presents
The Cinema Labyrinth
V E N I C E P L AY E R S : FR OM LORENZO VIGA S TO R OBIN CA MPILLO October 2015, Issue 001
A letter from the Curators
sunny, is de-saturated. A form creeps into the static composition and focus racks to his face: middle-aged, his gaze on the teenagers. In a single shot that at once demonstrates an arresting command of cinematography to reveal a character’s Desde allá, a first feature from Venezuealienated inner state, and a trust in the lan Lorenzo Vigas, won the Golden Lion audience to fill in the blanks, the man at this year’s Venice Film Festival. Desde walks toward the teenagers: focus lingers allá paints a very particular Caracas-set on the absent place where he once stood. love story between Armando, a wealthy middle-aged man who makes dentures The more attractive member of the for a living, and Elder, a local teenager bunch climbs onto a crowded bus. Our he solicits for sex. protagonist tails him, watches him through the loose hanging arms of othAt Venice in 2013, Moroccan-born er passengers. He sits beside the teenagFrench director Robin Campillo’s Easter and pulls a fat stack of cash from his ern Boys won Best Film in the Orizzonti pocket. section. Daniel, a wealthy middle-aged man, cruises Paris’s Gare du Nord train Cut to inside the man’s apartment. The station. His life is changed when he sosequence unfolds without dialogue. licits Marek, a young immigrant, for sex. — The existence of these two films in such proximity posits a new sub-genre within The opening sequence of Eastern Boys is the increasingly diverse movement of crowded by comparison. Quick cuts and queer-themed stories in art-house cinelong-lensing from above recall the openma. Despite a strikingly similar premise, ing scene of Coppola’s The Conversation, Desde allá and Eastern Boys exhibit quite except this San Francisco square is the diverse narrative voices and even more Gare du Nord train station in Paris, the disparate conclusions. What do their nefarious subjects a group of teenagers opening sequences communicate of the who don’t speak the local tongue. Threat socio-political realities of Caracas, and of authority is ever present— the audiParis? What elements remain? ence’s gaze as if through surveillance cameras, station guards lurking on the These aren’t simply stories of bleak edge of frame. Eventually we notice, too, middle-aged men cruising for rent boys; an adult with his own agenda— a midthey’re love stories that evolve into sodle-aged man carrying a briefcase, nercial contracts, expose the transactional vous to go unseen. nature of relationships, and offer a new lens of inquiry into the bond between He approaches the more aloof, sinewy father and son, citizen and state. teenager of the bunch who walks back in the station. Ensconced beneath a staircase — in broken English, the teen sets his price: “I do everything… 50 euro.” Desde allá opens on a group of teenagers hanging about the streets of Caracas. — Trash litters the street; the frame, while
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Each man’s ‘approach’ functions as a mise-en-abîme of the Director’s own engagement with narrative. Vigas’s minimalist storytelling, while detached, is potent in its economy. Detail rather than exposition seeps the audience in Campillo’s very particular, very French milieu of class and inter-cultural inquiry. Both sequences elide exposition, privileging imagery and behavior to set the tone of what evolve into somber love stories predicated at least initially on transaction.
it follows, paternal dysfunction is inherited.
The central relationships— between the older Armando and the younger Elder in Desde allá, between Daniel and Marek in Eastern Boys— thus double as political meditations. Eastern Boys’ opening sequence establishes power dynamics and social hierarchy. Marek’s naming of a price places him in a market in which he acknowledges himself as a commodity, his value definitive. Desde allá, on the other hand, opens on trash in the streets, cramped buses, blurry crowds. We never know how much cash Armando sets aside in thick wads— Elder’s value feels less like payment and more like a bribe.
If Desde allá posits the father/son dynamic as an allegory for citizen/state, in Eastern Boys, the father is the socialist state complete with French lessons, flat-rate negotiation and a blind eye to robbery. Daniel (the state) literally adopts Marek, the son: he becomes a French citizen. Unfortunately, no such legal status awaits Elder. In Desde allá, there is no happy ending.
