There are two elements impressive in this Spanish miniseries Netflixin addition of course to the facts narrated.
The first is that, being a true story and not of a film, we do not know the absolute truth. We are not privileged spectators of a thriller in which we are shown the facts with certainty. We are spectators of the reconstruction of a crime case which shocked Spanish public opinion in 2013.
The second element is the skill of the protagonists, the interpreters of Rosario Porto (Candela Peña) and of Alfonso Basterra (Tristán Ulloa), not only made incredibly similar to the real protagonists of the case, but also emotionally perfect. So much that erase borders between reality and fiction, immersing us in a story that ends with the real images of Asunta, Rosario and Alfonso. Moving images.
Asunta’s plot
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The September 21, 2013late in the evening, Rosario Porto and her ex-husband Alfonso Basterra they report the disappearance of their adopted daughter to the police, Asuntaaged 12.
Rosario says she came home after leaving the little girl to do her homework and didn’t find her. She immediately calls her ex-husband, who lives less than 30 meters away, asking him if Asunta is at her house. But she’s not there.
The same night, the dead body of Asunta is found by two boys who are going to a party. From that moment on, investigations into the case began, while the mass media went wild.
Asunta: as accurate as a true crime, as engaging as a film
Rarely do reconstructions of dramatic and touching stories like that of little Asunta succeed so well. Never 6 episodes available on Netflix from April 26 they are truly flawless.
They take us to the crime scene, they show us the perspective of the parents and the investigators, the fixation of the judge for the preliminary investigations, the inexplicable presence of biological traces of a third man on the little girl’s t-shirt. Why yes, the Judge Malvar (Javier Gutiérrez) is convinced of the guilt of Asunta’s parents from the first moment.
He has them both arrested and brings us – during the narration, together with the agents investigating the case – until the trial. From Asunta’s disappearance to the trial for her murder.
And no, it’s not an easy path. Why scares. Because it misleads. Because it’s disturbing. Because it doesn’t give us satisfaction of having obtained justice, since we don’t really know how things went.
It is this, with theaccurate reconstruction of clothes and environments, which classifies Asunta as a series very close to the genre true crime.
Furthermore, as in reality, the mystery of Asunta does not have a single and incontrovertible truth. It has procedural truth, but really knowing how things went is another thing.
As if that wasn’t enough, the series shows us two different versions facts, both credible and plausible. From here to knowing which one is correct, there is an abyss of doubts and uncertainties.
At the end of each episode, a writing reminds us that we are witnessing a true story in which the facts, for reasons of dramatization, have been fictionalized.
You can see it, because the rhythm is compelling, keeps you glued to the screen from start to finish. Waiting to find out how things went in reality.
The series is directed by Carlos Sedes and Jacobo Martinez and stars the actors Candela Peña, Tristán Ulloa, Javier Gutiérrez, María León and Carlos Blanco. It focuses on the case but also on the family dynamics that according to the narrators and judges led to the tragic event.
The investigations, however, in reality as in the reconstruction on Netflix, have led to numerous inconsistencies and contradictions in the version of events presented by Rosario Porto, who changed his story several times regarding the activities of the afternoon of September 21, 2013.
Despite the evidence gathered, including security camera recordings that appear to contradict his version of events, the trial was complex, with delays and the need for a popular judgement. Started in October 2015, with 84 witnesses and 60 expert witnesses, the trial ended with two convictions. But many obscure points remain.
As anticipated, one is returned to us procedural truthbut not an absolute truth.
Nonetheless, the talent of the two protagonists, the narrative style, the plurality of points of view give us a product that is as emotionally devastating as it is exciting.
So much so that it makes you want to discover Asunta’s true story, in an attempt to reconstruct the missing pieces of the puzzle.
The true story: the Asunta Basterra Porto case
To find out how fictionalized it is and how totally true to reality it is, here it is the true story of Asunta.
Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain. The September 21, 2013 one of the most important events takes place here tragic and mysterious of recent Spanish history.
Asunta Basterra Porto, a 12-year-old girl adopted in China by her Spanish parents, Rosario Porto, alawyer successful, and Alfonso Basterra, a journalistwas found dead on a forest track in Theo, near Santiago de Compostela. L’autopsy reveals that Asunta had been sedated with a drug in massive doses and then suffocated. A few days after the discovery of the body, Asunta’s parents, Rosario Porto and Alfonso Basterra, visited arrested on charges of murder.
Police investigations revealed a number of suspicious elements, including the presence of sedatives in the months preceding his death, as well as in the hours leading up to his death. Numerous pieces of evidence are collected, including recordings of security cameras which show Rosario Porto purchasing the sedative used to drug Asunta. Furthermore, it turns out that Asunta had inherited a considerable sum of money by his maternal grandparents, a circumstance that has led to speculation about a possible financial motive behind the murder.
The case has aroused great interest and concern, not only in Spain but also internationally. Books have been written and documentaries filmed, all masterfully summarized by the Netflix miniseries, which leads us to reflect on mental instability, family misunderstandings, the concept of trust and complicity, without of course forgetting the strong debate sparked in Spain on the topic of ‘adoption.
