The novillero (apprentice matador) from Almería Sergio Roldán has lived a new experience with his participation in the film 'Domino', directed by Brian De Palma. On this occasion, the shooting has taken place in the Plaza de Toros de Almería and in full bullfighting festivities.

"It has been a new and great experience that I have lived participating in the film 'Domino', with a director of the stature of Brian De Palma and great actors," the Almerian novillero tells the VOZ.

At seven in the evening began the filming of the sequence where Sergio Roldán fights 'a bull' with a muleta. "Before the start of the shooting I was very nervous because I did not know what was going to happen. The moment I was told, I was calm. It has been three intense hours that we have been slowly shooting this sequence in the Plaza de Toros," recalls the Almerian novillero.

The tendido and grada of tier 8 is where the whole scene develops. Close to that stretch is where Sergio Roldán made his elegant and beautiful "bull" passes, with his suit of lights, while the public watched all the action developing, with stampedes of about 200 extras that participate in the scene.

"We have had to repeat the scene several times. It's been three hours of intense shooting. On arrival at the arena and before starting the shoot, director Brian De Palma greeted us. I also got to meet and talk with the actor who plays the role of terrorist (Ibrahim Goush), as well as the police who are after him. On this occasion, the actor told me that in America he works with horses and bulls. In the Plaza de Toros we were up until five thirty in the morning, after checking that everything had gone well," concludes Sergio Roldán, after remembering that it was the master Ruiz Manuel who called him and proposed his participation as a bullfighter in 'Domino'.

Marta Rodríguez, La Voz de Almería

Days of ten or eleven hours. More than 200 extras. A technical team formed by about 40 people under Brian De Palma (including José Luis Alcaine, Almodóvar's cinematographer with five Goya awards). A scene filmed with drones, stampedes, gunshots and many 'oles'. Welcome to the shoot of 'Domino', in the Plaza de Toros de Almería.

These are the brushstrokes of the day-to-day shooting of this European production action thriller, which began filming on Monday in the Vilches avenue, where the actors are taking part: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Carice van Houten, cast partners in 'Game of Thrones' series in which they play Jaime Lannister and the witch Melisandre.

According to LA VOZ, one of the most important scenes of the film, a terrorist attack, with many special effects, occurred during a Bullfight celebration with tickets and runners out of public.

What direct witnesses tell of the shooting would not squeak about the plot of 'Domino', which will tell the story of a Copenhagen policeman who, with the help of another colleague, will follow in the footsteps of a man of Arab origin (who is played by Ibrahim Goush) responsible for murdering his partner. According to The Hollywood Reporter, this persecution, which will also involve the CIA, will take the protagonists from northern Europe to "sun-drenched landscapes of Spain." Petter Skavlan, writer of the screenplay of the film 'Kon-Tiki', is the person in charge of the script.

The team deals daily with the complications of having to coordinate so many extras, who have to repeat over and over again the plans of that scene of action in which a stampede takes place.

The production - in which the name of Tate Aráez stands out as head of locations (a great connoisseur of the province after touring with the team of 'Game of Thrones') - has required the participation of Almerian bullfighters Ruiz Manuel and El César, who along with Alberto Cámara, the will interpret the roll of proxies. The matador Sergio Roldán will also have a small role.

The Port and the Airport could be other of the chosen locations for this film that has placed De Palma back behind a camera five years after 'Passion'.

D. Martínez, Diario de Almería

"It is impressive to see Brian de Palma crossing the bullring of the Plaza de Toros de Almería". That is the affirmation of a woman who participates as an extra in the film Domino that the American director rolls these days in the Bullring of Almería...

These days, Brian De Palma makes his normal life during the day, and at night he is shooting in the Plaza de Toros. They are marathon sessions, where everything is supervised by the director of the film, and where the scenes are repeated and repeated. De Palma is a demanding director and he likes to do things well, so until he has the shot he carries in his mind, he will not stop.

During the nights until the wee hours of the morning some 300 extras have occupied the 8th slope of the Coso of the Avenida de Vilches. A bullfight takes place, although there is an event that mars the celebration. A terrorist posing as a soda seller kills a person from the public. The figuration chosen for this sequence has appeared these days dressed as if they were to enjoy a bullfight.

The film, a thriller starring Carice Van Houten and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, has already begun in Antwerp (Belgium) and is a European co-production involving the French company Backup, the Spanish production company Maestranza, the Danish studios Schonne Film, and the Belgian producers of Zilvermeer...

After the bullring, filming will continue at the port and airport of Almeria and there will be scenes to be shot in Adra.

