Gritty rise and fall of El Chapo
Need a brand new drama to binge on? Look no further than Netflix’s latest drama El Chapo. Buoyed by the success of hit series Narcos, which tells the story of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, we now get a fictional take on the life of Mexican cartel kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
While the real Guzman is locked up in a New York city jail cell, his reign of terror is played out in this not-to-be-missed subtitled drama.
It’s every bit as gritty and gripping as Narcos – and after having been released to rave reviews in the US in April – it was launched here on Friday.
Guzman’s re-arrest in 2016 after two dramatic prison breaks resulted in such a bloody power struggle for his Sinaloa cartel in Mexico that series producers thought it would be safer to shoot scenes in Colombia.
SECRECY
Filming in the town of Taibo was cloaked in secrecy and the crew told locals they were putting together a mythical TV soap.
The real subject matter later became clear when Netflix and Univision announced the series was “based on the life story of one of the world’s most notorious criminals”.
Sean Penn was reportedly at one point being lined up to play El Chapo – which roughly translates as “Shorty”– when the fugitive drug boss gave the rights to his life story to Mexican actress Kate del Castillo in 2015.
However, the Netflix version has Marco de la O in the role.
Asked if he plays the violent criminal as a hero or villain, he revealed: “I can’t judge him. From an actor’s perspective, you don’t judge whether the characters are good or bad. We tell the truth, and that truth can be harsh.” The final script, which is based on three years’ painstaking research, is an explosive mixture of reality and fiction which deals not only with Guzman’s obsession to escape the poverty of his childhood but also with government corruption in Mexico.
Show creator Silvana Aguirre told Forbes magazine: “We’re interested in exploring the myth of El Chapo, how it started and how it evolved over time.
“We have tried really hard to achieve a balance
throughout the series. At some points – like in the first episode – it can happen that you feel you’re rooting for him but the next moment you could be feeling uncomfortable about having done so.”
All three seasons of the gripping show were filmed back-to-back – and you can binge on the whole of season one right now.