Harassment, sexual assault, rape, feminicide… The ambitious Chilean series The pack, available in full at
Arte.tv and created by Argentine screenwriter, director and novelist Lucía Puenzo, denounces violence against women and scrutinizes a Chilean society undermined by patriarchy. In this punchy series, Daniela Vega plays the determined Elisa Murillo, one of the three inspectors who leads the investigation into this organized gang that perpetuates sexist crimes, The pack of the title…
On the occasion of the broadcast of the last episodes of the series this Thursday at 8:55 p.m. on the Franco-German channel, the actress fromA fantastic woman by Sebastián Lelio, produced like this series by brothers Juan de Dios and Pablo Larraín and Oscar for best foreign language film in 2018, returns for 20 minutes on his character and the condition of women.
After “Une Femme Fantastique”, you find the production company Fabula for “La Meute”, what made you want to play this series?
The most important reasons why I accepted to play in this series are the quality of the script and the team because it is a female team. There are a lot of women involved in the project. The showrunner is a woman, the director is a woman and the three protagonists are women. The female energy was very important in making this decision.
Was this incredible story inspired by the La Manada affair in Spain where a “Pack” of five men raped a young girl, a news item that was the trigger for a great feminist mobilization?
Not really. The series is inspired by real life. The story of the series is not modeled on this case in Spain. There are unfortunately many stories in the world with the same peculiarities. This is something common in all countries, which concerns a lot of women. This series is not just a story, it’s life.
How do you see your character, Elisa Murillo, personally, she reminds me of a lonely wolf…
She is the only one of the three inspectors not to have children. She’s not a mother, so she takes more risks because she has nothing to lose. So she gets involved body and soul against those who are not good people. And she doesn’t care about the law, she has her own law. This is what unites her with her mentor, she does the same thing he did in the past.
She is also a strong woman, who has gone through many trials, is it important for you to embody this kind of woman?
Absolutely ! The bonds between women are also very strong. Being carried by this feminine energy is very interesting, comfortable and very creative. All together, we can do what we want!
At the beginning, Elisa is in competition with the inspector Olivia Fernández and they will discover during the investigation the notion of sorority.
These two characters are very distant from each other. As they work together, they discover that they have a lot more in common than they previously thought. And they admire each other. At the end of the story, we realize that they have almost become friends. So the point is, you can find friends and build trust in the chaos. It’s something very poetic at one point.
The series shows all forms of violence against women, not only rape and beatings, but also the psychological violence that a simple inappropriate gaze can represent, as in the opening scene between this high school student and her art teacher. dramatic…
This is a television series. This scene makes the link with what will follow, it opens the story. It is something that we may or may not experience, but it exists. The series thus offers a real point of view on another type of abuse.
With the metaphor of “The pack” and the game of the wolf, the series does not denounce men as individuals but a whole system …
This group of people, the pack, use teenagers as soldiers and control the rest of the group. It is something very dark.
Can you tell us about the situation of women and the MeToo movement in Chile? Did the Ni una menos movement have the expected consequences?
The whole world has the same goal. The whole world is thinking about new visions of the relationship between women and men. The pack is not a story of men against women or women against men, it is the story of people against violence. It’s just a TV series, but it deals with real issues. As a series, it shows reality in a different way.
How was the series received in Chile? Did it spark the debates you were hoping for?
Yes ! The series is very popular. It allowed people to have debates, conversations. I think it has been very positive.
At the end of this final tonight on Arte, the story is complete but still leaves the possibility of a season 2. Where is this project?
Season 2 is ready! We will do it!