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1
00:00:02,735 --> 00:00:07,196
My name is Alex Cox. I'm the director
of the film that you are about to see
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00:00:07,323 --> 00:00:10,325
which is called El Patrullero
or Highway Patrolman.
3
00:00:10,451 --> 00:00:15,244
And my name is Lorenzo O'Brien.
I'm the writer producer of El Patrullero.
4
00:00:15,373 --> 00:00:18,208
Welcome to the film.
5
00:00:18,334 --> 00:00:21,952
The film begins in Mexico City
in El Z�calo.
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00:00:22,088 --> 00:00:25,421
Do not adjust your set.
It has a weird colour cast to it.
7
00:00:25,550 --> 00:00:30,793
The first ten minutes or so
have this yellowish tinge
8
00:00:30,930 --> 00:00:36,387
which is meant to replicate
the smog atmosphere of Mexico City.
9
00:00:36,519 --> 00:00:38,725
So don't adjust your television
10
00:00:38,855 --> 00:00:42,224
I've always been amazed
about this section.
11
00:00:42,358 --> 00:00:45,312
For having two cents
to do the title sequence,
12
00:00:45,444 --> 00:00:47,520
it's one of the better ones I've seen.
13
00:00:47,655 --> 00:00:49,897
It's great. Bob Dawson
14
00:00:50,032 --> 00:00:56,071
a very good title person
with whom we were at UCLA
15
00:00:56,205 --> 00:00:59,076
back in the 1970s.
16
00:00:59,208 --> 00:01:02,910
It fits the style of the entire film,
17
00:01:03,045 --> 00:01:07,423
and it is visually so compelling.
18
00:01:07,550 --> 00:01:12,889
It's amazing how sometimes
less is more.
19
00:01:13,014 --> 00:01:16,549
Do something simple
and you can usually get away with it.
20
00:01:16,684 --> 00:01:19,768
- And this guy is...
- Mike Moroff!
21
00:01:19,896 --> 00:01:22,221
Mike Moroff. I find it amazing
22
00:01:22,356 --> 00:01:27,695
that he looks so much like the real
head of the Mexican Highway Patrol.
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00:01:27,820 --> 00:01:33,278
And he's not actually a Mexican.
He's from Chicano, Los Angeles.
24
00:01:37,455 --> 00:01:42,366
He was born originally in Mexico
and then moved to the United States.
25
00:01:42,501 --> 00:01:44,957
There's the appearance
of Roberto Sosa.
26
00:01:45,087 --> 00:01:47,247
El Patrullero.
27
00:01:47,381 --> 00:01:49,671
- An extraordinary actor.
- Very good actor.
28
00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:53,928
Won a prize at San Sebastian
for his performance in this film.
29
00:02:03,189 --> 00:02:06,558
And here comes Bruno Bichir,
the other Patrullero.
30
00:02:10,071 --> 00:02:17,117
We really have Claudia Becker
and Miguel Sandoval
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00:02:17,245 --> 00:02:21,871
to thank for the extraordinary job
they did on casting.
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00:02:24,585 --> 00:02:28,168
- As well as you, of course.
- Oh no. On the contrary!
33
00:02:28,297 --> 00:02:30,504
It's the script.
34
00:02:30,633 --> 00:02:33,468
But this guy isn't cast.
This is a real cop.
35
00:02:33,594 --> 00:02:38,589
This is one of the funniest
sequences... among others!
36
00:02:38,724 --> 00:02:41,394
This is improvised.
This was never in the script.
37
00:02:41,519 --> 00:02:43,974
He's really giving them a ticket.
38
00:02:45,690 --> 00:02:50,518
There are several moments in the film
that just appeared out of nowhere.
39
00:02:55,866 --> 00:03:00,612
This is shot in the old race track
in Mexico City.
40
00:03:00,746 --> 00:03:04,329
Where they used to have
Formula One motor racing.
41
00:03:04,458 --> 00:03:07,496
We were unable to obtain
the support
42
00:03:07,628 --> 00:03:11,674
of the Mexican Federal
Highway Police,
43
00:03:11,799 --> 00:03:17,588
so we ended up having to recreate
the academy
44
00:03:17,722 --> 00:03:19,798
at the old race track.
45
00:03:19,932 --> 00:03:22,388
It worked out quite well.
46
00:03:22,518 --> 00:03:26,646
Along with everything else. The cars,
the uniforms. Everything is invented.
47
00:03:26,772 --> 00:03:30,106
Since we didn't get any cooperation
from the Highway Police
48
00:03:30,234 --> 00:03:32,939
we had to invent
our own police force
49
00:03:33,070 --> 00:03:36,986
Pedro Armendariz!
Pedro Armendariz.
50
00:03:37,116 --> 00:03:40,615
He's the son of Pedro Armendariz,
the famous actor,
51
00:03:40,745 --> 00:03:43,864
and an extraordinary actor himself.
52
00:03:43,998 --> 00:03:50,618
Standing behind him in this scene is
Cecilia Montiel, the Production Designer.
53
00:03:50,755 --> 00:03:56,045
Playing La Patrullera, I guess.
54
00:04:07,271 --> 00:04:09,347
This is the point of the film.
55
00:04:09,482 --> 00:04:12,815
This is the scene
in which everything is explained.
56
00:04:12,943 --> 00:04:16,562
As the English translation says,
"They've always committed a crime".
57
00:04:16,697 --> 00:04:22,202
It's actually,
"They've always broken the law".
58
00:04:22,328 --> 00:04:25,365
"They've always broken the law."
59
00:04:25,498 --> 00:04:29,745
It's also one of the basic concepts
that we discussed
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00:04:29,877 --> 00:04:33,828
while we were
conceptualising the film
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00:04:33,964 --> 00:04:37,216
which is the impossibility
of doing good.
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00:04:37,343 --> 00:04:40,511
That the best intentions
are never enough.
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00:04:42,056 --> 00:04:49,139
That somehow or other you're
doomed to commit a mistake
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00:04:49,271 --> 00:04:54,183
that someone is punished by.
65
00:04:54,318 --> 00:04:59,396
Especially by being so grandiose
as to think that you can do good.
66
00:04:59,532 --> 00:05:02,616
This is the day of the total eclipse
in Mexico City.
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00:05:02,743 --> 00:05:08,580
That's right. A shot of which
we snuck in later on in the film.
68
00:05:08,707 --> 00:05:12,789
But this is very unusual
because it went completely dark.
69
00:05:12,920 --> 00:05:17,665
The streetlights came on,
the birds went to sleep,
70
00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:20,042
and then woke up again.
71
00:05:20,177 --> 00:05:23,962
It must have happened about
20 minutes before we did this shot.
72
00:05:24,098 --> 00:05:26,886
It was an extraordinary event.
73
00:05:31,814 --> 00:05:36,310
So Pedro receives his shield,
his gun and his certificate.
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00:05:38,112 --> 00:05:41,398
That, we assume, is his brother
on the right, videotaping him.
75
00:05:44,368 --> 00:05:51,202
This is very much
the same ceremony in which...
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00:05:54,044 --> 00:05:59,383
they are given their badges
and their pistols,
77
00:05:59,508 --> 00:06:02,961
and their guns.
78
00:06:03,095 --> 00:06:05,420
In the actual highway patrol.
79
00:06:05,556 --> 00:06:08,309
Obviously, as you well know
80
00:06:08,434 --> 00:06:12,562
we got most of our story points,
81
00:06:12,688 --> 00:06:17,184
and our information regarding the
highway patrol from Alfonso Granados.
82
00:06:17,318 --> 00:06:20,900
Who actually had been
a highway patrolman.
83
00:06:26,452 --> 00:06:28,943
He'd been a highway patrolman
as a young guy.
84
00:06:29,079 --> 00:06:35,616
He left the highway patrol at 22, 23
and ended up being a driver for films.
85
00:06:35,753 --> 00:06:39,170
We met him on our location scouts
for Walker.
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00:06:39,298 --> 00:06:43,130
And in the long hours of...
87
00:06:43,260 --> 00:06:45,965
Driving around in
a Volkswagen camper!
88
00:06:46,096 --> 00:06:49,216
From one place to another,
location scouting
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00:06:49,350 --> 00:06:52,185
he told us the story of his life.
90
00:06:52,311 --> 00:06:56,558
Which then became somewhat
an interpretation of this.
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00:06:57,816 --> 00:07:00,023
Modified, of course.
92
00:07:00,152 --> 00:07:03,569
A lot of what Poncho said
93
00:07:03,697 --> 00:07:09,036
although it changed in the writing
of the script, the essence of it is there.
94
00:07:09,161 --> 00:07:12,660
The highway patrolmen don't last
very long out on the highway.
95
00:07:12,790 --> 00:07:17,452
A couple of years.
The attrition rate is phenomenal.
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00:07:17,586 --> 00:07:24,800
When I went to meet the heads
of the highway patrol in Mexico City
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00:07:24,927 --> 00:07:29,138
to ask for their support, they liked
the material because it did reflect.
98
00:07:29,265 --> 00:07:32,764
They knew that we had been speaking
to ex-highway patrolmen,
99
00:07:32,893 --> 00:07:36,511
and they recognised
that it was authentic.
100
00:07:43,612 --> 00:07:46,187
It reflects the realities of their lives.
101
00:07:46,323 --> 00:07:51,117
In another way they didn't like it
because it wasn't a very heroic portrayal.
102
00:07:51,245 --> 00:07:55,196
They appreciated it but they weren't
going to give us a lot of support.
103
00:07:55,332 --> 00:08:00,208
The real issue with them
was the end of the film
104
00:08:00,337 --> 00:08:02,497
which is the issue with most people.
105
00:08:02,631 --> 00:08:06,926
- This is actually the transition shot.
- Now the colour is correct.
106
00:08:07,052 --> 00:08:11,217
The yellow tint should have left your
screen and the colour should be bright
107
00:08:11,890 --> 00:08:14,429
because we're entering Mapimi,
in Northern Mexico.
