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WARNING: THIS DOCUMENTARY CONTAINS SPOILERS FROM THE FOURTH SEASON
Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX
A NETFLIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY
This series was a surprise from the start.
Money Heist is a story of failure.
Because the series flopped.
"Okay, I'll see you around in other projects." And suddenly...
"Awesome. Netflix bought it."
Suddenly, it was being watched abroad, and even more so than in Spain.
That's when it started to really take off.
And you realize that a tsunami is about to hit.
In the team, we couldn't believe it.
We realized that people had a bond with the series
that went beyond just entertainment.
The impact that it has had on people around the world
and their expectations for the series put you to the test.
None of us realized until we had the chance to get out there.
Your life changes completely.
Your reality changes.
Yes, there are changes.
"We have to come back with a bang."
Let them see what we can do, right?
So, we brought out the big guns.
And we did.
Our story begins in 2017,
on a Spanish free-to-air TV channel, Antena 3.
You're on TV.
We started off well with 4.5 million viewers.
Good.
But...
The first season did very well, especially at the start of the series,
but viewership gradually declined in the second season.
It started to wane.
It dropped by half.
The audience kept getting smaller.
It was plummeting.
Falling...
And suddenly...
-It died. -...it ended.
It was over.
And, in our minds, the series had ended.
I cried a lot on the last day.
I feel as though I've killed her.
-It was hard. -I went through a real grieving process.
I cried over my character. It was hard to say goodbye.
"It's the end of the road."
Yeah, it was pretty crazy.
It was tough.
And then Netflix comes along
and buys those seasons to broadcast them in the rest of the world.
Netflix included it in its international catalog.
Cool.
It went to Netflix, but it was no big deal.
I don't think we, Netflix, or anyone expected... anything.
In fact, it was launched without advertising.
It simply appeared in the catalog.
It was filler in Netflix's basic catalog, and then...
Suddenly, something starts to happen.
I hardly had any followers, and then I suddenly had 15,000,
then 30,000, 50,000, 60,000.
I suddenly had half a million followers, 600,000, 700,000...
From many countries.
I'd look, and then two hours later, another 2,000.
We all started getting more followers.
That's what tipped us off. "Damn, something's happening here."
Exactly. A boom, to be precise.
Enormous banners in Saudi Arabia. I couldn't believe it.
In Brazil, in Mexico, in Colombia.
On the other side of the world.
We started getting photographs from the carnival in Rio.
All in Money Heist costumes.
Some crazy guy has a tattoo of Úrsula.
-Where? -A full-leg tattoo, in color, this big.
"You what? What are you going on about? I mean, what is this?"
We're raising hell!
And it gets bigger.
We made it to second most popular in the main global ranking,
competing against every series in history.
My goodness! Not even the Americans would do this.
Netflix's head honchos started talking about us in their meetings.
Stephen King, Benzema, and Mbappé put the mask on.
Neymar, too. He liked it so much that he ended up being a monk.
Oh, heavenly, Mr. Andrés.
I'm a fan.
-After that... -A bit of suspense.
...can anything else happen?
Yes! We get an Emmy.
...Money Heist.
And a strange honor: we start to inspire robberies.
With red overalls, the famous Dalí masks and guns...
Several of them.
A million-dollar gold heist.
...as characters from the series Money Heist.
It's been imitated, copied, using similar masks.
But the most exciting thing starts happening on the streets.
The red jumpsuits and the mask are paraded around America, Europe, and Asia.
They're used in protest marches for social rights
in Lebanon, Iraq, France, and Chile.
And along with the rediscovered "Bella Ciao,"
they travel the world for causes such as democracy,
feminism, and the environment.
"OPEN ARMS" RESCUE SHIP ARRIVES AT THE PORT OF LAMPEDUSA
AUGUST 2019
But when an NGO rescues a boat full of immigrants,
and as soon as they are brought to safety, they start to sing "Bella Ciao"...
that's much more important than everything else.
Then Netflix asks us, "Guys, can you carry out another robbery?"
What?
Wow. Wait a second.
I think we took two months to reply because we wanted something...
that would likely guarantee we wouldn't let the viewers down,
something that wouldn't disappoint all those people.
We have to get the gang together.
"I can't believe it. How cool."
We're the Resistance, right?
But when we started filming again, we realized for the first time
how much our lives had changed.
This was fame.
JANUARY 2019, DUOMO SQUARE FLORENCE, ITALY
When we got to Duomo Square, which was our first filming location,
it was already full of people.
