The film is directed by Ricardo Coral and written by Dago García.
Photo: DGP Press
Actress Aida Morales remembers that she was about four years old when the chicken that they were going to cook for the stew of the pot walk was running around. That Colombian tradition was portrayed in the film “El Paseo 7,” which features Morales in one of the leading roles. The film, written by Dago García and directed by Ricardo Coral Dorado, premiered in theaters on December 25.
Family trips, office trips, school promotion trips and trips outside the country have been shown in the “El Paseo” films, the first film of which was released in 2010. Today, thirteen years later, the seventh was released. delivery and with it the traditional pot walk that generally takes place on the first of January is shown.
Aida Morales takes on the role of the mother of the family who wants to enjoy the tradition. She is joined by two children, her in-laws, her son’s girlfriend, who is an American citizen, her brother and other characters. Likewise, in the role of the father of the family is the actor Víctor Hugo Trespalacios. They both spoke to The viewer.
“When you have your childhood and adolescence in a town, one of the ways to have fun is pot rides. Because you share with your cousins, your neighbors, your nephews and your friends,” Morales recalls about the pot trips he took in Lebanon (Tolima), his hometown. The actress remembers that it was a tradition to do this activity until she moved to Bogotá when she was 13 or 14 years old.
“It is a tradition that at least in the towns does not have to be rescued because it is maintained. In the cities they make barbecues or sancochos that are made without river, in the houses, with the families,” says the interpreter, who assures that the activity is still very popular in the municipalities. Víctor Hugo Trespalacios remembers the pot walks a little differently. The actor, originally from Barranquilla, relates this activity more to the beach than to the river.
“My mother had a very strange story, because she woke us up every Sunday at 5:30 in the morning. We had to go out to the Plaza de San Nicolás, take a bus at 6:30 am and before seven we were in Pradomar, near Puerto Colombia. We were very cool, but at one in the afternoon we were already at the house again,” the actor jokingly recalls.
You may be interested in: Miniseries “La Sociedad de la Cumbia”: release date and where to watch
Trespalacios was called to be part of the film and thought he would have to play a character from the interior. They asked him to play a coastal role. “My character defends tradition a lot, in that I identify a lot with the cultural fact, but the daughter is against tradition because of the ecological issue,” says the interpreter.
“I think it is the walk with the most social lines. Everything is told with a lot of humor, but with that differentiator,” says Trespalacios. The film, although very classic in its humor and narrative, contains a critical subtext that merges with comedy, as is the example that the actor mentions, of a daughter who goes against pot rides because of its impact on the environment. .
Morales is the only actress who has starred in more than one of the “El Paseo” films. She appeared in the fourth installment when the family in that story traveled to Florida, USA. “On the trip to Miami, I was very impressed by seeing ourselves in the mirror and seeing the behavior of Colombians on trips abroad.”
This new installment shows the way in which Colombians see foreigners. Julio, the son of the family in the film, played by David Trejos, finds an American girlfriend online. Throughout the story the family, especially the character of Morales, worry excessively about the image they give of the country to foreigners.
Other characters stand out in the film, such as two documentary filmmakers who want to film the pot ride of a Colombian family. “I had doubts about that tool,” recalls Trespalacios, who is also a director. “Sometimes one is acting and the direction thing comes out, I try to avoid it (…) I had doubts about what was going to happen with that element of the documentary, especially at the level of visual narration.”
The camera is exchanged between the one used by the production and the one used by the actors who act as documentary filmmakers. “We have Valentina Vidarte, who acts as a documentary filmmaker, she is an actress and photographer, so she was able to do professional work from that language (…) it seems to me that on a conceptual level it harmonizes well,” recalls the actor, who added that Vidarte had the guide as actress and cameraman for Ricardo Coral (director) and Carlos Arango (director of photography).
The synopsis of the film asks the question: Is the Colombian tradition of the pot ride being lost? What the film and the actors respond is that the activity has decreased over time due to the move to large cities and has been transformed to a certain extent due to environmental awareness, since there was uncontrolled pollution on the banks of the river and in the body of water itself. The film makes us rethink and reinvent a cultural activity like the pot walk.
