Santiago Segura y Torrente president: “My intention was not to make an unauthorized biography of Javier Milei”

Torrente is not Vox. All his misogyny, all his racism is attenuated by the royalties of a fictional party (the parodic Nox) that seems to ask for more. firm hand of which the character of Santiago Segura can give us.

Firmly convinced that the country needs common sense – or what he understands as common sense -, Torrente presidentthe new link of our antihero, revolves around his campaign as an unforeseen leader at the head of Nox, a far-right political party. It is curious how the character becomes less despicable than the stereotype that we have known since his first – hilarious, exquisite – appearance in Torrente, the foolish arm of the law (1998).

Torrente and Santiago Segura are confused, they blend in. It had been 12 years since we had heard from his greasy creature. From Torrente 5, Operation Eurovegas (2014). In the new movie, the beloved corrupt ex-cop is an upstart, something like the result of the famous let them all go.

It is quite inevitable not to find similarities to what here – but in reality – happened with Javier Milei: a guy with no political past who ends up involved in an electoral campaign surrounded by influencers (be careful, we are talking about the argument of Torrente president).

The news we receive is that since its release, the film continues to break all kinds of records in the Motherland. The titles say: ““One of the most successful Spanish films in history.”

If what the great says Carlos Boyero goes to mass, the star critic of the Hispanic press celebrates the return of the saga because, according to him, it provokes “real laughs” and confirms Segura’s comic instinct.

Santiago Segura is on the other side of the Zoom. It is noticeable that every so often he looks out a window that overlooks a street in Madrid. “I’m in my office,” He appears with glasses on, a library in the background, and his signature character’s T-shirt.

-Was your intention to make an unauthorized biography of Javier Milei?

-No, no, because I don’t have enough data. I had more information about Spanish politics because I live immersed or bathed by these people. This film is my reaction to politics in general. It’s like my ode to politicians.

-I read that it is the fourth best Spanish premiere in history. More than a million viewers in one week.

-Impressive, yes, and we have already had three and a half million people. We are among the 30 highest-grossing films in the history of Spain.

-Taking a lot of people to the movies is like a miracle, right?

-Come on! It is as if the Virgin had appeared to me. Three and a half million people getting their asses out of their house to go to a movie theater, and paying on top of that! I knock on wood all the time, I’m fascinated.

-In your country you must be a kind of Darín and Francella together…

-Let’s see, it just doesn’t occur to me. There is no comparison. Francella and Darín are two geniuses and they consider me a kind of clown. That’s why I like to go to Argentina where they consider me an actor – he jokes.–. But yes, many people like me very much and that is important. I mean, since I make them laugh, they love me.

-By the way, in Spain there are already more Argentine actors than Spanish ones. Torrente would deport them.

-Almost, almost. Torrente would deport them all, or make them go to work in a mine. Torrente does not like actors, he is a brutalized being, without sensitivity or culture. I, on the other hand, want to adopt all the Argentine actors and have them at home. For example, on Sundays we have a group and we play old movies and such, and Joaquín Furriel has joined us and he has a great time.

-In the film it gives the impression that “Vox”, or “Nox” in fiction, is almost a limit even for Torrente himself.

-I was interested in pointing that out. It’s funny to me because when we talk about the extreme right there is always a place that may be a little to the right. It can always be worse. Torrente himself is scared when some patriots start talking to him about the death penalty and military service. There are things that scare Torrente himself because there are beings worse than Torrente.

-Did some kind of controversy arise in Spain?

-In one weekend, a million people and full theaters made it seem like there had been little criticism. What many people have not tolerated is that it is not a film against a specific politician or against some ideology, but against the bad forms of current politics. The lack of seriousness there is, the lies, the corruption that exists. It’s a mockery of that. I believe that if ideology serves to dehumanize, it is not positive. I am increasingly in favor of the fact that it matters that you are reasonable, good people, because here – I don’t know how that is now in Argentina – but here it is very polarized in the sense that there are families that have fought among their members, friends who stopped seeing each other…

-Here they apparently ceased to exist. There in Spain are there subsidies for films?

-Yes, yes, there is a subsidy policy, but to access them you have to meet certain requirements. And, man, they are complex, it’s a point-based thing. For example, if you have a female team leader it is one point, if you do it in Catalan or Basque it is an additional point. You are adding points. I like the French system better. I like that art is subsidized because art is very important. And in the end, the money received reverts to the State and what makes a country brand is also its cinema. Many people know Argentina for its cinema.

-Did you have any contribution from INCAA there?

-No, not in this movie. And it’s not that I’m against it. I would have loved to have been given a subsidy, that makes things easier for you. I don’t know how the subsidy system works in all countries, but Furriel has already told me that in Argentina they had removed them.

-You bring millions of spectators to the cinema and the State had nothing to do with it.

-Well, but 10 percent of the tickets is VAT. In other words, of the money you have earned, you already have 10 percent plus taxes. It is beneficial for a film to be successful.

-There are some surprises. The most notable may be that you lifted the cancellation of Kevin Spacey?

-The surprise itself is that Kevin Spacey comes out. I partly managed to make it a surprise because many journalists put it in their headlines and ruined my illusion that it would appear unannounced. It’s a big surprise about Spacey. On the other hand, with cancellation I believe in the presumption of innocence. If this man has been acquitted in two trials and has two Oscars, I don’t know why he can’t continue dedicating himself to acting.

-The one who would not have a completely favorable ruling and also works on the film is Alec Baldwin.

-The same thing, Alec’s thing is a bit… He doesn’t have a favorable ruling, but he told me that he was going to get a few million euros from the company. The demand they made was totally unusual. That was clearly a work accident. And with the cancellation, why should we allow a genius like Woody Allen not to be filming? No trial has determined that this man is guilty. I would never dare to say that Mia Farrow is a manipulator. I don’t know the matter, I’m thousands of miles away, but I wouldn’t dare say that Woody Allen has done anything, because the American justice system has not determined it that way. I think that when society sets itself up as a vigilante, above the law, it all seems a bit absurd to me.

-In the manner of Tarantino in “Inglourious Basterds”, you would be doing a bit of film justice with actors who were erased.

-Man, Tarantino’s film justice was to kill Hitler in the movie. What makes me laugh is that in this politically correct environment, Torrente plays the opposite. I thought that made it an interesting point.

-When you summoned Kevin Spacey, did he have an idea of ​​your character?

-No, I didn’t have the slightest idea and I’m telling you that I still think it’s a miracle that a guy with two Oscars came to a film from an unknown country like Spain. And of course it was very good. With him acting, any script seems Richard III.