‘Lullaby’s’ Alauda Ruiz de Azúa Asks in Her First TV Series if Some Men Understand What Loving Is Really About

Two years ago, after it bowed in cinema theaters in Spain, Alauda Ruiz de Azúa’s feature debut “Lullaby” was described by Pedro Almodóvar as “undoubtedly the best Spanish debut for years.” So the big question at a set visit last October was what she would make of her first TV series “Querer.” That set visit gave some inkling. 

Now the full answer is out, as the premium mini series, selected out of competition at San Sebastián, screened to the press in the entirety of its 212 minutes on Thursday night. 

That total screening is understandable. “Querer” begins with Miren, the wife in a seemingly perfect marriage in outward appearance, goes to a police station to accuse her husband over 30 years of sexual assault. This and following episodes records the divergent impact of her decision on her elder son Aitor, loyal to his father and his demeanour, and his younger brother Jon, who supports his mother, as Ruiz de Azúa carefully intertwines a legal thriller with family drama. 

Notable for its contention and calibrated tempo, “Querer” asks large questions, such as what many men think is loving, or how to prove a lack of sexual consent in marriage. Boundary breaking, it builds to an unexpected emotional pay-off. In visuals – in its use, for example, of fixed frame mid-distance shots – “Querer” is pure cinema. 

It is also likely to bring more recognition to four fine Spanish actors, Nagore Aranburu (“Irati,” “Intimacy,” “Flowers”), who plays Miren who could be in the running for best performance at San Sebastian if “Querer” were in competition, Pedro Casablanc (Almodóvar’s “Strange Way of Life”), who takes the role of the husband. Miguel Bernardeu (“Elite”) plays Aitor, Iván Pellicer (“Paraíso”) Jon. 

Written by Ruiz de Azua, Eduard Sola and Júlia de Paz, the mini-series is produced by Movistar Plus+ with Kowalski Films and Feelgood Media. Movistar Plus+ International handles international distribution.

As San Sebastian headed into its final straits on Friday, it was being hailed by Spanish reviewers as the Spanish series of the year. Variety chatted to Ruiz de Azúa in the buildup to this year’s Festival:

In set-ups, the series favors a largely fixed, medium shots, rather than relying heavily on close-ups. The camera only moves at select, pivotal moments, such as when Miren walks resolutely to the courtroom…

We always thought it was good for it to be a series because of the ellipses that the episodes allow, but in terms of language, to my mind, I thought from a cinematic point of view. It’s a series that deals a lot with judgement ,how we judge what we see, what we see in intimacy and in the trial. It seemed important for the camera to not be very manipulative, to maintain a distance to both characters. The camera isn’t pushing you in any direction.Almost always, when it does move, it is justified by the movement of the characters or by something very, very specific.

I suspect that one of the advantages of making the series with Movistar Plus + is that you had the time to not think about the set-ups but shoot them….

Exactly, I have to say that the journey with Movistar Plus+ has been one of complete creative freedom. I’ve also had a lot of resources to carry out the vision I had for the story. I don’t know if it’s always like this. We wanted to make a very, very adult series. They really liked the vision I had for things, and in that sense I felt supported.

The series deals with sexual abuse within a seemingly stable marriage….

One of the questions that captivated me most of the premise of a woman who leaves her husband after years of marriage is simply how does sexual violence occur in a marriage or a relationship? It probably started at some point in the traditional place of consensual relations. Then suddenly the line is crossed. This woman finds herself living in a situation of sexual violence. The construction of the violence and mechanisms by which it can occur by someone who loved you or said they did: How does that happen?

By having a trial, it gives an unusual opportunity to explore both Miren and her husband’s viewpoints

Yes, there was always this idea to place the viewer inside a real trial, where the viewer would have to witness all the testimonies. They would have to listen to all the accounts, to understand the characters. And what was going through her mind to reach the point she did but also to see the tragedy in the aggressor, or potential aggressor. Showing both sides was important.

Indeed, the series could be said to describe the tragedy of machismo, affecting both sides. 

Machismo is a tragedy. It’s a tragedy that is tied to our mental structures. Of course, it’s connected to many other things, but it also has to do with how we think and how we perceive ourselves. That’s at the core of the tragedy of being an aggressor. Often, they justify and argue their actions through the lens of romantic love or by saying they are protecting the family or through other similar justifications.

Nagore Aranburu’s performance highly contained. Despite what she’s going through, thee are few histrionics. Could you comment?

Nagore [Aranburu] was a revelation during casting. She’s an incredible actress. One of the things we talked about while building the character was how we could avoid the cliché of the victim. We discovered through rehearsals and by speaking with real victims that keeping oneself very contained, as you mentioned, is real. Not all victims behave the same way, of course, but in the case of the story we built for this character it was key. Sometimes, to endure such a painful and intense journey where you’re being questioned, feeling alone, having to rebuild your life, your only option is to self-contention.

The two sons are also conflicted…. 

The internal conflicts these characters have are, of course, enormous. They always have two or three forces pulling them in different directions. I think that makes them more human, Miren’s and her sons have to make decisions without any certainty, but they still have to make them in order to move forward. They can’t not make decisions. And that always puts them in an uncomfortable situation, where they don’t really know if they’re 100% doing the right thing 100%. So, it was an incredible journey to make this feel human, to truly convey the complexity of human nature. It had to be done this way.

Callum McLennan contributed to this article.