His character suffers the hell of prisons during the transition in ‘Model 77’, a film by Alberto Rodríguez that opens the San Sebastián festival out of competition
Javier Gutiérrez (Luanco, 1971) acknowledges that his physique of an ordinary man, of a Spaniard a la López Vázquez, has ultimately become his best weapon. “If I decided to go to the gym tomorrow to get some muscle, it wouldn’t make sense,” one of the busiest and most brilliant actors on stage, film and television comforts. In ‘Model 77’ he becomes an experienced prisoner who will become aware of the hell experienced in prisons during the Transition. The film by Alberto Rodríguez, who opened the San Sebastián Festival out of competition, will hit theaters on September 23.
-What did you feel when you stepped on the model?
– It’s very impressive. He had already visited a prison where he did theater with Animalario. One of the ones that impressed me the most was Valdemoro’s, with a play about Aznar’s daughter’s wedding. It was very cold. And a mishmash of transsexuals, gypsy prisoners, foreigners… A disturbing world where danger was chewed into the friction and the looks. I remember we wanted to leave right away. In prisons, the hinges of the doors draw your attention when they close; I know I’m going in an hour, but there are people here who aren’t going to do it for the next thirty years. At La Modelo we rehearsed in August, with lots of sun and heat. It seemed like an idyllic place. Until you see that in the booth where the villainous club was to execute Salvador Puig Antich, there is a bouquet of flowers. That puts you in a different place, not as an actor, but as a citizen. Recent history of our country. I heard the echoes of the screams, the blows and the horror that had to be experienced there for years.
-Did you get to know one of the real protagonists of the story?
-To Daniel Pont, one of the leaders of COPEL (Coordinator of Prisoners in Struggle). He helped us research the script and told us about his years in prison. There are many people who have fallen by the side. After what the movie tells, came the horse and AIDS. It was closest to hell.
-He claims the transition had more gray than white.
We’ve been very condescending. We really wanted freedom, to get out of the black hole of the dictatorship. Now there is a damning documentary about the figure of the emeritus and many people are raising their hands. If it was already known that he was one of the largest commission agents, we looked the other way. I don’t know if they didn’t tell us the truth or if we didn’t want to know. It’s enough to talk about the transition in an epic way, it also had its dark moments and it would be nice to know the truth.
Would you have liked to live during that time?
-I am 71, I grew up in a school for priests with teachers who carried the flag of Fuerza Nueva. I suffered physical violence from the De La Salle brothers. Incredible things have happened today. But when I look back I miss a lot of things, the world today I feel much less. We live very fast, the pandemic has made us worse. They destroyed us, stunned us. And social networks have kept us from looking at each other and being oblivious to the world we live in. I miss the music and cinema of the past, drinking a beer with colleagues, flirting at a bar and not on Tinder… The world has gotten worse. I feel sorry for the new generations, who have had to survive two crises. Being a 20-year-old boy seems like a bitch, I wouldn’t want to be. I hope they are lucky, but I am very skeptical and pessimistic about what lies ahead. The story is confusing and untruthful, and the media bears a lot of responsibility. I’m not sure which medium to trust, I try to read everything.
-The message of the film is still valid: without collective struggle there is no progress. I am thinking of the very low percentages of union membership.
I envy that there was a movement at that time between prisons so far away. Nowadays it would certainly not be possible with email and WhatsApp.
-I don’t discover anything when I tell him that he is in a very good moment in his career.
-Thank you. When they tell me I’m a fashionable actor, I laugh. I am a theater actor working since I was 18, I came to the cinema and television when I was in my thirties. I don’t know if I carved a niche for myself, but I work hard and that’s the biggest win. It is very difficult to stay in a profession with an unemployment rate of 90 percent. I don’t lose sight of the rear-view mirror, because behind me are many colleagues with the same or more talent than me, waiting for an opportunity.
– Has your physique eventually become your best weapon?
-Yes. When a young actor asks me for advice, I tell him to look in the mirror of the actors in this country. I have nothing to do with Robert de Niro, Sean Penn or Joaquin Phoenix, even if they drive me crazy. I want to look like López Vázquez, Alfredo Landa, Fernando Fernán Gómez, Pepe Isbert… That’s where my DNA is. My ambition is to be like Tony Leblanc, who did a circus in the morning, theater in the afternoon and film in the evening. Gone are the days of Café Gijón and Oliver, the wild nights. Fernán Gómez tells in ‘El tiempo amarillo’ that when the bars closed, they went to the international flight terminal in Barajas or to a funeral home to continue the party.
– Do you think comedians were socially respected back then?
-This country cares very little for culture and much less for its actors. There is a lot of polarization and culture has lost. That thing about a spectator saying he’s not going to see the Spanish cinema… When you take out a Spanish flag on the balcony or put a collar on the dog, stick out your chest just like you do for Nadal. Because this is Marca España, and this year more than ever. We should be proud of the cinema we make, there is a harvest of beautiful and diverse films.
-What is your dream as an actor?
-Continue working. I would like to end my days on stage. There is one statue that I really like, a show that José Luis López Vázquez, Agustín González and Manuel Alexandre did at the Reina Victoria. When I see those boys who were over two hundred years old… I would like to continue telling stories like Pepe Sacristán or Héctor Alterio with over eighty.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