108
00:08:16,562 --> 00:08:22,980
The adventure of Pedro supposedly
happens around this town of Mapimi
109
00:08:23,110 --> 00:08:28,650
where many years ago they shot
part of El Topo, Jodorowsky's film.
110
00:08:28,782 --> 00:08:32,947
But in reality
we shot all over Northern Mexico
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00:08:34,496 --> 00:08:37,830
as we will probably note
as we go on.
112
00:08:37,958 --> 00:08:41,209
There's Vanessa Bauche.
113
00:08:41,337 --> 00:08:44,456
Here's Ernesto Gomez Cruz,
a wonderful Mexican actor.
114
00:08:46,133 --> 00:08:49,550
One of the best actors they have...
The cast of this is superb.
115
00:08:49,678 --> 00:08:52,632
This is like The Towering Inferno
of Mexican cinema.
116
00:08:52,765 --> 00:08:57,344
We have so many outstanding
and well known Mexican actors
117
00:08:57,478 --> 00:09:02,353
even though to a foreign audience
they might be quite unknown.
118
00:09:03,442 --> 00:09:07,737
It was an extraordinary situation that
we were able to make this film at all,
119
00:09:07,863 --> 00:09:14,364
and then to be able to make
with the liberty that we had to do it.
120
00:09:15,954 --> 00:09:18,280
And to do everything
in a moving master
121
00:09:18,415 --> 00:09:21,369
because in the film,
there is no internal cutting.
122
00:09:21,502 --> 00:09:24,621
There's no cutaways to close-ups.
123
00:09:24,755 --> 00:09:27,839
You'll even notice on this.
124
00:09:29,593 --> 00:09:32,962
They pull a stop
as they go out through the door
125
00:09:33,097 --> 00:09:35,173
which is pretty audacious.
126
00:09:35,307 --> 00:09:39,554
The DP, Miguel Garz�n,
really did an extraordinary job
127
00:09:39,687 --> 00:09:46,817
in being able to pull this off
as he did.
128
00:09:46,944 --> 00:09:50,361
It was an incredible
physical strain for him.
129
00:09:50,489 --> 00:09:55,993
We were shooting probably three
sequences a day, would you say?
130
00:09:56,120 --> 00:09:59,868
It could have been. And sequences
as long as three minutes.
131
00:09:59,998 --> 00:10:04,792
A three minute sequence
might take a whole day to get right.
132
00:10:10,509 --> 00:10:15,669
We were shooting
two or three shots a day
133
00:10:15,806 --> 00:10:18,261
I mean, by shots a day, set-ups.
134
00:10:18,392 --> 00:10:22,936
But each set-up would take us
an hour or two to set up.
135
00:10:23,063 --> 00:10:27,109
To walk through it, to rehearse it
and then finally go for it.
136
00:10:27,234 --> 00:10:34,150
Once we started it we ended up shooting
maybe three or four shots at most,
137
00:10:34,283 --> 00:10:36,359
and we usually had it.
138
00:10:38,912 --> 00:10:45,117
And no Steadicam. It's all camera
on the shoulder of Miguel Garz�n.
139
00:10:49,965 --> 00:10:54,093
This is an old converted garage
140
00:10:54,219 --> 00:10:59,724
that we made as the headquarters
for the Federal Highway Patrol.
141
00:10:59,850 --> 00:11:02,092
Did we shoot that in Mapimi?
142
00:11:02,227 --> 00:11:05,644
- This is Mapimi, isn't it?
- Is it Dinamita?
143
00:11:05,773 --> 00:11:08,691
Dinamita was the little town
that we'll go to later
144
00:11:08,817 --> 00:11:12,186
I've got a feeling we shot the police
headquarters in Torreon.
145
00:11:12,321 --> 00:11:15,323
No. In Mapimi as well.
146
00:11:17,367 --> 00:11:20,037
- Or was it Durango?
- That's right.
147
00:11:20,162 --> 00:11:25,406
So when we go to the police yard,
we're not in Mapimi, we're in Durango.
148
00:11:25,542 --> 00:11:27,867
This is definitely Mapimi.
149
00:11:31,173 --> 00:11:33,249
Pedro's first arrest.
150
00:11:33,383 --> 00:11:38,343
In the background, the cinema is
playing a film called Rojo Amanecer
151
00:11:38,472 --> 00:11:41,225
which was also shot
by Miguel Garz�n,
152
00:11:41,350 --> 00:11:46,060
and had been a great controversy
in Mexican cinema
153
00:11:46,188 --> 00:11:50,933
because it dealt with the massacre
of students in Tlatelolco in 1968.
154
00:11:51,068 --> 00:11:55,730
It was directed by Jorge Fons,
who's a well known Mexican director.
155
00:11:55,864 --> 00:11:57,940
He did an extraordinary job
on the film.
156
00:11:58,075 --> 00:12:00,649
It was after seeing
Rojo Amanecer
157
00:12:00,786 --> 00:12:04,997
that you and I decided that
Miguel Garz�n should shoot our film.
158
00:12:05,123 --> 00:12:08,208
Which was a surprise
to our Mexican production team.
159
00:12:08,335 --> 00:12:11,004
They didn't understand
what we were going for.
160
00:12:11,129 --> 00:12:14,416
But at the same time,
it was an extraordinary choice.
161
00:12:14,550 --> 00:12:17,669
It's because this is the opposite
of Rojo Amanecer.
162
00:12:17,803 --> 00:12:20,093
Rojo Amanecer
all happens indoors
163
00:12:20,222 --> 00:12:22,761
in one flat,
overlooking the massacre.
164
00:12:22,891 --> 00:12:26,059
- You never see the massacre...
- Actually occurring.
165
00:12:26,186 --> 00:12:29,473
You just hear the sounds
and see the reactions of the people.
166
00:12:29,606 --> 00:12:31,682
It's very claustrophobic.
167
00:12:31,817 --> 00:12:35,602
At the same time he showed
such an extraordinary mobility
168
00:12:36,321 --> 00:12:38,563
within a small...
169
00:12:38,699 --> 00:12:41,653
Within a very confined space.
170
00:12:41,785 --> 00:12:47,408
It convinced us that if he can do that,
that he would do an extraordinary...
171
00:12:47,541 --> 00:12:51,373
These are...
172
00:12:51,503 --> 00:12:55,086
These are the heat waves that you
buy by the yard for road movies!
173
00:12:55,215 --> 00:12:58,383
They sell these
at a special effects place!
174
00:12:58,510 --> 00:13:02,805
No, actually what it is
is the dips in the roads.
175
00:13:02,931 --> 00:13:05,553
Oh those. Ah yes.
176
00:13:07,227 --> 00:13:09,303
This is a first for me.
177
00:13:09,438 --> 00:13:12,724
The first film I've done
where the hero believes in God.
178
00:13:16,653 --> 00:13:19,062
I don't think Walker believed in God.
179
00:13:25,871 --> 00:13:28,955
But Pedro does.
Pedro is a very sincere guy.
180
00:13:29,082 --> 00:13:31,158
He's a creyente..
He wants to do good.
181
00:13:41,053 --> 00:13:44,754
All of this is still Durango.
182
00:13:44,890 --> 00:13:49,434
The next scene is out on the highway.
Those Velasco skies.
183
00:13:49,561 --> 00:13:54,686
The thing about Durango
is that since it's up at 8000 feet
184
00:13:54,816 --> 00:14:00,238
the clouds hang to the horizon
much better.
185
00:14:00,364 --> 00:14:03,199
There are our three friends
with the iguanas.
186
00:14:03,325 --> 00:14:09,743
Who ended up staying with you
at the hotel.
187
00:14:09,873 --> 00:14:13,919
Because we shot all over northern
Mexico, the three kids with the iguana
188
00:14:14,044 --> 00:14:18,255
originally were just extras
in the background in Dinamita.
189
00:14:18,382 --> 00:14:23,886
But when we'd shot them we thought
we should use these kids again...
190
00:14:24,012 --> 00:14:29,801
Sure enough, one day, Rene Maruri,
the Extras Coordinator
191
00:14:29,935 --> 00:14:33,221
just showed up his car
with these three kids.
192
00:14:33,355 --> 00:14:36,024
And we go,
"Where are their parents?"
193
00:14:36,149 --> 00:14:40,693
"The parents just gave them to me.
Here you are."
194
00:14:40,821 --> 00:14:44,487
The parents were happy
to get rid of them for a while!
195
00:14:44,616 --> 00:14:47,451
They had eight,
so they get rid of three, it's better!
196
00:14:47,577 --> 00:14:51,113
They just sent the kids,
so we gave the kids their room
197
00:14:51,248 --> 00:14:53,324
in the hotel we were staying in.
198
00:14:53,458 --> 00:14:57,586
But they didn't like to be by themselves
because they saw a frightening film.
199
00:14:57,713 --> 00:15:00,204
They saw Gremlins 2 on the TV.
200
00:15:00,340 --> 00:15:04,587
So they ended up having to sleep
in the spare bed in my room
201
00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:09,264
with my then partner,
Cecilia Montiel.
202
00:15:09,391 --> 00:15:11,467
Oh no!
Look who's in the background.
203
00:15:11,601 --> 00:15:14,853
There's Karl Braun.
204
00:15:17,357 --> 00:15:21,438
Who we had originally met in Spain
205
00:15:21,570 --> 00:15:25,402
where he was the Production
Manager for Straight to Hell.
206
00:15:25,532 --> 00:15:28,819
Then he was in Walker as an actor.
207
00:15:28,952 --> 00:15:34,659
He played Bruno Von Namzer,
the German General who rides a bull.
208
00:15:34,791 --> 00:15:37,330
And there you are, too.
209
00:15:37,461 --> 00:15:41,838
But I'm shy and I'm staying
in the background. Unlike Charlie.
