The latest edition of Money Heist, also known as La Casa de Papel, is all set to premiere on Netflix this week. Well, the anticipation around its 4th season has been indescribable, but there are also a section of fans that are curious if the show is absolutely fictional or has a touch of reality to it. Money Heist, a show which chronicles the lives of some master thieves that break into a couple of major Spanish buildings, has always managed to keep its viewers on the edge of their seats.
As per the show’s creator Alex Pina, Money Heist isn’t based on any real story and is just a piece of fiction. Pina, in a conversation with Drama Quarterly in 2018, revealed how he and one of its writers - Esther Martinez Lobato – were keen on making something that is fictional but looks believable. He was quoted as saying, “With all these flashbacks, we wanted to tell the story and make it authentic, with lots of action and events one after the other, twists and turns.”He added that the characters, too, are drawn from their imagination and don’t represent anyone in real.
However, it is believed that there have been some major heists in the past and are inspirations to the makers. Until now, the series has shown two heists, one of which to print Euros from the Royal Mint of Spain, while the second one was to loot gold from the Royal Bank of Spain. In regards to the latter one, some fans have compared it to the bank robbery that took place in Argentina in 2006. The incident took place at the Banco Río in Buenos Aires in January and was about a gang of thieves stealing USD 8 million in cash and other valuables. And all of them successfully escaped in a boat, despite being surrounded by around 200 police officials.
As per GQ, their capability to escape so smoothly made all those thieves as the folk heroes and the whole incident was viewed as one Robin hood-like heist. Coincidentally, this is what happens with the Money Heist gang at the end of season 2. Other historical elements like the Salvador Dali masks that are used by the characters to hide their faces and the Italian protest folk song that was introduced in the 19th century are among the other similarities.
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