The Galician writer Ledicia Costas set her adult novel Infamia in her homeland, Galicia. However, in its leap to the screen, director Agustina Macri and producer Eva Cebrián were clear: they wanted to bring this rural-mystery story to the towns and mountains of Biscay.
“They have had a sharp eye for the landscape and for the powerful possibilities Vizcaya could offer, that’s true,” says Aitor Koteron, head of location scouting for Infamia (available on HBO from November 13, with weekly premieres). “We could say it was a matter of choosing locations somewhat on a whim, in the best sense of the word. They were very clear that the places had to transmit something; we are telling a very powerful story, and they knew exactly what they wanted in that regard.”
The story centers on Emma Cruz (played by Susana Abaitua), a criminal defense attorney who lives in Barcelona, but decides to return to the village where she spent part of her childhood and now lives with her mother (Ane Gabarain, 20,000 Species of Bees), with whom she is not very close anymore. Emma is escaping from something, from some personal pain, and she does so by trying to heal others’ pain: only a few weeks remain before the crime that has haunted the town for 20 years reaches its statute of limitations; 20 years ago, Sofia and Blanca, two sisters aged 13 and 10, disappeared and their bodies were never found. Her mother (Eva Llorach) still mourns for them and is convinced, as is Emma, that it was someone from the town.
“Small town, big hell” is the popular saying, and around it this series of mystery and psychological tension is built, in which its creators have chosen different paths to distance themselves from the novel, not only with regard to the landscape, but also in how we will discover who the killers were, following Emma; her eyes are ours, and her obsession is ours.
