Five Inspirations is a series in which we ask directors to share five things that shaped and informed their film. Lorenzo Vigas's The Box is now showing exclusively on MUBI in many countries—including the United States, United Kingdom, India, Turkey, Germany, Ireland, and Canada—starting November 11, 2022, in the series The New Auteurs.
INSPIRATION #1
Mouchette by Robert Bresson
Robert Bresson's work has influenced me because it goes against the established norm within the cinematographic narrative. Bresson moves away from the usual tools of manipulation and seeks to convey emotion through pure cinematic language. Actors should not convey emotion through their performances; rather, as a result of the cinematographic narrative, the viewer comes to feel the emotional movement of the actors. The individual shot should not convey beauty, but the sum of them together is what should achieve meaning. The work is the sum of all its elements and none of them (image, sound, art, interpretations, et cetera...) should stand out. Only when all its parts are put together does the work acquire autonomy and meaning.
In particular, I also value when the elements of a film stand out and have their own voice, such as the music, acting, or the production design. But Bresson pushed the cinematographic narrative to its purest level, and for that reason he is undoubtedly one of the auteurs who has influenced me the most. In my films, although I value the elements separately, I try to concentrate on achieving an emotion that comes as a consequence of the consecutive sequence of shots or scenes devoid of it. At the end of the story, the viewer's unconscious experiences an emotional movement that is the consequence of the cinematographic experience as a whole.
In Mouchette, a marvelous film about a girl's abrupt transition to adulthood, Bresson brilliantly applies his understanding of cinematographic language.
INSPIRATION #2
La Ciénaga by Lucrecia Martel
When I first saw La Ciénaga, I was struck by the subtlety and extreme complexity of its mise-en-scène. The film is full of a strong "naturalness" that I have rarely seen in cinema. The everyday scenes of a family on vacation at the edge of a lake gradually infect us with the subterranean violence that lives in that place and in its characters. Through her visual storytelling, never obvious, always charged with mystery, Martel has the ability to convey tension in the most ordinary moments. The shots, instead of giving us answers, fill our heads with questions about the characters and their motivations. I consider La Ciénaga a masterpiece in the context of Latin American cinema of the last 25 years.
INSPIRATION #3
The Graduate by Mike Nichols
I have to admit that when I first saw The Graduate I was skeptical because of the media hype that surrounds the film. Who hasn't heard of The Graduate? Upon seeing it, I was immediately captivated by its fresh and avant-garde narrative. Certainly influenced by the French New Wave, Nichols masterfully adapts Charles Webb's work into a piece perfectly balanced between artistic expression and pure entertainment. I have seen few films that manage to place themselves so organically in that space so desired by audiovisual creators, in which, obviously, I include myself.
The film has one of the most memorable endings for me in the history of cinema; the bittersweet emotion that accompanies the characters turns this story into everyone's story. In the end, we all live assuming the consequences of our actions, and with that final shot of the two protagonists—finally together, but condemned to face the consequences—Nichols achieves the perfect metaphor for life.
INSPIRATION #4
Persona by Ingmar Bergman
When I was studying to be a biologist and started watching movies in my mid 20s, I stumbled into some of Bergman's films from the '60s in the Blockbuster in my neighborhood in Caracas: The Passion of Anna, Hour of the Wolf, and Persona. Bergman is undoubtedly the first filmmaker to leave such an impression on me. Until then I had not seen films made about the hidden motivations of the characters, about their unconscious. I was used to seeing films where the characters expressed their problems, sadness and joys in a conscious way. They were aware of their motivations and their actions were a logical consequence of them. Bergman opened my mind with characters that could be much closer and more similar to my own existence. I have no idea why I do the things I do! Or why I have the need to tell the stories I tell! I immediately connected with his work. Persona may be his masterpiece. It is impossible to explain in a few lines why it is one of the most important films in the history of cinema. It certainly brings together all the elements that make cinema the seventh art.
INSPIRATION #5
La dolce vita by Federico Fellini
I leave Fellini's La dolce vita last on my list because I have recently revisited his cinema. Every time I watch La dolce vita or 8½, I am amazed by the fact that I feel like I am watching them for the first time. They have the capacity to reinvent themselves each time! Both contain an inexhaustible well of humanity. I am amazed by the way La dolce vita entertains the viewer superficially without at first understanding the depth of the story. How, little by little, one gets inside. That combination between superficial entertainment and inner density is unique in Fellini. At this moment I'm developing a script that aims for that possibility...