210
00:15:43,800 --> 00:15:47,632
And so here's the corruption.
Here's the villainous gringo
211
00:15:47,763 --> 00:15:49,839
who likes to drink German beer.
212
00:15:52,768 --> 00:15:55,009
See, Pedro isn't going to drink
his beer.
213
00:16:08,992 --> 00:16:11,613
"In case you change your mind."
214
00:16:18,210 --> 00:16:20,535
This is the first conversation
215
00:16:20,670 --> 00:16:25,048
between Pedro
and his long-time friend, Anibal
216
00:16:25,175 --> 00:16:30,763
about how they're supposed
to rack up their quotas.
217
00:16:34,476 --> 00:16:39,898
So they talk about the drug dealing
in the region.
218
00:16:40,023 --> 00:16:43,890
Obviously the tequila
wasn't very good.
219
00:16:44,945 --> 00:16:48,314
It's funny because in reality,
very close to here
220
00:16:48,448 --> 00:16:54,036
we stopped on our way
from Durango to Sombrerete.
221
00:16:54,162 --> 00:16:57,531
- In a place called Nombre de Dios.
- Nombre de Dios. "Name of God".
222
00:16:57,666 --> 00:17:02,956
And we bought maybe
15 gallons of mescal
223
00:17:03,088 --> 00:17:08,213
which the crew got very happy about
for a weekend if I remember correctly.
224
00:17:08,343 --> 00:17:11,594
And that was also the weekend
when the t-shirts arrived.
225
00:17:11,721 --> 00:17:13,928
The Highway Patrolman t-shirts.
226
00:17:14,057 --> 00:17:16,976
Which got the crew
in trouble with the local cops.
227
00:17:17,102 --> 00:17:19,344
They thought our crew members
228
00:17:19,479 --> 00:17:22,398
were members
of a rival police organisation
229
00:17:22,524 --> 00:17:26,439
trying to muscle in
in the town of Sombrerete.
230
00:17:26,570 --> 00:17:32,572
A brawl between real policemen and
fake policemen was narrowly averted.
231
00:17:32,701 --> 00:17:34,860
All the cops are different corporations.
232
00:17:34,995 --> 00:17:37,783
There are the Judiciales,
the Federales de Caminos.
233
00:17:37,914 --> 00:17:40,239
There are different
police organisations.
234
00:17:40,375 --> 00:17:43,412
Police organisations
are always in competition.
235
00:17:43,545 --> 00:17:46,119
- This is no different.
- Exactly.
236
00:17:46,256 --> 00:17:48,498
It's like in Los Angeles or Liverpool
237
00:17:48,633 --> 00:17:51,504
you've got different cops
and they hate each other.
238
00:17:51,636 --> 00:17:54,424
They're all in competition
and they never cooperate.
239
00:17:54,556 --> 00:17:57,807
That's why you get
such efficient service from them!
240
00:17:57,934 --> 00:18:00,805
Here he's carrying out
what he learned at school.
241
00:18:00,937 --> 00:18:05,315
Just stop the car first and then find
out what crime they've committed.
242
00:18:05,442 --> 00:18:08,526
Not only that
but he turns down his bribe.
243
00:18:11,781 --> 00:18:15,033
- There's Claudia Becker.
- The Casting Director.
244
00:18:16,494 --> 00:18:19,164
This is only the second time
that Claudia acted.
245
00:18:19,289 --> 00:18:21,365
The first film that she acted in
246
00:18:21,499 --> 00:18:25,118
was Bring Me the Head
of Alfredo Garcia for Sam Peckinpah.
247
00:18:26,504 --> 00:18:29,043
This is the second film
that she acted in
248
00:18:29,174 --> 00:18:32,922
I don't know how many years
she has been casting films.
249
00:18:33,053 --> 00:18:36,719
What I love about this sequence
is how she asks for the cigarette.
250
00:18:36,848 --> 00:18:42,555
A running theme
through this entire film
251
00:18:42,687 --> 00:18:45,855
is that even the innocent are guilty.
252
00:18:45,982 --> 00:18:48,473
Everybody's guilty!
253
00:18:48,610 --> 00:18:51,778
There's Roberto Sosa being doubled
by one of the stunt guys
254
00:18:51,905 --> 00:18:54,278
Miguel did point out that
that guy's head
255
00:18:54,407 --> 00:18:56,982
is about three times as wide
as Roberto's head.
256
00:18:57,118 --> 00:19:01,698
And so we called that guy
not the double, but the triple.
257
00:19:07,003 --> 00:19:09,838
This is the voice of Carlos Puente,
the Editor
258
00:19:09,965 --> 00:19:13,084
inviting us to enjoy
the delicious chilaquiles.
259
00:19:18,932 --> 00:19:25,647
The story point here is that
he's been up all night doing his job.
260
00:19:25,772 --> 00:19:28,181
They work in 24 hour shifts.
261
00:19:28,316 --> 00:19:31,650
So he's coming to the end of his shift
and obviously he's hungry.
262
00:19:34,489 --> 00:19:39,234
His hunger leads him into trouble,
which he obviously did not expect.
263
00:19:39,369 --> 00:19:42,821
This is Zaide Silvia Guti�rrez.
264
00:19:42,956 --> 00:19:49,374
A very fine actress who started
her career with Arturo Ripstein.
265
00:19:51,214 --> 00:19:54,750
In a film with Ernesto Gomez Cruz
and Blanca Guerra
266
00:19:54,884 --> 00:19:58,716
- called El Imperio de la fortuna.
- The Empire of Fortune.
267
00:19:58,847 --> 00:20:01,421
- She's an extraordinary actress.
- Brilliant.
268
00:20:01,558 --> 00:20:08,012
The part that she played
wasn't easy to pull off,
269
00:20:08,148 --> 00:20:11,683
and she really did
an extraordinary job.
270
00:20:11,818 --> 00:20:15,864
Look at the sky!
The sky did a pretty good job today.
271
00:20:19,326 --> 00:20:22,410
I think we had Velasco for the film!
272
00:20:22,537 --> 00:20:27,247
Once again, I think this has to do with
the altitude in which this was shot
273
00:20:27,375 --> 00:20:31,587
I went back to Durango
about a month ago,
274
00:20:31,713 --> 00:20:34,122
and it hasn't changed one bit.
275
00:20:34,257 --> 00:20:37,259
Those clouds are still there!
276
00:20:37,385 --> 00:20:40,470
They've hung them up for shooting!
277
00:20:40,597 --> 00:20:47,217
It is amazingly beautiful, Durango.
An amazingly beautiful state.
278
00:20:47,354 --> 00:20:49,762
They used to shoot
a lot of westerns there.
279
00:20:49,898 --> 00:20:54,193
That's right. John Wayne
had a ranch there called "La Joya".
280
00:20:54,319 --> 00:20:56,478
They shot
Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid.
281
00:20:56,613 --> 00:20:58,404
They also shot The Wild Bunch.
282
00:20:58,531 --> 00:21:04,653
The Wild Bunch they shot in Durango
but also shot it in Parras, Coahu�la
283
00:21:04,788 --> 00:21:07,576
.where we also shot.
284
00:21:07,707 --> 00:21:10,791
Now we're in a town
called Sombrerete.
285
00:21:10,919 --> 00:21:17,171
This is Sombrerete.
This is the town in Zacatecas.
286
00:21:18,259 --> 00:21:21,297
Which was just south of Durango.
287
00:21:21,429 --> 00:21:23,802
It's the state of Zacatecas.
288
00:21:23,932 --> 00:21:28,476
We based here partially because
it had a different look from Mapimi.
289
00:21:28,603 --> 00:21:31,640
There were locations here
that we couldn't get in Mapimi.
290
00:21:31,773 --> 00:21:35,688
One of them was outside
Sombrerete. The desert
291
00:21:35,819 --> 00:21:38,571
de Los �rganos.
The big national park.
292
00:21:38,696 --> 00:21:43,406
There's Farnesio Bernal, who's also
an extraordinary Mexican actor.
293
00:21:47,163 --> 00:21:51,079
Farnesio, I think, is in Bring Me
the Head of Alfredo Garcia as well!
294
00:21:53,711 --> 00:21:58,789
I like this particular scene very much.
295
00:21:58,925 --> 00:22:02,923
It's very typically Latin American
in every sense.
296
00:22:03,054 --> 00:22:06,922
The courtship that occurs between
men and women in Latin America
297
00:22:07,058 --> 00:22:10,676
is usually done in front of parents.
298
00:22:13,314 --> 00:22:18,653
This is very typical
299
00:22:18,778 --> 00:22:24,401
of how Latin American couples meet
each other, how they get together.
300
00:22:24,534 --> 00:22:27,287
This was your experience
in Peru and in Mexico City?
301
00:22:27,412 --> 00:22:29,488
Everywhere in Latin America, yes.
302
00:22:32,834 --> 00:22:37,663
After the film played at San Sebastian
and we drove back to Madrid
303
00:22:37,797 --> 00:22:41,463
we got in a debate
with a Spanish actress
304
00:22:41,593 --> 00:22:43,882
about the female characters
in the film.
305
00:22:44,012 --> 00:22:48,176
Her objection was that they didn't
seem to have much of an out.
306
00:22:48,308 --> 00:22:53,219
They seemed to be trapped in these
roles, of either the wife or the prostitute.
307
00:22:53,354 --> 00:22:56,937
She felt that we were just being
reactionary for portraying that.
308
00:22:58,026 --> 00:23:00,896
I think it's very honest,
this portrayal
309
00:23:01,029 --> 00:23:03,520
because this isn't Mexico City
and Madrid.
310
00:23:03,656 --> 00:23:07,903
This is a rural town in the third world.
311
00:23:08,036 --> 00:23:11,453
Women don't have a lot of options
in places like that.
312
00:23:11,581 --> 00:23:15,080
This woman can't go away
and become an actress,
313
00:23:15,210 --> 00:23:17,998
or a politician or a TV newsreader.
