After industrialization brought economic activity to a standstill and disillusioned the residents of the fishing island of Santa María del Mar, their fortunes soon took a turn when an opportunity arose for a fish packing company to set up shop in the city. The only requirement: convince a doctor to move there. Germán (Memo Villegas), the island’s leader, mobilizes the residents to “fall in love” with the town doctor Mateo (Pierre Louis), who will be surprised to discover that his beloved American football happens to be the local sport and that his favorite Indian dish is a classic in the only restaurant in the community. And for Germán and the rest of the city, the sky is the limit when it comes to seducing Mateo and breathing life back into his beloved city.
“It’s innocent humor and for me it’s the coolest,” explains Villegas about The Great Seduction, a film directed by Celso García and co-written with Luciana Herrera, presented with the premise of the previous paragraph. The actor admits that his involvement in the project was tempting “at first glance” when he first read the script. “I didn’t read it in one go, but in parts over the course of a day. For me, if you laugh out loud while reading, that’s a sign that this is true. “This will work,” he explains.
Yalitza Aparicio, who was nominated for an Oscar for her acting debut for “Roma” (2018), plays Ana in the film and the story brought back memories for her of her time as a teacher before making her film debut. “It was interesting to find out how this whole game by a group of residents to seduce a doctor was carried out. When I discovered part of this story, I also made a little contact with the teachers. In these cities, when a teacher goes to a remote community, they always try everything to seduce them so that they fall in love with the place and ask to stay there, because most of the teachers always ask to move to the urban areas and not that far away,” adds the actress.
Pierre Louis (left) and Memo Villegas in “The Great Seduction”.Juan Rosas/Netflix (Juan Rosas/Netflix)
García, known for directing other Mexican productions such as My Best Friend’s Wedding (2019) – an adaptation of the 1997 American film – and The Thin Yellow Line, says it took him about two years to write the script. The text is a new version of the Canadian film La Grande Séduction from 2003, of which there was already another version in 2013, this one starring Brendan Gleeson and Taylor Kitsch. For this new version, filmed in two different lagoons, El Cerrillo in Valle de Bravo and Villa Victoria – both located in the state of Mexico – “Mexican genius with a great sense of humor” prevails. In the words of the production, the film moves away from clichés, moves away from romantic undertones and focuses on friendship and a sense of community.
The film has as its background a theme such as the abandonment of territories and the displacement of populations in search of better opportunities, a problem that is spreading throughout Latin America due to various factors. However, according to Pierre Louis, the film approaches its characters, their ambitions and the hardships they go through with a comedy twist. “It reflects how people can suddenly laugh at their own misfortune. The film explores the question of how a people can agree to change all of their traditions and customs, which leads to this [para bien o para mal] “with the aim that the city can prosper again,” he says.
Yalitza Aparicio in a still from “The Great Seduction”.Juan Rosas/Netflix (Juan Rosas/Netflix)
For Aparicio, the experience was also a learning experience as he didn’t have to work in the comedy genre. He highlighted Villegas and his energy on set, which is more common in these types of productions, as a reference during filming. “At some points we thought, wow, what a great opportunity to work with Memo and observe his energy for certain types of scenes. It’s not the same as other genres because here you need a certain kind of energy, rhythm, physicality. In addition, there are so many characters and each one has a very important function in this game, because in the end it is a game in this role of lie where they will surely find someone with whom they can identify and have fun “, concludes the actress.
The film by Celso García joins Netflix’s commitment to national cinema through the “Let Mexico be seen” initiative, which this year presented feature films such as Noise, The Last Wagon and the documentary The Lady of Silence: The mataviejitas case, while other releases in the program remained Pipeline for this year such as the non-fiction film The Darkness of La Luz del Mundo about the crimes of Naasón Joaquín as well as the film adaptation of Pedro Páramo, the work of Juan Rulfo – directed by Rodrigo Prieto – which premiered is planned for 2024. “The Great Seduction” will be available on the major N streaming platform across Latin America from August 30th and will be shown in Mexico City at La Casa Space Cinema until August 29th.
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