Gracia Querejeta exposes child to parent violence and the strength of love in 'La buena suerte'.
The feature film, which is competing in the Festival de Málaga’s Official Competition, is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by the writer Rosa Montero.
This Sunday, 16 March, saw the screening of 'La buena suerte', the latest project from director Gracia Querejeta, which is competing in the Official Competition of the 28th Festival de Málaga and is based on the novel of the same name written by Rosa Montero.
In her presentation, moderated by the president of the Film Academy, Fernando Méndez-Leite, the director was accompanied by the renowned actors Hugo Silva and Miguel Rellán; the supporting actress Megan Montaner; the writer of the novel from which the feature film is adapted, Rosa Montero, as well as the producer Gerardo Herrero.
Right at the start, Gracia Querejeta expressed her "joy and excitement" at returning to the Festival de Málaga, which she has been attending since her first film. The director also explained the challenge of adapting Rosa Montero's novel to film when Gerardo Herrero proposed it to her: "I panicked a bit, as I remembered the work as very complex and nuanced”. She also wanted to point out that not everything in the novel is reflected in the film, and that it is focused more on its "narrative interest".
In carrying out this adaptation, she detailed the ease and complicity she had with Montero, highlighting her "generosity and understanding". "The challenge was to show her the script and I still remember the feeling of relief when she gave me the go-ahead”, said the director of what has been a "delicate yet fruitful and fun process".
For her part, Rosa Montero, a great film buff, agreed with the director, stressing the importance of not making an audiovisual copy of her written work: "I'm not interested in being faithful to a novel, but rather in it being the stimulus or the stepping stone for an author to create his own cinematographic work in which he or she is able to transmit the sensations of that novel".
The producer also highlighted Gracia Querejeta's ability, to which he added "good casting and good financing" to enable filming between Navarre, La Rioja and Madrid to achieve a final product that he is sure "will please 95% of viewers".
The plot, which tells the story of a man who leaves everything behind to start a new life, combines two thematic strands, as detailed by Gracia Querejeta. On the one hand, child to parent violence, understood as the violence that children inflict on their parents, so little dealt with in film. The strength that love provides, especially in the most desperate situations, is the other basis on which this feature film is based, according to the director.
"One thing I really liked is how the character runs away from his situation", said actor Hugo Silva about his character, describing "the journey of someone who makes a decision but whose reality is imposing itself on him". This was backed by Mega Montaner, who also took "as a challenge" the role of a character transformed from the novel with "a different narrative world".
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