From Madrid, his current residence until January, director Daniel Baroni reviews the features of the third season of the Envidiosa series, which can be watched on Netflix, starting on the 19th of this month. He answers with the same friendliness that characterized him when he was responsible for Polka’s most important national productions, from his debut as director in Poliladron to all the creations bearing the signature of Adrián Suar.
The original cast headed by Griselda Siciliani, along with Esteban Lamothe, Pilar Gamboa, Violeta Ortizperría, Marina Pilati, Barbara Lombardo, Lorena Vega and Susana Pampin, is now joined by: Agustín Aristarán, Maria Abadie, Sebastian Weinreich, among other surprises.
– How do you describe this new season of “Envidiosa”?
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—It has many nuances or layers. It seems to me that the backbone is that Vicki, the heroine of the novel, spends two seasons searching for a wish and when she fulfills it, for many reasons it is not enough. So it generates more insecurity. As a goal, the construction of a couple is still the union of two people. Comedy-wise, Invidosa and Vicki are a ticking time bomb. It has a very deep structure and DNA. Comedy can be produced with strong content, which identifies women, men and the general public. One of my favorite topics is finding someone who believes in romantic love and intelligently surrounding them with an environment that doesn’t. This season he discovers that one’s problems won’t be solved by a couple, and if you’re in a relationship and think a baby will solve them, neither will they. People are broken and if we don’t fix ourselves nothing will replace what an individual is made of.
– How did you analyze previous seasons?
– I saw the first one as a spectator for fun because I was already here in Spain working, but I didn’t want to miss a series with Griselda (Siciliani), Lorena (Vega) and Pilar (Gamboa) and I liked it very much. I have already watched the second season of the work because I decided to film in Argentina. I had no doubt about it, for me it was a pleasure to be with this actor whom I adore. With Griselda, I have a special history that will not be erased by time, dating back to the time when we made clothing for the saints. It was in our early youth and left a strong imprint on us. We shot it at a moment in our stories that was important. I think that with Envidiosa we get the pleasure of working together again. Today she is very strong, with an international career behind her. With Esteban Lamothe it was a reunion, as with Pilar Gamboa. I know them all, although they are different in terms of acting, they print on the screen, you set the cameras and they break it.
– I directed episodes of series that had several seasons, such as “Elite” or “Olympo.” How does it work in these cases?
– Firstly, I loved the work that Gabriel Medina and Fernanda Heredia did in the previous seasons of Invidosa. In itself there was previous work that I liked, but above all and mainly, the texts of Carolina Aguirre. Here he changes his course radically. A major conflict that preoccupied Vicki in previous seasons, which is the search for romantic love, is resolved. He was able to have a partner and be with Matthias. Finally, calm seems to be coming into his life, but there is a six-month lapse, along with other elements. I had the opportunity to take a fresh look at the material because of the amount of changes that had occurred.
-This season there is a scene where Griselda Siciliani – Vicki – shows her her dance training: Was this your idea?
—I wanted to get a little insight into Vicki’s point of view, her fantasies, and the embodiment of her fears. The script is the result that we directors trust. It’s a reading that, when she’s happy about the news, seemed to me a nice way to imagine her dancing. Also, being a third season, I was able to take a risk by adding new elements. Griselda agreed and we moved forward. There are several sequences where I try to get into her head.
– Which is more difficult to direct, group scenes or intimate scenes?
– There are two types of work, when he is with the psychiatrist Fernanda (Lorena Vega) the camera remains static. It’s an aesthetic choice, in this case inherited, but I agreed. I come from many years of making intimate series. Then I went from Poliladron to doing more action like in Mujeres Assassinas. Stillness and performance are where I feel comfortable. For me, the audience scenes with the show are more difficult than the intimate area of the series.
-Will you become a director of the women’s world? She directed “Locas de amor,” “Mujeres Assassas,” and “Guapas.”
—(laughs) Add the love ending. I’m very interested in feminine sensibility. I also signed, I have two sisters and three daughters. Women have surrounded me my whole life. I think time has normalized my approach to the feminine world. I’m very interested in their struggles. Being a man, I can practice self-criticism and place in male figures those who police my masculinity.
– Did you transition from being a Polka manager to working on platforms?
—Netflix is doing a great job in the region and especially in Argentina. It is a great honor that they chose the Argentine Republic to produce and implement films and series. After Polka, she worked at Star+, Amazon and HBO Max. Fortunately, I was able to cover a whole range of platforms. I feel very comfortable at the moment working for Netflix and I think the support they provide for the narrative is very serious. All of them are closely connected to art, like Erika Halvorsen or Mariana Gamboa, they are novelists and screenwriters, they have made series and that helps a lot.
– You studied theater with Raul Serrano: Did you want to become an actor?
Being an actor was my first profession, and the thing is, I wasn’t very good. From the beginning I realized. You were Diego Peretti’s partner. With Cyrano we saw all the realism of North America. My teammates would call me and I would go to their trainings to mentor them. I left acting at the same school. This is self-criticism. You have deprived the world of having a bad actor hanging around the theatres.
– Did you study cinema at the Soviet Embassy in Argentina?
-Yes. I was a colleague of Adrian Cayetano, and we went there. At that time, Jorge Polaco and Pablo Cesar taught the lessons and I signed up. Even 35mm projectors were sent from Russia.
– There is no longer any production on Argentine television, and the fictional stories come from the platforms…
-This is a topic. As you travel the world, you realize that open TV still exists. Now that I’m in Spain I see that they are making huge productions, in fact three Spanish novels have been nominated for Emmy Awards. Beyond what this means for the general public, the industry benefits greatly, by having three or four channels producing series of over a hundred episodes. I think the industry will be much better.
-Do you live in Madrid? How can you share jobs in Argentina?
—Currently I’m in Madrid with some projects, transferring some of my content and then I’ll see if I come back to Buenos Aires to shoot. I really want to go out on stage again, because I met quite a few Spanish actors in the series I did and I’m excited to do theater projects.