The Menem series, directed by Ariel Winograd, is one of the productions that aroused most expectations. After the success of the series in 2001, in the context of the trend of audiovisual production in Argentina in terms of biopics, it was the turn of the dominant figure of the 90s, with Leonardo Sbaraglia in role that He. will govern for ten and a half years.
In the last few hours, some images have been revealed that show Sbaraglia’s great physical transformation to become Carlos Menem’s character in the Amazon Prime production. The cast includes Griselda Siciliani, Juan Minujín, Jorgelina Aruzzi, Alberto Ajaka, Agustín Sullivan, Campi and Violeta Urtizberea, among others.
The center of the narrative goes through Menem’s stormy relationship with Zulema Yoma, between the rise to power of the second democratic president since 1983 until the terrorist attack against the Israeli Embassy and the AMIA. An image of Sbaraglia/Menem loading gas in a Renault 12 Rural, with the Riojan wearing jeans and a leather jacket, in addition to his bushy sideburns, takes us back to the 80s, when he the governor of La Rioja.
Winograd, responsible for The Robbery of the Century and The Manager, is responsible behind the camera, together with Fernando Alcalde. The series is created by Mariano Varela and has a book by Luciana Porchietto, Mariana Levy, Guillermo Salmerón and Silvina Olschansky.
“Menem is a fictional account of the life of Carlos Menem and his first presidency, but also a way to rediscover Argentine society in the 90s. The development of the series is like taking a roller coaster to face an important decade that, until now Today, it continues to create devotion and rejection of equal parts,” said Varela.
The image of Siciliani as Zulema Yoma refers to the expulsion from Quinta de Olivos, in June 1990. Menem traveled to witness the start of the World Cup in Italy and ordered Brigadier Andrés Antonietti to expel Yoma from the presidential residence, an episode which whitens the separation of the two.
Another photo, where Sbaraglia and Sciliani can be seen embracing, allows us to imagine a campaign event (perhaps the one in the river plain, where the candidate has a white jacket) leading up to the 1989 elections.
Last June, the production was able to film at Casa Rosada, when Sbaraglia appeared for the first time as Menem. It is estimated that the series about the deceased former president will appear in 2024. Perhaps it will create a revival in the 90s, as there was a boom in recent times about the 80s and Raúl Alfonsín.
