by Alfredo Galindo
No surprise the streaming services are living a Golden Age for Mexican talent just like in the Mexican Golden Age of Cinema Pedro Infante and Luis Aguilar starred in classics such as “A.T.M. : ¡¡¡A toda máquina!!!”.
We say this because, after actor Diego Luna was present last week in the Disney Plus upcoming attractions to promote the second season of his hits series “Andor”, Vanity Fair included on an article dedicated to Fall Season Releases “La Máquina”, Hulu´s first Spanish language original series debuting on October 9 telling the story of lifelong friends who attempt one more grab at glory with a high profile boxing match but find themselves up against a dark force that stands in their way which reunites Luna with his friend and partner Gael García Bernal (“Y tu mamá también”), through their production company La Corriente del Golfo and Searchlight Television and also starring Mexican actress Eiza González.
Just like Diego, Gael and Eiza have been achieving success and respectability in streaming services in the last year as Gael also produced and starred the critically acclaimed luchador biopic “Cassandro” last year for Prime Video and more recently Eiza starred in the Emmy nominated series “3 Body Problem” for Netflix, who said to the publication that joining “La Máquina” allowed her to play a new type of character. “It was my first time playing a mother, and I just wanted to really tap into this softer side of me”, but her bigger draw was to work with two actors whom she´d grown up admiring. “It was a real ´pinch me´ moment”, adding that she used to watch Gael in the soap opera ´El abuelo y yo´”.
Speaking of the still popular Mexican soap operas, an additional attraction of the series is the inclusion of an actress known as one of the main ´divas´of the genre: Lucía Méndez, who follows her reality TV series for Netflix “Siempre Reinas”, and was invited to play Josefina, her character in the film, by the director of the series, Gabriel Ripstein, son of Mexican renowned filmmaker Arturo Ripstein who directed Lucía in one of her box office hits in theatres in Mexico and the US “La ilegal” (1979), the story of a Mexican mother who crosses illegally to the United States to rescue her baby son after his abduction by his birth father (Pedro Arméndariz Jr.).
Gabriel Ripstein has made a respected name for himself in the last decade as well, winning an Ariel (Mexican Academy Award) for Best Film Debut of 2015 for the thriller “600 Millas”, starring British actor Tim Roth, and the Prime Video TV series “Un extraño enemigo” (2018-2022), starring Daniel Gímenez Cacho (“Bardo”). For “La Máquina” he shares credits with writer and executive-producer Marco Ramírez (“Orange is the New Black), who wrote colorful characters and recreate the vibrancy of Mexican boxing culture.
“We found a great vehicle to talk about the issues that matter to us, to play again, to be critical about a world we belong to somehow, or we witness at least from our perspectives as actors”, Luna said to the publication as well. “And more importantly, something that would make us work together in Mexico again with the people and family that we´ve grown with for these last 25 years”.
Filmed in Mexico, “La Máquina” presents a rich and diverse view of the country. “It´s such a deep view into our culture-it feels like a piece of our home being shared across the globe and it feels very special and unique”, González says. “Spanish is our homeland, in a way. Our linguistic cosmovision operates in Spanish. So we sound quicker in Spanish and we flow a little bit more”, García Bernal says. “But there is that main double edge to it. Working with another language is wonderful because it´s a mask, it´s a character, it´s something that is a little bit alien to oneself”.