Where did the idea for the story come from?
Originally, I had conceived Rudo y Cursi (Tough and Corny) as a mockumentary about Tato, a player from humble origins that attains glory within professional soccer, but disappears mysteriously and becomes a legend. When I told Diego and Gael the story, they both wanted to play Tato, which was really cool. The problem was that there was only one character. That is when I realized that I wanted to work with both of them together again and I had to grow the story to two characters. The first thing that came to my mind was the image of two soccer players solving an intimate drama right before shooting a penalty in front of a full stadium. Then I thought, why not make them siblings, so I started constructing the story backwards.
Tell us a little about the creative process in working with your co-stars Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal.
Diego and Gael gave their best to the characters. It was an extremely pleasant process to see how out of nowhere they were suddenly there in flesh and bone. The characters had nothing in common with the actors. At the beginning, they were puzzled because Diego said that because of his nature, he was Cursi (Corny) and Gael felt the same way with Rudo (Rough), and I agreed with them; but that is exactly why I did not want to cast them like that, I wanted to make a film that went against their natural personality.
Diego and Gael explained and had opinions about everything in regards to acting issues. It was a fun collaborative process for sure.
Most of your cast are Mexican, but Guillermo Francella, a comedian who plays Batuta the talent scout, is from Argentina. How did you come across him?
I was in Buenos Aires having a coffee with a friend. He introduced me to Guillermo then two weeks later I was flipping channels and saw him perform on television. Five months later a strange thing happened where I had a dream involving Guillermo so I contacted a casting director in Argentina and the process began.
He is the best-known and most famous comedian in Buenos Aires. To begin with, I was surprised by the fact that Guillermo wanted to participate in a casting process, and later on by his great humility when working. He felt typecast and wanted to try something different so it worked out well. He fully grasped that I was not looking for Francella the comedian, but the actor and that is exactly what he delivered: a real Batuta that is credible from beginning to end. Working with Guillermo was a delectable experience.
This film and a couple of your short pictures involve futbol, what makes soccer such a compelling background for movies?
First, I love the sport. Being the most popular sport in the world is also something to consider. Really though, the story is told within a very rich context: the banana plantation and coastal context, and the approach to the dark and bright sides of how professional soccer happens in this country.
This was your feature-length movie debut, what were the challenges for you going from short films to long-form pictures?
It was very complicated to write the script, as complicated as the production itself. Writing is very difficult for me, so is directing. Rewriting would arise at very unusual moments, during a very intense preproduction, because there was no other choice. It is a very different process when the story is discovered by the screenwriter then when the director discovers it. For the first one, it is almost a literary fact where he finds drama and coherence, for the later, it is closer to knowing how to carry it out.
Talk a little about shooting the competition scenes. You purposely cut away to the crowds or agent and coaches during lots of the action, why?
If you want to see the beauty of the game one should attend the games themselves or with those great slo-mo cameras they can see the action well on television broadcasts.
I didn’t want my film to be about soccer, but as a context in the story about brothers. I got the idea to shoot coverage of the games from watching the film ‘Fun and Games”. One could understand what is going on in the action without actually seeing it. It was an editorial decision because it was not important for the movie.
Talk about filming game action at the stadium north of Mexico City and how you “built” the crowd.
Following the game action shots I got with the actors, the special effects unit would shoot a crowd at one section then mix up and move that crowd to another section and so on then in editing those real people would be cut and pasted giving a very real look to it. Crowd replication is the term.
What are the key themes you explore here and what do you hope audiences come away with after viewing your film?
It all stems from brotherhood. Futbol, corruption, gambling, drug lords, success/failure, there are many themes in the movie. I aimed for an overall social portrait of contemporary Mexico.
I hope Diego and Gael are as good as they were in Y Tu Mama Tambien
I understand that Carlos comes from a talented Mexican filmmaking family, look forward to what else they are working on.
I heard the Cuarons are working on a film about the riots and govt upheavals in Mexico City in 1968.
would that story also involve the 1968 Olympics held in Mexico City?
I hope this raises awareness of Mexican cinema in America.
saw it, go check it out. lunacy. fun stuff