'El hoyo', the Spanish 'Parasites' that sweeps the world on Netflix

"Right now I am at home in my pajamas, and alone. If this is success, they have fooled me . " Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia recites what is now his star joke and he does it between very happy and only overwhelmed. Suddenly, his first feature film has become the true cinematographic event of the season, of the pandemic and, of course, of confinement. Millions are already infected and, probably, forever. The hole , as it is called the movie that has been around for ten days among the most watched Netflix worldwide, has no cure. "I imagine," reflects the director, "which has to do with how easy it is to identify. The film is about selfishness, how miserable we are as a species, and you look at the news and ... what do you see ?: people fighting over toilet paper. We have no choice. "

It is puzzling to know that your film is the most viewed in Saudi Arabia and Israel at the same time

Indeed, and not to be missed, the film belongs to that strange genre of tapes that have already been seen regardless of whether they have been seen. The hole tells of the almost routine becoming of a group of people arranged vertically. Above, the luckiest; below, the least. Daily, a food platform descends just as routinely from the top to the bottom of the whole. Each one can serve what they want, which can be what they need or simply what they want. If everyone promised to eat only what is necessary to nourish themselves for the sake of a healthy life, there would be something for everyone, but ... you guessed it: this is war. I mean, that's the world. And below, how could it be otherwise, nothing comes. But nothing. Have we seen the movie or not?

Poster for 'El hoyo'.

"I understand," continues the director, "and that was already at the origin of everything, which functions as an exhibitor of who we are. I am certain that we are the most miserable species that treads on Earth and I am even convinced that when we want to be good we do it for an interest that has nothing to do with goodness. Altruism most of the times is nothing more than a consequence derived more from our selfishness . " It ends, it takes a second and, if only a little, it rectifies: "But I don't want what I just said to be understood as a criticism of anything or anyone, it is rather a self-criticism of everything. What ruins being Human is vanity, that effort to stand out above the rest. It is not consumed because something is needed but because of a question of status. Myself, why do I make films? Probably for the same reason. " And at this point, in effect, the hole; the hole 'El hoyo' is in, which is anything but a hole. And so.

Since its presentation in Toronto under the English title of The platform , the film has only grown and brought good news to both its director and producer Carlos Juárez. This one even more. The last one tells that a good part of the four years that the production has taken door to door have been spent and always with the same answer: "It's okay, but it's too risky." "Even when I spoke with ETB and TVE, which finally entered, along with the definitive yes there was always a comment of 'deep down I don't see it'," he says. And he continues: "But of course, I imagine that I make cinema so as not to do the same as everyone else." The speaker, in fact, is also responsible for Psychonauts, the forgotten children , an animation film signed by Alberto Vázquez and Pedro Rivero as mythical as perhaps little known.

Well, in the Canadian city and the largest universal cinema market, it won an audience award. Then there would be the one in Sitges and, immediately after, its surprising appearance both in the Feroz and in the Goya themselves. And the surprise is due to the peculiarity outside the common Spanish cinema of a fantastic film. "All of the above," says Gaztelu-Urrutia, "with being incredible enters into the life of a movie. But what we had never imagined is that of Netflix . You do not foresee that for the reason that there is no way to foresee a coronavirus pandemic. How is it possible that your film is the most viewed in the United States? And more strangely, how is it possible that it is the most viewed in Saudi Arabia and Israel at the same time? "

"Successful cinema is cinema to entertain oneself, not to think. But when you are in a situation like the one we live in now, not thinking is not an option"

And there we are, without response. The hole had an approximate cost of one million euros, half of which went in the construction of the platform that goes up and down. "The mechanism had to be invented and we were never clear that it would work. Let's say that all the success of the film was in the hands of a dubious artifact ," says the producer now because of adding some tension to the achievement. The truth is that, without having figures, it is easy to fantasize. With more than 100 million subscribers worldwide (70 of them in the United States) and a market capitalization of $ 160 billion, it is difficult to imagine a cinema bigger than Netflix. "The pity is that we don't work like the American movies that work for bonds. We got paid and that's it," says the producer. But without bitterness. "The success is that you call by phone and all those who did not listen to you before will now pick up the phone," he adds.

For the director, the mirror effect has been essential to understand what is happening. " It is a film with people confined in times of confinement, " he reasons simply and accurately. The producer agrees with him and raises the ante: "Successful cinema in general and with few exceptions is cinema to entertain oneself, not to think. The problem is that when you are in a situation like the one we live in now, not thinking is not a option. And there The hole has to win ". And those of thinking.

Be that as it may, El hoyo with its pandemic pessimism ("The public identifies with the one who is a good person because they know that deep down, and seeing themselves in a similar situation, they will act like the villain") has already infected the screens of half the world. Right now, after ten days on the platform, only Sumelier , from Prentice Penny, has taken away the most viewed movie position in the wide world. But there it goes, with the charm of a good fight over a roll of toilet paper .

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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