We can see all of that.
"What's going on? We have to film here?"
They surrounded us as if it were a soccer stadium.
They stayed deathly silent, which was wonderful.
I said to myself, "Okay, concentrate.
No eye contact until you finish."
When we were finishing up the sequence,
I said to Álvaro, "Hey, Álvaro. Let's go say hi to everyone."
Should we say hi to everyone?
And we took three or four steps,
and as we approached them, suddenly, they were coming from all sides...
Grazie mille. We have to get back.
We couldn't finish filming.
We had to stop filming. A tragedy.
We ended up hiding out in a building.
There was no way we could continue.
...not from any angle, the reflection in the window...
It's packed. There are 4,000 people in the square right now.
-Seriously. We're laughing, but... -Jesús!
But it's a nightmare.
-We can't film. -...where we still find it funny.
This is going to turn tragic.
And it did. It was difficult getting to the car.
People started running after us.
If I get out, there'll be a scene. Watch out!
We were like The Beatles.
And at the next location, which should have been peaceful...
I don't like to have to tell you this.
FLORENCE, ITALY
...something big was waiting.
Cut!
I think there was a point when we had gone in there,
saved the sequence, made it work...
and Álvaro said...
"Pedro, maybe it'd be cool to say thanks to these people."
I said, "Álvaro, no.
Look what happened at the Duomo. We could die."
I'm fucking with you.
And we had this idea to stand on a bench.
And someone jumped over the barrier.
We started to see people running like there was no tomorrow.
All of a sudden, my face is all over the world.
This is insane.
It's very unsettling because you stop being anonymous.
It's extraordinary.
It would take its toll on all of us.
Cars with tinted windows, being escorted by bodyguards when you go abroad...
It's suddenly reached a whole new level.
Everyone who sees you on the street says, "You're awesome."
Then you get home, and you might start thinking,
"I am awesome."
I went from being totally anonymous
to suddenly having to ask to be allowed in the VIP lounge
because people wouldn't stop asking for photos with me. No.
Unless you really keep yourself in check, you become an asshole.
A real asshole.
All this popularity means good numbers.
Today, Money Heist is Netflix's most-watched production,
including films, including English productions...
in the company's history in France...
Italy...
Argentina, Chile...
Brazil, and Portugal.
It's also a huge success in North Africa, the Middle East, and Turkey.
And, in general,
it's among the most-watched shows all around the world.
This is a worldwide phenomenon.
The nicest thing about it is that it came from the viewers.
This was on another level.
It came about spontaneously.
I think there's a kind of "love attack."
We realized that people had a connection with the series
that went beyond just entertainment.
It was almost a philosophical connection.
It's a bit overwhelming.
It's hard to believe, but that's how it is.
It was reaffirming for us, like,
"We weren't crazy. We were doing something cool."
Because the craziness begins in the first episode
of the first season.
It was a national series,
but we had our sights set on the world.
I remember there was less money before, but there was the same energy.
From the very start,
our idea was to make an international series.
We went all out.
Everyone was crazy about it.
END OF FILMING THE SECOND SEASON AUGUST 2017
We've done it!
So, for some time, my idea had been, "This is the time to do it.
Let's do something..."
It was very ambitious.
Although, of course, in some respects, Netflix's arrival has changed our lives.
Before, when we had to go to the Philippines, we went,
but by using a computer. That sea didn't exist.
In fact, we hadn't even left Madrid.
Now, if we want a private island, it's ours.
We'll do a global show.
If we want a Thai Buddhist temple, it's ours.
Elephant included.
PATTAYA, THAILAND
We'll do a super series.
We want a military helicopter?
Get that fucking helicopter down now!
-It's ours! -All out.
And if we want a shower of bills to bring downtown Madrid to a standstill,
we'll do that too.
All this seems pretty good, right? Well, it isn't.
When we closed off downtown Madrid,
we discovered that big film sets can become...
More bills!
...absolute hell.
More bills!
Bills!
The machine isn't working. What the hell's going on?
The damn fan is jammed, man.
The bills only fall on one side.
It's the wind. We can't control it.
The fan isn't spinning well.
It was sheer despair. Just imagine Jesús, the director, was going crazy.
It's not working. It doesn't look real.
When we cut, the bills got stuck underneath.
You know this won't end well, don't you?
For each unsuccessful take, they have to pick them up...
and do it again.
Pick them up...
and do it again.
