Er Srbija u fokusu / Air Serbia close up
T
he seventh edition of the Italian Film and Fashion Festival was held in Bel-
their mobile phone, which has almost become their eye with which they see the world. On the one hand, this confuses me, while on the other it awakens my curiosity, creating a de- sire to better understand all of that. The film Perfect Strangers unexpectedlyachievedenormous success. Did that scare you? What will you do next? - I tried not thinking about that too much, and preferred concentrating on finding an idea that would first be able to surprise me. My next film, which will be released in Italy in late December, is entitled ‘The Place’ and depicts a mysterious man who always sits at the same table in a restaurant, ready to fulfil the greatest wishes of ten visitors, and in re- turn they complete certain tasks. The question that the film asks is: “What are you capable of doing in order to get what you want?” At a certain juncture, like this one in which the world seems to have collapsed, it seemed to me that considering morality and ethics might be interesting, especially for those who are always ready to oppose something. This year we are awaiting a re- make of the film Perfect Stran- gers. Alex de la Iglesia is directing aSpanishversionofyourstory.Are you involved in the production? - Many countries bought the rights to re- make it, and Spain, after Greece, was among the first to create the film, under the direc- tion of Alex de la Iglesia. I didn’t monitor the work on the adaptation - I was more in fa- vour of it being interpreted in complete free- dom. I’m very interested in seeing how this story will be told when it is transposed into a different reality. I believe the universality of the theme will ensure it can create the same identification in the audience of all countries, regardless of the interpretation it can have in view of different traditions, social customs and cultures. And the idea that this story will live for a lot longer in other films makes me very happy. While we await the Serbian ver- sion of Perfect Strangers , which couldeasilyhappen,whatwillyo- ur relationship with Serbia be li- ke in the future and do you ha- ve plans to do something here? - We’ll see. Except in some cases, ide- as for film usually come to me from observ- ing reality. I’m not familiar with the reality of your country directly, though I’ve seen it re- counted in some films I’ve watched during previous years. What struck me is the iro- ny and humour with which significant top- ics are treated, with a tone that is sometimes casual and sometimes poetic. I am curious to get personally acquainted with the reality of your country and this festival was a good op- portunity to do that.
grade last month and warmed the atmos- phere of both film industries, which are trying to research and identify as many opportuni- ties for cooperation as possible. Under the patronage of the Italian Institute of Culture in Belgrade, the Yugoslav Cinematheque Film Archives and the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Activism and Tourism, this festival brought together experts from the film sec- tor and screened several significant films from both national film industries. Among those whose arrival was awaited with the greatest attention was certainly Paolo Genovese, whose 2016 film Perfect Strangers received much attention from the film world. This perfect story is about the lack of commu- nication in today’s society, told from the per- spective of a group of friends, whose perfect lives – in just one evening and one harmless game – reach the perfect test. Masterfully leading each of these characters, Genovese succeeds in fusing arthouse and commercial film! How so much perfection was reached in one place was the inevitable first question when we met. - Some time ago, I read an article by Ga- briel Garcia Marquez in which he stated, be- tween the lines, that “each of us has three lives: public, private and secret”. That left a big impression on me. I got the desire to re- count that secret life which everyone has but doesn’t reveal. The topic of one story I wrote was a couple who experienced a crisis when the wife, after her husband had a car accident, accessed his phone and discovered messages from his mistress. This led me to think that the telephone could be the initial idea I was seeking. The idea of a game that is the basis of the film – seven friends during dinner decide to put their mobile phones on the table and from that moment everyone is able to read and hear the messages that ar- rive – that seemed to be the right solution to me, because I noticed that it hits people in their intimacy. Today our entire lives are truly in our phones, composed of words, im- ages, sounds, memories and, precisely, of lit- tle great secrets. The mobile phone has be- come the black box of our lives, as one of the film’s characters says. Your film is a mirror of today’s social hypocrisy. Do you think that modern society is doomed to failure? - I wouldn’t want to demonise the role of technology in today’s society. I think it always depends on how it is used. I belong to a gen- eration that precedes the digital generation, having grown up without mobile phones, and I’m a little surprised when I see that new gen- erations now filter their entire reality through
je ovaj, u kojem svet kao da propada, činilo mi se da bi razmišljanje o mora- lu i etici moglo biti interesantno, na- ročito onima koji su uvek spremni da budu protiv nečega. Ove godine očekuje nas i rimejk filma Savršeni stranci. Aleks de la Iglesija režira špansku obra- du vaše priče. Da li ste uključe- ni u produkciju? – Mnoge zemlje su otkupile pra- vo na rimejk, a Španija je, posle Grč- ke, prva koja je već realizovala film u režiji Aleksa de la Iglesije. Nisam pra- tio rad na adaptaciji, više sam bio za to da bude interpretiran potpuno slo- bodno. Veoma me interesuje da vidim kako će ta priča biti ispričana kada bu- de transponovana u drugačiju realnost. Verujem da će univerzalnost teme bi- ti u stanju da stvori istu identifikaciju kod publike svih zemalja, nezavisno od interpretacije koju može imati s ob- zirom na različite tradicije, društvene običaje i kulture, a ideja da ova priča još dugo živi u drugim filmovima či- ni me vrlo srećnim. Dok čekamo srpsku obradu „Sa- vršenih stranaca“, što bi moglo da se dogodi, kakve će vaše ve- ze sa Srbijom ubuduće biti i da li imate planove da ovde nešto radite? – Videćemo. Osim u nekim sluča- jevima, ideje za film obično mi dola- ze iz posmatranja stvarnosti. Stvarnost vaše zemlje ne poznajem direktno, vi- deo sam je ispričanu u nekim filmovi- ma koje sam odgledao prethodnih go- dina. Pogodili su me ironija i humor sa kojima se tretiraju i značajne teme, ton koji je katkad ležeran, katkad po- etičan. Znatiželjan sam da lično upo- znam stvarnost vaše zemlje, a ovaj fe- stival je bio dobra prilika za to.
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