He filmed the life of the comedian Eugenio.
His time of formation: how he became a comedian.
Wasn't it meant to be?
Very shy, he protected himself from the public.
With?
Smoked glasses, drink and cigarette...
And crosses his chest...
He was a goldsmith, he made it himself.
Did he feel safe next to Conchita?
Her absence leaves him alone on stage and he begins to tell jokes. It worked
I have had his joke books in my hands, his son showed them to me.
They are the ones we see in the movie.
Which of Eugenio's jokes is your favorite?
Two drunks: "Let's set up a bar?", suggests one. "And if it goes wrong?", objects the other. "Well then we open it to the public!", ha, ha. The dream of any of us!
Eugenio meets his wife, Conchita, on a bus, in the film.
And he fell in love with her joviality. He was sad. It went like this.
That's how his parents met, right?
My mother was the daughter of the innkeeper in Madrid where my father stayed when he was traveling. Years later they passed each other on the street and my father greeted her and…
What happens between two people who fall in love?
That they feel they complement each other.
How many children did his parents have?
I was the last of eight children.
Does this mark?
From an early age I learned to negotiate differences: how many meatballs per head, who goes to the toilet first... Knowing how to live together is a fundamental civic virtue, for me!
What has he inherited from his parents?
I aspire to the gift of people from my father... And from my mother, her anti-hysterical serenity.
Illustrate this virtue with examples.
I cut myself with a glass, I was bleeding, I had to go to the hospital, and the mother said: "Papa is on the roof fixing the antenna, let's not scare him!". Serena, she begged him to come down.
Another mother would have squealed…
And the father would have fallen, climbing...
...and you would have grown up an orphan.
This is how lives are written. My mother has always spread well-being around, she has avoided upsetting anyone.
What a great lesson.
A vital mission: to spread pleasures around. I aim to spread pleasure with my books and films. Not saving the world.
It's a way to save him, I think.
Pío Baroja said: "Those who want to save everyone, are they able to help just one?".
Does humor help?
Humor is seeing yourself laughable. take distance It encourages tolerance: it comes close to the sacred, in my opinion.
And does it allow total freedom of expression?
Yes. I'm a libertarian on this.
And if someone insults you, what?
Whoever insults another portrays himself.
Cert.
He might be one to envy you, and I get it! My mother taught me that, too. Ah: it is ridiculous to expect justice from others!
But we all expect it...
An error. Do your thing without paying attention to trends or waiting for prizes. "In any situation I am me, unperturbed: it is my character", said Eugenio.
Imperturbable: He never laughed.
"Only when I pay", he said once.
What did you want to tell us with your film Saben that?
That behind everyone's mask is always the person.
What kind of person was Eugenio?
One that wanted us to laugh. Those moments of pleasure are miracles! Being imperfect... we have the capacity for fullness.
And by the way: I have also seen his political documentary Sagrada Família.
I wanted to explain myself to Jordi Pujol and family, with lights and shadows: I saw that his ideal pushed him... and he tolerated inappropriate behavior.
What is your verdict on Pujol?
I don't judge, I love to understand some truth behind each mask.
what do you do now
I have written Los guapos, a play that I will direct in January, first in Madrid, and then, à la Beckett, here: I will let you know!
Why theater now?
To try different things. If you get attached to your mask... you will be unhappy. To repeat myself is to bore me. I only have one life!
What do you aspire to in this life?
I already know that success and failure are accidents. I aspire to temperance... and to continue to bring juice to life. And let things happen!
We're running out of time...
It's not true: if you feel this way, you're allowing your time to be organized by others.
Do I organize it around culture?
Culture is the catalog of foreign experiences that broadens your life and teaches you tolerance: it is the network that saves your life!
