Today I would like to talk about Lluis Car\u00adb\u00f3. I believe that every one of you would find it easy to rate his act\u00ading skills, not just in QUIXOTIC but in all the oth\u00ader films he lat\u00ader made with me.<\/p>\n
I have actu\u00adal\u00adly known him for a long time, for most of my life, some\u00adtimes rather super\u00adfi\u00adcial\u00adly, some\u00adtimes a bit more pro\u00adfound\u00adly. I final\u00adly real\u00adly got to know him while work\u00ading togeth\u00ader on an ama\u00adteur film in 2000, CRESPI\u00c1. That was the first time that I asked him, more or less at ran\u00addom, if he would like to play a role in it. I only want\u00aded to work with ama\u00adteur actors. While edit\u00ading, I noticed that he is unique\u00adly \u201cpho\u00adto\u00adgenic\u201d, in the sense in which the word is used in France, i.e. there are peo\u00adple who you can\u00adnot stop look\u00ading at on film because every\u00adthing they do is good, they pos\u00adsess an unbound\u00aded pho\u00adto\u00adgenic tal\u00adent in the phys\u00adi\u00adcal as well as the spir\u00adi\u00adtu\u00adal sense. He sur\u00adprised me, unlike oth\u00ader actors whose appeal was always some\u00adhow lim\u00adit\u00aded. He real\u00adly stood out because of some\u00adthing I would call \u201cprim\u00adi\u00adtive pho\u00adto\u00adgen\u00adics\u201d.<\/p>\n
Since this first film, but actu\u00adal\u00adly from a lot ear\u00adli\u00ader on \u2013 I have known him since I was young \u2013 he has enriched me intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly in a nat\u00adur\u00adal way, most\u00adly through what we could call Sur\u00adre\u00adal\u00adism and Rock \u2018n\u2019 Roll, in this par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly strong man\u00adi\u00adfes\u00adta\u00adtion of the \u201cludic\u201d, the playful\u2026that was what made up his char\u00adac\u00adter, his ten\u00adden\u00adcies, the orig\u00adi\u00adnal\u00adi\u00adty of his incal\u00adcu\u00adla\u00adble being and par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly the men\u00adtal inde\u00adpen\u00addence of his life that was rich with eccen\u00adtric and even scur\u00adrilous moments (although he led a rel\u00ada\u00adtive\u00adly nor\u00admal life).<\/p>\n
I quick\u00adly not\u00aded that his way of doing things fit per\u00adfect\u00adly with my method of work\u00ading, with\u00adout prepa\u00adra\u00adtion and film\u00ading with three dig\u00adi\u00adtal cam\u00aderas. We always did very long scenes just like in a per\u00adfor\u00admance<\/em>, in which every moment is unique for itself. With\u00adout this dig\u00adi\u00adtal pos\u00adsi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty of mak\u00ading humor\u00adous, play\u00adful films that exist out\u00adside of the realm of real\u00adi\u00adty, I would nev\u00ader have become a film\u00admak\u00ader and in light of the fact that life gets more bor\u00ading, repeat\u00ading itself and grow\u00ading monot\u00ado\u00adnous with the pass\u00ading years, I have always assumed that film\u00admak\u00ading should help me not only to change my life, but also to indi\u00adrect\u00adly influ\u00adence the lives of those around me. This was the case with Lluis Car\u00adb\u00f3 because any\u00adthing was pos\u00adsi\u00adble and at the mag\u00adic moment of film\u00admak\u00ading, every\u00adthing had pow\u00ader, our play\u00adful\u00adness made sense out of every\u00adthing that we were doing made, and we took every sort of risk out of \u201ccre\u00adative\u201d ambi\u00adtion, where\u00adby ambi\u00adtion with\u00adout this play\u00adful aspect remains dry and ster\u00adile: for\u00admal or aca\u00add\u00ade\u00adm\u00adic ambi\u00adtion. As part of this play\u00adful\u00adness, ambi\u00adtion devel\u00adops an inter\u00adest\u00ading pati\u00adna, it is jol\u00adlier, far from bor\u00ading. Lluis always enriched the films he was in by mix\u00ading coura\u00adgeous, wild, provoca\u00adtive and pri\u00admal act\u00ading, all aris\u00ading from this play\u00adful ele\u00adment. And it\u2019s what lends the unique note to the films I shot with him.<\/p>\n This all grew more and more com\u00adplex from film to film, lead\u00ading to my \u2013 and prob\u00ada\u00adbly also his \u2013 mas\u00adter\u00adpiece that I made for the Bien\u00adnale in Venice, Sin\u00adgu\u00adlar\u00adi\u00adty (2015). His unpre\u00addictable and orig\u00adi\u00adnal way of doing things allowed Lluis to uncon\u00adscious\u00adly moti\u00advate peo\u00adple. That was real\u00adly valu\u00adable, a dri\u00adve that ful\u00adfilled every scene and kept them from going flat. Min\u00adi\u00admal\u00adist films are always in dan\u00adger of going too flat, but he turned the process into some\u00adthing unique, actu\u00adal\u00adly all my films, but par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly Sin\u00adgu\u00adlar\u00adi\u00adty, where he took things to a rad\u00adi\u00adcal and orig\u00adi\u00adnal lev\u00adel, which I found to be true genius from my point of view.