José Luis Torrente
Encyclopedia
José Luis Torrente is a fictional character
created by Spanish
actor and director Santiago Segura
and the main character in the Torrente dark comedy-action film
series. The series so far includes four films; Torrente: El brazo tonto de la ley (1998
), Torrente 2: Misión en Marbella
(2001
), Torrente 3: El protector (2005
) and Torrente 4: Lethal Crisis (2011).
There are also videogames Torrente: El videojuego and Torrente 3, which were released with the second and third movies, respectively. [(And by other part, the pornographic filmcopyryght Torrente X: Operación Vinagra (2005) and Torrente X 2: Misión en Torrelavega (2006), too].
, Spain
, José Luis Torrente is an ugly, bald, overweight, dirty, corrupt, lying, fascist
, racist
, chauvinistic and anticommunist retired cop. He refuses to accept his expulsion from the Police corps, so he still "patrols" each night in his old car in order to "fight" what he considers criminal actions. Poor immigrants and drug-addicts are often victims of his actions, while he usually refuses to confront real criminals due to his actual cowardice (sometimes, however, Torrente is able to show a surprising amount of courage). Torrente openly states his admiration for Generalissimo
Francisco Franco
(and later for King Juan Carlos and the crown prince
), and is a declared fan of the Atlético de Madrid
Football
Club and Spanish singer El Fary
.
Following his discharge, he loses his partner (an old mentor) in a shoot-out in ChinaTown brothel. He had a depressive disorder and was dismissed from his job as a cop. Due to his lack of a proper job (he continues patrolling and undertaking detective work), Torrente faces financial problems from time to time and lives in a dirty small apartment in a depressing part of the city. He used to live with his old and sick father Felipe (later revealed to be actually Torrente's uncle, due to an affair between Felipe's wife and his twin
brother Mauricio) and forced him to beg for food and money in the streets, spending almost all the money collected plus his social security
annuity in his personal affairs. Felipe is not the only one manipulated by Torrente in order to achieve his own goals.
as cover, only to steal their money and start a new life as new rich in Torremolinos
. He spends then millions in the Spanish Mediterranean coast until he loses all his money in a casino
in Marbella
. There, he establishes himself as a private investigator
, discovers that his real father is the local crime boss Mauricio Torrente and stops the James Bond
-type supervillain
Spinelli
from destroying the city - throwing his super-missile
over the British
naval base at Gibraltar
instead. Due to this action Torrente receives a medal and is permitted to join the Police again as a traffic cop in Madrid.
, who suggested Josh Brolin and mainly to Robert de Niro
for the lead role. Stone had seen the first two movies during a film festival in Europe
and declared his admiration for the character, meeting Segura and befriending him. This first negotiations, however, didn't end well, but the rights to make a US version were finally purchased by New Line Cinema
in 2006 and two American writers, Mike Bender and Doug Chernack, were hired to draw a first version of the script. It has not been revealed if the new movie would be a real remake, in which the new Torrente will be a US version of the Spanish one, or a movie featuring a mission of the horrendous Spanish policeman on US soil. In any case, it seems that Segura will not repeat in the role if there is any US version.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
created by Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
actor and director Santiago Segura
Santiago Segura
Santiago Segura Silva is a Spanish film actor, screenwriter, producer and director.Santiago was born in the Carabanchel neighbourhood in Madrid. After studying Arts at the Complutense University of Madrid, he decided to pursue a career as a film-maker and in 1989 he directed the short Relatos de...
and the main character in the Torrente dark comedy-action film
Action film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...
series. The series so far includes four films; Torrente: El brazo tonto de la ley (1998
1998 in film
-Events:* February 14 - Sharon Stone marries Phil Bronstein.* Former child star Gary Coleman is charged with assaulting a young female bus driver at a California shopping mall.-Top grossing films:...
), Torrente 2: Misión en Marbella
Torrente 2: Misión en Marbella
Torrente, Misión en Marbella is a 2001 Spanish dark comedy. The film is the sequel to Torrente, el brazo tonto de la ley, and, like the first film, it was written and directed by Santiago Segura who takes the leading role of José Luis Torrente.- Plot:...
(2001
2001 in film
The year 2001 in film involved some significant events, including the first of the Harry Potter series and also the first of The Lord of the Rings trilogy...
), Torrente 3: El protector (2005
2005 in film
- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2005...
) and Torrente 4: Lethal Crisis (2011).
