Expectation in the roundabout of the César Manrique Foundation (Tahíche) last Friday night during the fifth day of filming Broken Embraces, the latest film by Pedro Almodóvar. After more than three hours of tests and rehearsals, the red Opel Corsa in which the characters of Penélope Cruz and Lluís Homar are supposedly traveling, advanced by remote control around the wind toy designed by the Lanzarote artist. A hundred people, in addition to the forty that make up the filming team, held their breath before what was going to be one of "the essential scenes" of the film, as the director from La Mancha himself pointed out.
The vehicle was occupied by rubber dolls that imitated the figures of Penélope Cruz and Lluís Homar. Just a few meters away, the flesh and blood actors followed the scene with attention. Another of the protagonists of the moment, although behind the cameras, was Reyes Abades, the magician of special effects in Spain. It was filmed with direct sound and the impact of the all-terrain vehicle with the red car of the protagonists was decisive when validating the shot.
The setting for this simulated accident has been the same one in which César Manrique died more than fifteen years ago. As Pedro Almodóvar stated, the choice was "casual" since although the filmmaker knew the story of Manrique and knew that he had died on the Lanzarote roads, he did not know that it had been at this same point. "We chose this roundabout for the wind chime and its location," specified Pedro Almodóvar.
Next Monday, the actress Blanca Portillo will land on the island of volcanoes to film on Famara beach. There, a group of Lanzarote extras, including five children flying kites, will join the filming.
Ana Mª Lázaro / ACN Press