In both films, the pursuing adult ultimately rejects the increasingly affectionate teenager and romance shifts to paternalism. Love stories, then, become a framework by which to examine the nature of social contracts in the films’ relative nations: France and Venezuela. — Elder has been abandoned by his father in a world where poverty is taken as a given. Equally, Armando lurks in the shadows, observing the quotidian activity of a much older, much wealthier man one assumes is his own father. In Venezuela, 2
On the other hand Marek’s poverty is a function of circumstance. He is an illegal immigrant having fled war-ravaged Chechnya as a child. The titular Eastern Boys are his makeshift family. Young and forsaken, this fraternity of lost brothers is characterized by an enforced hierarchy with draconian penalties for defection. And yet, Campillo draws these characters as all deeply human.
— Filmatique’s Cinema Labyrinth was conceived as a thought experiment: to explore the landscape of contemporary cinema vis-à-vis studies of its Makers. Desde allá and Eastern Boys premiered at Venice within three years of each other. How many degrees separate them? Imagine a cocktail party. Venice, Italy. At one end of the room, Lorenzo Vigas. At the other, Robin Campillo. How do they meet?
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The Players Lorenzo Vigas VENEZUELAN MOLECULAR-BIOLOGIST TURNED FILMMAKER
Guillermo Arriaga MEXICAN SCRIBE & SELF-DESRIBED HUNTER MOST FA M O U S F O R P E N N I N G I Ñ Á R R I T U ’ S D E AT H - T R I L O G Y
R o d r i g o Pr i e t o & A l b e r t o I g l e s i a s M E X I C A N C I N E M ATO G R A P H E R A N D S PA N I S H C O M P O S E R , R E S P E C T I V E LY, W I T H E QUA L L E V E L S BU T V E RY D I S T I N C T SENTIMENTS ON MAINSTREAM SUCCESS
Ju l i o M e d e m T H E BA S QU E AU T E U R
Laurent Cantet F R E N C H D I R E C TO R R E S P O N S I B L E F O R A NEW BRAND OF SOCIAL REALIST CINEMA
Robin Campillo M O RO C C A N - B O R N F R E N C H F I L M M A K E R W H O S E F I R S T B I G H I T WA S A Z O M B I E F I L M
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Desde allá Desde allá (From Afar) by Lorenzo Vigas Venezuela, Mexico, 93’ Language: Spanish, English Color, 2.66:1, Ar ri Alexa
First Latin American film ever to win the Golden Lion for Best Film at the Mostra Internazionale d’Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia 72, Competition
A lfredo Castro
“The grave-faced Castro is among the most calmly, economically expressive actors... Armando’s lifelong accumulation of hurt, disappointment and self-preserving reticence are carried and compressed in his long, loping gait, unassumingly straight stance and veiled, watchful countenance— on which even a fleeting half-smile briefly changes everything”
Synopsis Wealthy middle-aged Armando lures young men to his home with money. He doesn’t want to touch, only watch from a strict distance. He also follows an elderly businessman with whom he seems to have had a traumatic relationship. Armando’s first encounter with street thug Elder is violent, but this doesn’t
discourage the lonely man’s fascination with the tough handsome teenager. Financial interest keeps Elder visiting him regularly and an unexpected intimacy emerges. But Armando’s haunted past looms large, and Elder commits the ultimate act of affection on Armando’s behalf.