There are also videogames Torrente: El videojuego and Torrente 3, which were released with the second and third movies, respectively. [(And by other part, the pornographic filmcopyryght Torrente X: Operación Vinagra (2005) and Torrente X 2: Misión en Torrelavega (2006), too].
Description and Career
Born and usually resident in MadridMadrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, José Luis Torrente is an ugly, bald, overweight, dirty, corrupt, lying, fascist
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
, racist
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
, chauvinistic and anticommunist retired cop. He refuses to accept his expulsion from the Police corps, so he still "patrols" each night in his old car in order to "fight" what he considers criminal actions. Poor immigrants and drug-addicts are often victims of his actions, while he usually refuses to confront real criminals due to his actual cowardice (sometimes, however, Torrente is able to show a surprising amount of courage). Torrente openly states his admiration for Generalissimo
Generalissimo
Generalissimo and Generalissimus are military ranks of the highest degree, superior to Field Marshal and other five-star ranks.-Usage:...
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
(and later for King Juan Carlos and the crown prince
Felipe, Prince of Asturias
Felipe, Prince of Asturias de Borbón y de Grecia; born 30 January 1968), is the third child and only son of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofía of Spain....
), and is a declared fan of the Atlético de Madrid
Atlético de Madrid
Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D., commonly known as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish football club based in Madrid who play in La Liga. Atlético have won both La Liga and the Copa del Rey on nine occasions, including a double in 1996; in Europe, they won the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1962, were...
Football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
Club and Spanish singer El Fary
El Fary
José Luis Cantero Rada , known professionally as El Fary, was a Spanish singer and actor.The youngest of six children, José Luis Cantero was born in Madrid, close to a famous bullring. As a boy he would play truant from school, preferring to spend time partying with Gypsies imitating his idol, the...
.
Following his discharge, he loses his partner (an old mentor) in a shoot-out in ChinaTown brothel. He had a depressive disorder and was dismissed from his job as a cop. Due to his lack of a proper job (he continues patrolling and undertaking detective work), Torrente faces financial problems from time to time and lives in a dirty small apartment in a depressing part of the city. He used to live with his old and sick father Felipe (later revealed to be actually Torrente's uncle, due to an affair between Felipe's wife and his twin
Twin
A twin is one of two offspring produced in the same pregnancy. Twins can either be monozygotic , meaning that they develop from one zygote that splits and forms two embryos, or dizygotic because they develop from two separate eggs that are fertilized by two separate sperm.In contrast, a fetus...
brother Mauricio) and forced him to beg for food and money in the streets, spending almost all the money collected plus his social security
Social security
Social security is primarily a social insurance program providing social protection or protection against socially recognized conditions, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment and others. Social security may refer to:...
annuity in his personal affairs. Felipe is not the only one manipulated by Torrente in order to achieve his own goals.
Mission in Marbella
Torrente accidentally discovers and destroys a drug dealing maffia which uses a Chinese restaurantChinese cuisine
Chinese cuisine is any of several styles originating in the regions of China, some of which have become highly popular in other parts of the world – from Asia to the Americas, Australia, Western Europe and Southern Africa...
as cover, only to steal their money and start a new life as new rich in Torremolinos
Torremolinos
Torremolinos is a municipality on the Costa del Sol of the Mediterranean, immediately to the west of the city of Málaga, in the province of Málaga in the autonomous region of Andalusia in southern Spain...
. He spends then millions in the Spanish Mediterranean coast until he loses all his money in a casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
in Marbella
Marbella
Marbella is a town in Andalusia, Spain. It is situated on the Mediterranean Sea, in the province of Málaga, beneath the La Concha mountain. In 2000 the city had 98,823 inhabitants, in 2004, 116,234, in 2010 approximately 135,000....
. There, he establishes himself as a private investigator
Private investigator
A private investigator , private detective or inquiry agent, is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private detectives/investigators often work for attorneys in civil cases. Many work for insurance companies to investigate suspicious claims...
, discovers that his real father is the local crime boss Mauricio Torrente and stops the James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
-type supervillain
Supervillain
A supervillain or supervillainess is a variant of the villain character type, commonly found in comic books, action movies and science fiction in various media.They are sometimes used as foils to superheroes and other fictional heroes...