314
00:23:18,129 --> 00:23:21,249
Yet at the same time,
she has her own way of controlling.
315
00:23:21,382 --> 00:23:24,420
She runs her father's farm.
316
00:23:27,430 --> 00:23:30,051
She's actually very strong willed.
317
00:23:30,183 --> 00:23:34,229
She has her own agenda
and she applies it.
318
00:23:37,565 --> 00:23:43,734
She's not portrayed as someone
who is lacking in ability.
319
00:23:43,863 --> 00:23:46,865
No. In fact,
by the end of the picture
320
00:23:46,991 --> 00:23:51,405
it's pretty clear that the women
are running the show.
321
00:23:51,538 --> 00:23:54,954
But isn't that how it usually is?
322
00:23:55,083 --> 00:23:58,868
Our friend's objection was that they
have to do it through stealth.
323
00:23:59,003 --> 00:24:01,079
But they're pretty overt about it.
324
00:24:01,214 --> 00:24:03,290
This is the horrible video sequence!
325
00:24:03,424 --> 00:24:05,798
The video quality was so good
326
00:24:05,927 --> 00:24:11,349
that we had to deteriorate the image
much more than it originally was.
327
00:24:12,392 --> 00:24:15,809
Actually, the extraordinary thing
about
328
00:24:17,438 --> 00:24:21,650
what we had decided to do
with the structure of the film
329
00:24:21,776 --> 00:24:24,979
is that we made sure that every cut
propelled us in time.
330
00:24:25,113 --> 00:24:29,277
So here we're cutting from the first time
that they have breakfast together
331
00:24:29,409 --> 00:24:31,650
directly to them getting married
332
00:24:31,786 --> 00:24:35,653
without having the courtship
and the first date.
333
00:24:35,790 --> 00:24:38,281
And without cutting away
to other things.
334
00:24:38,418 --> 00:24:41,288
What I thought you would do
would be they would meet
335
00:24:41,421 --> 00:24:44,375
then we'd cut to some cop stuff,
then the wedding
336
00:24:44,507 --> 00:24:46,667
more cop stuff,
then they'd have a kid.
337
00:24:46,801 --> 00:24:49,672
But you just did one scene
after another.
338
00:24:49,804 --> 00:24:52,177
So it becomes
less about policemen
339
00:24:52,307 --> 00:24:55,225
than about the domestic life
of this couple.
340
00:24:57,270 --> 00:25:00,888
The thing is that
341
00:25:01,024 --> 00:25:07,774
the police work itself becomes
very tedious and very boring.
342
00:25:07,905 --> 00:25:12,283
It's much more interesting
to combine it
343
00:25:12,410 --> 00:25:18,781
with this material because then you
get a domestic version of a cop film.
344
00:25:18,916 --> 00:25:23,377
In reality it's one of the things
that we set out to do.
345
00:25:23,504 --> 00:25:27,123
We wanted to cloak the film
in the appearance
346
00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:31,383
of an action film, when in reality
we were trying to make an art film.
347
00:25:34,724 --> 00:25:41,973
Here she's pregnant and they're
arguing about needing money.
348
00:25:46,694 --> 00:25:52,615
This span of time, between when
they first meet and this sequence
349
00:25:52,742 --> 00:25:57,203
a good year has gone by.
350
00:25:57,330 --> 00:26:00,747
It's interesting to say an art film.
I suppose it's sort of.
351
00:26:00,875 --> 00:26:05,040
What we were thinking of as well were
the films directed by Emilio Fern�ndez
352
00:26:05,171 --> 00:26:11,293
in the 40s and the 50s, in what they
called the golden age of Mexican cinema.
353
00:26:11,427 --> 00:26:14,547
Fern�ndez was a very macho guy
354
00:26:14,681 --> 00:26:17,967
famous for shooting producers,
355
00:26:18,101 --> 00:26:20,474
and for acting
in American movies
356
00:26:20,603 --> 00:26:22,679
where he would play
the bad Mexican.
357
00:26:22,814 --> 00:26:25,768
But as a director
he was very sensitive,
358
00:26:25,900 --> 00:26:28,474
and quite feminist in his approach.
359
00:26:28,611 --> 00:26:33,072
So he would make films
like R�o Escondido,
360
00:26:33,199 --> 00:26:36,070
and work with actresses
like Mar�a F�lix,
361
00:26:36,202 --> 00:26:39,239
and create very strong
female characters.
362
00:26:46,421 --> 00:26:50,252
The discussion that we had
with the Spanish actress
363
00:26:50,383 --> 00:26:53,919
was not well founded.
364
00:26:55,555 --> 00:26:58,674
We also had a discussion
at the beginning of the film
365
00:26:58,808 --> 00:27:01,382
about the ending
that we originally had.
366
00:27:01,519 --> 00:27:05,055
The ending that we originally had
was, we felt, more humanistic
367
00:27:05,189 --> 00:27:07,598
than what was acceptable to the...
368
00:27:07,734 --> 00:27:10,059
- But we can discuss that at end.
- Yeah.
369
00:27:10,194 --> 00:27:13,314
No, the chicks were right!
370
00:27:15,700 --> 00:27:19,283
So, Guillermo Rios is the cop
in the background
371
00:27:19,412 --> 00:27:22,864
who's always giving Pedro
a hard time.
372
00:27:24,542 --> 00:27:30,213
And the mechanic to whom Anibal
gave the stereo
373
00:27:30,339 --> 00:27:36,295
is Rene Pereyra, a very strong
Mexican theatrical actor
374
00:27:36,429 --> 00:27:38,920
who's done a fair number
of films as well.
375
00:27:39,056 --> 00:27:43,802
It's extraordinary. These guys were
ready for their close-up all the time,
376
00:27:43,936 --> 00:27:47,638
and these close-ups
run eight minutes long.
377
00:27:49,567 --> 00:27:54,478
Their capacity to maintain character
and their lines,
378
00:27:54,614 --> 00:27:58,909
and just continue no matter
what occurred, is extraordinary.
379
00:28:00,912 --> 00:28:03,782
And it has to do
with a theatrical background.
380
00:28:03,915 --> 00:28:07,118
They're trained to continue,
no matter what happens.
381
00:28:08,252 --> 00:28:11,290
The set falls, continue acting.
Keep going.
382
00:28:14,217 --> 00:28:20,303
At this time,
although we show George Bush
383
00:28:20,431 --> 00:28:25,093
we felt that it would be unwise to show
the image of the President of Mexico.
384
00:28:25,228 --> 00:28:29,772
The President of Mexico on the wall
is actually the Second Assistant Director.
385
00:28:29,899 --> 00:28:34,313
But even this taboo
has now been broken
386
00:28:34,445 --> 00:28:38,194
by Luis Estrada's film
La Ley de Herodes
387
00:28:38,324 --> 00:28:43,746
where he actually talks about the
ruling party, he names the President,
388
00:28:43,871 --> 00:28:47,122
and basically accuses them all
of being corrupt.
389
00:28:48,918 --> 00:28:55,087
But we were as outspoken
and as truthful as we could be.
390
00:28:56,592 --> 00:29:00,377
I think that for the times
it was quite audacious.
391
00:29:00,513 --> 00:29:05,009
Then again we were shooting right
on the heels of Rojo Amanecer.
392
00:29:05,142 --> 00:29:07,218
And we were foreigners too!
393
00:29:07,353 --> 00:29:11,304
Luis actually is a Mexican director and
the son of another Mexican director.
394
00:29:11,440 --> 00:29:14,110
Here we are
in a place called Chocolate.
395
00:29:15,194 --> 00:29:21,945
This is where The Wild Bunch
begins, when they ride the horses in.
396
00:29:22,076 --> 00:29:24,995
There's the train tracks there.
397
00:29:25,121 --> 00:29:27,197
They ride the horses
down the tracks,
398
00:29:27,331 --> 00:29:30,084
and the kids are playing
with scorpions and ants.
399
00:29:33,170 --> 00:29:37,121
Funnily enough, the actor that Pedro
is about to go and see
400
00:29:37,258 --> 00:29:41,884
inside the old railroad car at Chocolate
is an actor from The Wild Bunch.
401
00:29:42,013 --> 00:29:44,089
That's Jorge Russek
402
00:29:44,223 --> 00:29:47,557
I like these hanging bags of water
403
00:29:47,685 --> 00:29:51,980
which are, in these parts
of the world, to keep flies away.
404
00:29:52,106 --> 00:29:57,101
We would see that in Nicaragua.
They would hang plastic bags of water.
405
00:29:57,236 --> 00:29:59,312
And here's Jorge Russek
406
00:30:00,406 --> 00:30:02,815
Jorge died quite recently.
407
00:30:02,950 --> 00:30:06,866
A number of the actors in this film
have started to die off, unfortunately.
408
00:30:08,831 --> 00:30:11,370
But Jorge was a really good guy.
409
00:30:11,500 --> 00:30:17,373
He drove up with his wife, Julie,
from Mexico City, in his pick-up.
410
00:30:17,506 --> 00:30:19,832
He had a pick-up truck
with a camper on the back.
411
00:30:23,387 --> 00:30:28,465
In this sequence,
Pedro finally capitulates
412
00:30:28,601 --> 00:30:33,145
to the extensive
"doing business as usual,"
413
00:30:33,272 --> 00:30:38,183
and finally takes money for letting
this man go by with the pigs.
414
00:30:40,112 --> 00:30:47,278
It obviously is a critical point
in terms of the storyline.
415
00:30:47,411 --> 00:30:51,279
He said he won't do it,
there are some things he won't do,
416
00:30:51,415 --> 00:30:53,539
and now he's going to do them.
417
00:30:55,920 --> 00:31:01,377
It just has to do with the fact that as
much as our intentions are to do good
418
00:31:01,509 --> 00:31:05,637
in the end,
life itself just wears you down.
