Not all films, except in times of pandemic, can make the real journey that the protagonists of the story undertake. But Jorge Corira (Iron) it was clear that Emperor Code (Theatrical release March 18) He must be in those places they talked about.
“The idea was to be able to create a range of places that contributed to history, that they made sense and that they spoke of the work of our protagonist, of John (Luis Tosar), a secret services agent who has to be on several cases at the same time, which forces him to move around various parts of the world”, explains the director. “Each of those places had to bring something different, it had to bring contrasts and we didn't want them to be clichés”.
Luis Tosar and María Botto in the Temple of Debod.
Juan is an agent of a special service of the National Intelligence Center. Someone who, normally, is dedicated to dismantling the traffic of sensitive materials, to protect the country. But more and more, they commission him with other types of work in which "the border between good and evil, between ethical and unethical" is not so clear. The character played by Luis Tosar enters into a labor and identity crisis, which increases when he meets Wendy (Alexandra Masangkay).
Emperor Code is an action thriller, spy, but very real spies, nothing to do with the James Bond world. “The current reality of information agents is very fascinating, because they get involved in tremendously complex legal issues. Morally they have to live a lot on the border ”, insists Coira who is currently finishing his last series, rapa, in which he has returned to his native Galicia. "The espionage world it is one of the most powerful and fruitful contexts for exploring extreme conflict.”
In Madrid, power is not hidden.
It is also a world offers many opportunities to travel. To the characters and the film crews. Taking Madrid as a base of operations, they ended up defining a travel map that responded to the needs of the story and the logistical possibilities.
The film moves to three cities outside of Madrid. First, they will Bilbao, where the traffickers will deliver a very dangerous material. “We chose her because she has that strength of the industrial Cora explains. They filmed, in fact, in the port and areas that transmit that powerful Bilbao and also something gray.
Later, they were looking for a city to connect with a drug trafficker, ruling out the most popular options, they thought of Budapest. “He had that element of Central European Elegance, less linked to drug trafficking, although all the countries of the world are. The idea of filming the match in the middle of the Danube was like a dream”, they count. And they did.
In Budapest.
And finally, Juan has to make a quick trip to the City of Panama, which shows a little more of those so-called "sewers of the State" into which the film delves. “We wanted a Caribbean, Central American area and after seeing several countries, we thought that Panama contributed a lot. Just naming it wakes things up because of the Panama Papers and being a tax haven; and, furthermore, it is a place of powerful contrasts, between the skyscrapers, the architecture of money and extreme poverty and misery”.
Moving with a reduced team, only the actors and team leaders and dilating production times to comply with quarantines, they managed to travel to all their destinations. “The shooting took longer than it should have, it was a bit cumbersome, but it seemed to us that It was an essential value of the film.”
POWERFUL MADRID
In Madrid, they were not still either. Juan is a character capable of moving "everywhere and at all levels, from an environment of power and money to one of crime." It looks La Moraleja, Los Peñotes, the Temple of Debod, the surroundings of Azca...
In the centre of Madrid.
“Several different Madrids are seen. On the one hand, a Madrid of luxury and party. Other downtown Madrid, when we see Juan meet with his boss Galán (Miguel Rellan) or the Madrid of Marta (Georgina Amorós) that, although he comes from money, because his father is a famous actor, he wants to lead his life and shares a student flat in Malasana. She is also seen in one of the fashionable rooftops, in Lizard eater.
“The greater the complexity, the richer the film is”, says Coira. And she knows it well. She talks who's got what the iron island be a very attractive destination since the premiere of the award-winning series by Candela Peña. "I don't know if it has to do with Iron or the accumulated experience, but it is true that I care a lot about locations I care that they contribute to history,” he explains.
Georgina Amorós in Picalagarto.
“I like to travel, I like different cultures, diversity, there is something about exploring different places and take advantage of that capacity that cinema has to make us travel, both in a mental way, and literally taking us to different places. I'm not interested in anything about landscape cinema, about making postcards, but transferring the feeling of being somewhere else, that seems very attractive and powerful to me”.