And then, somebody has a great idea.
Vacuum up the bills.
But hang on a minute.
Is that as clever as it seems?
You're tearing up the bills. This has a turbine that shreds them.
I told you to blow them into piles, not to vacuum them up.
My God.
Three million euros shredded into confetti.
Good thing they were fake.
We finally get the hang of the fan.
The bills fly.
Not even God could stop us.
Well, he could.
We didn't know what to do.
We had goodness knows how many hundreds of extras there.
This is work for special extras, you know?
And the sense of desperation starts to become unbearable.
It's started to rain, and our money's become soggy paper.
No one can get it to fly now.
And there's another problem.
We have to dry the floor.
Get to work.
So, we set up some gazebos to act as umbrellas.
What we were using to pick up the bills
is now a dryer.
What made them fly...
is a dehumidifier.
And the director of photography and the director of art
are now pavement dryers.
Well, it's an effective method.
A bit rough, but it's effective.
A lot of hard work and dedication for nothing.
In the end, the floor was filmed wet.
-I see blue sky. -It's blue, but...
And suddenly...
the sun comes out.
No, that's not good.
-Everything's wrong. -Cut!
When you've filmed while it was overcast, then it suddenly looks like summer...
We're struggling with the sky. It's a sunny day in March...
...it's a problem.
...so that the sun won't be in the shot.
In the end, tensions rise.
I'm finding solutions for you. You should come up with some too.
Other than not filming, canceling the shoot and going home.
Some kind of solution.
It's been building up.
I set the camera height, they change it.
-And with the pressure... -Am I not the director of photography?
...it all comes out.
Why am I director of photography?
And sometimes, it's just...
-José-- My walkie-talkie isn't working. -...one of those days.
Here we go again. Fucking up this shot and that one.
There's a guy with a yellow sleeve. Yellow isn't allowed, man.
The batteries.
This doesn't happen in Narcos, 13 Reasons Why, or Stranger Things.
You'll take the rap anyway.
Come on. Take it easy. Things can't get any worse.
Or maybe they can.
They haven't put up the green screen.
No.
The giant screens should be green
so we can add the image of the Professor.
They haven't requested extradition.
It should be completely green.
If it's not all green, it has to be black.
But with so many interruptions, the allotted time has run out,
and they're putting ads on.
Obviously, it was total desperation then.
They can't do a green screen for some reason.
Me too, man. I don't know if you want to wait five minutes.
They're going to give us more time.
They're giving us at least another 40 minutes
-of green screen. -Good.
Hooray, we did it.
The hard way, suffering.
Extras, great job. Thank you very much to all of you.
But in the end, millions of euros rained down on Madrid that day.
Yes, this is a series with lots of money.
Nine hundred and eighty-four million euros.
Shooting.
Great songs.
And tons of gold.
But no, that's not why you love us.
The big question is: Why do you love us, then?
Why has Money Heist been such a success?
People have fallen in love with the characters.
-You're not in love, are you? -I'll get to know them.
The kindness and wickedness in each of them.
-What is their past? -The stupidity of another.
-Why are they here? -When they make mistakes...
Sorry.
That's what makes the viewer feel things.
Any viewer could think, "I'm like Denver."
-"I could be the Professor." -Going into the lion's den?
Each has their own traits, and you can empathize with them.
You don't connect with an unbelievable robbery,
nor with the Professor's intelligence, even if you admire it.
You connect with the fact that he's scared.
Even if all this works out, I...
I'm going to be screwed.
When you get hooked on or addicted to a series,
you're addicted to the characters.
After a binge-watching session, you think, "I know these people.
They're in my living room with me."
So, the more emotionally powerful and complex the characters are,
the more addicted the viewer gets.
And how do you do that? The first key:
What are we? Latinos or Germans?
We're Latinos.
There's passion here.
WE HAVE PASSION
The thing that sets the series apart is that it has heart.
For a long time, there was an unwritten rule
that action films were empty and superficial
and intimist or emotional films were boring.
So, what we did was mix those two concepts.
-I love you! -Me too!
That's why our heist story is full of romance.
This is a love story.
One of those beautiful love stories.
And we're obsessed with that.
No matter what it takes, we want all-out passion.
Like with this kiss. Candid, right?
Well, it took some time to get it.
Maybe the director looking on, just inches from their lips, didn't help.
You want us to make out.
-A little bit. -Yeah.
They try again.
But it still isn't working.
That kiss was kind of...