419
00:31:05,763 --> 00:31:07,638
Nah!
420
00:31:10,768 --> 00:31:12,844
It's true.
421
00:31:12,979 --> 00:31:17,640
In reality, I think this film is our
reaction to having made Walker,
422
00:31:17,775 --> 00:31:19,851
and the reaction to Walker
423
00:31:19,986 --> 00:31:23,652
I think it does have something
to do with that.
424
00:31:23,781 --> 00:31:28,195
And how we felt.
425
00:31:28,327 --> 00:31:33,370
We truly believed in how
making a film like Walker
426
00:31:33,499 --> 00:31:38,659
could change political perception
on a situation.
427
00:31:38,796 --> 00:31:43,874
In reality, we were not successful.
428
00:31:44,010 --> 00:31:49,930
It gave way to a much more realistic
approach, in this particular film
429
00:31:50,057 --> 00:31:53,973
of how life really occurs
and what life is really about.
430
00:31:56,230 --> 00:31:59,267
The other funny thing
about Walker was that
431
00:31:59,400 --> 00:32:01,310
there was such alarm
about Walker
432
00:32:02,778 --> 00:32:06,694
in the film community here,
in the States.
433
00:32:06,824 --> 00:32:10,407
And such a determination
to suppress the film
434
00:32:10,536 --> 00:32:14,035
and not have it appear
in cinemas
435
00:32:14,165 --> 00:32:18,376
sell the videotapes for 90 bucks
so no one will buy them.
436
00:32:18,502 --> 00:32:22,630
And you see in the end that
you don't really need to exercise
437
00:32:22,757 --> 00:32:25,841
that form of censorship
and that form of suppression.
438
00:32:25,968 --> 00:32:29,171
Because look at the film of
Luis Estrada, La Ley de Herodes.
439
00:32:29,305 --> 00:32:33,469
It's had a hugely wide
distribution in Mexico
440
00:32:33,601 --> 00:32:37,183
goes out of it's way to denounce
the PRI as a corrupt institution.
441
00:32:37,313 --> 00:32:40,812
But it's not going to stop the PRI
from winning elections.
442
00:32:42,026 --> 00:32:44,351
The truth of the matter
is a film is only a film.
443
00:32:44,487 --> 00:32:46,611
It's just a film.
444
00:32:49,116 --> 00:32:54,241
This is paranoia by governments
towards arts in general.
445
00:32:54,371 --> 00:33:00,244
Art is just art. It doesn't have
the political power behind it.
446
00:33:00,377 --> 00:33:02,453
It may criticise politics,
447
00:33:02,588 --> 00:33:05,672
but it's not going to change
anything that's happening.
448
00:33:05,800 --> 00:33:08,635
But that takes a long time.
449
00:33:08,761 --> 00:33:11,549
People are starting
to understand that a bit more.
450
00:33:13,599 --> 00:33:17,466
The systems of control are in place,
they're not going to go away,
451
00:33:17,603 --> 00:33:21,470
and everything exists to benefit
the ruling class, corporations
452
00:33:21,607 --> 00:33:23,683
a handful of wealthy families.
453
00:33:23,818 --> 00:33:27,187
It doesn't matter what country
you're in, it's always the same.
454
00:33:28,656 --> 00:33:32,274
This is when Pedro
finally meets Vanessa Bauche.
455
00:33:32,409 --> 00:33:35,363
- This is Vanessa's first acting role.
- Really?
456
00:33:35,496 --> 00:33:41,167
Yeah. Extraordinary performance.
An incredibly talented young actress.
457
00:33:41,293 --> 00:33:45,078
She was only 19
when she made this film.
458
00:33:48,217 --> 00:33:51,052
- Very beautiful.
- And looks the same
459
00:33:51,178 --> 00:33:53,753
I saw Vanessa when we were
in Mexico City last,
460
00:33:53,889 --> 00:33:56,677
and she looks the same as she did
when she was 19.
461
00:33:56,809 --> 00:34:00,308
It just means that she's 27 or 28.
462
00:34:02,189 --> 00:34:04,645
I suppose, yeah.
463
00:34:04,775 --> 00:34:10,897
At 27 or 28 you can still look quite...
Especially being an actor.
464
00:34:11,031 --> 00:34:14,614
There's Rene Pereyra wearing
his UCLA t-shirt in the background
465
00:34:14,743 --> 00:34:18,362
to stress the UCLA connection.
466
00:34:18,497 --> 00:34:22,115
This is shot at the Bombay
467
00:34:22,251 --> 00:34:25,039
in Mexico City,
which is right next to Garibaldi.
468
00:34:25,171 --> 00:34:27,247
This is an actual club,
469
00:34:27,381 --> 00:34:32,459
and a lot of the girls are the girls
that had worked all night,
470
00:34:32,595 --> 00:34:37,340
and then stayed for the following
day to continue working with us.
471
00:34:37,474 --> 00:34:44,225
And within the bar there, we've got
a little crane with a platform on it
472
00:34:44,356 --> 00:34:47,892
Miguel starts out on this platform,
the crane comes down
473
00:34:48,027 --> 00:34:51,942
he steps off the platform,
walks around the room,
474
00:34:52,072 --> 00:34:55,821
and gets back on the platform
and the crane goes up at the end.
475
00:34:55,951 --> 00:34:59,487
And that was one of the simpler shots
that we did with Miguel Garz�n.
476
00:34:59,622 --> 00:35:04,035
Actually, it's incredibly effective.
477
00:35:04,168 --> 00:35:06,789
This is actually shot
at Estudios America...
478
00:35:06,921 --> 00:35:09,590
This is an editing room
in Estudios America...
479
00:35:09,715 --> 00:35:11,791
That was converted.
480
00:35:11,926 --> 00:35:16,172
Both Cecilia Montiel and Bryce
Perrin did an extraordinary job
481
00:35:16,305 --> 00:35:19,804
in getting this
to look the way that it did
482
00:35:19,934 --> 00:35:24,015
I think they had a colour plan
483
00:35:24,146 --> 00:35:27,895
to try and replicate
the colours of Rufino Tamayo.
484
00:35:28,984 --> 00:35:31,274
I think that was their intention
485
00:35:31,403 --> 00:35:36,279
I think the colour scheme is quite
similar to the paintings of Tamayo.
486
00:35:36,408 --> 00:35:40,276
But she's the one that told me that.
I can't say that for sure.
487
00:35:40,412 --> 00:35:43,283
Only the Production Designer
will know for sure.
488
00:35:48,879 --> 00:35:51,370
She really is extraordinarily beautiful.
489
00:35:51,507 --> 00:35:55,635
It's interesting.
Pedro has really fallen hard now.
490
00:35:55,761 --> 00:36:00,471
He's taken a bribe and then he's gone
to the whorehouse
491
00:36:00,599 --> 00:36:02,924
which is something
he hasn't done before.
492
00:36:05,479 --> 00:36:07,555
Bad day at the office!
493
00:36:17,908 --> 00:36:21,740
This sequence was shot
in a house in Mexico City.
494
00:36:27,042 --> 00:36:29,498
This is the most complicated shot.
495
00:36:29,628 --> 00:36:32,167
It was the last shot that we did
in the film.
496
00:36:32,298 --> 00:36:35,050
- Was it the last shot?
- It was the very last day.
497
00:36:39,888 --> 00:36:44,515
Pedro comes home, finds a carrot.
Roberto's one of those actors...
498
00:36:44,643 --> 00:36:48,808
He won't eat the carrot on the rehearsal
in case you say, "Don't eat that carrot!"
499
00:36:48,939 --> 00:36:51,774
He'll wait till the take
and then he'll get the carrot.
500
00:36:55,779 --> 00:36:58,698
The father has fallen asleep
in front of the TV,
501
00:36:58,824 --> 00:37:01,315
and what is he watching?
502
00:37:02,494 --> 00:37:05,828
He's watching RoboCop!
503
00:37:05,956 --> 00:37:10,618
And obviously
this is our commentary
504
00:37:10,753 --> 00:37:14,335
about the difference between
a live cop and a stealth cop.
505
00:37:16,508 --> 00:37:22,345
It's RoboCop 2, because it was
Jon Davison and Irvin Kershner.
506
00:37:24,308 --> 00:37:28,519
At one point I had been asked to
direct RoboCop 2 by Jon Davison,
507
00:37:28,645 --> 00:37:31,683
and didn't do it, partially because
508
00:37:31,815 --> 00:37:35,731
you managed to come up with
this very weird deal from Japan
509
00:37:35,861 --> 00:37:40,654
where the Japanese would finance
a Mexican film about the highway patrol.
510
00:37:40,783 --> 00:37:46,785
And so we ended up including
that little fragment of RoboCop 2
511
00:37:46,914 --> 00:37:49,453
courtesy of Jon Davison
and Irvin Kershner.
512
00:37:50,542 --> 00:37:53,544
And here, Zaide's having a bad day.
513
00:37:58,342 --> 00:38:01,759
I love her considering
which weapon to use.
514
00:38:04,932 --> 00:38:07,601
The collection of knives
that she has there.
515
00:38:18,153 --> 00:38:22,069
Of course the father is fast asleep.
516
00:38:38,215 --> 00:38:43,589
There's a similar trajectory between
this film and La Ley de Herodes...
517
00:38:43,720 --> 00:38:46,556
Even though Damian Alcazar
in La Ley de Herodes
518
00:38:46,682 --> 00:38:48,758
becomes much worse
than Pedro does.
519
00:38:50,269 --> 00:38:55,228
But there's a similar tendency
in both films.
520
00:38:57,943 --> 00:39:03,650
This is one of the most
controversial scenes in the film.
521
00:39:03,782 --> 00:39:06,321
This is about domestic corruption.
522
00:39:06,452 --> 00:39:10,533
It's about what is acceptable
between couples...
