Madrid (EFE).- Two men who, as a result of an accident, discover that they are married to the same woman, is the premise of “Mari(dos)”, a comedy directed by Lucía Alemany in which Paco León and Ernesto Alterio they dismantle, with humor, the barriers of “toxic masculinity”.
The film, a Telecinco Cinema production that hits theaters this Friday, marks the leap into commercial cinema for Alemany, which debuted in 2019 with the teen drama “La inocencia”, a low-budget auteur film.
The script by Pablo Alen and Breixo Corral, experts in blockbuster comedies such as “3 weddings too many” (2013) or “Anacleto secret agent” (2015), part of a real premise, a story about the miners who were trapped in Chile in 2010, when two women presented themselves as the wives of one of them.
In “Marid(dos)” the genders are reversed and the accident is caused by a snow avalanche that leaves Laura (Celia Freijeiro) in a coma, forcing the two protagonists, of opposite characters, to live together for a while and discover its deficiencies.
“The film shows well the current confusion of the male,” Paco León tells Efe. “These men are disconcerted that their wife has a double life, but that ultimately makes them connect with themselves and with their opponent and makes them see that this competitive relationship doesn’t have to be that way.”
For Alterio, that was precisely one of the attractions of making this film, “to treat toxic masculinity with humor and see new possibilities in relationships and family structures,” he says.
León gives life to Toni, a Catalan whom he defines as “a faint-hearted and friendly guy, prim but also kind and tender”, while Alterio is Emilio, a man from Madrid who “believes his opinion without worrying about how he might fall for the other and that He has trouble managing his anger, he’s angry at the world and he feels like he’s in a place he doesn’t deserve.”
They function as “an odd couple”, with opposite characters that lead to comical situations, Alterio specifies. “They are imbeciles that you take affection for”, sums up León.
For Lucía Alemany, having directed this film is proof that “the gender policies for which so much has been fought are bearing fruit”, in reference to the fact that the current production aid system encourages women’s access to top creative and managerial positions.
The 38-year-old Catalan director claims women’s access to commercial cinema and “with decent budgets”, something that until now has been a pending issue although there are beginning to be cases such as Arantxa Echevarría, Alauda Ruiz de Azúa or the their own, that move in both territories.
Regarding the fact of directing comedy, he confesses that he has felt fear and insecurity, since he did not know the genre. “It was a great help to be surrounded by so many people with so much experience, the producers Francisco Sánchez and Eneko Lizarraga have made great comedies, that is an endorsement”.
“Mari(dos)” is the first comedy of the year for Telecinco Cinema, which plans to release two more in 2023: “Vaya vacaciones”, directed by Víctor García León with Tito Valverde, Gracia Olayo, Toni Acosta and Ernesto Sevilla; and “Ocho apellidos marroquís”, the third part of the famous saga, directed by Álvaro Fernández Armero and starring Julián López and Michelle Jenner.