The ‘Suro’ filmmaker reunites with 'The Beloved' star Victoria Luengo for an urban drama where family obligation collides with the thrill of the heist For director Mikel Gurrea’s latest he didn’t have to travel far in search of a story. So I thought, a closed church is almost like a vault. Someone could steal it and I started reading about religious art robberies.” But before the mechanics of the thefts could take over, the character of Lali arrived.
Once the other person in the chapel left, Lali dried her tears instantly, like an actress who was playing a role to get her way, she got up and stole the statue.” Immediately, she was difficult to pin down: a thief who might also be grieving, a performer whose performance like the best of them still contains something real. I started following this character and everything else came from that scene.” That ambivalence extends to Lali’s relationship with her estranged mother, Gloria played by Ariadna Gil (“Pans Labyrinth”). A woman whose instinct is to disappear finds herself wrenched back to Barcelona and into a role that demands precisely the opposite: staying put and caring for someone.
I found that tension very human and powerful.” Playing Lali is Victoria Luengo, reuniting with Gurrea in this bigger production after “Suro.” “Since ‘Suro,’ Victoria has become a dear friend. She happens to be one of the best actress that I have ever seen. So, I always want to work with her.
When it was time, I offered her the part.” At that point, Lali was still evolving. Luengo became part of that process, helping to build a character who exists caught between her restlessness and her responsibility. From that moment onwards, Victoria and I opened a process of workshopping ideas, trips to the desert where we first encounter Lali in the film, we gave Lali a past and we bounced many ideas.
All of that influenced the later drafts Francisco Kosterlitz and I wrote for the script.” With “Saints,” intimate family drama collides with thriller and heist movie. Within and between the competing genres is always care. Then, there is an external journey, which relates to Rosario and her group.” Rosario and her gang bring Lali into the world of theft, but their approach to stolen religious objects is surprising.
There is a certain ode to the gesture, which can connect to both the stealing and the caring.” Soon, the distinction between Lali’s two worlds begins to collapse. The type of care that I wanted to explore in the film, we can only do it if we take the time to appreciate, if we take into account, if we feel a connection. Be it objects or people.” That idea also complicates the film’s relationship with religion.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