523
00:39:12,916 --> 00:39:16,499
and what money will buy
in terms of that.
524
00:39:16,628 --> 00:39:21,422
You're saying that because he's
brought all this money to the house
525
00:39:21,550 --> 00:39:25,049
she'll forgive him for betraying her?
How cynical you are!
526
00:39:25,179 --> 00:39:27,303
I don't think so.
527
00:39:27,973 --> 00:39:30,594
What I'm saying is
that sometimes you look the other way
528
00:39:32,519 --> 00:39:37,430
depending on what happens or what
the situation is and what is convenient
529
00:39:37,566 --> 00:39:41,232
- I love this little fan.
- He has his little fan.
530
00:39:42,446 --> 00:39:44,522
His whole car is equipped.
531
00:39:46,450 --> 00:39:51,279
More grotesquerie, directors coming up
with this kind of horror thing!
532
00:39:55,834 --> 00:40:00,046
One of the concepts that we talked
about was making this film realistic
533
00:40:00,172 --> 00:40:04,549
in the sense of,
we never see car crashes.
534
00:40:05,928 --> 00:40:10,056
We never see a shoot out
till the very end.
535
00:40:12,726 --> 00:40:15,561
You always see
the aftermath of violence.
536
00:40:15,687 --> 00:40:18,357
That's one of the other concepts
that we discussed.
537
00:40:19,816 --> 00:40:23,269
I remember now
why we have that severed leg.
538
00:40:23,403 --> 00:40:26,607
When we were in Nicaragua
in post-production.
539
00:40:26,740 --> 00:40:31,236
We were working on the film in
a house outside the city of Granada.
540
00:40:31,370 --> 00:40:34,573
We were around the flatbed
one evening, looking at a scene,
541
00:40:34,706 --> 00:40:37,874
and there was this god-awful
crash outside.
542
00:40:38,001 --> 00:40:42,129
We all went out
and there were just bodies.
543
00:40:42,256 --> 00:40:46,384
A car had ploughed into the back
of a parked lorry,
544
00:40:46,510 --> 00:40:49,962
and there were bodies
and body parts lying in the road.
545
00:40:50,097 --> 00:40:54,641
And yet you didn't see the accident.
You only heard the sound.
546
00:40:54,768 --> 00:40:57,010
And you run out
and it's already happened.
547
00:40:58,105 --> 00:41:00,181
You were very valiant, Lorenzo.
548
00:41:00,315 --> 00:41:03,400
While the rest of us
were standing around
549
00:41:03,527 --> 00:41:06,564
you actually got the taxi drivers
550
00:41:06,697 --> 00:41:11,608
to put people in taxis
that weren't too severely injured,
551
00:41:11,743 --> 00:41:14,282
and take them to the hospital.
552
00:41:14,413 --> 00:41:16,489
So you were on the ball, Lorenzo.
553
00:41:21,378 --> 00:41:27,998
I don't think it has anything to do
with being particularly courageous.
554
00:41:28,135 --> 00:41:30,756
On the ball, though.
You kept your head.
555
00:41:30,887 --> 00:41:35,052
That was very good. That's what
a good producer should be
556
00:41:35,183 --> 00:41:40,308
I remember this as being one of the most
extraordinary shooting days that we had
557
00:41:42,190 --> 00:41:44,564
Mauricio Rubi.
558
00:41:44,693 --> 00:41:46,817
And Sergio Calderon
559
00:41:46,945 --> 00:41:49,947
Sergio Calderon
is sitting in the car with Mauricio.
560
00:41:50,073 --> 00:41:54,783
You only see Sergio briefly but if
you've seen the film Men in Black
561
00:41:54,911 --> 00:41:58,827
Sergio is the head
at the beginning of the film.
562
00:41:58,957 --> 00:42:02,077
He was very pleased
because they made a toy out of him.
563
00:42:02,210 --> 00:42:04,999
You can actually get
a Sergio Calderon doll.
564
00:42:05,130 --> 00:42:07,704
Not this guy, Mauricio,
who's a very good actor,
565
00:42:07,841 --> 00:42:11,424
but the guy sitting in the car
with him is Sergio.
566
00:42:12,512 --> 00:42:16,594
But you're right. You can see
the moisture in the sky here.
567
00:42:16,725 --> 00:42:19,478
There's a storm coming.
568
00:42:19,603 --> 00:42:23,980
You don't see them on camera but
in the second part of the sequence
569
00:42:24,107 --> 00:42:27,809
there were lightning flashes going
while we were shooting.
570
00:42:27,944 --> 00:42:34,565
Once again,
this falls into our concept of
571
00:42:34,701 --> 00:42:40,704
realising how violence
is first depicted.
572
00:42:40,832 --> 00:42:42,908
He doesn't know he's been shot.
573
00:42:43,043 --> 00:42:46,412
And this is what happens
to a lot of people.
574
00:42:46,546 --> 00:42:49,002
A shoot-out begins
and then they look down,
575
00:42:49,132 --> 00:42:52,170
and they suddenly think,
"Oh my god, I've been hit!"
576
00:42:52,302 --> 00:42:55,553
Obviously, once he's been hit
there's not anything to do.
577
00:42:55,681 --> 00:42:59,596
In some films they'd have him
get in the car and go after...
578
00:42:59,726 --> 00:43:01,802
And chase them!
579
00:43:02,979 --> 00:43:05,768
But not in this one.
580
00:43:05,899 --> 00:43:08,652
People who get shot don't get up.
581
00:43:09,778 --> 00:43:12,566
Something which is a reality.
582
00:43:13,532 --> 00:43:17,660
What's going to happen now
isn't really reality though.
583
00:43:20,997 --> 00:43:24,829
Eduardo Lopez Rojas,
another deceased actor...
584
00:43:27,462 --> 00:43:32,373
who died quite recently, after they
completed La Ley de Herodes.
585
00:43:33,844 --> 00:43:37,379
He was involved in Los Angeles
theatre, Eduardo.
586
00:43:37,514 --> 00:43:42,473
He actually had a sort
of bi-country career.
587
00:43:42,602 --> 00:43:47,941
This is when the principal character,
Pedro Rojas, finally meets his father
588
00:43:48,066 --> 00:43:54,235
out in the middle of the desert
589
00:43:54,364 --> 00:43:58,741
I originally scripted this sequence
to be at the hospital.
590
00:43:58,869 --> 00:44:02,535
But I think your choice
of doing it here is extraordinary.
591
00:44:03,790 --> 00:44:07,207
It has a lot more to do with
592
00:44:07,335 --> 00:44:12,045
the absolutely surreal nature
of the location,
593
00:44:12,174 --> 00:44:17,334
and what became
a momentary storm.
594
00:44:17,471 --> 00:44:21,765
- There's no real effects here.
- There's no wind machine added.
595
00:44:21,892 --> 00:44:27,017
All of a sudden this storm came in.
596
00:44:27,147 --> 00:44:32,307
It created an extraordinary light
597
00:44:32,444 --> 00:44:37,355
extraordinary physical,
geographical climate conditions.
598
00:44:37,491 --> 00:44:41,572
What's happening in the story, although
Pedro doesn't know it at this point
599
00:44:41,703 --> 00:44:43,993
is that his father is dying.
600
00:44:44,122 --> 00:44:50,493
And his father is coming to visit him
before he goes off to the other world.
601
00:45:00,514 --> 00:45:03,183
Of course, all these yucca plants
in the back
602
00:45:03,308 --> 00:45:08,101
just contribute
to this otherworldly effect.
603
00:45:08,230 --> 00:45:12,524
- And there's the eclipse.
- There's the shot of the eclipse.
604
00:45:21,243 --> 00:45:27,411
Obviously, Pedro getting shot
in the leg conveys...
605
00:45:28,542 --> 00:45:31,116
The thing about his father,
who also has a bad leg.
606
00:45:31,253 --> 00:45:36,331
Not only the father,
but it's a turning point in the story
607
00:45:36,466 --> 00:45:43,715
where he starts
losing that innocence.
608
00:45:43,849 --> 00:45:48,594
- Yeah, by now...
- He's well on his way.
609
00:45:48,728 --> 00:45:52,145
Once again, here we cut
from no birthing sequences...
610
00:45:52,274 --> 00:45:55,607
Yeah, it's just here. There's the kid.
611
00:46:00,907 --> 00:46:04,407
Pedro still thinks his father
came to visit him in the desert.
612
00:46:04,536 --> 00:46:09,162
He doesn't realise that his father,
in fact, died while he was in hospital.
613
00:46:15,046 --> 00:46:21,583
The actual implication
is that the father is already dead.
614
00:46:21,720 --> 00:46:25,137
It's the ghost that has come
to visit him in the desert.
615
00:46:27,017 --> 00:46:29,093
But how nice
to be making this in Mexico.
616
00:46:29,227 --> 00:46:33,854
You couldn't do an American police
film where the ghost shows up.
617
00:46:33,982 --> 00:46:37,849
Where Mel Gibson's ghostly dad
shows up to give him a hard time!
618
00:46:37,986 --> 00:46:40,192
- I'm sure we could do it.
- Well, you could.
619
00:46:41,239 --> 00:46:43,315
No, you couldn't!
620
00:46:44,367 --> 00:46:46,609
No, it's too tightly
controlled over here.
621
00:46:46,745 --> 00:46:49,070
The nature of drama
622
00:46:49,205 --> 00:46:52,457
in American cinema,
and even in British cinema too
623
00:46:52,584 --> 00:46:56,120
is very constipated.
624
00:46:56,254 --> 00:47:00,335
If you're doing an exciting cop movie
you're not going to have any ghosts.
625
00:47:00,467 --> 00:47:03,966
Because the genres
are very rigidly controlled
626
00:47:04,095 --> 00:47:06,765
by the market researchers
from the studio.
627
00:47:09,225 --> 00:47:13,437
But this isn't really a typical
cop movie in any sense.
