Mario Casas on his Civil War film: “It doesn’t matter which side you are on, the people take care of the dirty dishes” – Libertad Digital

The Dinnerreleased this October 17 in theaters, is the new film directed by Manuel Gómez Pereira and starring Mario Casas. Based on a text by José Luis Alonso de Santos, the film starts with a premise as absurd as it is real: prepare a dinner for Franco in hours and his generals, in the newly converted Palace Hotel, still full of wounded.

A comedy born from pain

“Comedy has a lot of that, of suffering,” says the director in an interview for esCineof esRadio. Manuel Gómez Pereira was clear from the beginning that The Dinner It wouldn’t be just another movie about the Civil War: “Maybe less from comedy, right? In other words, not many have been done either.“.

“There is a distance,” explains the director, “and that allows us to look at ourselves… not frivolizing, but analyzing.” Through humor, the film invites us to think: “Let’s be able to make a satire of a situation and a character like in this case it was Franco“. The result, he assures, is not a polarized view, but a human one: “The fun thing about the story is that they are not radically opposite… they are in a situation in which they suddenly have to live.”

A character on the verge of collapse

“It’s a constant pediment wall.” This is how Mario Casas defines Medina, his character in the film. A quartermaster lieutenant who, without a military vocation, must face the impossible: clean a hospital, set up a banquet and manage a team of Republican prisoners… all in a few hours. “Has an emotional charge that is constantly on the verge of exploding“says Casas.

The actor values ​​that comedy arises “from suffering”: “That’s where laughter appears, the ones that freeze you, that make you think why and what you’re laughing at.” What attracted him most about the script was precisely that: “A human movie… it doesn’t matter which side you’re on, you have to come together to reach a life or death goal. The people are the ones who take care of the dirty dishes, in a way.”

An anti-war satire without fanaticism

“It’s an anti-war movie,” says Casas. And he emphasizes that his character, like many others, wants it all to end: “Enough of the war. And what about peace?“. Gómez Pereira agrees: “There are generations that fortunately have not experienced it, but they have to know what the consequences were.”

The film portrays two characters, Medina and Genaro, forced to coexist beyond their ideologies: “What he would like is to be a photographer, because he has a completely different sensitivity… he is the furthest thing from shooting himself.” The story is committed to complexity and not extremes, and that, according to its director, is what allows it to connect with the viewer: “Each of the characters connects in a different way… that gives a lot of richness.”

The exact balance of comedy

“Doing comedy is taking risk, but also measuring,” says Gómez Pereira. In The Dinnernothing is left to chance: “Comedy has a lot of laboratory“. Casas agrees: “It is in those places where one says: if I go too far, I overact; If I don’t arrive, I’ll fall short.” He confesses that it’s hard for him to see himself: “Your ego comes out, you get monsters… but when I forgot about myself, I entertained myself.”

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The director highlights the precision of the script and the choral work of the cast: “Each character has their moment… it was essential that no one went out of tune.” And he adds that the success of the film will depend on something essential: “If the audience comes in, I have the feeling that that happens… and that is the fundamental thing.”

Click on the audio to listen to the full interview.