When the viewer begins to see See You in Another Life, the series that follows Gabriel Montoya Vidal, the 16-year-old teenager who, together with Emilio Suárez Trashorras, participated in the transfer of the explosives from Asturias that were used in Madrid on 11 March 2004, you may have the feeling that the life of this neighborhood boy who got into serious trouble is going to be whitewashed. Nothing could be further from the truth, warn Jorge and Alberto Sánchez-Cabezudo, the creators and directors of this series that it is coming to Disney.
“The series has two tones and an evolution that if you watch the six episodes is very clear,” says Alberto about a protagonist whose story is told from the lack of alternatives and the absence of regret. In the first episodes, Montoya is shown “while the character is not aware of the matter in which he is participating” and through his voice-over he justifies his actions.
But in the second half of the series, “that voice-over disappears and there is no possible justification because we confront the character with the consequences of his actions.” It is not a journey of redemption for this character "but the story of what happened because he was a front-line witness and in that sense we want to be narrators and accompany him," the filmmakers insist.
See You in Another Life is released a few days after the 20th anniversary of 11-M, the largest jihadist attack in Europe that killed 192 people and nearly 2,000 were injured. The miniseries is based on the book See You in This Life or the Other, by Manuel Jabois, in which the journalist narrates the story based on the interview that Montoya gave him, the first person convicted of the attacks and a key testimony in the macro. 2007 trial.
“I regret what happened, not what I did,” says Montoya in the series, played in his adolescent stage by Roberto Gutiérrez, who is making his acting debut, and in his more mature version by Quim Ávila, while Emilio Trashorras He is played by Pol López. “We wanted to make an honest series. We don't want to make a character that is likable, but when they describe the facts of what happened, although of course you don't justify it, if you come to understand how that dynamic worked between a snake charmer and a kid who lived on the street and who didn't I had nothing to lose,” continue the Cabezudo brothers, who define Trashorras as “the black hole and the engine” of this entire situation. “It is also true that other people who were there, like the Koala, Gabriel's friend, decided not to accompany them.”
The Cabezudo brothers describe 11M as “the most traumatic tragedy of the last 50 years”, which is why they point out that it is a necessary series for today's society, because there are “things that have been somewhat forgotten and it seemed to us that it is a topic that had to be told”, fleeing from gruesome scenes and without showing the moment of the attack itself.
The filmmakers spoke with several victims of 11M because they were very concerned about their reception of this project. They showed them the idea of the project "of being able to tell what happened and what better way than to do it from the witness who brought the dynamite to Madrid and also give them a place to tell the pain that that attack caused." Once the series was mounted, they gave them a pass and they believe that the victims "are grateful that historical memory is made and 11M is not forgotten."
