Antonio Banderas or Tony Flags, whichever you prefer is set to play the role of Picasso in the upcoming “33 Days” directed by Carlos Saura, the film focuses on the great painter’s inner turmoil and his subsequent genius as he worked on his masterpiece "Guernica." The title 33 days or 33 dias as it will be in Spanish, refers to his time working on the famous mural which is said to have captured his reaction to the vast destruction of Basque town Guernica back in 1937 by the Nazi Luftwaffe during the Spanish Civil War. Picasso "is a character that has pursued me for a long time and I always rejected. He deserves a lot of respect because I am from Malaga, and I was born four blocks from where he was born," Banderas said in a recent interview in Spanish daily. The project which will be shot in Spain and France is due for next summer and will have veteran Spanish producer Elias Querejeta who has previously worked with Saura they both wrote the script in collaboration with French writer Louis-Charles Sirjacq. The budget is estimated at 6 Million Euros which is a modest by Hollywood standards but expect a great performance from Banderas who is relishing the role. Also in talks to join the project is Award –winning cinematographer Vittorio Storaro who worked on "Apocalypse Now" (need we say more.) in the script it is revealed that salvation for Picasso came in the unlikely form of the mural of “Guernica” at a moment of personal crisis as well as his relationship with his lover, Dora Maar, the French artist.
