They know neither burn-out nor bore-out, their work is solution-oriented and varied. They get around a lot, meet new people all the time and still get home on time in the evenings: Valero, Pep and Moha seem to be doing some things right. But are the heroes of the Spanish film “Six Days Energized – On the Road in Barcelona” also suitable as role models? That probably depends on the conceit of the viewer.
First, a quick look at their work week: on Monday, the three are with a fit centenarian, on Tuesday, two of them are locked out on the balcony. Moha becomes a model on Wednesday, they have to go to the kitchen studio on Thursday and to couples therapy on Friday. On Saturday everything revolves around the question of whether it goes on for them. Valero, Pep and Mohammed aka Moha are plumbers and installers, they fix ventilation systems, lay pipes or repair toilets.
The stars were chosen from hundreds of plumbers
That’s exactly what they do in real life. The director Neus Ballús has cast the main roles in her film with non-professionals who play themselves. Ballús met hundreds of plumbers, chose the two Catalans Valero Escolar and Pep Sarrá and the Moroccan Mohammed Mellali – and practiced acting and improvisation with them for two years. It was worth it: the three craftsmen act very naturally, their problems are understandable – and nobody can fool them when it comes to plumbing.
The result is a documentary film that looks like a feature film, the director speaks of a “hybrid film”. She has experience with this, in her two previous films “La plaga” (2013) and “Staff Only” (2019) she let amateurs play along and blurred the boundaries between reality and fiction. She is interested in the little heroes of everyday life, says the director. Her own father is a plumber, so the idea for the film was obvious.
The film, which premiered at the Locarno Festival, is more than a craftsman’s documentary: little happens and yet there is a lot at stake, about male sensitivities or racism, the omnipresent division in society and the question of how we can get along better with one another. But this is told lightly and with laconic wit. The film draws visual tension from the clash of different living environments, from the absurdity of everyday life.
Once, Moha and Valero are supposed to look at a therapist’s surveillance camera. But the technology is going crazy, the sprinkler system in the garden kicks in, the vacuum cleaner robot takes off, the blinds rattle up and down. Another time they repair the air conditioner of a photographer, who summarily gets the handsome Moha in front of the camera. She asks him if he can take off his T-shirt and pose with the drill. This is how the plumber becomes a model, but he doesn’t take it too seriously. When he gets the photoshoot prints, his friends scoff: “Like Van Damme, but without the muscles.”
Sis dies corrents, E 2021 – Director: Neus Ballús. With: Mohammed Mellali, Valero Escolar, Pep Sarrà, 85 minutes, Arsenal film distribution. Theatrical release: May 19, 2022.