZ/NETFLIX (TAMARA ARRANZ/NETFLIX)
The shockwave that Money Heist created around them is so strong that Berlin executives confess that they are afraid of how fans of the parent series will receive their new fiction. “I am very curious,” says Esther Martínez Lobato. “The challenge was not to witness a flashback, but to give the viewer the feeling that it is a story in the present tense, that Berlin is alive and that these are the things that are relevant to him in another phase of his life happen that is more important.” shining. Now I'm very curious to see how it will be received by people who hope to see the dark Berlin and repeat the sensations they enjoyed in Money Heist. How long will they last, whether they believe it's a scam or whether they'll be able to participate in the series and enjoy it, respect it and understand that it's a different universe “explains the screenwriter. “It's a risky decision because the fandom always wants to repeat the same sentiments and may be disappointed, but we wanted to build a new universe,” Pina adds.
Álex Pina and Esther Martínez Lobato, photographed in a hotel in Madrid on November 30th. JUAN BARBOSA
The intention of those responsible was to separate themselves as much as possible from La casa de papel. For this reason, both the tone and the characters (with the exception of Berlin and the detectives Alicia Sierra (Najwa Nimri) and Raquel Murillo (Itziar Ituño)) are different. The new band is played by Tristán Ulloa, Michelle Jenner, Begoña Vargas, Julio Peña Fernández and Joel Sánchez. The screenwriters sought less density and darkness in their characters than those in La casa de papel. “As creators and viewers, we had to create something beautiful, beautiful and comfortable. “It was very gratifying to return to white comedy,” explains Martínez Lobato.
Pedro Alonso and Samantha Siqueiros, in the second episode of “Berlin”. TAMARA ARRANZ/NETFLIX
And of course love. Because if Berlin is anything other than the story of a robbery, then it is a love story. Love from different angles: from the disturbed Berlin love to the first love, the most carnal one that drives you crazy, or even the other extreme, heartbreak. “In the historical moment in which we find ourselves, we have decided to launch this defense of love that moves the world and gives you a little hope,” explains Martínez Lobato.
Even the setting of the story moves away from the parent series: from the closed and claustrophobic spaces of La casa de papel it moves to the landscapes of Paris. “We came up with multiple heists, multiple stories and multiple countries to take it to. I like that we did it in Paris, even though it seems cliché that love is reflected in Paris. We wanted to capture what Berlin is all about in one image, and with the Eiffel Tower in the background it becomes clear,” explains Martínez Lobato. This setting also allowed them to give the series a classic aesthetic, entirely in keeping with the landscapes of the French capital. “We also look for a classicism in Berlin's own clothing, inspired by the clothing of Jean-Paul Belmondo in the Nouvelle Vague. Classic clothes, the car is a shark, the hotels… everything exudes classicism,” continues Álex Pina.
Itziar Ituño, Rachel Lascar and Najwa Nimri, in the seventh episode of “Berlin”.CARLA OSET/NETFLIX
It wasn't easy to introduce white comedy into a character as dark as Berlin and into a universe as dense as Money Heist's. “Often in comedy we tend to belittle the intelligence of characters to create funny situations. But Berlin couldn't be too stupid in the comedy and not too clever in planning the robbery. This balance was so complex that after seeing some sequences in the montage, we reshot them and changed lyrics and even added a voiceover so that people knew what journey we were on from the first episode would. “, he explains. Esther Martinez Lobato. “In a suspense sequence, everyone knows where the tension is. But in a comedy sequence, your pitchfork is gigantic. In every country the comedy is different, it is very complicated,” concludes Pina.
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