Credits PRODUCTION: Factor RH, Malandro Films, in association with Lucia Films DIRECTOR & SCREENWRITER: Lorenzo Vigas STORY: Guillermo Arriaga, Lorenzo Vigas PRODUCERS: Rodolfo Cova, Guillermo Arriaga, Michel Franco, Lorenzo Vigas EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Edgar Ramirez, Gabriel Ripstein DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Sergio Armstrong PRODUCTION DESIGNER: Matias Tikas COSTUME DESIGNER: Marisela Marin EDITOR: Isabella Monteiro de Castro 8
First Reviews “Deliberately detached in its observational style, yet as probing, subtle and affecting as any psychological drama could wish to be, this is an elliptical film that trusts its audience enough to peel away exposition and unnecessary dialogue, uncovering rich layers of ambiguity... The initial danger of their sex-free encounters shifts into more unsettling and increasingly obscure territory that at times recalls the dynamics of a Harold Pinter play” —
“Looking, not touching, is the act of choice for a sexually wary gay man in From Afar, and his hands-off approach is shared by the expert storytelling in
Venezuelan helmer Lorenzo Vigas pristinely poised but deeply felt debut feature. Rarely taking the path of cheap exposition where convincing character psychology will do, this smart, unsensationalized examination of the slow-blossoming relationship between a middle-aged loner and a young street tough trusts auds to make the necessary connections in a narrative that merges its characters’ respective father complexes to moving, equivocal effect. Discerningly realized and performed — with its reliable Chilean star Alfredo Castro giving a veritable master class in fine-point anguish — this Venice competish entry marks out Vigas as one of Latin American cinema’s more auspicious arrivals of recent years”
L uis Silva
“Silva, a 21-year-old making his screen debut, is equally compelling. Elder is edgy and impulsive, revealing a well-hidden vulnerability only gradually as he starts seeking Armando’s approval. The way he sheds his inhibitions and relaxes into an unfamiliar sense of security makes what follows in the film’s conclusion quite shattering” 9
Cinematography “Armstrong’s fastidious, sunwashed lensing recalls his work on Larraín’s Post Mortem in its use of widescreen proportions to position and disorientate human subjects in their environment.
His location shooting, moreover, captures much incidental, context-enhancing life on Caracas’ cracked, strident sidewalks”
Director’s Statement The title Desde allá is a reference to the distance and separation between Armando and the objects of his desire — his “look but don’t touch” attitude. The idea of making a film about a man who struggles to connect emotionally to others was very attractive to me. A sudden obsession towards this young
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man Elder is ignited. Maybe because Armando is a person that does not allow anybody to touch him and he is suddenly struck by a brutal hit. From this moment on, an illusion is created: to be capable of establishing a close emotional relationship with someone. But can this become a reality?
“Vigas and cinematographer Sergio Armstrong... capture the grit and poverty of the Caracas settings without overstatement, but those aspects register so strongly that a brief interlude by the sea brings an invigorating jolt, creating an airy space in which
Armando and Elder can inch closer to communication. Picking up every small signal of body language, Armstrong frequently shoots his subjects from behind or in searching closeups that isolate them within their busy surroundings�
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Lorenzo Vigas
“I want to dedicate this prize to my amazing country, Venezuela. I know we have a few problems, but if we talk about them we will overcome them� - Venice Acceptance Speech
The son of painter Oswaldo Vigas, Lorenzo Vigas graduated from the University of Tampa with a degree in Molecular Biology. He studied cinema at NYU and made several experimental short films before Los elephantes nunca olvidan, a short produced by Guillermo Arriaga and presented at Cannes’ Semaine de la Critique in 2003.
Other work includes the documentary El Vendedor de Orquídeas about his father and the search for a paint that has been lost since the painter was very young; the documentary will be released in 2016. Desde allá is his first feature film and the only Venezuelan film to ever screen in Competition at the Venice Film Festival.
“In my film I wanted to leave in the story an open space for imagination”
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“I like a lot Michael Haneke, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Bruno Dumon but there wasn’t any specific inspiration about them. The idea comes from my short film Elephants Never Forget, I presented in Cannes. I planned then a trilogy; the short was the first part, From Afar the second and the third will be my next film entitled The Box”
Los elefantes nunca olvidan, Lorenzo Vigas Mexico, 13’ / Color, Super 16mm
Synopsis Pedro, who takes great pride in his fabulous memory, fails to recognize the pair of teenagers who are traveling with him in a truck on the way to the mar-
ket. During the journey Pedro chats and jokes, without realizing that the children he once maltreated and abandoned have come to take revenge.
