Survival through teamwork: it’s a tale as old as time with particular resonance today, says actor Ricardo Darín of his latest project El Eternauta (The Eternaut), which hit Netflix on Wednesday.
Based on a 1950s comic with iconic status in Argentina, the sci-fi series tells the story of a mysterious, toxic snowfall that precedes an alien invasion of Buenos Aires.
More elementally, it is about ordinary people with few resources and no special powers who collectively stare down a totalitarian threat, Darín, 68, said in an interview.
“The communities that managed to survive were those that stood shoulder to shoulder, defended themselves, and did not care only about what happened to them individually,” he said of the storyline.
In this way, the series “resonates” and “speaks to the present day,” said Darín, though he declined to specify which threat in particular he was referring to.
The comic was a message in a bottle launched by Oesterheld into the sea, one that “long ago became a kind of slogan, a leitmotif, that ‘no-one is saved alone,’” considered the veteran actor.
Directed and scripted by Argentina’s Bruno Stagnaro, El Eternauta is based on the legendary graphic novel by the same name serialised by writer Hector Oesterheld and illustrator Francisco Solano Lopez between 1957 and 1959.
Oesterheld took the series up again in the 1960s, with ever-more political overtones that are believed to have contributed to his kidnapping in 1977 under Argentina’s brutal military dictatorship.
He was never heard from again, nor were his four daughters and three sons-in-law, all of whom figure among the estimated 30,000 people listed as “disappeared” by agents of the dictatorship, according to human rights groups.
“It’s hard to find a story like his on a family level; it’s without parallel,” lamented Darín.
Initial hesitation
Darín, known for his roles in films like Nueve reinas (“Nine Queens”), Relatos salvajes (“Wild Tales”) and El secreto de sus ojos (“The Secret in Their Eyes”) – which won the Oscar for best international feature in 2010 – said he was scared at first of playing Juan Salvo, the resistance hero in El Eternauta.
The comic is regarded as iconic, but it had never been adapted for the screen.
“That was my first reaction, but then I started to calm down,” recalled the acclaimed actor and producer, remembering the early stages of the project.
He became enthusiastic when he saw the rest of the team was approaching the challenge with “a very serious mindset.”
The mysterious toxic snowfall that kills everything it touches – and marks just the first wave of the arrival of an extraterrestrial army – is, Darín says, “absolutely unexpected, surprising, very hostile.”
“And if you tell that story with respect, with seriousness ... people will embrace it,” he added.
‘Very, very hard work’
Darín had no background in science fiction and had to do demanding stunts.
“Physically it was very, very hard work,” the actor said.
“Each day, the end of filming found us exhausted, and with little recovery time.”
Darin took part in 113 of the 148 days of shooting, often decked out in Salvo’s heavy snow-proof outfit on sets covered with tons of cumbersome artificial snow.
“Not to mention the things that happen in an action shoot, where you have to roll, jump, fall, crash, fight; a series of things that when you’re 25 or 30 years old, it’s nothing, but for me, who is 114...” he laughed.
The scale of the series also created significant technical challenges. “Nothing like this has ever been done here,” said Darín with pride.
In a few days’ time, Darín will begin shooting a new, as yet untitled film co-produced with his son, Ricardo ‘Chino’ Darín. In September, he will return to the stage in Madrid.
In the meantime, he is confident that El Eternauta will have “a major impact.”
‘Great paradox’
Darin is hopeful the series will be a boost for national cinema and the creative industry, at a time the government of budget-slashing President Javier Milei has withdrawn state support for the National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts (INCAA), and for culture in general.
He said the fact that Argentine productions receive international acclaim is a “great paradox,” given the head of state’s chainsaw approach to arts funding.
“How can we receive such powerful recognition outside our borders, and at the same time find people within our own country who question the importance of support for and defence of audiovisual production?” Darín asked.
Nevertheless, he remains confident that the industry “will overcome this moment” and go on to thrive in the future.
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by Nicolás Biederman, AFP
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