It fit the scene. It was kind of motherly.
But it has to be a damn good kiss.
-The last kiss you'll ever share. -Okay.
-Understand? -Yes.
And they try.
But it's no use.
It's really hard because, on the one hand, I'm trying to...
be like...
-the mother. -Sure.
-You have to keep it epic. -Okay.
But it's a goodbye kiss.
But in the end, when it comes to passion, if you put affection and effort into it...
-Stop filming, you pest. -...it happens.
Cut!
There's another important aim in this series:
to keep the viewer on edge.
The fun is in here, for fuck's sake.
Anything can happen here.
We try to be unpredictable.
WE ARE UNPREDICTABLE
We try to do the unexpected,
and it's been that way since we came up with these guys:
the characters.
We wanted characters that haven't been seen before.
For example, our leader.
The Professor!
-Very clever, yes. -What an amazing man.
Leader of a criminal gang, yes.
But, deep down, he's a loser.
It's that personality that makes him speak differently
than the robbers we're used to.
-It surprises us. -What are you wearing?
Our professor, the gang leader,
we wanted him to be almost like a nerd.
He wants to be distanced from society.
He's a sociopath in many ways.
A shy man with problems interacting with some women.
I've had relationships.
Several.
Seeing these characters evolve is interesting for the viewers
because it's so surprising.
That such an ordinary person...
Well, let's see if I'm of some use at least.
...could create something so big.
We must be able to stay in control.
The more difficult it is to make the character do that,
the more interesting it is.
There is one character who epitomizes our ability to do the unexpected.
I really feel like telling you everything.
Tokyo can make any situation explosive.
She's our Sputnik. Fuel for any script.
I can be a good girl for a long time,
but little by little, my naughty side starts to come out.
Combining regular places with unexpected twists
is a formula that, nowadays,
works really well.
Tokyo.
So mature in some ways, yet so childish in others.
She's a very impulsive person.
Didn't you say, "No matter what"?
She tries to control herself, but it goes against her nature.
I'm not surprised he dumped me.
-Here's a fact you don't know about Tokyo. -I'm Tokyo.
She was the first city.
That wasn't my name at the start.
Why is Tokyo called Tokyo? I was going to tell her why.
She doesn't know.
I was really surprised...
when I saw that my character's name was Tokyo.
I remember Álex Pina was wearing a T-shirt
that said "Tokyo" on it.
I loved it.
"It's a great name. The main character has to be called Tokyo."
That's how I ended up being called Tokyo.
Within 15 minutes, I said, "Berlin, Moscow, Denver."
-Denver? -It was really quick.
-Tokyo, Berlin, Moscow. -Denver, Moscow.
What's this? Why are we called that?
I think my friends with cities for names kick ass.
We are emotional.
Which brings us to the next key:
this series is full of empathy.
EMPATHY
So much so that we've grown to love the bad guy.
Why did he put you in charge?
Because of my people skills.
Berlin was the most hostile character.
But he was also mysterious at the start. "Who is this man?"
A special man.
If I have coffee right now, I'll go crazy.
Despicable most of the time...
Dance.
...but sometimes admirable.
I've spent my life being a bit of an asshole,
but today, I think I feel like dying with dignity.
It's incredible how a character with such negative traits...
is loved.
He's always in the top three in the polls.
People need to get their heads checked.
Because...
I'm sure he's not the character you'd want your daughter to marry.
You bastard! You son of a bitch!
It's like holding a mirror up to society. You know, seriously,
"Your favorite character in Money Heist is this guy."
Let's see what balls you've got.
The dominant way he leads
repulses us, but it gives us a certain sense of safety.
You and I are the Resistance.
If television is bland, it's boring
because less things happen.
The audience wants things to happen,
and there's nothing better than a villain who we can empathize with.
For a moment, I thought it would be really good to feel...
how my friend is feeling.
But these characters are risky,
and, in Berlin's case,
that caused problems even before the series was released.
Fear.
Someone said to me,
"This character doesn't fit with the times.
You should take him out of the series."
He's despicable.
I said I had no intention of taking him out of the series.
What the hell is in your head?
He's a misogynist, narcissist, and psychopath in many ways,
but we could have a character like that in the series
and the audience could freely decide whose side they're on, right?
The next characteristic of this series:
nothing and no one is sacred.
Any of the characters could be in danger.
WE HAVE NO MERCY
Gentlemen, you have to live to the very end.
What kind of a kiss was that?
Nairobi. How we loved Nairobi.
