The film "El portero" (The
Goalkeeper) for me was a stimulating dive into the waters of the
Cantabria sea, accompanied by three hundred local extras and a
handful of actors and colleagues who shared this adventure.
I've been asked if I am satisfied with
the movie. Now that is a sickly-sweet question that is often put to
film directors with the malicious intention of detecting their
insecurities or weighing up their level of folly.
Well, yes, I am in fact glad I made it
and, if I hadn't, I would have probably tried again because "El
portero" is a film in which one would have liked to appear, even as
an extra, and is one that I myself would have gladly gone to see.
Its apparent simplicity and contagious vitality meets all the
requirements that films of the past call for; a reminiscent classic
that goes beyond mimesis and falls short of out-and-out
modernity.
When I read the text written by Manuel
Hidalgo I very quickly realized that it was a worthwhile project.
Lola Films propelled it, and that is how the story and the life of
the characters saw the light.
"El portero" should thus be taken for
what it was meant to be: a stall standing in the middle of the
beach which only (and as if that weren't enough) aspires to breathe
in pure air before becoming a mere murmur in the sea of our memory.
I wish to thank all those who made this film possible and
congratulate myself for having been in it.
GONZALO SUÁREZ.