| Spotlight on... Gael Garcia Bernal | |
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With such aims in mind, it might seem strange to start this filmic Odyssey with a well-known arthouse darling like Bernal. But there is method to our madness. For he is more than just the up-and-coming South American who played young Ernesto Guevara in The Motorcycle Diaries, he is more than the charmingly deranged hero of Michel Gondry's The Science of Sleep, he is a man who is consistent in the films he supports and the ideals he espoused. It was for his outstanding role in Guillermo Arriaga and Alejandro González Iñárritu's Amores Perros that Bernal first won serious acclaim. The vivid and violent triptych set in Mexico City encapsulates all that is great about about emerging Mexican filmmakers from the start of the millennium. Heavily influenced by the work of Tarantino, this ebullient work marries a stylised shot of intense action with deep commentary of the nature of life in Central America. A combination which would attract Bernal to many more films, not least Arriaga's star-studded success: Babel, which spanned several cultures and several circumstances to unite people in similar scenes of strife. Alfonso Cuarón's Y Tu Mama Tambien arguably received even greater acclaim, and  the love-triangle-cum-buddy-road-trip movie has more in common with Amores Perros than the mere re-uniting of Bernal with Diego Luna. The disarming candour (particularly on sexual matters) adopted by the script is played perfectly by the naturalistic performances of Bernal and Luna, and through this approach we are treated to a film that is somehow also uniquely Mexican. Of course, this is not praiseworthy in and of itself. A sense of play is nice, but does it make a film? No. What makes both Y Tu Mama Tambien and Amores Perros special is that they combine the feeling and style specific to this regional cinematic breakthrough with a genuine sense of place and, most importantly, issues and ideas that are accessible and important to everyone.By looking at these two films, we can see established these key elements in Bernal's burgeoning career. His strong ties to his native Mexico, and much of South America, are revealed to be central in a number of roles he takes on. Similarly, a majority of his films to date deal with universal, and emotionally accessible, issues faced by people around the world, regardless of how starkly different their cultures may be. These themes would be pursued in so many ways through many different films, sometimes of varying success. The Science of Sleep is an intriguing culture clash/mental breakdown dramedy headed by arthouse legend Michel Gondry, which saw Bernal's talents stretched to the full, and Blindness, based on the novel by Portuguese novelist and Nobel laureate José Saramago took on global themes of human interaction in a dehumanised society to great effect; while Bernal and Luna's reunion in Rudo Y Cursi, a misjudged brotherly love/buddy comedy that hovered around the themes of culture clash, local identity and close familial ties, somehow disappointed on many levels.  But the most exciting part of this man's career is that, despite it continually verges on going stellar, has kept close to his roots and is now producing a number of exciting South American projects. Among several of the films he has produced is the wonderfully playful Godard tribute Voy A Explotar, which revels in the youthful rebellion of its teenage protagonists. But most enjoyable of all was Sin Nombre. In case you didn't spot my many attempts to flag this up before, this is a film whose magnitude was somehow lost amidst the hurly burly of 2009. Combining the most vibrant elements of the early noughties Mexican cinema with a carefully crafted plotline from breakthrough director Carey Fukunaga, Sin Nombre (which is out this week on DVD, incidentally) weaves a wonderful story of a group of migrants from Mexico and the Honduras as they undertake the treacherous journey northwards to the USA. It's a love story, it's a culture clash, it's a violently emotional take on Central American life, and its a perfect example of the roots which Gael Garcia Bernal has somehow managed to stay true to. If he keeps this eye for such brilliant projects, Bernal has a lot to bring us yet: from both in front of and behind the camera.And so, Gael Garcia Bernal, we salute you. You have brought some outstanding characters to life, you have championed the exciting new talents of your homeland, and you have stepped behind the camera to avoid overshadowing them with your increasingly high-profile image. And whilst I don't want to undermine his efforts with excessive praise, I would advocate that everyone pause for a moment and appreciate that men like this exist in film.
Words by Michael Edwards
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In the first of what we hope will become a regular feature, we turn the spotlight on Gael Garcia Bernal to highlight a career less ordinary. For here at Movie Vortex, we're not content to just sing the praises of the mainstream: we reserve our highest praise for the exciting, the individual and the unusual.
