The Spanish Film Academy, based in Madrid, is open to the public until July 29 the exhibition ‘Marisol, the glow of a myth’a review in images of the national icon who was and continues to be the actress and singer pepe flowerswith 39 photographs of the master Cesar Lucashis go-to portraitist from the early 1960s to the mid-1980s.
The highly recommended exhibition includes some of the most recognizable snapshots of the artist from Malaga and others that are less popular, and even unpublished, that show the greatness of a character who went from a child prodigy to an artist and a prodigious womanloved by how many generations saw it on the screen, big or small, or listened to it through the microgrooves of a vinyl or those cassette tapes that we were almost always rewinding with a Bic pen, an association of objects that is difficult to explain for ‘hipsters ‘ and ‘millennials’ who have not been Marisol’s peers, always Pepa.
In the preamble of the sample, which is accompanied by a videotaped interview with César Lucasthe strength of a character based on just two decades of artistic activity is valued, the period between 1959, when he meets the producer Manuel Goyanes -to receive the following year, when he was only 12 years old, an award at the Venice Mostra-, until 1985, when after a decade of successful films and studio albums, he retired from social life shortly after the premiere in TVE of ‘Proceso a Mariana Pineda’, a series in which he was the protagonist. Since then, lives in Malaga away from social life and withdrawal from everything related to the job that made her a legend and that, according to her reference photographer, she never wanted to exercise. In 2020, she did not go to collect the Goya of Honor from the Academy, which now pays her another tribute with the best photos of Lucas. That year 85 Marisol disappeared.
Vanish. What envy, those characters -very few- who, voluntarily and being able to afford it, choose to remove themselves from circulation, lead the life they always wanted or move away from the one they never wanted to be protagonists. Marisol, the Italian Minathe author of ‘The Catcher in the Rye’, J. D. Salinger, David Bowie in ten of the last 12 years of her life, actresses like Silkemodels like Esther Canadas or planetary icons like Sean Connery, in whose last stage he secluded himself to write, are some examples of the consequences of excessive fame and in certain cases unwanted, sometimes carved -Marisol is the exception among the list mentioned- voluntarily, sought, worked selflessly and often crossed with the reality of a mirage of media over-attention, luxury and tinsel that ends up crushing talent. I’m also thinking of the gymnast Simone Billespossibly exhausted by all of the above when she has just started on the adventure of life.
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In any case, happy are those who, on the crest of the wave of their professional careers, decide, for whatever reason, retire to their winter quarters. History passes permanently at two speeds, that of those who decide to move away because they can and that of those who stay because they have no choice, which is (we are) the vast majority, silent or confused, it doesn’t matter. The former accumulate greater emotional wealth than the top ten millionaires on the Forbes list, who would find it impossible to take the same path as Connery or Pepa Flores. The latter benefit from the advantages of not going out ad nauseam in the media or on social networks, more than from time to time, when in some newsroom someone proposes to write toQuello of what happened to that one or the one from beyond.
There is a type of person who could not disappear even if they wanted to, whether they are called Elon Musk or the anonymous worker or unemployed person, always aware of the ups and downs of the financial or labor market; They are called Amancio Ortega or they live daily with a toxic relationship, at home or outside of it. I am convinced that Marisol, who continues to shine today as the myth that she was, would not change for any of the empowered men and women at the top of her profession. For others, poor or rich, the life will continue to be a raffle.