628
00:47:13,563 --> 00:47:18,059
No, but in Mexico you can do this
and nobody thinks it's that odd.
629
00:47:18,193 --> 00:47:20,732
Nobody complained
about the ghost of his father.
630
00:47:31,873 --> 00:47:34,033
And the Japanese
didn't seem to mind it.
631
00:47:34,167 --> 00:47:38,581
The Japanese Executive Producers
didn't seem to have a problem.
632
00:47:38,713 --> 00:47:41,584
For them it was a samurai film.
633
00:47:41,716 --> 00:47:46,047
That's how we sold it to them -
a samurai film in Mexico.
634
00:47:46,179 --> 00:47:49,964
And it truly does follow
that structure.
635
00:47:54,062 --> 00:48:00,314
A young innocent upholder of the law
goes off to uphold it somewhere else.
636
00:48:01,528 --> 00:48:06,238
And finds that things aren't the way
he was told in samurai school.
637
00:48:14,249 --> 00:48:16,788
Obviously, here he commits
the fatal flaw.
638
00:48:16,918 --> 00:48:21,083
The inevitable mistake
of the young macho.
639
00:48:24,718 --> 00:48:29,712
When I spoke
to the highway patrol in Mexico
640
00:48:29,848 --> 00:48:33,217
that one of the fantasies
that they all had
641
00:48:33,351 --> 00:48:37,219
was to, somehow or other,
save a prostitute.
642
00:48:37,355 --> 00:48:40,523
From herself, I guess.
I don't know from whom!
643
00:48:40,650 --> 00:48:43,141
To reform a prostitute.
644
00:48:43,278 --> 00:48:46,066
But what that also entails
is taking a woman
645
00:48:46,197 --> 00:48:48,736
who has her independent
source of income,
646
00:48:48,867 --> 00:48:50,943
and making her dependent on you.
647
00:48:51,077 --> 00:48:53,153
That's right.
648
00:49:18,188 --> 00:49:21,806
It's amazing how pissed she is
without raising her voice.
649
00:49:35,163 --> 00:49:37,287
He has committed a grave error.
650
00:49:48,551 --> 00:49:50,924
The inevitable drug scene.
651
00:49:52,889 --> 00:49:54,965
Baking powder.
652
00:49:58,853 --> 00:50:02,222
- Or is it...
- Baby laxative.
653
00:50:02,357 --> 00:50:04,433
Filthy!
654
00:50:06,069 --> 00:50:08,774
We haven't really talked a lot
about the music.
655
00:50:08,905 --> 00:50:14,327
No, we haven't. The very nice score
of Zander Schloss.
656
00:50:16,538 --> 00:50:18,578
A very beautiful bit
657
00:50:19,249 --> 00:50:21,704
of music there
658
00:50:21,835 --> 00:50:25,121
Zander, the composer, was one
of the few people on the film
659
00:50:25,255 --> 00:50:27,663
who wasn't based in Mexico.
660
00:50:27,799 --> 00:50:32,461
At the time, he was a member
of two bands in Los Angeles.
661
00:50:32,595 --> 00:50:35,964
Thelonious Monster
and The Circle Jerks.
662
00:50:37,725 --> 00:50:42,471
But had worked with Joe Strummer
on the score of Walker.
663
00:50:42,605 --> 00:50:47,315
He played all the guitar on that
and did some of the arranging,
664
00:50:47,443 --> 00:50:50,777
and we thought,
"This guy can do our film".
665
00:51:04,335 --> 00:51:08,962
So the problems of Pedro continue.
He's wrecked his car...
666
00:51:10,049 --> 00:51:12,588
How many cars did we have?
667
00:51:12,719 --> 00:51:15,756
We had eight of these cars.
They didn't all run.
668
00:51:18,433 --> 00:51:20,509
I think three of them ran.
669
00:51:32,030 --> 00:51:34,948
Terry was in charge of the cars.
670
00:51:35,074 --> 00:51:37,400
She did a very good job.
671
00:51:37,535 --> 00:51:41,451
She also had that assistant,
the mechanic...
672
00:51:41,581 --> 00:51:45,958
He's behind there, the mechanic.
He's grinning broadly.
673
00:51:46,085 --> 00:51:49,087
- There he is.
- Behind Rene Pereyra.
674
00:51:49,214 --> 00:51:51,705
A real mechanic.
675
00:52:01,976 --> 00:52:05,429
Guillermo Rios is good.
He's a very intense chap.
676
00:52:09,943 --> 00:52:12,019
This is the problem with these cops.
677
00:52:12,153 --> 00:52:15,487
One of the reasons
that this corruption is endemic
678
00:52:15,615 --> 00:52:19,114
is because they're expected
not only to bring back fines
679
00:52:19,244 --> 00:52:22,612
to keep the organisation going,
but to pay for things.
680
00:52:22,747 --> 00:52:24,989
If they break things,
if they lose a gun
681
00:52:25,124 --> 00:52:27,794
if they have to have a gun,
they have to pay for it!
682
00:52:39,180 --> 00:52:41,055
Great.
683
00:52:43,393 --> 00:52:47,225
Again, in an American film,
they'd be having a fistfight right now.
684
00:52:47,355 --> 00:52:51,436
They'd be fighting it out
in the police locker room
685
00:52:51,567 --> 00:52:53,643
guys would be separating them.
686
00:52:53,778 --> 00:52:56,981
Somebody would be going,
"Get your ass in here!"
687
00:52:57,115 --> 00:53:00,614
And they don't do it. He's never
going to fight with his bosses.
688
00:53:00,743 --> 00:53:04,445
He's never going to throw a punch
at anybody because he'd get fired.
689
00:53:07,792 --> 00:53:10,711
This entire section is about
690
00:53:12,630 --> 00:53:15,917
his inevitable slide.
691
00:53:16,968 --> 00:53:20,219
These are, what are called
in Mexico, Juniors.
692
00:53:20,346 --> 00:53:24,297
At the time, this is ten years ago
or more.
693
00:53:24,434 --> 00:53:26,510
Juniors were sort of disliked.
694
00:53:26,644 --> 00:53:32,018
They were viewed like this.
Like rich cry babies.
695
00:53:32,150 --> 00:53:35,768
Unfortunately the culture of Mexico
696
00:53:35,903 --> 00:53:38,656
in the last ten years,
has changed quite drastically.
697
00:53:38,781 --> 00:53:42,862
And what you're supposed
to aspire to be
698
00:53:42,994 --> 00:53:48,285
is one of these rich jerks with
a skateboard, in the American style.
699
00:53:48,416 --> 00:53:52,283
But when we made the film
there was general consensus
700
00:53:52,420 --> 00:53:56,501
that decent Mexicans
don't dress like this
701
00:53:56,632 --> 00:53:58,958
don't act like an American.
702
00:54:01,346 --> 00:54:06,257
What Pedro doesn't realise is that
this kid really is the son of a governor.
703
00:54:06,392 --> 00:54:10,390
He really does know the President
and Pedro's in trouble again.
704
00:54:19,989 --> 00:54:22,860
This is shot right outside Durango.
705
00:54:22,992 --> 00:54:29,992
Near that abandoned base
where they shot...
706
00:54:30,124 --> 00:54:32,366
"Fat Man and Little Boy."
707
00:54:32,502 --> 00:54:36,583
They recreated the set
of the Los Alamos nuclear base.
708
00:54:38,716 --> 00:54:43,924
Which is a location we never used.
We couldn't think what to do with it.
709
00:54:44,055 --> 00:54:50,889
It was too big to use
as the police headquarters.
710
00:55:03,825 --> 00:55:06,066
Now here comes the governor
711
00:55:06,202 --> 00:55:09,868
Gerardo Moscoso
who was our doctor.
712
00:55:11,916 --> 00:55:13,992
A very good actor.
713
00:55:25,805 --> 00:55:28,474
"It's the first thing we teach you"
Oh yeah!
714
00:55:28,599 --> 00:55:31,637
This is a terrible thing.
What Guillermo Rios has done
715
00:55:31,769 --> 00:55:36,146
is he's sided with the governor
against his own police corporation
716
00:55:36,274 --> 00:55:38,350
by opening the door
for the governor
717
00:55:38,484 --> 00:55:41,853
Guillermo did say that in reality
he wouldn't do that.
718
00:55:41,988 --> 00:55:45,274
That the solidarity between the cops
wouldn't allow him
719
00:55:45,408 --> 00:55:47,484
to open the door for the governor.
720
00:55:47,618 --> 00:55:49,694
The blue wall of silence.
721
00:55:49,829 --> 00:55:55,251
But I said, in order to emphasise
what a creep you are to authority
722
00:55:55,376 --> 00:55:57,701
go and open the door
for the governor.
723
00:56:01,132 --> 00:56:03,967
But he's right.
In reality he wouldn't have done that.
724
00:56:10,016 --> 00:56:13,053
Pedro is really beating up
on himself now.
725
00:56:13,186 --> 00:56:16,187
He's refusing to drive a decent car.
726
00:56:17,940 --> 00:56:21,108
He's not interested
in the shiny new gun of Anibal.
727
00:56:32,705 --> 00:56:35,576
Here we are
in the psychiatrist's office.
728
00:56:35,708 --> 00:56:39,706
This is a scene based on your
interview with the highway patrol.
729
00:56:41,464 --> 00:56:47,384
This was shot in the production
house that we all lived in.
730
00:56:47,512 --> 00:56:49,588
In Mexico City.
731
00:56:49,722 --> 00:56:53,768
Which is a very beautiful old house
near the Estudios Churubusco.
732
00:56:53,893 --> 00:56:58,852
The psychiatrist was to have been
played by Arturo Ripstein, the director.
733
00:57:00,566 --> 00:57:03,853
But Arturo, at the time, had long hair
of which he was proud,
734
00:57:03,986 --> 00:57:06,062
and he didn't want to cut it.
