'Paseo' is set in the Civil War. What made you set the action in the middle of that conflict?
We all have grandparents who lived through the Civil War years and it has always been a topic of interest to me, which has been used very little on the big screen because of all the prejudice surrounding that part of Spanish history. I wanted to describe something related to the topic of the war, but without talking about it directly, something more related to feelings. I wanted to present another viewpoint to move away from the prejudice.
José Sacristán leads the cast. How important is the cast?
I wrote the role of this character with José Sacristán in mind. If it hadn't been him the script would not have worked. There are things such as the poetry reading that could have been a disaster. 'Paseo' was a difficult project from the start. We were treading a fine line between what is grotesque and what is moving. Actors such as Sacristán were required to make the results believable.
It is a clean story, where the script is all-important.
It is a little theatrical, a single set and three characters. There is hardly any music, except at the end and the poetry.
The short film concludes with a phrase that sounds like a tribute.
Yes it is a tribute to all those who have had to 'walk' in wars, with no exceptions. This macabre phenomenon can be found in all the world's conflicts. I just choose to set it in the Spanish one, which is the one I know.