Spinelli
Spinelli
Spinelli is a surname, and may refer to:* Altiero Spinelli , Italian advocate for European federalism and founding father of the European Union* Ashley Spinelli, a character in the cartoon Recess....
from destroying the city - throwing his super-missile
Missile
Though a missile may be any thrown or launched object, it colloquially almost always refers to a self-propelled guided weapon system.-Etymology:The word missile comes from the Latin verb mittere, meaning "to send"...
over the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
naval base at Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
instead. Due to this action Torrente receives a medal and is permitted to join the Police again as a traffic cop in Madrid.
Coming to the US?
The idea of making a remake in the United States was offered for the first time in 2002 by US filmmaker Oliver StoneOliver Stone
William Oliver Stone is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Stone became well known in the late 1980s and the early 1990s for directing a series of films about the Vietnam War, for which he had previously participated as an infantry soldier. His work frequently focuses on...
, who suggested Josh Brolin and mainly to Robert de Niro
Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
for the lead role. Stone had seen the first two movies during a film festival in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and declared his admiration for the character, meeting Segura and befriending him. This first negotiations, however, didn't end well, but the rights to make a US version were finally purchased by New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema, often simply referred to as New Line, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner...
in 2006 and two American writers, Mike Bender and Doug Chernack, were hired to draw a first version of the script. It has not been revealed if the new movie would be a real remake, in which the new Torrente will be a US version of the Spanish one, or a movie featuring a mission of the horrendous Spanish policeman on US soil. In any case, it seems that Segura will not repeat in the role if there is any US version.
Famous people´s cameos
- Javier BardemJavier BardemJavier Ángel Encinas Bardem is a Spanish actor. In 2007 he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as sociopathic assassin Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men, and has also garnered critical acclaim for roles in films such as Jamón, jamón, Carne trémula, Boca a boca, Los...
: Torrente, el brazo tonto de la ley. - Jorge SanzJorge SanzJorge Sanz is a Spanish actor and is one of the most prominent actors of the Spanish cinema since the 1980s. He is known to international audiences for his roles in the films: Amantes by director Vicente Aranda and Fernando Trueba’s Belle Époque .-Early life :Jorge Sanz Miranda was born on August...
: Torrente, el brazo tonto de la ley. - John LandisJohn LandisJohn David Landis is an American film director, screenwriter, actor, and producer. He is known for his comedies, his horror films, and his music videos with singer Michael Jackson.-Early life and career:...
: Torrente 3: el Protector. - Oliver StoneOliver StoneWilliam Oliver Stone is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Stone became well known in the late 1980s and the early 1990s for directing a series of films about the Vietnam War, for which he had previously participated as an infantry soldier. His work frequently focuses on...
: Torrente 3: el Protector. - Guillermo del ToroGuillermo del ToroGuillermo del Toro is a Mexican director, producer, screenwriter, novelist and designer. He is mostly known for his acclaimed films, Blade II, Pan's Labyrinth and the Hellboy film franchise. He is a frequent collaborator with Ron Perlman, Federico Luppi and Doug Jones...
: Torrente 3: el Protector. - Iker CasillasÍker CasillasIker Casillas Fernández is a Spanish football goalkeeper who plays for the Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid and the Spanish national team, being the captain of both...
: Torrente 3: el Protector. - Fernando TorresFernando TorresFernando José Torres Sanz , nicknamed , is a Spanish footballer who plays for Chelsea and the Spain national team as a striker....
: Torrente 3: el Protector. - Gonzalo HiguaínGonzalo HiguaínGonzalo Gerardo "El Pipita" Higuaín is an Argentine professional footballer. He was born in France, attaining Argentine citizenship in 2007, and now holding dual nationality...
: Torrente 4: Lethal Chrisis (Crisis Letal). - Sergio AgüeroSergio AgüeroSergio Leonel "Kun" Agüero del Castillo is an Argentine footballer who plays as a striker for Manchester City in England's Premier League and the Argentine national team....
: Torrente 4: Lethal Chrisis (Crisis Letal). - Sergio RamosSérgio RamosSérgio Bruno Antunes Selores Ramos is a Portuguese basketball player.He measures 2.00 metres and plays as a Forward . He announced the end of his international career, after Portugal's exit from the EuroBasket 2007...
: Torrente 4: Lethal Chrisis (Crisis Letal).
External links
- Jack HittJack HittJack Hitt is an American author. He is a contributing editor to The New York Times Magazine, Harper's, and This American Life. He served previously as a contributing editor to the now-defunct magazine Lingua Franca. He also frequently appears in places like Rolling Stone, Wired, and Outside Magazine...
, Señor Gross Out Article in The New York Times