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La identidad, la ausencia y la orfandad: Entrevista a Lorenzo Vigas

Alonso Díaz de la Vega @diazdelavega1

Lorenzo Vigas ha ido construyendo una filmografía de la ausencia paterna que empezó con su cortometraje Los elefantes nunca olvidan (2004) y que ahora cierra como trilogía con La caja (2021). En estas películas, donde se incluye también su primer largometraje, Desde allá (2015), hay elementos que abarcan la marginalidad y la violencia pero el director venezolano considera, al menos en el caso de La caja, que el pivote de la trama es la identidad, manifiesta en diversos niveles, desde lo individual hasta lo colectivo. La película también demuestra la consolidación de un estilo discreto que mantiene a la audiencia atenta a las piezas de un rompecabezas que lentamente va adquiriendo forma para evitar la simplicidad de una narración convencional.

En La caja, seleccionada para competir en el pasado Festival de Cine de Venecia por el León de Oro, y ganadora del Leoncino d’Oro, Vigas muestra el viaje de un niño que llega a Chihuaha para recoger los restos de su padre, que murió en circunstancias desconocidas, y luego cree encontrarlo en un hombre que lo incluirá en su mundo de explotación laboral. A este último lo interpreta Hernán Mendoza con una variedad agridulce, mientras que Hatzin Navarrete, un joven debutante, aporta espontaneidad y franqueza al rol del huérfano. Vigas nos habló sobre el proceso de encontrar a Navarrete y nos describió su exploración de este mundo opresivo. Reproducimos ahora nuestra conversación completa.

ADV: Something I found interesting in this world that you build is how violence becomes a way of acquiring certain privileges. Do you think that capitalism causes a certain kind of cannibalistic competition in the working class?

LV: Knowing how to lie is a fundamental part of society in Mexico. Those who don't know how to lie he doesn't get ahead; that is why Hernán teaches Hatzin to lie. I think that he does it with the best intention because if he does not teach him to lie, the child will not be able to do anything.

I think that the character of Hernán is just another link of a much bigger chain, of an oppressive system that feels like it is on top of the characters in the film and that has them all in a box. I don't see him as an evil person, he is a person who is doing everything possible so his family does well; so his daughter won't lack anything. He is another cog in a system, but it is not a uniquely Mexican system, it is a system that begins in China and that can be in the United States too, obviously. It is a system much larger than the characters.

ADV: I would like to ask you about Hatzin, I understand that you looked for him through a call, that he is not a professional actor. How was it to work with him throughout the film?

LV: I believe that Hatzin is a great talent, he is a person who is going to have a great career in Mexico; he is a great Mexican talent. The whole film rests on his shoulders and it is not so easy for a 13-year-old to hold a film up. That tells you a lot about the potential of that actor. For the character of Hatzin I did a very big casting in Mexico City with Viridiana Olvera, the casting director. We visited, well, she visited hundreds of schools and recorded videos of the students. I knew that she wanted to work with a new actor; and it was literally a very meticulous search, a very long one, that took us months. We did some workshops with other characters who are not actors either, the girl who plays Laura's character is not an actress either. A week before we got Hatzin, which was quite late, it was right on the line because we were about to go to Chihuahua. I had two other candidates but I was passionate about none of them and when Hatzin arrived we immediately did a test with him and Hernán Mendoza; the expressiveness, the power in his eyes, his silence, his restraint and his talent made me choose him.

ADV: I have talked with other directors who point out that non-actors contribute a lot, even on a dramatic level, because they can share a bit of their experiences in the movies. In your case, what have non-actors contributed?

LV: I think that there is nothing better than working with a good actor. In the case of Hernán Mendoza, for example, who I did do casting because I knew he was my actor. So when you have a wonderful actor, there is nothing quite like that. In the case of a young man, a thirteen-year-old boy, I believe that sometimes it is convenient to work with a non-actor. When it came to Hatzin, I knew that, like his character, he had a complicated relationship with his father and then sometimes you just won't find what you are looking for in an actor, in these cases a non-actor is better. But I like to combine them, I think that's good.

ADV: I would like to ask you about your style, I think it was already very formed from your first feature film Desde allá, and I believe it is a style that tends to be out of frame, subtle, and to avoid showing things in an absolutely clear way. How did you get to that? Is it something you had already thought through, did you want to make a more discreet cinema or is it something that simply flowed for you?

LV: Well, I think you make the movies that you can make and not the ones you want to make. The cinema that I make is the cinema that I can make. It is the one that most connects with who I am as a spectator. When I see a movie that explains too much, that doesn't let me use my imagination, it's usually a movie that I don't like. I like cinema that makes me get involved from the viewer's point of view and that makes me get involved in such a way that my emotions complete the film. That is why I think I make the movies that I do. Most likely, if you asked me to make a different film, more descriptive about emotions perhaps, it would turn out well, that's why I think you make the films you can make, not the ones you want to make. I think that the sensitivity of telling stories like this has to do with my essence, but it is not something planned, it is not something conscious, it is rather unconscious; it is an unconscious process.

ADV: And finally, I wanted to ask you, do you think that cinema has the ability to change situations like the ones shown in La caja?

LV: No, I don't think so. I believe, first of all,  that art should not have a specific function and films should not be expected to change a situation. Situations are too complex. What they can do, I think, is to start a dialogue of different situations and this dialogue, together with other dialogues, can start to change situations, I don't think cinema can do it by itself but I do believe that it is important, above all, to be honest with the situation in the country, with the human situation. What I reproach is cinema that's not honest with reality, I think there must be absolute honesty in relation to yourself; an honesty with you as a creator and then an honesty with the context that you are portraying too.