When Sigourney Weaver received Bill Murray, he had told her that her performance was better dubbed into Spanish, so she considered that the actress who dubbed her should be with her on stage. “Maria, I hope you are seeing me tonight, because I thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
Weaver’s usual voice. Also that of Diane Keaton, Helen Mirren and Glenn Close. It’s the voice of Lauren Bacall from The eternal dreamthe Sarah Connor of Terminator and Princess Leia Star Wars. When we shout “I’m older and my insurance covers everything” from Fried green tomatoesmore than Kathy Bates we are imitating Solá.
She is one of the greats of national dubbing where she shares an olympus with legends such as Matilde Conesa, Selica Torcal, Elsa Fábregas or Marta Martorell. Their names may mean little to you, perhaps their faces even less, but their voices are one of the causes of the cinephilia of many of those among whom I am. I know that cinema must be seen in its original version, but I also know that we have had full access to that luxury for a short time and when neither technology nor Duolingo provided it, dubbing professionals were there.
That’s why Solá’s presence was very exciting to me. And logical, considering that it is the voice of . Yes, because at 87 he is still active. But as the gala went on I began to suspect that it did not entail the tribute it deserved. He barely received a few words from Paula Ribó (Rigoberta Bandini), also a dubbing actress. “They can’t be that cheesy,” I thought, “something is going to happen,” although the fact that the camera focused at that moment on a surprised Susan Sarandon seemed to announce that what I considered one of the highlights of the night was not on the menu. The reason was revealed by the director of the gala, Tinet Rubira, on La2CAT: “It would have taken 10 minutes that we didn’t have.”
Two and a half minutes dedicated a couple of days before to the voice actor of , this year’s honorary award, were enough to excite and vindicate a job threatened, like so many others, by AI. Perhaps Solá and Sarandon’s meeting would lengthen the gala, but I don’t think I’m the only one who thinks it would have been the most unforgettable moment of a night with little to remember. And also he would have done justice.