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The Venezuelan cineaste has seen his hopes fulfilled with the selection of his short... elevating not just the Venezuelan banner but that of Mexico as well, since Guillermo Arriaga — screenwriter of acclaimed films Amores Perros and 21 Grams — also participated in the production. “More than his talent, Lorenzo knows how to listen and he has a deep capacity for rigor,” commented [Guillermo] of his friend and collaborator. - Éditions la Résonance, 1 July 2004
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“All these movies share the parental subject in a continent where the father is never at home and it’s always the mother who takes care of the child. The Box , my next project taking place in Mexico, is pretty advanced and it deals with the relationship between a father and his son” - Lorenzo Vigas
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Guillermo Arriaga
“If I know everything about my characters, how am I going to be surprised by them?” - BAFTA Screenwriters’ Lecture
Self-defined as “a hunter who works as a writer,” Guillermo Arriaga is a Mexican Screenwriter, Director and Producer renowned for his non-linear storytelling: in particular, all three scripts of the death-trilogy that launched fellow Mexican Alejandro González Iñárritu to fame. 20
Stills, from top to bottom: Amores Perros, 2000 / 21 Grams, 2003 / Babel, 2006
If violence pervades Arriaga’s work, it is because violence has also pervaded his life — at age 10 he was beaten nearly to death on the streets of Mexico City after his younger brother splashed a girl in a puddle. Years later, he was involved in a car crash along mountain roads. The car fell off a cliff; Arriaga permanently lost his sense of smell.
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While a professor at the Universidad Iberoamericana, Arriaga met the young Iñárritu. Their first collaboration, Amores Perros, premiered in the Semaine de la Critique sidebar of the 2000 Cannes Film Festival where it won the top prize, later being nominated for both the Academy and BAFTA Awards for Best Foreign Film.
Amores Perros, Alejandro González Iñárritu Mexico, 153’ / Color, 1.85:1, 35mm
“We live in a society obsessed with repressing death. I think it is the job of a writer to deal with the important things of life – among them death” - Guiller mo Ar riaga
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“In 21 Grams I knew that the audience, because it was so chaotic, needed a handlebar to grab. For me the handlebar was going to be the light. 21 Grams is written in light. What do I mean?... The first part of 21 Grams happens during the day. This means the characters have some light in their lives... this
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is subconscious... The second part is all during the night. And the third part is at dawn or dusk. And that’s on purpose, and that comes from the screenplay. It hurts a lot when they say of 21 Grams, ‘Such great editing.’ No, my friend, the structure comes from the screenplay”
Despite their success, cracks began to form in the Mexicans’ creative relationship. Arriaga found himself banned from Iñárritu’s sets and told to stay away from Babel’s 2007 Cannes premiere. The film was nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Screenplay. The skirmish reached fever pitch five days before the Ceremony when Iñárritu published an open letter in a Mexican magazine Chilango accusing
Arriaga of an “unjustified obsession with claiming the sole authorship of a film.” He added “you were not— and you have never allowed yourself to feel part of this team.” The letter was signed by fellow Oscar-nominees Gael García Bernal, score composer Gustavo Santaolalla, renowned cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto and nine other collaborators on the film.
The Burning Plain, Guillermo Arriaga USA, Argentina, 107’ / Color, 2.35:1, 35mm
The end of the collaboration left many curious of what lay ahead. Iñárritu had never made a film without an Arriaga script; Arriaga, however, had experienced solo success— his work on The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005) earned him the Best Screenplay prize at Cannes. He directed just once from his own script: The Burning Plain received mixed reviews but earned the young Jennifer Lawrence Venice’s Marcello Mastroianni Award for best emerging actress in 2008 (Winter’s Bone opened in 2010).