Previously:

David Ayer in talks for Scarface remake
Coen Brothers will rewrite Scarface script
Fuqua drops out of Scarface remake; Diego Luna will play lead
Terence Winter to tackle Scarface script
The Scarface remake just got a lot less interesting
Scarface remake is Larraín's dream project
The Scarface remake just got a lot more interesting

The photo above was taken by Juan Antonio Barrios for La Voz de Almería. Here's an excerpt from the accompanying article by Marta Rodríguez:

Brian De Palma is rolling out his new feature, 'Domino', on Monday in the Plaza de Toros in the capital. The vicinity of the area of Avenida de Vilches recorded all day the transfer of the technical team landing and, already late afternoon, the arrival of hundreds of Almerían extras and the cast of this European production thriller.

If the work is going according to plan, the shooting in the bullring will last for three consecutive days, that is, until Wednesday morning, during night time, from late afternoon until dawn, although it is not ruled out to extend the filming one more day.

According to what LA VOZ has learned, the scene that is being filmed takes place during a bullfight celebration for which the participation of the bullfighters from Almería, Ruiz Manuel and El César, with Alberto Cámara, who will interpret the role of proxies, has been requested. Sergio Roldán will also have a small role, in this case as a matador. The extras are characterized for a bullfight, either as a public or as part of the staff of the bullfight.

The Port and the Airport could be other of the chosen locations for this film that has propitiated that De Palma stepped on Almerían soil.

The Plaza de Toros of Almería hosted last night the first day of the shooting of the film Domino directed by Brian De Palma. Although at first it was spoken of the day 8 of July, in the end it was last night when filming started in Almería.

About 300 extras were called to present themselves yesterday at about seven in the evening in the school Juan Ramón Jiménez, a few meters from the Plaza de Toros. There they called one by one to enter the schoolyard, where they were made up and received the costumes. In the bullring They will film for three nights in the bullring.

Although there is a certain silence about the filming, it is known that in the Plaza a bullfight will be recreated, so most of the chosen extras have a profile of foreigners. However, the filming will continue for several days at Almería airport and at the port.

Yesterday many familiar faces of the shootings that have taken place in the province during the last years could be seen. They are Almerians who have participated in many recordings and always come when they hear of a casting.

In principle, it will not be easy to access the shooting when it takes place inside the bullring. Many showed their joy when participating in a movie for the first time. Others were enthusiastic, since they are also followers of the cinema of Brian De Palma.

Jeremy Lowe on Carrie

It had to have been October of ’89, and I had just started junior high. After school I’d always hang out at my best friend’s house and watch TV. Of course being Halloween season we were looking forward to seeing some brutal horror movie. Needless to say, his Mom was home early from work and watching some old chick flick. Ugh!

Regardless, we sat for a minute. Woah, why are all they throwing tampons at this poor girl? “I thought you liked horror movies and Stephen King?”, asked Jon’s mother. I answered, “of course I do, especially horror movies based on Stephen King books” (at 12 years old, I hadn’t actually read any Stephen King books). “Well, this is CARRIE, watch it, you’ll like it.”

Mrs. Dubey was wrong, I didn’t like CARRIE, I fucking loved it! Being a shy outcast, I genuinely felt for Carrie White (Sissy Spacek). I could completely identify with her. All she wanted was to fit in. The direction was so excellent. Each character knew who they were and what they were doing. During the whole film, I just wanted poor Carrie to get her revenge. When she did, it was spectacular! I loved the blood, the chaos, it was everything I wanted. The score really intensified the whole scene. Then to witness all this in a crazy split screen, what I later learned to be one of Brian De Palma’s trademarks, overwhelmed me… completely blew my mind.

Brian De Palma’s 1976 adaptation of CARRIE will always be one of the best horror movies, high school revenge film, and my kind of chick flick!

The layers of familiarity are almost deceptive: it’d be easy to dismiss OBSESSION as De Palma’s fanboy attempt to ape his idol, especially since his devotion to recapturing Hitchcock’s sweeping, melodramatic aesthetic is almost slavish. However, it’s more a fitting decoy designed to lure an unsuspecting audience down a path that quickly veers into the sort of lurid territory that Hitchcock only implied. OBSESSION climaxes with a dizzying display of ambiguity, a sublime moment that rapturously lays bare the psychosexual preoccupations of its director. It can be argued that this, too, is the moment De Palma truly arrived — even if he only stepped out of Hitchcock’s shadow long enough to be caught in his own a few months later.

