One of the songs that the feminist movement made its own following the La Manada case is the one that says ‘Sister, I do believe you.’ What that motto revealed was the disbelief to which all those women who had the courage to report violence or sexist behavior were subjected. They were always questioned (and continue to be). Who were you with? How were you dressed? What were you doing alone at that time? Had you been drinking? Why didn’t you report it? All these questions call into question the word of whoever decides to speak.
There is something that unites that experience of not being believed with an event eminently typical of horror films. When a victim (those in genre films are usually women) says that a specter ―or something they don’t know how to fully define― has attacked them, they are never believed. Part of the conflict in this type of film arises from the fact that no one believes the victims, which causes this ‘being from another world’ to attack with impunity again and again,
There is, therefore, and more so at this moment in which horror cinema looks again at the social, a thread that unites both experiences. It is the thread that Isabel Peña (regular screenwriter of Sorogoyen) and Pedro Martín-Calero, screenwriters of The cryinga horror film that is already in theaters, starring Ester Expósito, and that he also directs. With The crying won the Silver Shell for Best Director at the last San Sebastián festival. With a stylized camera reminiscent of Ari Aster, the filmmaker, who makes his debut with this film, creates a cryptic and sensorial film in two parts about a curse that haunts the protagonist (Expósito), and who she discovers also did to her mother. biological.
It is no coincidence that The crying was born from an image that would not leave its director’s head, one that opens the film, that of a woman in a nightclub in a trance, being attacked by an invisible presence and leaving the place alone, and from there another song as a feminist who claim their right and their space to return home when and how they want. From that image, both were weaving their script that never explicitly states that it is a film about violence against women, because they respect “the intelligence of the viewer.”
“When we started writing we set the guidelines for what we wanted and what we didn’t want, and one of the things we didn’t want was to give the message or the formulaic explanations to the viewer. We wanted to escape from the commonplaces that horror films sometimes have,” says Pedro Martín-Calero. But they make it clear that talking about violence against women “was there from the first minute” when they started working on the film.
“It is a topic that interests us a lot, that appeals to us completely. Since the topic was on the table, our commitment to the film increased and we believe that the film itself was put in another place,” says Martín-Calero. That is why a female co-writer was important, and that is why they also emphasize that there is a female director of photography, “with an aesthetic view of the female protagonists so that all of that would drain into the film.”
They began writing the script in 2015. Nine years have passed and a feminist revolution has passed, and that also made them step up because they knew that the issue was in society, and that increased the risk that it would also appear in other projects. . “It is an issue that is in the social debate. That’s why we wanted to make the film now, and people have realized the possibilities of mixing gender and social themes. That made us a little tense, but having said that, the most important thing for us were the characters, putting them above everything, and I think that sets it apart,” says Isabel Peña.
The film jumps from the past to the present. From Spain to Argentina. He does this for production reasons, but also to emphasize that the curse of sexist violence “is an evil that transcends time and space.” In the end, and without doing spoilera halo of hope in the form of a hug from three characters from different generations, until then secondary, who for the first time understand what is happening and recognize each other in the other, a scene that makes Isabel Peña’s “hair stand on end.” especially when remembering “the horrible summer we spent with these issues,” he adds and makes it clear that it is not a happy ending, but at least “an ending with hope.”
Both are “aware that being original at this stage of the game is very difficult.” “For us it is not so much about being original, about discovering America, but about at least trying to surprise each other. Go against expectations all the time by being honest. Playing with the viewer without pulling out the magic trick, always trying to go against the commonplace”, and that is where one of the narrative decisions they make makes sense and which it is not advisable to reveal, but which they cite Psychosis as one of the influences.
The crying shows that in Spain you can make another type of horror, one that draws on that new generation of directors where aesthetics are taken care of, but “where there is a huge gap to work on the characters, for them to guide the stories and for them to address themes.” that appeal strongly to us.” “You don’t have to see them just because there is a scare that scares you to death, or a very good concept,” analyzes Peña. Also one that goes to the most important festivals, as happened in Cannes with titan, and what happened with his film in San Sebastián.
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