Thank you.
I've never had a boss like you, Miss Nairobi.
Today is my last day.
It's tough.
It's the end of an era for me.
Yeah.
They say when you die, your whole life flashes before you,
and this is a bit like that, but with the character.
I like to think that Nairobi wants her son to have a life with more opportunities
than the one she could have given him, and a more peaceful one.
Let's say goodbye to our colleague Alba Flores.
I've been working with some of the team for many years now.
And...
I want to thank you all for everything you've taught me.
I've grown here as an actress
more than I ever imagined I would
and as a person, too. And...
and you're a fucking great team.
Fucking great.
I hope I get to film with you 16,000 more times.
I'm going to miss you all.
It's over, and I have nothing on the horizon.
It's a really liberating feeling.
Because... Well, I need a rest.
That brings us to another essential characteristic:
black humor.
BLACK HUMOR
PIN.
One, two, three, four.
Yes, you can laugh at a hostage who's being held at gunpoint.
-Your name. -Arturo.
-Arturo what? -Arturo Román.
Arturo Román. All right. Arturito.
He represents the meanness within all of us.
I'll kill you, bastard.
He's just so deplorable, you feel like adopting him.
You couldn't be more pitiful.
The viewers might see their own base desires in Arturo,
and that's why you can't stand him, but in reality...
He's the most human.
And we hate when what we're ashamed of is pointed out to us.
Speaking of shame,
Arturo has had quite a few embarrassing moments.
He's walking along with Helsinki...
through the vaults, and they hear a woman moaning.
Is that your lady?
He says, "No, it's not my lady."
Mónica isn't the loud type. It must be one of your colleagues.
Then he goes in, and it is her.
Don't stop!
Fuck! What the hell are you doing here?
Everything he does is really crazy, risky, and surprising.
That makes it funny.
I'm the... punching bag.
If someone who is morally twisted is also socially awkward,
they grow on you.
He's deplorable, but you love to hate him.
You know,
men take care of men.
Now we're on close terms,
we're going to tell you a secret.
Right. Listen up, everyone.
We're obsessed...
with veracity.
VERACITY
-Now! -For that reason,
we would face many of the same problems that our robbers face
if we robbed the Bank of Spain.
The vault.
Starting with the real gold vault.
Just like in the series, it floods if there's a robbery.
There's a lot of information that states that there is a system...
Forty-five kilometers of reinforced pipes underground.
...that involves channeling two streams
that would flood the vault should anyone decide to rob the bank.
It's a great work of engineering. It's a marvel.
So, to get the gold out...
But we won't open that door.
...we had to invent something...
Tube!
...that would work in real life.
An interconnecting antechamber.
That's why we called in a naval engineer to help us design it.
He gave us a lesson, and we filmed it.
Better than taking notes.
Something like this.
Get them to bring dinner in, please.
But once the ingots are out...
Sweet gold!
...we have to melt them.
We could do that because in the foundry...
I'll show you the beauty we've set up.
...there are real furnaces.
They are identical to this one but a bit more glamorous.
That's cinema for you.
This is the Christian Lay jewelry workshop in Jerez de los Caballeros
in Extremadura, Spain.
This internal recording from the series' documentation service
was used by the team to learn how to melt down gold the traditional way.
"Can I record it?" And he said, "Yes, no problem at all."
If I were to make a homemade version of this machinery, what would I need?
They explained the whole process.
Add the solid material, take out the liquid, and pour it out.
Mind you, we didn't use real gold.
We used brass, which is a bit cheaper.
So beautiful!
That's when we started asking them strange questions.
If you were robbing the Bank of Spain
and you had to turn the gold into nuggets, how would you do it?
Bearing in mind the equipment must fit into a military truck.
He starts pouring. He adds pressurized water...
And then...
He says, "That's how you'd do it."
We do it all with bubbles.
He takes it out, and we drained the water off,
and there were brass nuggets.
Nuggets.
Like gold nuggets.
Like grains of rice.
I filmed it and sent it to the script team.
"We've got it. We know how we can do it now."
This is the good stuff, Governor.
During filming, we had professionals doing the melting down,
just in case.
-Manuel Manceras Sr. -I'm Manuel Manceras Jr.
And here they are, as extras,
learning to be robbers.
We wouldn't mind really, with things as they are,
but not for the moment.
How does it look, Doctor?
Here's another obsession with realism.
In this sequence, Arturo really gets a stitch.