In an interview with The Guardian, Arriaga attributed his inspiration for The Burning Plain to his obsession with hunting. “In the small Mexican villages, all the kids have slingshots. I was amazed— I was once hunting doves with a shotgun and the kid with the slingshot killed more than me.” He also reserved a few words for his old collaborator:
“Alejandro is a great director. We made three beautiful films we both are very proud of ” 25
Rodrigo Prieto
“When the visuals are on par with the emotions, that’s when I feel most excited” - Interview with American Cinematographer
Rodrigo Prieto was born in Mexico City. His grandfather, Jorge Prieto Laurens, was the Mayor of Mexico City and leader of the Chamber of Deputies of Mexico, but was later persecuted by the country’s ruler because of political differences. Beginning in collaborations with Alejandro González Iñárritu and Pedro Almodóvar, Prieto’s career has expand-
ed to major Hollywood players. His work on Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain earned him both an Academy Award in 2007 and the attention of Martin Scorsese, who then hired him for The Wolf of Wall Street. Scorsese’s next picture, Silence, marks their second collaboration and is currently in post-production.
“Like the best of actors, the Oscar-nominated cinematographer separates his ego from his work. Prieto doesn’t have a signature style he imprints upon every film he is involved in, but can go directly from a film about visual excess and over-saturated opulence like The Wolf of Wall Street to a stark Western like Tommy Lee Jones’ The Homesman ” - Interview Magazine 28
Prieto & Iñárritu “Prieto and Iñárritu’s grittiest and most daring collaboration is 21 Grams. A film executed so unforgivingly... that the viewer can’t help but squirm. Whether Prieto is bathing a grief-stricken Naomi Watts in shallow red light, watching birds frantically fly above a magic hour hospital, or over exposing the light
inside a liquor store, every shot in 21 Grams is achieved to promote the film’s overall dread. And ultimately, we’re left with... [a]n empty pool in front of a shitty motel in the wrong side of nowhere, cluttered with random junk and falling snow. There is nothing. There is no goodbye. This is the end”
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Prieto’s Journey to Hollywood “Early in my career when I started to do American movies but was still in Mexico, I remember being interviewed and then not getting the job. I realized that maybe I came on too strong. I read the script on airplane flying to LA from Mexico City to meet the director, and I was taking all sorts of notes: “This could be like this!” So our first inter-
view, I was like, “In this scene, maybe we could light like this! And what about if that’s handheld!” I had all these ideas and was overly enthusiastic and I realized I was overwhelming the director...That helped me realize that you should first sit down and listen to the director, not expecting ideas right away. That was a good failure.
“[Curtis Hanson] said that he wanted 8 Mile to be a movie that looked like a weed growing out of the sidewalk. I totally got it and I said, “Okay, that’s what it will look like”
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8 Mile, Curtis Hanson USA, Germany, 110’ / Color, 2.35:1, 35mm
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Brokeback Mountain, Ang Lee USA, Canada, 134’ / Color, 1.85:1, 35mm
Prieto on working with Ang Lee “Ang... doesn’t do shot lists or pre-storyboarding. It comes up in the set after rehearsal, and he’ll stand there and contemplate. He’ll ask for the director’s finder with a specific lens, and he’ll set the angle and framing, and that for me is different than what I had done with other directors. It wasn’t easy for me when we started Brokeback Mountain, but I got used to it. Ang has very good taste in terms of framing and choice of lenses, and it always makes sense to me. Because the choices he makes are correct. It doesn’t hurt me because it’s
not a thing about ‘ego, he picked it, so then I’m upset.’ No— he’s right, it’s a good angle and a good lens, and I have no problem with that. You only have a problem when it doesn’t feel right. When you know that choices could work better another way. But most of the time, the differences between what he’ll pick and what I would have done have to do with camera height. Ang always wants the camera to be the eye level of the actor, no matter what... I certainly do find Ang’s approach very much organic with the material” 31