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Emilio Martínez Lázaro • Director

"Accepting an order and making it your own"

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- Following the success of his last film, a hilarious musical comedy, Lázaro started to work on a sequel, with obviously the same pleasure...

Born in Madrid in 1945, he studied industrial engineering, which he quit to go study physical sciences in Madrid. In 1978 he won the Golden Bear in Berlin with Las palabras de Max. He has directed over 10 films, many of them done by order. His next film will be Las Trece Rosas, based on a tragic happening during the first years of Franco’s regime.

Cineuropa: Wasn’t it a very risky thing to make the second part, after the 3 million seats sold epic success of the first part?
Emilio Martínez Lázaro: After we released The Other Side of the Bed, we received hundreds... no, we received thousands of letters and e-mails asking us to make a second part. So we had two reasons to make this new adventure: we had a great time making the first part and the people really enjoyed watching it. Therefore, why not go for number two?

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Cineuropa: Could we say that a genre has been discovered?
When we filmed The Other Side of the Bed we made a great discovery by putting a group of talented actors together and having them sing in front of the camera. Anyhow, The Other Side... wasn’t the discovery of a new genre, it was a very personal film, which made a difficult film to copy. There has been a film, 20 centímetros [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, that tried to copy our success; and a whole bunch of films included a totally unnecessary little song.

Cineuropa: The Two Sides of the Bed [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Álvaro Curiel
interview: Emilio Martínez Lázaro
film profile
]
is a made to order film. Can this take away some prestige away from you as a director?

Jean Renoir, one of the most personal film directors, only made this kind of films and is, nevertheless, considered a celluloid genius. His ability was turning around stories and characters during his shootings. He could tell a story in a unique way. I also believe that this can be a very interesting line of work: accepting an order and making it your own. Next year, the ministry of culture wants to organise a congress about cinema. I think it will only be worth something if there are many directors there who would share their real points of view about the work we do.


Filmography

Director
Los 2 lados de la cama [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Álvaro Curiel
interview: Emilio Martínez Lázaro
film profile
]
- 2005
The Other Side of the Bed / El Otro lado de la cama - 2002
His Master's Voice / La Voz de su amo - 2001
Backroads / Carreteras secundarias - 1997
The Worst Years of Our Lives / Los Peores años de nuestra vida - 1994
Amo tu cama rica -1992
The Most Amazing Game / El Juego más divertido - 1988
Lulu by Night/ Lulú de noche - 1986
Their Golden Years / Sus años dorados -1980
What Max Said / Palabras de Max, Las - 1977 Blood Pie / Pastel de sangre - 1971

Writer
La Voz de su amo - 2001
Amo tu cama rica -1992
El Juego más divertido - 1988
Palabras de Max, Las - 1977 Pastel de sangre - 1971

Producer
Lulú de noche - 1986

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