They shoot Arturito in the series.
So, a surgeon comes in.
A surgeon came so that an actor wouldn't have to do it.
Now you stitch him up.
-Who, me? -He really stitched him up.
Easy now. Easy.
We were all...
I'm going to be sick.
...laughing our asses off. We couldn't believe it.
And obviously, when he wiped off the makeup,
"What's this?" He'd given him a stitch.
Son of a bitch.
But we still haven't mentioned
one of the most important ingredients for this success:
our symbols.
THE SYMBOLS
Money Heist has an anthem, a shield, and a color.
The color red is associated with agitation,
with passion.
It puts you on alert
when combined with the idea of 100 people locked up in one place.
-Like a pressure cooker. -And for that pressure cooker to work,
we need two teams to work together:
photography and art.
The artwork in this series is spectacular.
Because it was made with care.
We're quite clear that everything will be very dark, with tertiary colors
so that the characters' skin
and the jumpsuit, our color, our symbol, will stand out.
We go with red.
And in the end, that gives you an iconography of your own.
That's Money Heist's greatest strength.
And that iconography is linked to an anthem.
You know how our anthem goes, right?
We know that as soon as we go...
Everyone's with you, I mean...
This song, which was used as an anthem by the Italian anti-fascist Resistance
during World War II,
is being heard once again all over the world 75 years later.
Although we had a hard job finding it.
We were completely stuck. We didn't know how to get started.
I did something that I tend to do: play the "Bella Ciao" song.
Because it motivates me.
As I was listening, I thought, "This is the song!"
I went and told my colleagues...
"This is the song."
"We have to start this scene with 'Bella Ciao.'"
It was awesome
because the series talked about resistance,
and suddenly, it was the Italian Partisan Resistance.
It's their first contact with soil, with freedom...
Soil!
...with the way out,
and the partisan song will be playing because we're partisans.
We did it, guys!
It has the feel of an anthem. An epic feel.
The notes, the tempo, the lyrics.
It has that patriotic, anthem-like vibe to it.
Then Berlin and the Professor start singing it.
Then it takes on a new dimension in the series.
You start to love "Bella Ciao."
I can't remember any other sequence with such utter silence on set.
It takes on a mythological dimension when you realize
that it is emotional territory, sacred territory, for the characters.
It was...
mystical almost, the song in that sequence.
All that iconography has been one of the reasons,
if not the most important reason, behind its international success.
If you do it in normal clothes, without the masks or "Bella Ciao,"
I'm totally convinced it wouldn't have the same impact.
What are you dressing up as?
Those three elements have created a new universe of symbols...
An iconographic image.
...that people are using as a pop-culture symbol.
I think people need symbols.
And it's very easy to recreate and repeat.
And people can adapt it to their own needs.
People dress up for different reasons in different places.
But there is always this kind of underlying fight against the system,
which people love.
What does all this mean? It means...
that it's universal. It's an icon.
Everyone can use the red jumpsuit, the Dalí mask, and "Bella Ciao"
for their own fight.
Those people are going to see us as their damn heroes.
Do you know what else making this series requires?
Making our lives difficult.
In Money Heist, actors, directors,
writers, technicians, and producers
all live life on the edge.
LIVING LIFE ON THE EDGE
Starting with the actors.
See that ship?
We've entered international waters.
We told you it was the North Atlantic, that it was cold.
The gang was escaping, right?
PHUKET, THAILAND
Well, it was a lie. That ship was torture for the cast.
It's so hot.
We were in Thailand, in the sun, with temperatures above 40ºC,
with really high humidity levels.
I nearly passed out.
-The Professor almost fainted. -About to have a heat stroke.
Several people fan him because he can't sweat,
or it'll show in the sequence.
Yeah, give him air.
Although by the looks of his shirt, it's a bit late for that.
It was hot as hell.
So hot.
We all just wanted to die. It was so hot.
The crew were all in T-shirts and tank tops,
and we all had sweatshirts and coats on.
Sweater, scarf, wool hat.
It was 44ºC, and the sun was blazing down.
Darko Peric plays the role of the tough Helsinki.
-But here... -Cut!
...with the coat, the sun, and the rocking of the ship...
he's on the verge of fainting.
Some ended up rehearsing shirtless and slightly, let's say, disgruntled.
I said, "Couldn't we have filmed this in January in Valencia?"
I looked like a crab, man. Red and sweating,
half dead, and experiencing tachycardia.
That day was really tough.
