Mar Targarona directing Belén Cuesta in The Cuckoo's Curse
- This supernatural thriller, produced by the filmmaker herself, is currently being shot in Barcelona and Germany and also stars Jorge Suquet
Shooting for The Cuckoo's Curse [+see also:
trailer
film profile], the fifth feature directed by Mar Targarona (Dos [+see also:
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film profile], The Photographer of Mauthausen [+see also:
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film profile], Boy Missing [+see also:
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film profile]), began on 7 February and is based on the script written by Alfred Pérez-Fargas and Roger Danès (The Death of Guillem, El fotógrafo de Mauthausen). This tense thriller with supernatural horror undertones stars Belén Cuesta (Goya winner for The Endless Trench [+see also:
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interview: Aitor Arregi, Jon Garaño an…
film profile] and more recently in The People Upstairs [+see also:
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interview: Cesc Gay
film profile]) and Jorge Suquet (who recently appeared in the comedy Donde caben dos [+see also:
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film profile]) and is being filmed in both the Black Forest (Germany) and Barcelona.
The film is a story about aspirations and focuses on a young couple, Anna and Marc (played by Belén Cuesta and Jorge Suquet), who decide to swap homes with a retired German couple, Hans and Olga – portrayed by Rainer Reiners (Inventing Anna) and Hildegard Schroedter (Lara) – to disconnect from their daily life and routine. The film also confronts the viewer with an existential fear: the relentless passing of time.
“This story has some classic elements, a hint of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales along with the folklore and witches synonymous with the depths of the Black Forest. It brings to mind Hansel and Gretel, who walked towards that house made of sweets and found themselves in a deadly trap,” says the director. “In this case, sweet treats are replaced by a big fireplace, open and bright spaces, high-tech home automation and smart appliances. This is because we wanted to move away from the aesthetics of our gothic story with its dark houses, black-walled corridors and evenings full of creatures of the night and sinister claw-shaped branches. Our story unfolds in a lovely space and plays with terror which takes place in daylight, challenging the genre stereotypes and causing us to re-examine daily life through this spooky lens.”
The producer’s synopsis tells us that Anna, who’s eight months pregnant, and Marc’s holidays will be different this year as they’ve decided to swap houses with Hans and Olga, a retired German couple they met through a website. Despite the apparent calm at the beginning, this house swap gradually turns into a nightmare for the youngsters as they discover that the elderly couple have plans for them which aren’t particularly pleasant.
The Cuckoo's Curse is an El pájaro cuco AIE, Rodar y rodar (Mar Targarona’s company) and Barry Films production, in collaboration with RTVE, Orange and Crea SGR with funding from the ICAA and ICEC. Filmax will distribute the film in Spain and Film Factory is responsible for the international sales.
(Translated from Spanish by Bex Elder)
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