Raphaelismo is a monument to the constancy of 60 years in the world of music. Raphael's biography premieres today on Movistar +. It is a four-episode docuseries directed by Charlie Arnaiz and Alberto Ortega who have already created the biography of Paco Umbral, Anatomy of a Dandy. A singer in privacy and on stage, with the involvement of Linares himself and his entire archive made available to the script.
–Was it easy to reach Raphael for a series about him?–Charlie Arnaiz: We contacted Universal a year and a half ago. It was talking to them to get to Raphael. There was a lot of chemistry with him and he understood that we wanted to have an unpublished face. The process was marvelous because we had all the support from his environment and his personal archive is impressive.
–What did Raphael think of ‘Raphaelismo’?
–Alberto Ortega: He is delighted with the work of the series and on sensitive issues we always had his OK. One of the challenges was the amount of archive it has. He is an artist who has given concerts all over the world. It has been taking a blank canvas to fill it with milestones.
–Have you even been able to count on family videos?
–C.A: It's lucky to have so much material that hadn't seen the light of day. In Raphaelismo you can see things that he had told but that had never been seen. His son Jacobo Martos, a film director, had been recording him for years. He has given us a more intimate Raphael, blowing out the candles with his children, in the dressing room, with a very natural behavior. It is in VHS quality, but the viewer will accept it. In chapter 3 there is a lot of raw material.
–How would you summarize this life?
–A.O.: It is an epic story and it would be unthinkable that a character who has been a star for 60 years would not have had his chiaroscuro. We like to think that Raphael is an endangered artist, he is the protagonist of a series that at the age of 80 is capable of filling the Wizink Center. He is only up to characters like him: a boy from a very humble family, who did not have it easy at all. There is a lesson and that is the triumph of the will. It is an endangered species, because it not only sings but is above the music.
–Now that mental illness is talked about, so many years on the front lines take their toll at some point.
–C.A: It is the price of fame because there are many things that you give up in exchange for success. Raphael since he was little was clear that he wanted to get on stage. When he has a crisis of exhaustion in Las Vegas it was the result of his ability to work. That's where his wife comes in, the figure of Natalia Figueroa. She is a wonderful person, when you meet her you understand everything. It gave him peace. If I wanted to have a long career, I needed to have that head and that family. But it also had to stop.
–A.O.: Nowadays when a concert ends, you go home to rest your voice. She takes care of herself every day. Always on a diet, does not drink cold things. He has taken his career seriously. Part of that mental health has been given to him by his closest environment. His children, with an excellent education, treat him like one of the others and that puts his feet on the ground.
–How has it been dealing with issues such as your sexuality?
–C.A.: Summarizing 60 years in 4 hours is very difficult. We had several in-depth interviews and he did not put any red lines. He spoke when they told him he was the darling of the Franco regime, about homosexuality, his illness, alcohol, the liver transplant.
–A.O.: Having a dialogue with Raphael is not easy, it takes a lot of interviews. The challenge is how do you get it out of its roadmap to make it count for something new?
–Is it wearing a shell?
–C.A. : In the talks there were flashes of emotion that he himself did not expect, because Rafael Martos is below Raphael. There we see someone much more thoughtful. He is able to hang the character on a hanger and show himself what he is like.
–A.O.: The viewer will see it. There are essential people, his mother and his wife for almost 50 years. Their wedding was a surprise and has far exceeded time.