Off the back of a busy European Film Market, leading Spanish sales agent Latido Films has picked up Gracia Querejeta’s tenth feature, “The Good Luck,” screening in competition at this year’s Malaga Film Festival.
“The Good Luck,” based on leading Spanish novelist Rosa Montero’s title of the same name, turns on Pablo, who decides to get off the train at a seedy town and buy an old, run-down apartment across the tracks to begin a new life as if he weren’t the renowned architect he actually is. He might be running away from someone, or something, or even from himself. Everything in town seems to be stagnating except for Raluca, an optimistic woman open to any surprises that might change her life for the better. She’s decided to trust her luck, even if life hasn’t always been kind to her.
Latido managing director Antonio Saura describes the film as, “A wonderful exploration of the human soul, with an in-depth approximation by an established female director to the inner world of a male architect. This great film raises good questions and provides some answers about the human condition. At Latido, we love our long-standing collaborations with the producers and talent. In this case, we salute the return of Gracia Querejeta to work with Tornasol Films, where she has had some of her previous successes, and for us, it is a real privilege to represent what would be her third film with us.”
“One Love” actor Hugo Silva and “30 Coins’” Megan Montaner co-star in the feature, which is produced by Tornasol Media, Arlas PC and Trianera PC. Karma Films is distributing in Spain.
“Beyond the inherent challenges of adapting a novel for the big screen — almost always significant — ‘The Good Luck’ presents an additional hurdle: the story is told through multiple voices, not only those of Pablo and Raluca, who are undoubtedly the main protagonists,” Querejeta says of her latest challenge. “Rosa Montero interweaves the interior monologue of five or six characters with her own voice as if she herself were another figure observing the journey of the others.”
“I believe we will set aside certain roles and events to condense what is truly essential in this novel – the aspects that can be most profoundly moving: the harrowing story of Pablo and his son and the luminous, romantic story of Pablo and Raluca,” she has said. “The journey of these fascinating characters spans a broad arc in both cases. We will learn about their distant past, their more immediate past, and their present. And we will intuit their future together. We will understand the reasons behind their vastly different personalities and how each of them interacts with those around them.”
Querejeta’s impressive solo resume goes back to 1987 when she helmed her first short film, “Tres en la marca.” Since then, she’s proved an audience favorite thanks to popular and award-winning titles such as Spanish Academy Goya Award nominees “By My Side Again,” “Siete mesas de billar francés” and “15 Years and One Day,” the latter two titles starring Maribel Verdú (“Y tu mamá también,” “The Flash”).
