| Citizen of the world–Dickensian story set in Rio de Janeiro |
| Aktualności | |||
| Monday, 03 August 2009 00:00 | |||
|
We’ve already seen the first screenings of Bruno Barreto’s mini-retrospective. The Brazilian director, who also works with filmmakers from the USA, met with the festival audience after the premiere screening of his ‘Last Stop 174’. It’s a true story of hijacking of a Rio de Janeiro bus and the live TV broadcast of the crime. Later, at the castle in Kazimierz we could see his debut film ‘Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands’. He found the inspiration for his newest production in a documentary film “Bus 174”, where he noticed an unexplained theme of a woman who decided to adopt a juvenile delinquent. Why did she do it? The author of the documentary explained that she lost her son when he was a baby and spent 17 years looking for him. In the end she clung to the thought that she had found him. Barreto thought it would be a great material for a film, that he could extend her story into a full plot. In his film he wonders what the mother-son love is like after being exposed to so many years of separation and the harsh realities of Rio de Janerio. Was it difficult to work in this apparently dangerous city? Bruno Barreto: Ironically, there are many films and soap operas made in the streets of Rio de Janeiro. The life going on there can be a starting point for a film. The citizens are so used to being filmed that they behave like professional extras playing themselves In the final scene the main hero hijacks the bus. People watch it on TV in their houses and look at the him like predators on their prey… B.B:Well, it‘s a true story! On June 12th, 2000 the whole country froze with terror. Everyone was observing the events, it was like our September 11th… However, this film is not about the event itself, it’s only the climax. I focused on everything that could precede it. The only fictitious event in this scene is what happens on the bus. Everything that happens outside is from live TV coverage. I tried to mix fiction with true events. The whole movie is made that way: it begins like a soap opera and then we realize that it’s only what the main heroine is watching on TV. I wanted to show that in our times the reality can be surprising, that fiction is necessary to understand our life and what surrounds us. You said that while making ‘Last Stop 174’ you felt the same freedom from restrictions and experience, like while making your debut film. Why? B.B: It was completely different from the previous ones. Maybe it’s because I worked with amateurs. But thanks to that I could feel the freedom I lost. The actors completed a 3-month workshop, I could watch them working. When we started shooting, I didn’t stand on their way, I didn’t guide them. They were more natural. I think directors tend to talk too much. The script was excellent and detailed, but it didn’t include any particular dialogues, so the actors didn’t know exactly what to say. It soon occurred that their improvisation was close to the dialogues I wanted to hear. That was amazing. I had problems choosing the best takes for the final version of the film. I would choose each one if I could! Did you want to draw the attention to particular heroes or to the social issue? B.B: The social context was just a context, the same was with social background… What mattered most for me was interpersonal relation. Is a mother naïve just because she has been desperately looking for her son, is she acting reasonably? Should the boy be condemned for robbery and for impersonating her son? Or maybe he needs a mother more than her real son does? Did you meet with Sandro’s mother? B.B: No, I didn’t, but Braulio Montovani, the scriptwriter, met her. (He also worked on the script of ‘The City of God’- editorial note). She just blindly believed that she had found her son, even after she learned the DNA testing results. She concluded that ‘The test must be wrong’. I didn’t want to meet her because I was afraid it would circumscribe my freedom in creating the plot. And I meant the film to be fiction, not a documentary. Is Rio de Janeiro portrayed from the side that would attract tourists? After the screening, one of the viewers said “I think I’ll never go there”. B.B: [laugh] It’s one of the most dangerous cities in the world, that’s for sure. But it’s just that particular city, the rest of the country is completely different. Brazilians are like Poles, kind, warm and interested in meeting new people. How would you compare the cultures of the USA, South America and Europe? How are they exposed in films from different parts of the world? B.B: I’ve had the pleasure of working in those places and I think that the only difference lies in human behavior which changes with culture. For example, in South America enthusiasm is deeply rooted in the process of film making. The method itself is of secondary importance. In the USA it’s just the other way about: first comes the method, then the enthusiasm. Whereas in the European cinema, e.g. in France, nostalgia plays the dominant role. The films become more poetic. I consider myself a citizen of the world, an eternal emigrant that feels like a stranger everywhere. You will have another chance to meet Bruno Barreto and his works during the Festival. He will take part in ‘The cinema lesson’ today at 12:30 p.m. in the Small Cinema and then on Thursday we’ll screen his film ‘Gabriela’ at the PGE Cinema. prepared by Kamil Bałuk
|