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The Phantom of the Sauna, a musical film inspired by Hollywood classics

2021-08-04T03:31:35.767Z


Directed by Luis Navarrete, this tragicomedy shot in Madrid will be commercially distributed during the fall


Silence, cameras and action.

It's a single shot and the set is assembled to shoot the scene.

There can be no fault.

Between computers and tripods, tension takes over the room, while the actor Martín Spínola breaks every object in the room, bathed in a warm and soft light.

Lamps and paintings begin to fly and be stamped against the wall, the result of an explosion of anger and despair by Martín Spínola, who plays

El Fantasma de la Sauna

, the musical film directed by Luis Navarrete, inspired by Hollywood classics. and that it will be distributed commercially during the fall.

The plot of this feature film, filmed in different locations in Madrid, is about Javi, a young man who comes to the Popular Sauna looking for work to fulfill his dream of being a singer, being the actor Néstor Goenaga who gives him life.

The business is in low hours and Asun, the owner, played by Antonia San Juan, decides to take him in in exchange for help.

But he will soon realize that this place hides a dark secret that he will be captivated by: the ghost of the sauna, a mysterious man who lives in the ventilation ducts, and who brings Spínola to the scene.

The film crew of the musical film 'The Phantom of the Sauna'.

From left to right, Alfredo Carbajo, Néstor Goneaga, Ramón Grau, Luis Navarrete, Javier Hernández and Martín Spínola.

Victor Sainz

This idea arose because Luis Navarrete has always been enthusiastic about musicals, classical cinema and history "in a big and romantic way." The director told his partner Spínola that he wanted to create

The Phantom of the Opera

or a

Moulin Rouge

, musicals for which he is devoted. And it occurred to them that it would take place in a gay sauna. “I thought it best to do it in an unexpected and uncomfortable context, that no one expected a love story inspired by a sordid first thing. We wanted to find something beautiful and beautiful that is built in that environment, using many literary and film references that we love, ”says Spínola.

The language of music helps to tell this love story between two men with all its bombast and splendor, becoming an element that unites and enhances the film. “There are times when our hairs stand on end and we know that it is working, that it is going to look good and that people are going to like it. Music is the one who can best unify everything we have created ”, continues Spínola.

The soundtrack is provided by Ramón Grau, who shares musical tastes for the audiovisual and the theatrical with Navarrete, which has made the complicity between the two flow. “When he told me about the project, the idea fascinated me. The sound world is being created, you start with a music, a song, a theme, a phrase, a harmony and you build. Once all the factions are settled, it is time to imagine the film and the sequences and how the music is going at all times ”, he points out about one of the key elements of the feature film that reflects the unconscious of the characters and the situations themselves. they happen. Because the music in

El Fantasma de la Sauna

is a cohesive element and what cannot be expressed with the words of the text, is achieved with this medium.

One of the scenes of the ghost of the sauna, played by Martín Spínola.

Victor Sainz

As

El Fantasma de la sauna

was being written

, Luis Navarrete realized the importance of making the LGTBI + collective visible.

He would have liked to grow up watching a romantic story starring two men and thus completely normalize it since childhood.

“Madrid has all the diversity.

The film comes from all our experiences here and that multicolored universe of saunas and

drag

that the city offers. It comes at a very positive moment for it to become visible ”, says Navarrete, in love with the capital where he has resided for eight years. “The intention is to bring the world that is beginning to be discovered in Spain with phenomena like Drag Race, that kind of thing that in other countries has had a great boiling point and here it begins to wake up. We believe that the film is going to be a tool for that to continue ”, adds Spínola.

The references used by the composer are multiple, from slightly more classic musicals, the world of Disney with Aladín or

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

, to opera and zarzuela, disciplines with which Ramón Grau works, going through the most modern and current pop. "There is a very interesting mix that has been with us for a long time, a lot of variety, but the film itself makes this music have unity," he says.

For Néstor Goenaga this role has meant facing a musical project for the first time: “They have helped me a lot with the vocal part. I think the key is to interpret the song and approach it like a text or a scene. Do not focus so much on the technical part, because I am not a singer, but there you are supported by all the help of the music and the equipment. And works. It has been a challenge, but I am very happy with the result ”. He considers that recording a musical is not an easy task and that you have to be aware of the dancers and the cameras. “It is very choreographic, like a kind of dance. This filming is mathematical ”, concludes the actor.

El fantasma de la sauna

is a production of Sophia Network, and has a cast made up of Pablo Liñares, Javier Hernández, Fernando Albizu, Goizalde Nuñez, Alfredo Carbajo and the presentation of Supremme de Luxe, Pupi Poisson, and Tavi Gallart.

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Source: elparis

All news articles on 2021-08-04

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