MABALACAT CITY — The final five episodes of Money Heist dropped on Netflix on December 3. And Pedro Alonso (Berlin) said it was “the battle of all the battles.”
Widely known as one of the most popular non-English series on Netflix, La Casa de Papel (Money Heist) casts played by Alvaro Morte (Professor), Ursula Corbero (Tokyo), Itziar Ituño (Lisbon), Pedro Alonso (Berlin), Miguel Herrán (Rio), Jaime Lorente (Denver), Esther Acebo (Stockholm), Enrique Arce (Arturo Roman), Darko Peric (Helsinki), Hovik Keuchkerian (Bogota), Luka Peros (Marsella), Belén Cuesta (Manila), Rodrigo de la Serna (Palermo) and Najwa Nimri (Alicia Sierra) bring a sweet ending to the fans of the Spanish series.
In an online media press conference held November 30, Alonso revealed that the final part through its final battle is nothing but an “armageddon.”
“The final battle, a battle to end all battles. Because of the action – if we’re talking genre, but also in matters of the heart. I think there is a line there that runs through the whole saga, if we can call it that, through all the seasons, and it makes sense. It’s like there’s suddenly a ‘click’, and everything falls into place. If it makes sense, and I believe it does, I think there is something very exciting and very, very, very powerful in the visual aspect,” said Alonso.
Morte also shared that as the final five episodes were full of tension, the final day of filming was also emotional. Playing the role of the mastermind behind both heists, Morte added that watching Volume 2 will keep fans glued to their seats and binge.
“I cried like there was no tomorrow,” Morte quipped as he remembered the final day of their filming. “Honestly, it was a very nice send-off. When we finished (filming), the whole team came in. It’s a team you’ve been working with for so long, who you love a lot. So, well, yeah, you’ll probably be able to see the making of (Money Heist).”
“You know, people won’t be able to leave their seat, I think, because on the one hand you have a war breaking out in the bank, and on the other, you have a different war breaking out between the Professor and Sierra, you know? And these are two completely different kinds of wars, one is totally violent while the other is more of a war of strategy between the two of them… And I think that part, all that tension it creates, in both settings, it’s what this season is really charged with,” Morte added.
Looking back on her favorite scenes, Corbero added that a special part of the first season was symbolic to her as it was the time where her friendship with the cast began.
“If I’m not mistaken, first season, chapter six… It’s a long take, when all us youngsters sneak out of the house in Toledo to go to a street party in town. And there’s a dance there with the cameras, with no cuts, with Rio, Nairobi, Denver and me. It was the scene where we all became friends. That may well be just what I think but for me it was very symbolic. It was a very important day in my life,” Corbero said.
Money Heist executive producers Alex Pina and Jesus Colmenar who are also the series’ showrunner and director respectively, shared that shooting the Part 5 during pandemic was difficult as the lockdown and confinement kept them mentally exhausted.
“We were writing Part 5 when Spain was locked down,” said Pina. “It was very difficult to write at that time. I remember that we wrote chapter 2 and we knocked it down. It wasn’t working. So we decided to do a season finale in chapter 2. And that was like the springboard for us to start writing again because we really had no mental strength or energy.”
“It was already a massive effort to produce what we were writing because it was really crazy. And on top of that, we had to add all the difficulties of the pandemic: PCRs, safety distance… and we always felt, with the support of Netflix too, very safe shooting,” Colmenar added.
As the red jumpsuits and the Salvador Dali masks have become iconic, Colmenar also revealed that it was one of the things that came later during the filming.
“We wanted to go with just one color, and we talked about it with Miguel Amoedo, the director of photography. The aim was to tone down all the primary colors so that the red would really stand out. That’s why we decided to put a uniform on all our robbers and hostages. That way the color red would be a constant visual focal point in the series. It is the powerful image of seeing the robbers with their red jumpsuits and Dalí masks, which automatically makes you want to know more,” said Colmenar.
“We are always looking for icons for our series. The mask was obviously going to play a big role. We were considering two names, which were Don Quixote and Salvador Dali. In the end, we chose Salvador Dali because of the mustaches and that crazy air about him. And now it has become a popular Halloween costume,” added Pina.
In the final five episodes of Money Heist, Tokyo is dead while the Professor makes the biggest mistake of his life. As the enemy still lurks in the Bank of Spain, the group faces their darkest hour and greatest challenge yet as they hatch a bold plan to get the gold out without anyone noticing.
La Casa de Papel (Money Heist) is now available to stream on Netflix.
*All photos courtesy of Netflix
