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30 coins
Alex De La Iglesia 100%. The one I like best. Horror, fantasy,
splatter, anticlerical, intense and with an underlying black humour.
All spread over the eight one-hour episodes of "30 Monedas", the Spanish director's second foray into TV series.
If 'Veneciafrenia' did not fully convince, here we have no uncertainties.
The thriller set in Venice, which is not mentioned by chance, shares
with this series not only the contemporaneity and Cosimo Fusco, but
also a bit of Italianism, with scenes shot in Rome.
But here the Spanish director does not linger on anything. He goes all
the way, exploding in all aspects from the very first episode. And it
does so in such a powerful and incisive way that I wondered, at the end
of each episode, where and how the story could continue.
Instead, De La Iglesia, with the unfailing Jorge Guerricaechevarria
always manages to create new paths, surprises, slowly unveiling,
episode after episode, the plot that in spite of an all too clear title
is not predictable.
The horror load of monsters, demons and blood is perfectly balanced
with the criticism of the clergy and power, and with the usual creeping
humour which, as far as I am concerned, reaches its highest point with
the show 'The Church in World War II'. Which is also another fine
criticism of the Vatican.
The '30 Monedas' of the title naturally refer to Judas. A treasure
coveted by a sect within the church that goes back to the Cainites,
apparently a 2nd century Gnostic sect that worshipped 'enemy'
characters of Jesus Christ, such as Esau, Judas and of course Cain.
Possession of all thirty coins would give enormous power.
The last coin is in the possession of a somewhat sinister priest,
Father Vergara (an unrecognisable Eduard Fernández), an
exorcist, hated by the Church of Rome, who relegates him to a small
town in the Spanish province. In this peaceful place, inexplicable
things begin to happen that affect the whole community and the curate,
aided by the village mayor Paco (Miguel Ángel Silvestre, whom we
saw in Sky Rojo, Passing Lovers and briefly in La Casa di Carta) and
the veterinarian Elena (Megan Montaner, known for several TV series),
fights against evil.
On the side a series of characters played by De La Iglesia's loyal
actors, such as Jaime Ordóñez, Pepon Nieto and the always
great Carmen Machi.