What about the script? Does that live on the edge too?
Yes, it does.
While most series of this scale are written out in full and then filmed,
in Money Heist, we write in parallel to filming.
WRITING WHILST IT'S BEING FILMED
And that gets many people wound up.
No one knows how it'll end, not even the screenwriters.
You don't have a clue what you're doing, and it's like, "Well..."
We try to keep it very close, with the shortest time possible
because a lot happens watching the series in post-production.
You don't know where they're taking the script.
We think that you have to keep your ear to the ground...
to sense where the train is coming from,
so the closer the train is, the more information you have.
-You watch a sequence and say... -Don't move!
You see something marvelous, and it allows you...
I was terrified.
...to change course,
which you can't do if everything has already been filmed.
Sometimes it's hard to understand because it's very stressful.
I was scared shitless, thinking, "What are we doing?"
But it's better for the series.
Well, yes, to be honest.
How do they write so close to filming? They write on the fly.
Take, for example, the pig sequence.
Any volunteers?
I think the sequence falls apart here. I'd add a bit of comedy.
What if Marseille says...
Not me. I can't.
What if we make him an animal rights activist?
People are one thing, animals are another.
I love animals.
And Denver says, "You're a hit man and an animal rights activist?"
You're a soldier. You kill people. What's the problem? I don't get it.
"I have principles."
I have my principles.
I'm against animal cruelty.
Can I believe what I want? Are you going to tell me?
Can I believe in what I want, or will you tell me what to believe?
"I've been to war. Animals are better than people."
"When I was in the war..."
I was in a war...
with a dog at my side.
These people annoy Bogotá.
And Bogotá responds.
-The vegan criminal! -Yeah.
The animal activist killer.
I won't cut open a pig.
And the actors get the script at the last minute.
They meet with the episode director to rehearse before filming.
Cut the fucking pig open. You're a hit man.
You're pissing me off.
Open the fucking pig. You're a hit man!
Stay away from me.
And he goes and he puts a scalpel right here.
Push me again, and I will slit you open.
Push me again, and I will slit you open,
from top to bottom.
Then, on set, actions are included.
Open the fucking pig. You're a hit man!
Stop. He moves backwards, and you kind of grab him.
-Okay. -So he doesn't get away, you bring him in.
One more time.
-I won't cut open the pig. -You're a fucking hit man.
Open the fucking pig. You're fucking nuts--
Like this? Excuse me.
From top to bottom.
Some sequences are written so close to filming
that there's no time to get together to explain the actions.
We need to see her struggle because...
But that's what phones are for.
I'm Nairobi, and this is Gandía's hand,
so it's like this. He pushes her forward like this...
She bangs into the door, so he now knows where to aim.
He shoots.
He makes a circle. It doesn't fall.
He bangs it through.
Then he pushes Nairobi's head through that hole.
Then it's: hand, hand. He ties her up with carabiners and ropes.
And she's tied up.
-Cut. -Cut.
But if there's a time when living on the edge is painful...
-Action! -...it's in the moment of truth.
We're ready for filming.
The filming.
NOVEMBER 2018 KRABI, THAILAND
We wanted this sequence at sunset,
and we only had one day left in Thailand.
-That's a big one, isn't it? -There's never been a bigger one.
We had one shot, and we had to get it right.
Silence now, please. Total concentration.
Nothing can go wrong.
Set... and... action.
But things started badly.
-Let's start again. -We've got all of his part, okay?
Come on. We have to be quick. Twenty minutes of sunlight left.
-Second attempt. -Action.
But this time, an engine can be heard.
Cut.
-We have to go again because of the van. -The bike.
-The sun is setting. -Come on. Concentrate.
The director keeps looking at it,
nervously.
Okay. And action.
-Cut. -Got it.
Perfect. Let's go.
But we still have to do the final tracking shot,
so we hurry off with all our gear.
There's no margin for error. The sun has already set.
Come on. Let's do it!
Silence!
It has to be right first time.
And... action!
And when it's almost dark...
-Cut! -...we've got it.
All we have to do now is check the results on the monitor...
Look at this.
...and breathe a sigh of relief.
Always on the edge.
Don't film this, please.
It's always on the edge. That's where interesting things happen.
It's like shooting a three-pointer. The bell rings, you shoot...
and it goes in, and wow.
The rush is awesome.
And I film for those moments, really.
Filming on the edge gets us great results,
when things work out right because at times...
-how can I put it? -...cell phones and-- Shit.
