“It is difficult to make action films in Argentina, you need resources, availability and time, which is associated with economics,” says Jorge Nisco, director of “Checkmate,” which opens in theaters today and stars Adrian Suar next to Maggie Civantos, Mike Amigorena, Benjamín Amadeo and Charo López, José Eduardo Debrez and Tsahi Halevi, among others.
“Checkmate” is an action comedy produced by Patagonik for Amazon Studios and was filmed in Potrerillos, Tunuyán and Valle de Uco, Mendoza, and Buenos Aires. It debuts today in theaters, where it will stay for 4 weeks depending on its box office, and then be released in Amazon Prime Video. It tells the story of an international brigade of secret agents who fight attacks and crimes that put global security in check.
Journalist: Secret agents and attacks are not very frequent in local stories, why?
Jorge Nisco: This film took 9 weeks to shoot, a significant amount of time for the national cinema average, almost double. When thinking about a film of these characteristics, if there is no production to pay for it, it is very difficult. But I can highlight a series of secret agents like Iosi, a spy series, which is spectacularly well done at the script level and with a lot of intelligence. It is well resolved, I really liked seeing it.
Q: Were you inspired by Iosi?
JN: The structure of Iosi is different, our movie is more comedy and action, Iosi is more detective, this one shows you what is happening, there is a bit of suspense that detonates in action scenes. When the action stops we develop the comedy.
Q: Local blockbusters have not been common in recent years, but rather low-budget stories are told.
JN: There is a lot of small story without explosions but that has interesting development, structure and scripts. Other types of films are made, more intimate, simple comedies. There may be a small story but if you believe in it it’s good.
Q.: You were the director of Suar on open TV, of fiction, with Poliladron you inaugurated an era of cinematic fiction on air. What is it like to return today after so many years in the era of platforms?
JN: Making a film today is going to the cinema and then to the platform, these are the times and one has to catch up, if you don’t walk next to each other you will be left behind. As for those times of fiction on open TV, it is true that making series is not profitable, the channels’ guidelines fell, advertising diversified. Before, it was advertised on TV and radio, then on YouTube, networks and today it is committed to different places for the products. Before, the rating program had 25 points and today a great program has 14, not to mention “Grande pa” with 50 points. This shows that people change the way they watch, they don’t watch as much TV and they divide themselves into YouTube platforms, they read and when success is measured it measures half. Let’s hope it turns around, you can’t compare the cost of fiction with reality, no matter how big it is.
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Q: What was it like working with Suar after 25 years as an agent?
JN: Suar is impeccable, he prepared a lot to make the movie, especially the action scenes at the beginning, where he puts a lot of body into it. And me too, I tried to get in the mood, making an action movie today involves putting a lot of body and energy into it, there are many hours for a long time, you have to be psychologically prepared.
Q: What can you reveal about the story, without spoiling it?
JN: It’s about a group of agents who worked together in the past and broke up. Adrián’s character was left out due to a situation, and faced with another new mission he calls the group back to help him with something. The group already knows each other, there are previous relationships, enmities and secrets. We were interested in each other’s idiosyncrasies, they come from different parts of the world, that union, that clash could generate a little humor and that’s what we tried to do. The confluence of these characters provokes comedy.
Q.: What can you say about the intention to cut INCAA and ENERC, among others?
JN: I see it badly, the situation is not good, it is a measure that was not consulted with anyone. I do not agree with the cuts to cinema and everything else, it does not cost the State as they say, trying to put everything in the same bag is a big nonsense, it is of interesting ignorance and brutality, worthy of a case study.
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Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
