El garante

El garante
Also known as	The Guarantor
Genre	Horror TV miniseries
Created by	Sebastián Borensztein
Developed by	Sebastián Borensztein
Written by	Sebastián Borensztein Marcelo Slavich Walter Slavich
Directed by	Sebastián Borensztein
Creative director(s)	Sebastián Borensztein
Starring	Lito Cruz Leonardo Sbaraglia Eleonora Wexler
Theme music composer	Alejandro Lerner
Country of origin	Argentina
Original language(s)	Spanish
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	8
Production
Location(s)	Ciudad de Buenos Aires
Running time	60 min.
Release
Original network	Canal 9
Original release	1997 – 1997
Chronology
Followed by	La condena de Gabriel Doyle

Collateral Man, originally titled El garante (English: The Guarantor), is an Argentine television horror miniseries originally transmitted in 1997 by Canal 9. Created and directed by Sebastián Borensztein, it stars Lito Cruz and Leonardo Sbaraglia.

Synopsis

The story is about the relationship established between Martin Mondragon, a young psychologist (Sbaraglia) and the man who seeks to collect a debt left by his grandfather a long time ago. The psychologist's grandfather had signed a pact with the devil, but died without delivering his soul. As set out on the contract, Mondragon's grandfather agrees to offer his (then unborn) grandson's soul as the guarantor of the deal. José Sagasti (Lito Cruz), Satan's agent, presents himself to Mondragon as the one in charge of collecting the old debt and informing the guarantor of his fate. Being a psychologist, Mondragon thinks to have run into a psychopath and dismisses his threats. But soon after their first meeting, Sagasti starts playing mind games and making Mondragon's life a living hell.

Through its eight chapters, this mini-series recounts the struggle of Martin to avoid surrendering his soul to Sagasti, the envoy of the devil. Both characters give life to a confrontation that is waged on the earthly plane, and at the same time the one-upmanship also plays on the psychologies of both men.

Cast

• Lito Cruz ... Jose Sagasti
• Leonardo Sbaraglia ... Martin Mondragon
• Eleonora Wexler ... Abril, Martin's girlfriend
• David Masajnik ... Marcelo, a friend of Martin
• Luis Luque ... Eduardo, Martin's psychiatrist friend
• Luis Ziembrowski ... Gonzalez
• Franklin Caicedo ... Lozada
• Jorge Marrale ... Satan

Awards

Martín Fierro Awards

Martin Fierro 1997:

• TV Miniseries:
  • The Guarantor - Nominated
• Dramatic Actor Role:
  • Lito Cruz - Nominated
  • Leonardo Sbaraglia - Winner
• Author and/or Screenwriter:
  • Sebastián Borensztein, Marcelo and Walter Slavich - Winner
• Director:
  • Sebastián Borensztein - Winner
• Integral Production/Best Production:
  • The Guarantor - Winner
• Soundtrack/Original Soundtrack:
  • The Guarantor. Author: Alejandro Lerner - Nominated

FUNDTV Awards

• Fiction:
  • The Guarantor - Winner

Emmy Awards

The show was also nominated for the Emmy Awards, which was won by Argentores.

Legacy

Collateral Man marked a turning point in television fiction in Argentina, as it was meant to recover the prestige of the horror genre; it was popular with the audiences, and in 1997 the miniseries won several Martin Fierro Awards and was nominated for several international awards. Since then, it has been broadcast via on-air channels and cable several times, always being a success. Recently the story has resurfaced with a new interest, as it has become an excellent novel adaptation.