In the sixth instalment of his box-office breaking series, Santiago Segura takes on politics
Since March 13, Spain has fallen under the spell of a film. A cinematic phenomenon… a milestone that can only be compared to… Well, no. The truth is that since the March release of the sixth installment of the hilariously scatological ‘Torrente’ saga — Torrente, Presidente — what has happened in Spain borders on levels of madness, only really comparable to what happens in this film written, directed, and starring comedian Santiago Segura.
The result is an incredible — literally, it’s almost unbelievable — box office record. After three weeks it is already ranked in the top ten of the highest-grossing films in the history of Spanish cinema. It is acclaimed by almost all the press, hated by the political left, and glorified by the far right. In short: Torrente, Presidente has caused a pandemonium of epic proportions, where, fortunately, cinema is winning, along with those who have come to see it, whether to criticize or praise the staging of a satire that — though many may deny it — is a dirty yet real mirror of the reality that permeates the conflicted and polarized Kingdom of Spain.
This is like the mother of all dirty bombs, exploiting the Spanish zeitgeist.
Back in 1998, Segura already a multi talented actor and writer, introduced former cop and bumbling fool, José Luis Torrente, in Torrente, the Dumb Arm of the Law. The film tells the story of a rude, racist ex-cop and Atléti Madrid hardcore fan — thus an enemy of the pompous, pro-State elite Real Madrid — who lives in an old Madrid neighborhood inhabited by a troop of wacky characters. He attempts to dismantle a drug trafficking network operating from a nearby Chinese restaurant. The film was a mega-hit. And so, a franchise was born, full of irreverence, and ineptitude, but anchored in daily Spanish life.
Torrente (Santiago Segura) with his loyal sidekick Cuco (Gabino Diego); Courtesy Bowfinger International Pictures.
A series of films followed, each topping the last with box-office success: Torrente 2: Mission in Marbella (2001); Torrente 3: The Protector (2005); Torrente 4: Lethal Crisis (2011); Torrente 5: Operation Eurovegas (2014). This ongoing box office success meant that, unusually for Spanish films, none of these were made with government cinema subsidies. That’s crucial for this latest — but not last — incarnation set in a hypothetical 2018 with Spain outside the euro where Torrente gets into politics, leading an ultra-nationalist party.
But what’s all the fuss? It’s supposed to be a simple comedy, one of the many that premiere every week. But Spain went into the launch blind: there was no press conference, not even a trailer; Santiago Segura wanted a genuine surprise when people first entered the theater. No spoilers or leaked plot points.
Perhaps what is most surprising is that Torrente, Presidente lived up to the hype.
The plot seems simple: Torrente is hanging out with his group of oddball friends in a bar. He launches into his typical rant about the chaos that is Spain, the virtues of fascism with nods to “Generalisimo” Francisco Franco, revealing his hatred for “Moors” (all migrants from the Maghreb and Muslims in general); against the Chinese, gays, the left-wing government, and their agenda. This catches the attention of two representatives of Nox, a fictional far-right political party based on the real party Vox, who immediately recruit him to give speeches, hold rallies, and connect with the public. Torrente immediately sees this as a golden opportunity: he is much more than a party puppet; Torrente wants to be president and revive Spain’s great glory.
From that moment on, a crazy, unrestrained, and uncensored political campaign begins. And the almost savage laughter erodes the very walls of the cinema. I’m Venezuelan and I’m laughing my head off too, even though all the jokes are more Spanish than a “cocido madrileño.” This is for and about Spain.
Meeting of strategists from the far-right Nox party; Courtesy Bowfinger International Pictures.
Now, I’ve read reviews mocking the direction, the visuals, the acting, the cameos — ranging from former president Mariano Rajoy to countless media personalities and Spanish celebs. They’re just ingredients in a very well-prepared and carefully crafted broth. And this is where I disagree with all those critics who analyze Torrente, Presidente as just another movie because really it’s a punk opera — a Sex Pistols concert in a smelly pub, but with a zarzuela playing in the background.
The film unfolds with seemingly mediocre acting, violence, gore, racist, gender-based, and socio-political insults. Everything that no one is supposed to say, Torrente takes it upon himself to shout in the most grotesque and scatological way. And then, looking at the locals, I understood. These people aren’t laughing at Torrente… they’re laughing with Torrente, because—and this is what many refuse to admit—this is Spain, this is what’s spoken when you’re having a few beers and tapas; what you see on the Madrid metro, what you hear when you’re a Latin American immigrant. This is what happens when the curtain of hypocrisy is drawn back and Brecht’s hammer is used to deliver a blow to all our heads. politicians and their followers; the amnesiac culture and a decadent society whose distrust has been repressed and is emerging as hate and dangerously extremism.
Into this chaos stride in two representatives of the great Hollywood collapse: Alec Baldwin — in one of his worst interpretations of Donald Trump — and Kevin Spacey, the disgraced character actor, as leader of the Illuminati, Bilderberg group, that is, the ultimate conspiracy theory guy who pulls all the strings of world power. And Spacey too, is terrible, how did this guy win two Oscars?
Amid laughter and a touch of astonishment, I realize that Segura knew what he was doing. Torrente, Presidente had to be made and acted this way: to look cheap, as cheap and dilapidated as our current world. Like another genius, Sacha Baron Cohen and his invincible Borat, Segura has not only created a character, but has dynamited the arteries of his land, his people, and cataloged the collapse of the social compact that corrodes the very foundation not only of Spain but of the rest of the planet.
And this, cinematically, is a triumph, it’s the return of dangerous art, of real independent moviemaking that takes up freedom, without being beholden to state subsidies, as a countercultural dagger to remind us that while everything is screwed up to the core, there’s always the great option of being able to laugh at both: the shit we are and the shit that surrounds us, because tears and sorrow are way too boring.
Did Torrente manage to become president? Let’s just say I’m ready for his next catastrophic adventure. And as a Venezuelan, thank you, Torrente, for forgetting we exist.