<\/p>\n It was also inter\u00adest\u00ading that he, although not an edu\u00adcat\u00aded per\u00adson, always under\u00adstood the grav\u00adi\u00adty of the final prod\u00aduct. He knew that was what it was all about, not just being recog\u00adnised at fes\u00adti\u00advals, even though that is what gives a lot of peo\u00adple self-assur\u00adance, because they can sense that their work is being appre\u00adci\u00adat\u00aded. Inde\u00adpen\u00addent\u00adly of that, he under\u00adstood the aes\u00adthet\u00adic<\/em> val\u00adue<\/em> of the final prod\u00aduct, some\u00adthing that brings togeth\u00ader the traces of his per\u00adson\u00adal\u00adi\u00adty that always seem a lot more sub\u00addued in the edit\u00ading mon\u00adi\u00adtor than on the screen, and he also under\u00adstood that this final prod\u00aduct is always bet\u00adter than his per\u00adfor\u00admance in real\u00adi\u00adty. That is some\u00adthing that only a few can mas\u00adter, spe\u00adcial\u00adly those with\u00adout any sort of train\u00ading, who do not grasp the for\u00admal log\u00adic that every film is based on. He recog\u00adnised the val\u00adue of that, intu\u00aditive\u00adly. And after he grasped that while mak\u00ading his first film, from then on all his con\u00adcen\u00adtra\u00adtion and ded\u00adi\u00adca\u00adtion fol\u00adlowed this approach.<\/p>\n A film is more than just the time spent shoot\u00ading it, it\u2019s also the count\u00adless hours of post-pro\u00adduc\u00adtion that we spent togeth\u00ader in Bany\u00adoles, he was there near\u00adly every day. And then on count\u00adless total\u00adly crazy trips, such as the one to Mar del Pla\u00adta in Argenti\u00adna, where we flew with six or sev\u00aden peo\u00adple. That was the most off-the-wall expe\u00adri\u00adence of my life. And even there, he always had the aes\u00adthet\u00adic final result in the back of his mind. He knew that I was fond of mak\u00ading a joke at film pre\u00adsen\u00adta\u00adtions: \u201dI have expe\u00adri\u00adenced count\u00adless crazy, con\u00adfus\u00ading moments, so fun\u00adny and orig\u00adi\u00adnal that most peo\u00adple can only dream of them\u2026on the oth\u00ader hand, I have, unfor\u00adtu\u00adnate\u00adly nev\u00ader expe\u00adri\u00adenced such divine actors as there are to be seen here on the screen.\u201d<\/p>\n He had a cer\u00adtain way of col\u00adlect\u00ading all the dif\u00adfer\u00adent influ\u00adences: the best of him, the best of me, the best of every\u00adthing that was involved in the film, and he con\u00adtributed to free\u00ading them from their ego\u00adtism and their ten\u00adden\u00adcy towards self por\u00adtray\u00adal, crys\u00adtallis\u00ading the mag\u00adic and fas\u00adci\u00adna\u00adtion that exudes from peo\u00adple who know that they are in exact\u00adly the right place at the right time while still not for\u00adget\u00adting who they are, where their pow\u00ader lies \u2013 in their exhi\u00adbi\u00adtion\u00adism and nat\u00adu\u00adral\u00adness.<\/p>\n He retained his naivet\u00e9 to very end and I would real\u00adly like the pub\u00adlic to make the com\u00adpar\u00adi\u00adson with my last film SINGULARITY as well, even though it would be dif\u00adfi\u00adcult as this thir\u00adteen-hour instal\u00adla\u00adtion is only to be seen in muse\u00adums. But this film is rich in sto\u00adry\u00adtelling, full of dia\u00adlogues that con\u00adfirm what I have always main\u00adtained. One can sense the way his pre\u00adci\u00adsion devel\u00adops, his last ounce of con\u00adcen\u00adtra\u00adtion and ded\u00adi\u00adca\u00adtion, even though he was exhaust\u00aded from his chemother\u00ada\u00adpy. The shoot\u00adings seemed to rean\u00adi\u00admate him. I still have touch\u00ading mem\u00ado\u00adries of the last shoot in Ire\u00adland. He could no longer walk prop\u00ader\u00adly, we had been film\u00ading for twelve days in the cold and rain, were drink\u00ading a lot and get\u00adting away with excess\u00ades that no doc\u00adtor would have allowed. It was like a mir\u00ada\u00adcle. He came back total\u00adly changed, could walk again, could almost run again. His sub\u00adver\u00adsive way of par\u00adtic\u00adi\u00adpat\u00ading was to recov\u00ader his phys\u00adi\u00adcal self-con\u00adtrol, which gave him the moral strength and ener\u00adgy that he nev\u00ader found in real life, one that can only be found through art and through which he over\u00adcame almost all his phys\u00adi\u00adcal hand\u00adi\u00adcaps.<\/p>\n His pres\u00adence in film\u00admak\u00ading is a mar\u00advel\u00adlous exam\u00adple of how one can com\u00adbine pop\u00adu\u00adlar aspects with refine\u00adment and excel\u00adlence in art, a much more inter\u00adest\u00ading com\u00adbi\u00adna\u00adtion than any pure\u00adly for\u00admal art, of that I am con\u00advinced. With\u00adout this com\u00adbi\u00adna\u00adtion, art is \u2013 whether bet\u00adter or worse, I dare not say \u2013 much more bor\u00ading.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today I would like to talk about Lluis Car\u00adb\u00f3. I believe that every one of you would find it easy to rate his act\u00ading skills, not just in QUIXOTIC but in all the oth\u00ader films he lat\u00ader made with me. I have actu\u00adal\u00adly known him for a long time, for most of my life, some\u00adtimes [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":4588,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[82],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-journal-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n