El Palentino, inspiration and setting for 'El Bar'
Jorge Guerricaechevarria , friend and regular co-writer of Álex de la Iglesia, lives near the palentine , the mythical bar of the Fish street in Madrid . For years, the two would meet have breakfast there and then start his days of writing and preparing his films.
Lovers of bars, locked in El Bar
In the palentine they have inspired their (pen) last film together, the one that they are now releasing (although they already have also prepared perfect strangers ) , The bar , in which they have locked up a group of characters as peculiar as could be found in any bar in Madrid. From a lost dick to a shy hipster and a housewife “that the money from the purchase is spent on the machine”. The first to walk out of that bar onto the street gets shot, forcing the rest to stay inside wondering what's going on outside and bringing out the best and the worst in them.
Just as it can happen to you in any bar where you let yourself go. Or as Álex de la Iglesia says in the prologue of the book that accompanies the premiere of the film (text by Mario Suárez with photographs by Javier Sánchez and edited by Lunwerg ): “In a bar the microcosm is enclosed: who I am, where I am going, what I long for. When I go into a bar I put everything on the bar. My successes and, above all, the failures that I try to hide without success”.
"In a bar the microcosm is enclosed: who I am, where I am going, what I long for"
the bar of The bar is named The Shelter , and Amparo, played by Terele Pávez has a lot of Lola, the woman who runs El Palentino for years. She "she Hard as a diamond" , says Álex de la Iglesia de Lola; and with a "sweetness without limits". Just like Lola she keeps her diverse clientele loyal day after day, year after year. Amparo will fight to maintain the fragile balance that is always smelled in a bar mixed with coffee, anise and grease from the griddle.
Blanca Suárez, declared "barista"
if the movie The bar is already a tribute to the real bars of Madrid, with the book The bar They close a round tribute in which both director and cast, in addition, choose their favorite in the city. Do you want to know which ones?
ALEX OF THE CHURCH
**The Palentino (Fish Street, 12) **
“It is the quintessential Madrid bar” she explains. “It is everyone and none. It is the best, the most beautiful, because there is nothing special about it”. And then she praises the soul of this Madrid classic, Lola, for whom all of her clients are “worthy of respect”.
Álex de la Iglesia's favourite, El Palentino
BLANCA SUAREZ
**Enro (Duke of Pastrana, 3) **
“It's not a particularly fancy, modern, or cool bar, but maybe that lack of pretensions that makes it such a special place, so unique ”, says the actress in the book.
Blanca Suárez opts for Enro
MARIO HOUSES
**The Moncloa Tavern (Andrés Mellado, 45) **
It is the bar in which the actor is “ I prepared the tests ”When he arrived in Madrid 12 years ago and lived right next door, and it gave him luck, he says, he turned it into his amulet.
Mario Casas prefers the Moncloa Tavern
CARMEN MACHI
**The Toni 2 (Admiral, 9) **
“I have spent (and continue to spend) unforgettable nights there” , says the actress, because of its proximity to the María Guerrero theater and because it is “that bar where you have the feeling that time has stopped”.
carmen machi
SECOND OF THE ROSE
**The Sun (Gardens, 3) **
Madrid, 1996 . That year the actor entered the El Sol room for the first time and began to work there as a cup holder, someone invisible, who dedicated himself to observing everyone. His nights were spent there, his days taking drama classes.
JAIME ORDONEZ
**The Brilliant (Emperor Carlos V Square, 8) **
“I will never be able to forget the first fried squid sandwich I ate in Madrid, and that was at El Brillante,” he recalls. “ A true feast for the senses ”.
Any bar, any day?
TERELE PAVEZ
**La Milana Bonita (Marquis of Santa Ana, 7) **
Among all the experiences of almost a lifetime in Madrid and its bars, the actress who runs El Amparo in El bar stays with this place that pays tribute to one of the best films in her filmography, the holy innocents , which she also discovered surrounded by part of the team to celebrate the 30th anniversary.
JOAQUIN CLIMENT
**Venencia (Echegaray, 7) **
It is one of the bars that remain around the Plaza de Santa Ana that actors like Climent frequented in search of a piece of paper or a good contract in the theaters in the area. "There is none with the tradition, the atmosphere, the treatment and the best sherry wines [...]".
Terele Pávez, or Amparo, from El Amparo