I tend to separate De Palma into two categories: Prime-De Palma and Sub-De Palma. His prime stuff is pretty easy to recognize, with THE PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE, SISTERS, CARRIE, BLOW OUT, and DRESSED TO KILL, and his sub stuff (while still great) is everything else. That all being said though there’s only one movie that’s PURE Brian De Palma, a film that puts all of his strengths and weaknesses on display in one gloriously grimy package.

Thats right, I’m talking about BODY DOUBLE.

The mystery at the core of the conspiracy is revealed early on in the film, but as DePalma explained upon the film’s release the movie is not about the core but rather about the relationship between Cage’s corrupt Rick Santoro, attempting to something pure, and good for once in his life, and Sinise’s murderous Boy Scout, who, while his intentions may be pure, is going about things the right way. We see two friends — told in broad strokes — who keep an uneasy loyalty to each other, even when at odds with what they believe is right. DePalma’s slick, knowing camera work (a very long take — with hidden edits — opens the film) elevates SNAKE EYES from forgettable Hollywood boilerplate to exciting, B-movie trash with a terrifically nihilistic ending.

I was six when that film came out. One night, I was in the car with my parents, going who-knows-where, when we passed the local drive-in theater, which was playing PHANTOM. Already obsessed with movies even at that young age, I eagerly looked over to catch a glimpse of the screen as we drove by. In those five seconds, I saw the shot where the rock star known as Beef is electrocuted onstage and his face contorts from the shock. I’d never seen anything like that before. It was fascinating, making me wonder what the film was about and what other kinds of things happened in the story. It was only a few years ago that I finally got around to seeing PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE in its entirety, but to my delight, it was every bit as bizarre as I imagined it would be back in ’74. In many ways, this is the magic of movies for me. Little bits and pieces stick with you for years, or even decades, and the way you saw something becomes an integral part of your experience with it. I’m sure I would have enjoyed PHANTOM regardless (it’s got good music, great style, and an awesomely kooky sense of humor), but the fact that I had that tiny snippet lodged in my brain for years made my eventual discovery of the film so much more powerful.

Fuck it, I guess it might be an overly-obvious choice — although no one here has made it yet — but SCARFACE is an absolute classic. It’s not the sexualized updating on Hitchcock that DePalma made his bread and butter, but it’s a visceral, unforgettable gut-punch with incredible characters, razor-sharp dialogue, blistering and operatic ultraviolence, and pathos enough to make the ancient Greeks envious. One of the best crime films ever made.

Grace’s quest for the truth leads her to a mental hospital, where she is to discover the truth about Dominique. Here, Grace is mistaken for a patient and her insistence on her true identity is laughed off as a delusion by the men in charge. It’s a truly harrowing moment that resonated with me as both a woman and a journalist, as Grace has her agency stripped from her so easily and quickly. This storyline was later revisited in American Horror Story: Asylum, a series on which Salt serves as both producer and writer. Finally, I adore the film’s dark ending, with everyone finally ready to believe Grace, who (thanks to her hypnosis at the hand’s of Danielle’s husband) no longer has any memory of the murder. De Palma would only get better after SISTERS, but the film’s flashes of genius, its unwavering commitment to exploring the darker side of identity, sanity and sexuality, paired with a unhappy and somewhat unresolved ending make it a must-see for me.

The one I’ve seen the most is SCARFACE. The one I’ve heard the most (due to the Ennio Morricone score) is THE UNTOUCHABLES. The one I’ve studied the closest is BLOW OUT. The one I’d most like to take another look at is THE BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES. The one I kinda still can’t believe actually exists is PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE. (And thank God for that one existing, by the way.) The first one I remember seeing is CASUALTIES OF WAR.

Then there’s the first one I didn’t remember seeing.

I watched BODY DOUBLE again in 2015. I thought I hadn’t seen it before, but I was mistaken. Ever have an involuntary autobiographical memory? Turns out I first saw BODY DOUBLE when I was six or seven. My dad was watching it on cable. I came in during the beach scene.

I remember now thinking it was a foreign film, since my dad watched plenty of those at the time, and particularly since that sequence is so sparsely worded, and heavy on soft-focus visual style and Pino Dinaggio’s orchestral music. (Not to mention that protagonist Craig Wasson has the sort of looks that would easier make sense for a star in France than one in America. There’s something sort of Depardieu-ish going on there.)

Anyway, if you remember how that scene ends, you might understand why I figured it was time I left the room. Unfortunately, all of that prompted a conversation about the birds and the bees that I was just not ready to have.

Some movies you can’t completely extricate from that sort of viewing experience. As an adult I can totally admire the film, even while re-experiencing it through the lens of a six-or-seven-year-old’s absolute confusion.

Now, I suppose, the rest is a matter for psychotherapy.