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Aura Garrido Gives Goya Award Worthy Performance |
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Un Asunto Privado
(A Private Affair) a series produced in Spain by Bambú
Producciones, starring Aura Garrido and Jean Reno and directed by the
trio of David Pinillos, Maria Ripoll and Daniel Aranyó, is a classic
whodunit, with a comedic flair. While all the supporting cast are
superb, there is no confusing who the stars are for this show, with Aura
Garrido in the role of Marina Quiroga, a wannabe police detective,
taught by her late father who had been the commissioner of police, and
Jean Reno who instead of being in the role of the butler who did it,
plays instead Héctor the butler who helps to solve it. The series is
created by Teresa Fernández-Valdés (produced Gran Hotel and
Now and Then), Gema R. Neira (Alta Mar, Las Chicas del
Cable) and Ramon Campos (Gran Hotel, Alta Mar, Las
Chicas del Cable). Do you notice the pattern here, of successful
collaborations?
Un Asunto Privado,
which if you live in an English first speaking country you will find on
Amazon Prime, as A Private Affair, can best be described as a
Mystery Dramedy. Set in the late 1940s or early 1950s in Spain, firmly
entrenched in both the Franco dictatorship and a time when women had few
rights in Spain and for that matter elsewhere in the world, the
storyline is built around Marina Quiroga and her sidekick Héctor, as
they seek to find out who the serial killer is. There is some limited
violence in this series due to the nature of the crime and although it
is not gratuitous, it is probably not best for children. Jean Reno who
has for decades blessed us with his magnificent performances, at the age
of 74 demonstrates that he has not lost a step in terms of his brilliant
acting. Aura Garrido who has starred in El Ministerio del Tiempo,
Blue & Malone: Casos Imposibles and El inocente (The
Innocent), blossoms in both a comedic and dramatic role as Marina
Quiroga. We are wishing for a sequel to this series if for no other
reason than to enjoy another spectacular performance from her.
Will Pablo Zarco (played by Gorka Otxoa) win Marina’s heart or will it
be Andrés Castaño (actor Álex Garcia) or will one of them be discovered
as the killer? Marina flirts
with both, batting her eyelashes and looking deep into their eyes,
before handcuffing one to a chair and knocking the other one out cold.
Otxoa is funny and quite handsome, while Garcia’s character, Castaño,
rumor has it may be a womanizer.
Why is it that Marina’s brother Arturo (Pablo Molinero), the current
commissioner of police does not want Marina poking around, unofficially
in this crime, trying to solve it? Does he merely reflect the male
chauvinism of the times, is it jealousy alluded to in flashbacks to when
they were children or is it something else altogether?
Let us talk about actress Ángela Molina who as Marina’s mother Doña
Asunción is simply superb. At times she is hilarious. We should also
mention Irene Montalà and give a nod to her performance as Margó.
If Spanish is not your first language, do yourself a favor and watch it
in Spanish with subtitles in whatever language you prefer. If you do
not, you will miss the nuances in speech that are so essential to the
plot.
The scenery in Spain is breathtaking, the costumes designed by Pepe
Reyes are fabulous and the sets created by too many to name in this
space are at times lavish and at other times dark and mysterious.
We are not sure at this writing if Aura Garrido has been nominated for a
Goya Award (2023) for her performance in Un Asunto Privado, but
she should be. Of that there is no question. Hats off to the writers who
kept us in suspense to the very end and oh that rubbing of his ear by
Hector when he is not telling the truth, signaling that he enjoyed
playing detective, is that a tip to us, the audience that there will be
more in the futura (future)? You can watch the trailer here in Spanish. Un Asunto Privado is streaming on Amazon Prime.
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