A director of narrative films (RoboCop, Elite Squad and Elite Squad: The Enemy Within) and documentaries (including the DGA Award-nominated Onibus 174 with co-director Felipe Larce, and the Sundance Grand Jury Prize-nominated Secrets of the Tribe), Jose Padilha, who’s also an accomplished producer, brings both his narrative and documentary sensibilities to bear in Narcos, a 10-episode drama series slated to debut exclusively to Netflix members on Friday, August 28.
Padilha directed the first two episodes of Narcos while serving as an executive producer of the show which was inspired by real-life events, telling the riveting and brutal story of the rise of cocaine drug cartels in the late 1980s along with the persistent, and often bloody, efforts to stop them. Narcos features an international cast and dialogue in both Spanish and English, offering insights into prime characters at the cartels and in law enforcement. The gritty, explosive scenes in the series are reminiscent of films like Padilha’s own Elite Squad.
Although Narcos’ first season sheds light on notorious real-life drug kingpin Pablo Escobar (played by Wagner Moura) who was gunned down in 1993, it’s American DEA agent Steve Murphy (Boyd Holbrook) who provides much of the framework. Through Holbrook’s narration, viewers learn about the roles law enforcement, politicians and civilians played in these events, and how the elements worked with or against each other.
“We wanted to have to have a series that would work in two different worlds: It would be very interesting for an American audience (and) a Latin American audience,” Padilha said. “And the way to do it was to tell the DEA [Drug Enforcement Agency] story.”
Narcos was shot on location in Bogota, Medellin and other parts of Colombia. The creative team worked to ensure the series provided as much authenticity as possible. Crew members meticulously researched costumes, settings and details of events, while hundreds of local actors were employed as extras. Moura, a Brazilian actor, learned Spanish to play Escobar, while Holbrook and actor Pedro Pascal (who plays Javier Peña) met the real-life former drug-enforcement agents they were portraying.
Along with the real locations, archival footage and photos add to the show’s true-to-life feel. Costumes reflect the era – a time when Miami Vice set the standard for fashion – and, in some cases, were replicated to match the now-iconic photos of Escobar. Padilha said the process of creating Narcos began with extensive research, from reading books and news articles to viewing archival footage and documentaries to interviewing police officers, lawyers, civilians and others who experienced the events firsthand.
Padilha noted Narcos aims to explore much more than just the high-profile story of Escobar. Rather than honing in on one particular figure, the series will examine the history of cocaine from its inception to the present day.
“We’ve never had the opportunity to fully tell our side of the story,” said Steve Murphy, the now-retired DEA agent portrayed on screen. “Pablo was the first recognized narco-terrorist in the world–in fact, Javier and I coined that phrase. This guy was responsible for thousands of murders, simply because of his ego. We (also) wanted to portray the commitment of the Colombian National Police to go after this guy.”
Narcos is produced by Gaumont Television for Netflix. Padilha, Chris Bancato, Eric Newman, Doug Miro and Carlos Bernard serve as executive producers.
“I don’t know anything in American television that looks like Narcos,” said Moura. It’s spoken in two languages. It’s shot here in Colombia. It has a very international cast: people from Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, the U.S.”
SHOOT: Provide some backstory on Narcos. How did you become involved in the series?
Padilha: Producer Eric Newman is a friend and he had this idea to do a TV series related to Escobar–not directly about him, but related to him and what he represented. The story also entailed an American Navy Seal who hunted Escobar. The idea interested me. I was doing movies in Brazil that dealt with drug trade and the police but those projects were on a much smaller scale, not concerned with the big picture. This was a chance to go into the history of the cocaine trade.
SHOOT: What was the biggest creative challenge that Narcos posed to you as a director?
Padilha: We introduced about 20 characters in one hour (episode one)–to do this seamlessly without stopping the storytelling was a key challenge. We established a pace and narrative style in which the story flowed naturally and dramatically while at the same time establishing the characters, everyone in the cartel, the DEA guys, the Embassy people, the CIA. I’m most proud that people will be drawn to the story and the characters without being all that conscious of how we introduced so many of those characters.
SHOOT: You also brought a documentary feel to this dramatic series. Discuss the importance of this to the story you were trying to tell.
Padilha: We used stock footage in the show to stress the fact that this is a true story. Even though at times the story is crazy, we weren’t making it up. Actual footage introduced the documentary standard. To give it the feel that we were documenting reality was very important.
SHOOT: You set the tone and feel of the show by directing the first two episodes. Who were the other directors you turned to for the rest of the series?
Padilha: Andi Baiz, a talented Colombian director, did four episodes. We also brought in talent like Guillermo Navarro, an Academy Award-winning DP [for Pan’s Labyrinth] to direct two episodes–episodes number three and four–and Fernando Coimbra, another great director whose credits include A Wolf At The Door. It was key that the directors spoke Spanish and be talented as filmmakers and storytellers.
SHOOT: What about the DPs you chose for Narcos?
Padilha: The primary DP was Lula Carvalho whose first feature was Elite Squad which I directed. We’ve been working together for a long time [other collaborations including Elite Squad: The Enemy Within and RoboCop]. He shot the first two episodes of Narcos which I directed. I worked with him to establish the narrative style, the look and style of the show. Lula stayed on for most episodes–except the last two because he had another big feature commitment. Cinematographer Adrian Teijido shot episodes 9 and 10. Also Mauricio Vidal, who has narrative and documentary experience, shot a lot of second unit. I did some second unit as well.
We also had great local crews who were willing to scramble and improvise. The Columbian crew more than makes up in effort and good will for what they may lack in experience. They are hard working people. Like we say in Brazilian soccer: “They put the jersey on.”