Now for one of our most unfortunate days.
Welcome to Pinewood Studios in the United Kingdom.
It's amazing, man.
Here they have the best water tank for underwater filming.
Well, that bathtub is pretty cool.
-What could go wrong? -Nothing will go wrong.
-It was absolutely crazy. -It was crazy.
We learned...
-We went through it all. -...from our failures.
But I had a great time.
Step one: we bring the entire set from Madrid...
and set it up over the water.
There!
Because the best way to simulate the vault being flooded...
is to submerge it.
Instead of pumping water into the vault...
Seven thousand five hundred liters a minute.
...what we did was submerge the entire set in a swimming pool.
Therefore, the effect, with a camera tied down on the inside,
was that the water emerged from below
and started to rise.
The next day: catastrophe.
It turns out that the ingots come loose and float.
You learn from these things.
We have to do some screwing and drilling, and everyone's involved.
Everyone, including the director of photography.
-Didn't you want a global show? -We're going to do a global show.
All out. A global show, all the way.
Well, here you have it.
Photography? He's not great at photography,
but he's damn good at putting in screws and drilling ingots.
But when we'd finished, we discovered this...
The shelves are getting rusty.
We're trying out different liquids to remove the rust.
We're using phosphoric acid,
but when you use phosphoric acid,
it leaves behind white marks.
So, we're learning how to remove the marks.
I'll dive into the lake, see if I can get anything done today.
Is it me, or is there some tension in the air?
You can say that again because what's coming next is even worse.
The ingots...
have shrunk.
The ingots were made of foam so they'd weigh less.
The weight made them difficult to get on set.
The water pressure...
has done this to our gold ingots.
What happened? Pressure, once again.
They'd never been two and a half meters underwater.
We wanted to die. They looked like raisins.
We'd been working on them for months.
These things happen.
Everything that happened was like one catastrophe after another.
It was probably the most tense moment
with the most pressure and responsibility involved for all of us
because things weren't working out.
Working underwater was giving us problems.
But despite all this...
...we filmed.
Down below, Alba, Hovik, and Jaime are taking the gold.
From above, the directors are giving them orders
through an underwater loudspeaker.
However...
In Spain, they didn't realize. "It's awesome."
But then you'd say, "Look at that. Christ. Look at that."
"Look at that. The ingot is bent." "You're right."
Every ingot had to be digitally retouched in every shot.
One after the other.
We painted almost all the ingots one by one.
We had to fix over 1,000 ingots.
It was a crazy amount of shots.
But the end result looks great and was worth the trouble.
Well, I think the digital effects team will remember us.
Let's say we lost a lot of sleep during that process.
It was no easy task, but the material is fantastic.
I think those images are what make all the difference.
It's kind of a summary of how we make Money Heist.
It was quite a risk. They could have left it out,
avoided it, or scripted it differently, so hats off to them.
Money Heist exists to make things difficult
for us as screenwriters
and for the directors who film on the edge.
It always has to be pushed to the limit.
Now!
You have to be permanently terrified.
Cut.
I get up every morning to come to film, and I get up feeling terrified. Always.
Each shot is everything to us when we're filming.
So that the viewers enjoy it.
-We've got it! -We've got it!
We've finished. Zero casualties.
Now you know us a little bit better.
This is who we are.
...so that it sweats a bit.
A strange group of robbers...
...on the greatest adventure of their lives,
thanks to you.
Thank you.
People stop me in the street.
Supporting this series, sending so many nice things.
"Tokyo, Money Heist."
Thanking me for how happy they've been at home watching the series.
It's really amazing.
We've played as much as we can
and to the extreme with all the genres we know how to.
I think it shows in the series.
It's thrilling to see people taking your work...
and making it their own.
Really exciting.
It shows that stories are infinite
and people are really eager to hear them.
It has given me so much.
It has given me another career, another life.
That's what I'm most grateful for.
It's been a gift.
I swear, it gives me goose bumps.
A gift. It's a gift that life gives you.
It was like a gift.
It's a gift.
I take it like, "Wow!"
A privilege, really.
I'll cherish it forever.
Let's light one to see how much heat they can take, okay?
This doesn't go!
It's broken!
My grandfather.
He died filming The Pier.
The best cameo in the series.
-But I also think-- -"I'm going on vacation."
Cristina, Jesús, Olalla.
Yes, of course. Sorry, Titi.
Are you filming?
What do you think?
Valentina!
Look! I'm on the beach!