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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
"City of God" director Fernando Meirelles talks about how his little-seen but critically lauded film from Brazil rose up from the slums and art houses to snag three major Oscar nods.
Jan 29, 2004 | Each year, the Academy Award nominations bring at least a few surprises: Maybe a certain superstar actor or actress doesn't get the nomination everybody expected, or a previously unheralded writer or director sneaks into the pool of nominees. But this year in particular a crop of truly fresh-faced contenders from foreign and independent cinema have gained entrance to Hollywood's premier bash. And some of the most interesting names gracing the Oscar ballot are ones most moviegoers don't even know at all.
Keisha Castle-Hughes of the art-house favorite "Whale Rider," for example, is at 13 the youngest best-actress nominee ever. And Castle-Hughes is joined in her category by Shohreh Aghdashloo, the heretofore all but unknown actress in "House of Sand and Fog," as well as by Patricia Clarkson, whose role in "Pieces of April" comes after she starred in seemingly every film to be entered last year at Sundance.
Meanwhile, a little-seen but critically acclaimed picture from Brazil, "City of God," has earned three major nominations: for best director, best cinematography and best screenplay (Adaptation). Although it's worth noting that "City of God" has been distributed by Miramax, easily the most successful studio when it comes to guiding (some might say "bullying") its films to Oscar success, it remains outright astonishing that a foreign film that doesn't pander to its audience with sappy feel-good moments can register this resoundingly with the notoriously conservative academy, which also can be pretty lazy when it comes to seeking out obscure films en masse. If you'd predicted before Tuesday's nominations that "City of God" would be more honored by Oscar than, say, a studio epic like "Cold Mountain," you'd have been laughed out of the room.
In the hours just after Oscar nominations were announced, Salon spoke with "City of God" director Fernando Meirelles, who has already garnered comparisons to Martin Scorsese, about film, architecture and conquering his nervousness when it's time to head to the Kodak Theater next month.
A little-seen foreign film like "City of God" getting three big nominations seems like a real coup. Were you surprised?
I'm still in shock. We had previously been in the running for best foreign film last year and were not selected, so I thought it just wasn't the academy's kind of film. To have it nominated now is a huge surprise. I'm working in London now on a new project, and my day today was full of meetings. I didn't even pay much attention [to the announcement of nominations], because I never thought it would be nominated.
Will you attend the Oscars?
Of course I'm going to the ceremony, especially since my three best friends are being nominated as well: César Charlone (cinematographer), Daniel Rezende (editor) and (co-writer) Bráulio Mantovani. We're like a gang in Brazil, the people I hang out with on Saturday night. But I've already been to the Golden Globes, because I was nominated for best foreign film, and it's not a very good feeling to be there. I get so nervous. If they could send me the award by post, it'd be much less pressure.
Do all the superstars at the Oscars make you nervous too?
No, it's all people. I've been talking to a lot of stars this week because I'm casting my actress for this next project. At the end of the day, talking to them is the same as talking to everyone else.
"City of God" is very violent, but in past interviews you've distanced yourself and the film from mainstream Hollywood blockbusters. How do you make that distinction?
I try to picture violence not as a show or as entertainment. If you watch "City of God" carefully, you'll see that every opportunity I had to show violence I tried to avoid. We had a rape sequence, but I didn't show the rape. We have a war between two gangs, and in a regular U.S. studio film it would be the most exploited sequence in the film, but when I show this it's far away, it's nighttime. You barely see the violence. Usually when people compare my film with the films of somebody like [Quentin] Tarantino, I think they have nothing to do with each other. It's really the opposite intention. I don't think violence is funny, and I don't think it's entertaining.
Most of the cast in "City of God" is nonprofessional actors. How did you find them and what's your recollection of working together?
It was the most incredible experience I've ever had, and I couldn't have done this film without that kind of casting. I used people from all those slums, and some of the boys even used to be drug dealers before getting involved with our project. So they knew much more than me about the film I was shooting. Sometimes I would come to some of the boys and say, 'What should we do here? What would this guy say?' In the dialogue I had written, I was always telling them the intention for each scene and encouraged them to improvise dialogue. I wanted it to be as authentic as possible, because they knew much more than me. I really think we were partners in the project. They were able to teach me what my film was about.
