Netflix's latest whim for its users 0:34
(CNN Spanish) –
Another Latin American series has arrived on Netflix: it is "Pálpito", created and written by the Venezuelan Leonardo Padrón.
The production, shot in Bogotá, features the leading performances of Michel Brown (Simón Duque), Ana Lucía Domínguez (Camila Duarte) and Sebastián Martínez (Zacarías Cienfuegos).
The plot of the production, which has vestiges of a
thriller
, a genre that Padrón is passionate about, revolves around a great moral and ethical dilemma: how far would you go for love?
The trailer shows a crucial moment and from which the story starts, Zacarías Cienfuegos is willing to do anything, including killing to traffic the heart of a woman and save the love of her life.
24 hours after its premiere, the series has already entered the list of the most popular television productions on Netflix in the United States.
It is also in the first position of the most watched series in Colombia, Chile, Peru, Venezuela, Poland and in the top 5 in Spain and Mexico.
advertising
"Pálpito" and moral questioning
"Strictly speaking, the story is not about organ trafficking, it is a dramatic arena to put my characters at an extreme crossroads," Padrón told CNN Pop Zone through an interview via Zoom.
"I have always liked to explore what happens in the human psyche when we are subjected to extreme situations. I am appealing to the most hackneyed resource of all, which is the heart as an unequivocal branch of human emotions, but taking it not as a metaphor, but taking it literally to It is fair to venture several questions in the event that you, me, anyone had the love of their life at risk of death and the only way to save his life is for you to become a murderer, a murderess. one of the first questions raised by the story. Precisely to explore how far we are able to deal with our moral limits", adds the writer.
The second question and the interesting twist in this story is, do the original emotions remain in the heart that beats in another person's body?
"The other question is when you receive someone else's heart, whether it is donated to you through the legitimate and wonderful routes of organ donation or through the absolutely illegal and appalling routes of organ trafficking, are you receiving with that heart the old emotions of that heart, the feelings that heart had? As you can see, it is a pretext to trigger these reflections within the framework of a love story [marked] by tragedy," Padrón told CNN Pop Zone.
The story has 14 chapters with an average duration between 30 and 45 minutes.
A story with a Venezuelan stamp on Netflix
For Venezuelans, the name of Leonardo Padrón is not unknown.
His novels are part of the country's popular culture.
From his mind and pen were born stories like "Cosita Rica" or "The Perfect Woman", two very popular novels in his native country.
(Credit: Leonardo Padron)
He also walks through cinema, poetry, theater and literature.
But how did she become part of the select group that writes a production for Netflix?
The streaming company was the one that first contacted Padrón in December 2019 and asked him for a synopsis of a story, "that excites you and that can work," he says.
For a month and a half he was reviewing ideas, writing down plots.
"I was in the exercise of precisely concocting a story, of giving birth to a story. Every writer, especially me, who comes from the world of novels, always has the great dilemma of this time, what is going to be the obstacle that is going to separate the protagonists. And then I said, hey, what if the obstacle lives within herself? Because the obstacle is his old love, "Padrón tells CNN Pop Zone.
One of the aspects that most impressed him was the creative freedom that Netflix gave him to tell the story.
From how many episodes she needed for the first season, to the casting and certain aspects of the direction.
"The subject is so absurdly free, so wonderfully free, that they tell you how many chapters do you need to tell the story? And I told him how many do I need? In the industry one usually writes according to the needs of the television channel Here it is the opposite, here Netflix tells you how many chapters it needs to tell the story in the most convincing way possible. So, don't believe it, that other button of freedom was a little strange for me to be able to handle it, "he explains.
And, will we have a second season?
Padrón says that the decision is in the hands of the audience.
However, the last episode of this first season has an ending that could lead to a continuation of the story.
"That will end up being decided by the public, according to the response that occurs, especially in the first two weeks," said Padrón.
"Of course I would like to because I am also absolutely emotionally involved with the characters and above all, since I have obviously seen the series three thousand times backwards and forwards, because within the editing process, and I am in love with the characters, I want them to continue to exist. And the closure of "Pálpito" opens both options, both the option that the story remains like this and the option of discovering that it can continue, "added the writer.
NetflixZone Pop Screen