Magdalena Tsanis
Madrid (EFE).- Between tenderness and impropriety, Víctor García León, who became known with the crazy “Selfie” (2017), dedicates his first commissioned comedy, “¡Vaya vacaciones!”, which opens this Friday in theaters, to the grandparents who take care of the grandchildren that their children endorse them.
“I hope that the grandparents will see it with the grandchildren because it is a film made for them,” the director told EFE, who achieved three Goya nominations with “The Europeans” (2020) and who on this occasion has gathered Toni Acosta and Ernesto Sevilla in the role of parents, with Gracia Olayo and Tito Valverde as grandparents.
Produced by Telecinco Cinema and with a clear commercial vocation, the film takes place during a summer vacation in which the parents place the grandparents, once again, the grandchildren, with the false excuse of a work trip -actually they go to Bali-, which gives rise to a hidden war between them with the children in the middle.
“The reality when you have children is that you end up marketing with them,” says García León (Madrid, 1976), “thinking about where you put them, who is in charge, for how many hours… in the end they seem like packages, valuable packages because you have invested a lot in they”.
Reflection on education and roles
Beyond the comic packaging there is a reflection on education and the roles of the different generations.
“We are a more comfortable generation”, points out the filmmaker, “we have had a sufficiently comfortable life so that when we have children we are disconcerted because we cannot go out for drinks or have dinner with friends (…) and we leave the painful work of the family to the parents. mayor, because we do not want to give up anything.
In his personal case, he admits, having children was “a hit” from reality. “Nobody warns you, not that you were going to do the military, it’s that you were going to do the military in Israel, it is the best kept secret of humanity,” she jokes.
For Toni Acosta and Ernesto Sevilla, those parents that they have to interpret are quite “normal”.
“These are people who have their life, they want free time and they know that the grandparents are there and they take advantage of it,” says Sevilla.
Acosta mentions the key word, conciliation. “Parents are sold, conciliation does not exist, nobody makes it easy for you to leave work early to pick up your daughter from school and if you ask, they look at you badly,” he says. “The institutions should put measures, make it easier for us, because if we don’t have children, let’s see who pays the pensions.”
The Canarian actress, mother of an 18-year-old son and a 14-year-old daughter, assures that she is already “seeing the light”.
“For me now it’s easy, but when you’re in the mud it’s with children of 6, 7 or 8 years old,” he says. “It is very complicated what we have had to live, the anguish of jobs and schedules to reconcile.”
The grandparents of “What a vacation!” They are not exactly resigned and, although they adore their grandchildren, there comes a time when they decide to stand up, which gives rise to the comic plot.
“Now we age later,” says Olayo, “we retire and we are healthy and want to discover things and many grandparents have to give up living the time they have left with some freedom to help their children, this is a highly deserved tribute,” declares.
Ramón Barea also has a brief but stellar appearance in the film, as another of the grandparents, in a cast completed by Daniela Rubio, Marta de Toro and Nicolás Costi in the role of the three children. The script is signed by Manuel Burque and Josep Gatell, authors of other successful comedies such as “Es por tu bien” and “Operación Camarón”.