Miguel Bosé is a singer who fills concert halls and unites generations; an actor who was both starting out in Italy and becoming an Almodóvar boy; a son of bullfighting and the show; a trendsetter when moving his hips on stage; an unlikely sex-symbol due to his way of refuting the prevailing masculinity; a victim of the evil tongues that have always conspired over his health; a disruptor and an icon of the queer community; an individual who participates in magufadas; a father questioned by the management of the last separation from him. But what is Bosé, the series around the man of varied, infinite descriptions, some even contradictory? A conventional series in relation to the subject that he claims and represents.
There are elements that help to contextualize Bosé, which SkyShowtime premieres this Friday. For example, the names behind the cameras. Boris Izaguirre, Ángeles González-Sinde, Nacho Faerna or Isabel Vázquez participate in the script, people who are directly related to the man portrayed or who belong to the singer’s trusted environment. This means that it is difficult to frame the biopic in the category of harassment-and-demolition although, as Luis Miguel well demonstrated, the series, this circumstance leaves room for revelation, deconstruction, understanding and (only the person himself will know that). Miguel Bosé) the catharsis.
The story moves in two key timelines. Iván Sánchez (Central Hospital) plays the mature version of Bosé who in 2007, in the midst of Papito’s tour, decides to remedy the need to be his father. And, through José Pastor (La otra mirada), who plays the younger Miguel, the public can discover the beginnings of the artist: when he turned down a position in his father’s company, Dominguín (Nacho Fresneda), to bet on his career as an actor and later as a singer with the support of his mother Lucía (Valeria Solarino). It is through these beginnings that the viewer can rediscover his trajectory: each episode has the name of a song and, in the case of the first two released to the media, they serve to obsess over Linda and I will love you.
José Pastor’s energy is contagious. He perfectly represents the most excited and disruptive Miguel due to the naturalness with which he contemplated his identity and sexuality. The first episode, which shows Bosé’s debut as a singer in the program Esta noche fiesta con José María Íñigo, lends itself to the interpretation test with the original video. Pastor’s musical performance does not convey a lifeless imitation but exudes a vitality of vibrant results. He passes the cotton ball test of musically rooted biopics with flying colors.
As hateful as the comparisons are, it is impossible not to draw a parallel with Cristo y Rey, another biopic with which it has practically coincided in broadcast and where Belén Cuesta, one of the best active Spanish actresses, came face to face with the charisma of Bárbara Rey when embodying one of her televised numbers, that of Volare. And, as we get into comparisons, it is inevitable to measure Bosé with Luis Miguel, the series, which seems the key reference to carry out the project. On top of that, they have similarities in their structure, problematic paternity, the model of masculinity of the father figure and the creation of moments around musical classics (which are revived through the work and recover their validity).
Bosé, for the record, has more elements paddling in his favor apart from José Pastor or a Valeria Solerino who, in her role as a libertine mother, conveys pride and generosity. A look at the time is appreciated without fetishizing the environment or the appearance of other famous figures, ranging from Raffaella Carrà to Ana Obregón or Julio Iglesias played by Miguel Ángel Muñoz: the camera and the script highlight curiosity, aware of the curiosity of their presence, without letting them steal the limelight from the action.
However, the series suffers from a lack of budget. In times of content platforms that operate worldwide, it is frustrating to see that Bosé cannot take advantage of the international experiences of the protagonist, who lives New York from inside dance schools or lofts and Colombia from the airport. He is potential lost in a mentality from before, poor, without resources. It doesn’t help that the direction at certain moments borders on the ridiculous, especially in a blushing motorcycle accident due to the lack of tension, impact and the predictability of the scene.
You also miss more determination from the script. The story of Miguel Bosé is planned as a continuation of experiences in which intensity is often lost due to the lack of presentation and development of the secondary characters (there is the first Italian girlfriend, Bárbara, without any depth) or because of Not putting enough emphasis on plots.
Bosé as a series cannot be defined as inspired or for channeling the spirit of the artist in its origins, as charming as it was defiant. Of course, he manages to breathe enough life into the character (I repeat, Pastor is a find) and arouses interest in his training as an artist, as a lover, as an icon and as a frankly problematic person.
