La Fortuna

"La Cultura es nuestro petróleo." Culture is our oil (meaning as a natural resource).

Written and directed by Alejandro Amenábar adapted from the graphic novel, El tesoro del Cisne Negro by Guillermo Corral and Paco Roca. This was my first graphic novel and I have to say that as a novel, it's stupid, but as the basis for a movie, it's brilliant. Amenábar must have thought he hit the lottery with this as it's like someone already story-boarded the entire series for him.

The negative reviews here seem to be from people taking offense that there are some jabs taken at the USA. I'm American, but I'm also very thick-skinned and not easily insulted. I always say the same thing, any America who thinks that they rest of the world has to think we are the greatest is being a child, and the rest of the world has to realize that as the leading power in the world, there have been much worse in history than the USA.

Back to La Fortuna. This is one of the best, if not THE best Spanish series that I have seen. It definitely has the best acting, and for good and bad acting, I always put the blame or the praise on the director. It is the director's project, so if someone gives a bad performance, that's on the director. Chapeau to Amenábar.

La Fortuna is an international co-production inspired by the comic book by Paco Roca and Guillermo Corral and which , in turn , was based on real events and while capturing very well the aroma and spirit of adventure . A magnificent series that brings taste for adventure , thriller and action , as well as dealing with the recovery of Spanish heritage . La Fortuna is the title that gives its name to the series and the ship . The story tells how a young and inexperienced diplomat inadvertently becomes the leader of a mission that will test all of his convictions and along with an obstinate state official : Ana Polvorosa set out to recover the heritage stolen by a treasure hunter from the wreck of a Spanish frigate sunk in the Strait of Gibraltar by English ships . While Stanley Tucci plays an adventurer named Frank Wild who travels all around the world looting the heritage of the sea deep . He believes that if it were not he who rescued everything of value from the found wrecks from oblivion , no one else would carry out such a hard undertaking . He likes to think that the real treasure is not money, but to fulfill a dream. The dream of those who lost their lives along with the valuable cargo.

A series packed with adventures about an unique treasure and a pirate story , too , in which a young diplomat attempts to recover the undersea treasure stolen by adventurer . And being paced from the point of view of two realities : the Latin or Mediterranean and the American . An unreal, but true story at the same time, in which the brave starring will have to face harsh and complex obstacles , including a real critique to Spanish bureaucracy, . There are the twisted obstacles that they put from the treasure hunting company that has taken the treasure , and then, the administration's own obstacles , lack of infrastructure , lack of budget , lack of investigation and no coordination . As Amenabar depicts the Spanish reality , and the Spanish bureaucratic reality, and those of us who have suffered it , developing the events with a certain humor and it results to be well shown . Amenabar often to be guided by the genres and in this case it was an adventure thriller with a lot of humor , but as usual he has to make a particular transformation about it . And outstanding the adventure component that always fascinates Amenábar. But here the antiheroes or pirates do not wear a patch or peg leg , that's why the modern, hypertechnological pirates are nowadays dedicated to looting with machines that can reach tremendous depths . And then, the new heroes are not swordsmen , as they turn out to be officials of the Ministry of Culture that have to recover a robbed treasure , though its is anything else a treasure, in fact, it is culture itself , it is cultural heritage and along the way describing the Spanish reality and the Spanish bureaucratic ways .

An adventure thriller with a moving and exciting score by Roque Baños, being stunningly played by a great cast of the most diverse actors as national as international . Among the Spanish people we find the newcomer Álvaro Mel as the stubborn young diplomat , Ana Polvorosa as the wayward , determined state official , Manolo Solo , Blanca Portillo, Pedro Casablanc , Juan Carlos Vellido and Karra Elejalde as a peculiar Minister . And from the international level , the famed director hired famous faces of North American cinema such as Stanley Tucci, T'Nia Miller and Clarke Peters as a prestigious advocate at law , all of them integrated perfectly and gave themselves to the team with an extraordinary willingness to understand each other. The series, although it takes place in the United States and Spain, has been filmed almost entirely in Spain. Colorfully photographed by cameraman Alex Catalán on location in Ferrol, A Coruña, Galicia, Guadalajara, Castilla-La Mancha, La Línea de la Concepción,Rota, Cádiz, Andalucía, Pasaia, Gipuzkoa, Bay of Biscay, Basque Country, Zaragoza, Aragón, Moncloa, Madrid.

Today, Alejandro Amenábar carries out a recent great production , but not as a new film, but with the first series that has compellingly made, plenty of enthusiasm , intelligence and exuding an optimistic air . Presented at the San Sebastián Film Festival, it is the perfect show to engage and greatly entertain the viewer. This great adventure series in six episodes was competently directed by Alejandro Amenabar . As the cinema broke into his life when he was just a child and he played to tell stories to which he later added his own music. Now, a few years later, he holds nine Goya awards and an Academy Award , among many others.

We never read the graphic novel, so we came to this series with no preconceived notions. The story is compelling and the cast is superb: Stanley Tucci, Clarke Peters, Ana Polvorosa, Álvaro Mel, T'nia Miller quickly create full characters.

Art direction is superb. The locations for Jonás Pierce's home, along with locations in Madrid, those government buildings!, gave the series a real grounding. I believe it was all shot in Spain.

I've read the other reviews and horrified at the American xenophobia and racism. Talk about overloading context! Ignore these fools - watch for yourself. It's a good tale, love the multicultural cast and storyline.

I have been very excited, when I have heard that Alejandro Amenábar had been working on a series. But this is an amateur hour. The main american cast is great, but they can't make the screenplay better. Holes in the plot, disappearing and reappearing of the main protagonist, dialogues from a high school play and so on. My advice: avoid this one, and watch Alejandro Amenábar movies.

For those who criticise this series should do some background research before making a knee jerk reaction search for Odyssey who plundered Spanish gold in silver coins in the same nautical area near Gibraltar and living in Andalucía I witnessed the true story unfold.