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Audience at Cineteca Nacional applauds Acorazado

Araceli Calva translated by Cindy Hawes

Presented by its director Álvaro Curiel, the film generated diverse reactions -- both laughter and reflection from the audience expressed after the film was over in a question and answer session.

The young director said Acorazado was shot in Veracruz and Havana, where the story of Silverio Palacios takes place. Encouraged by an old friend, Silverio decides to go after the American Dream. He converts his old taxicab into a raft and sails to Miami. But between bad weather and his broken compass, he ends up in Cuba, where he asks for political asylum.

“It was hard to find locations in Veracruz, it was complicated,” Curiel said. “ We went to the workingclass neighborhoods, where all of the former dock workers live, but the unions disappeared under the Salinas de Gortari government. We needed that kind of panorama to be able to place our character in the right environment.”

He added that shooting in Cuba wasn’ t easy either. Unlike Veracruz, finding locations wasn’ t the hard part -- obtaining permits took a long time. Making changes in the screenplay that wouldn’ t affect the film was also a challenge, he said.

In his discussion with the audience, the director emphasized that he didn’ t want his film only to entertain the audience, but also wanted it to reflect.

“I read some critics who said I only tried to entertain, which is absolutely not true,” he said. “ This is my first film, my first work in this format and my intention was to reflect on Mexico.

“It is very politically correct to talk badly, for example, of the government, which is always going to be the bad guy. But if we speak poorly about society, as in this film, in which we see this Mexican with all his virtues and all his defects, we see ourselves reflected on the screen. Obviously that is why I made this film. I want each person to continue reflecting when he or she goes home, and to ask many
questions. That is the intention, although some people may think Acorazado is purely entertainment.”

Asked why the character and the actor in the film have the same name -- Silverio Palacios, Curiel explained, “ Silverio is a unique name and I thought we should take advantage of it. It’ s a fantastic name and the actor didn’ t have any problem with the character having the same name.”

Regarding the commercialization of the film, Curiel said for the moment it will only be presented at a few theaters as part of “ The Best of FICM in the DF” program, but he hopes to announce the date of its premiere in the near future.