“Silence… Exterior beach, scene 1, take 2… Action!” Songs like this and the noise of many filming clappers have been heard over the years in Llanes, the scene of various film productions. Some vintage and others with contemporary plots. There are detective, romantic, horror... And it is that the landscapes of the Costa Verde provide ideal settings for any film script.
This council in eastern Asturias has everything from colorful cliffs to beautiful beaches, in addition to keeping historical buildings and corners where time seems to have stopped. Locations that have not gone unnoticed by a few film directors. Natural sets that now make up a tourist route to discover a little piece of the history of the seventh art in Spain. An activity for movie buffs or simply to get to know the most beautiful places in Llanes.
There is a director who stands out among all those who have taken advantage of the charms of the plains: Gonzalo Suárez. A true Asturian, he has recorded up to eight films here, some emblematic. For example, at the Posada station or in the gloomy cemetery of Niembru, scenes from his Epilogue were filmed, a spectacular interpretative duel between José Sacristán and Paco Rabal that is further enriched by the presence of Charo López.
But as we said, the list of Suárez tapes filmed around here is long. The first was Aoom in 1969 and the last one was El genio tranquilo in 2005. In between, he recorded the intrigues El Detective and la muerte or the football matches of El portero on flat beaches such as Toró or Barru. And also on a beach, in Borizu, he set one of his most acclaimed films, Rowing the Wind, where the presence of a twenty-something Hugh Grant stands out.
Another director who has chosen the natural settings of Llanes on several occasions has been José Luis Garci, from Madrid by birth but of Asturian descent. Various beaches in the council inspire the picados and tracking shots of three of his films. The first was El abuelo in 1998 and later he would return with the casts of You're the one in 2000 and Historia de un beso in 2002. And in each of them he reveals special enclaves in the Llanes council.
The beauty of the cliffs of Puertas de Vidiago in the middle of the Llanes coastal route helped El Abuelo to be nominated for the Oscars for best non-English language film. While the hamlet of Purón inside the council or the magic of the Cuevas del Mar carved by the Cantabrian Sea multiply the visual recreation of You're the one. And in his Story of a Kiss, in addition to Alfredo Landa, Garci's fetish actor, the romantic atmosphere of the Paseo de San Pedro in the middle of Llanes and the manners that are breathed in the Poo bowling alley are also key.
That Poo bowling alley is a legacy of the Indians. Constructions of this origin abound in the town of Llanes, for example the casino, and in the villages of the council, with special mention to Pendueles where the Verines mansion and the Santa Engracia palace are preserved. And of course the Indiano also appears on the cinephile route with the Partarriú palace. It was the perfect setting for El Orfanato, the successful debut of Juan Antonio Bayona in 2007.
However, it must be said that more than a decade earlier, Gonzalo Suárez had already used it to film My Name is a Shadow. And that same director, used in 1977 the Indian architecture of the House of Culture of Llanes for his film Parranda. A stellar male cast appears in it, but as usual, his great muse, again Charo López, shines with special magic.
And just a few months before, another renowned woman was filming in Llanes: Rocío Dúrcal. She temporarily changed galas and concerts for period costumes. She appears with them along the cliffs of Buelna and the coastal path of the plains starring Marianela, thus adapting the homonymous novel by Benito Pérez Galdós under the orders of director Angelino Fons.
It has not been the only film version of a literary text that has been shot here. Toró beach or the villages of Huera de Meré and Mazucu set the scene for the dismemberment of the Iberian Peninsula with respect to Europe that José Saramago devised in his disturbing novel La Balsa de Piedra. A story that George Sluizer brought to the screen, choosing the Argentinean Federico Luppi and the Spanish Icía Bollaín to lead a very cosmopolitan cast.
In fact, there have been more international productions that have chosen eastern Asturias for their filming. One reached the palace of Los Altares in the center of Pancar at the end of the last century. There scenes of Broken Passions starring Polly Walker, Vincent Pérez or a young Frances McDormand were filmed. Unfortunately, that palace is no longer visited since it was burned down in 2003.
Other relevant names can be cited who have passed through Llanes to direct or act (Víctor Erice, Javier Bardem, Maribel Verdú, Fernán Gómez, María de Mederios…). After all, the link with celluloid goes back many years. Since in 1941 Juan de Orduña opted for the Magdalena chapel, Parres Sobrino square or the Llanisco port itself to set scenes for his film Because I saw you cry. That was the beginning of the current Llanes cinema.
The port of Llanes has been transformed since that first filming in the 1940s. Not only the boats and the architecture have changed. The port itself is now a huge artistic canvas thanks to Los Cubos de la Memoria that Agustín Ibarrola imagined.
This Basque artist painted the concrete blocks that make up the breakwater of the fishing pier. With bright colors and showy shapes, he recreated icons of the past and the culture of the town. A gigantic painting that changes its appearance as you walk on the breakwater. A walk that cannot be missed during a getaway to Llanes.
