29 Mar 10 fun facts about «La casa de papel»

La casa de Papel (translated in English «Money Heist«) is a series produced by the Spanish channel Antena 3 and then bought by Netflix, thanks to this it became famous all over the world. 

Apart from being very captivating, you can choose to watch it on Netflix, you can choose to see it in the original language and also improve your Spanish. You will learn new colloquial words and expressions and practice your oral and written comprehension as you can also put subtitles in Spanish.

1- HAS BECOME THE MOST WIDELY SEEN NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE SERIES IN THE WORLD.

It will be because of the history, the empathy that these anti-heroes arouse in the spectators, the perfectly calibrated suspense or the strong iconography given by the red suits and the Dalí mask. But I personally like all those realistic details that are introduced here and there and that are typical of the Spanish literary tradition.

2- RED IS THE COLOUR THAT PREDOMINATES.

Not only in the suits, but also the telephone, megaphones and post it. All the scenography and the objects have been chosen so that this color stands out from the rest. In fact, yellow, green and blue have been abolished.

3- SUITS MADE IN ITALY.  

In the third season, the suits are slightly different (they are more adherent to highlight the body shapes). Behind this restyling is the Diesel brand, which has also launched a clothing line inspired by the series. 

4- PAPER INSTEAD OF EVICTED. 

The title at the beginning was to be «Los desahuciados» (The Evicted) emphasizing the social exclusion of the protagonists. It was then changed to «La casa de papel» which refers to the place where paper money is made and stored.

5- NEWSPRINT INSTEAD OF COIN PAPER.

For the manufacture of paper money they did not use (for security reasons) the real machines of the Mint, but they used the machines of the ABC newspaper and yes, in newspaper paper.

6- THE FACADE OF THE MINT. 

The facade of the Mint of the series is not the real one, but the headquarters of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), which is the National Research Council.

7- THE CHARACTER OF TOKYO

The character of Tokyo is inspired by Mathilda, the little girl protagonist of Luc Besson’s film «León». The hair, clothing and necklace remind us of the character played by a young Natalie Portman.

8- THE ACTRESS ALBA FLORES

The actress Alba Flores, «Nairobi» in the series, is the only one who didn’t do the casting since the director wrote the character for her. Hers is the famous phrase, during her mutiny against Berlin, «empieza el matriarcato» (matriarchy begins).

9- THE ITALIAN SONG «BELLA CIAO

The Italian partisan song «Bella ciao» is hummed at key moments in the plot, such as at the end of the first season to highlight that the Professor sees in his plan an action of resistance. A few  but decisive seconds were enough to make «Bella ciao» almost a mania.

10 – A PERFECTIONIST PILOT

52 were the times they shot the pilot episode before they were satisfied with the result.

11- THE NEW MEMBER OF THE BAND, PALERMO

The new member of the gang, Palermo, is not so called in honor of the Italian city, but of the city of Buenos Aires, as indicated by the accent with which the character speaks in the original version.

For more details on the curiosities of the series, you can look at this link where one of the scriptwriters reveals some secrets.

And if you want to learn the original language of «La casa de papel» book a Spanish lesson with Claudins.