735
00:57:06,197 --> 00:57:11,275
So at the last minute a very
good actor, Alonso Echanove
736
00:57:11,410 --> 00:57:14,281
took over the role of Dr Bola�os.
737
00:57:33,724 --> 00:57:37,426
Pops a couple of Prozac, bites
his fingernails, lights a cigarette...
738
00:57:39,939 --> 00:57:42,015
That's the doctor for me!
739
00:57:46,237 --> 00:57:48,942
This is also shot outside of Durango.
740
00:57:53,411 --> 00:57:56,115
Jorge Fegan, a wonderful actor
741
00:57:56,247 --> 00:57:59,865
who was also in Rojo Amanecer.
Also now sadly dead.
742
00:58:00,918 --> 00:58:02,994
A funny actor.
743
00:58:20,271 --> 00:58:25,978
Karl Braun reappears in the story.
744
00:58:34,201 --> 00:58:37,203
Again, all one take.
Garz�n has covered everything
745
00:58:37,330 --> 00:58:42,372
in what normally would have
been done in close-ups, cutaways.
746
00:58:44,253 --> 00:58:46,377
He shot the whole thing in one take.
747
00:58:46,505 --> 00:58:49,210
What's extraordinary
about using this method
748
00:58:49,342 --> 00:58:54,087
is that it actually allows you
to experience the film in real time
749
00:58:54,221 --> 00:58:57,804
rather than in this compression
of images.
750
00:58:57,933 --> 00:59:02,145
Each sequence, you're transported
into a real-time scenario.
751
00:59:02,271 --> 00:59:06,732
For as long as that moment lasts.
752
00:59:06,859 --> 00:59:10,774
The cuts come when
there's a geographical change
753
00:59:10,905 --> 00:59:15,069
like when in a minute, when we're
going to see Anibal, or a time change.
754
00:59:18,913 --> 00:59:22,116
Here he's done a 360 degree pan.
755
00:59:22,249 --> 00:59:24,871
There's about 30 crew people
behind him
756
00:59:25,002 --> 00:59:28,253
that have to keep moving
as Garz�n moves the camera around.
757
00:59:31,717 --> 00:59:37,008
This is one of the few shots
that he actually did on a tripod.
758
00:59:38,891 --> 00:59:41,679
And it is a pretty extraordinary shot.
759
00:59:41,811 --> 00:59:46,473
He captures his movement from the front
of the car, all the way into the car,
760
00:59:46,607 --> 00:59:49,727
and never loses his head
or his face for a minute.
761
00:59:52,613 --> 00:59:55,733
Now Pedro's trying to get going.
762
01:00:09,672 --> 01:00:13,457
We had to haul these cars
all over northern Mexico.
763
01:00:13,592 --> 01:00:15,668
We were afraid that these cars
764
01:00:15,803 --> 01:00:18,591
since they didn't have
actual license plates
765
01:00:18,723 --> 01:00:22,508
that the Mexican highway patrol
was going to run interference with us.
766
01:00:22,643 --> 01:00:26,724
But they actually behaved
very well with us.
767
01:00:26,856 --> 01:00:30,901
Well because you and Alejandra
Liceaga, the Production Manager
768
01:00:31,026 --> 01:00:36,650
struck this deal that if we would
invent our own police corporation
769
01:00:36,782 --> 01:00:38,858
that they would let us make the film.
770
01:00:40,828 --> 01:00:42,904
Which was probably just as well.
771
01:00:43,038 --> 01:00:45,992
The highway patrol
were driving little black Mustangs.
772
01:00:46,125 --> 01:00:49,043
These are ginormous Dodge Darts
that we've got
773
01:00:49,170 --> 01:00:52,005
which are more
impressive looking cars.
774
01:00:57,136 --> 01:01:01,217
This is also outside of Durango.
775
01:01:01,348 --> 01:01:06,058
A lot of drive-bys outside of Durango
because of the canyons,
776
01:01:06,187 --> 01:01:08,678
and the impressive nature
of the landscape.
777
01:01:15,946 --> 01:01:18,437
This is one of the few shots
that you can see
778
01:01:18,574 --> 01:01:24,660
this very interesting scar that Roberto
Sosa has on the side of his face.
779
01:01:24,789 --> 01:01:31,919
Which contributed, I think,
almost as a part of his character
780
01:01:32,046 --> 01:01:34,715
Roberto was a child actor.
781
01:01:34,840 --> 01:01:38,672
His parents got him into the acting
thing when he was quite young,
782
01:01:38,803 --> 01:01:44,971
and he, as a result of that,
got a nervous tumour on his face.
783
01:01:45,100 --> 01:01:48,517
Their family didn't have money,
they sent him to public hospital.
784
01:01:48,646 --> 01:01:51,481
And the doctors just get in there
with a razorblade
785
01:01:51,607 --> 01:01:54,228
cut it out, stitch him up
and send him home.
786
01:01:54,360 --> 01:01:57,112
He gets home,
looks in the mirror and thinks
787
01:01:57,238 --> 01:02:01,235
that's the end of my acting career.
He was only 13.
788
01:02:01,367 --> 01:02:05,578
Of course, the perverse thing
is that film directors love that scar.
789
01:02:05,704 --> 01:02:08,872
So whenever he does a feature,
you have the scar,
790
01:02:08,999 --> 01:02:13,994
but when he does a soap opera
they cover it up with make-up.
791
01:02:14,129 --> 01:02:19,669
This is one of the most extraordinary
shot sequences in the film.
792
01:02:19,802 --> 01:02:22,590
This and the shot that follows.
793
01:02:22,721 --> 01:02:27,016
This is a pick-up truck. Miguel is just
sitting in the back of the pick-up
794
01:02:27,142 --> 01:02:30,559
which is being pushed
by the crew members.
795
01:02:31,730 --> 01:02:35,515
And in a moment, we assume
time has gone by, he's still running.
796
01:02:35,651 --> 01:02:39,187
Now, Miguel is on the front
of the pick-up truck
797
01:02:39,321 --> 01:02:42,690
standing on the bumper,
being held on by ropes.
798
01:02:42,825 --> 01:02:46,989
And the pick-up truck is being pushed
along behind Roberto Sosa.
799
01:02:47,121 --> 01:02:50,241
As we get closer to the car
800
01:02:50,374 --> 01:02:55,914
the pick-up truck slows down,
stops, the grips release the ropes
801
01:02:56,046 --> 01:03:01,005
Miguel Garz�n steps down
off the bumper and starts to walk.
802
01:03:01,135 --> 01:03:03,211
There we are.
803
01:03:09,935 --> 01:03:13,851
Again, Pedro's got there too late.
The shoot-out's already happened,
804
01:03:13,981 --> 01:03:16,306
but he can't even find his partner.
805
01:03:22,615 --> 01:03:25,652
He goes from the asphalt
to the desert.
806
01:03:29,246 --> 01:03:31,322
After we shot this sequence
807
01:03:31,457 --> 01:03:37,460
we heard that, in this same spot
a few weeks previously
808
01:03:37,588 --> 01:03:42,962
a bunch of Judiciales had got
into a fight with drug dealers,
809
01:03:43,093 --> 01:03:46,676
and had been killed
right in the same area.
810
01:03:46,805 --> 01:03:49,380
Which is interesting
because the concept is
811
01:03:49,516 --> 01:03:53,728
the cops are so corrupt,
which a lot of them are.
812
01:03:53,854 --> 01:03:57,437
But at the same time they have
these very dangerous jobs,
813
01:03:57,566 --> 01:04:01,232
and at times they get killed.
814
01:04:04,114 --> 01:04:08,610
I had never contemplated doing a film
about the police before
815
01:04:08,744 --> 01:04:11,069
because I wasn't that keen
on the police.
816
01:04:11,205 --> 01:04:14,456
But as a result
of the experiences that we had had
817
01:04:14,583 --> 01:04:18,332
I felt that we couldn't be too critical
of people
818
01:04:18,462 --> 01:04:21,713
because life isn't that simple.
819
01:04:50,995 --> 01:04:54,530
Including the funeral sequence
would have been breaking
820
01:04:54,665 --> 01:04:59,458
some of the structural advantages
that we had.
821
01:04:59,586 --> 01:05:02,706
It was falling too much within
what would have been expected.
822
01:05:02,840 --> 01:05:05,081
It was too obvious.
823
01:05:05,217 --> 01:05:08,716
The funeral sequence was very funny.
824
01:05:08,846 --> 01:05:13,721
It was the three widows of Anibal.
825
01:05:13,851 --> 01:05:17,137
It turned out that Anibal
had three wives and three babies,
826
01:05:17,271 --> 01:05:19,940
and they're all there at the funeral.
827
01:05:20,065 --> 01:05:23,067
- But it was too funny.
- It was too obvious.
828
01:05:23,193 --> 01:05:26,527
And it wasn't the point
we were trying to make.
829
01:05:27,614 --> 01:05:30,818
That, by the way,
is my favourite line in the film.
830
01:05:30,951 --> 01:05:33,157
"Please make an exception
in this case"
831
01:05:33,287 --> 01:05:38,329
I have found, in the years
since Highway Patrolman
832
01:05:38,459 --> 01:05:41,163
that "Please make an exception
in this case"
833
01:05:41,295 --> 01:05:46,835
is the most useful sentence
that you can possibly utilise.
834
01:05:46,967 --> 01:05:49,921
You acknowledge
that whoever you're dealing with
835
01:05:50,054 --> 01:05:53,055
doesn't do this kind of thing
normally, whatever it is.
836
01:05:54,641 --> 01:05:58,308
On this occasion,
perhaps they can make an exception.
837
01:06:02,733 --> 01:06:07,395
And I have found that useful
in terms of all manner of things.
838
01:06:07,529 --> 01:06:10,649
In all matters of negotiating.
839
01:06:10,783 --> 01:06:13,701
Trying to get air cargo
out of Narita Airport
840
01:06:13,827 --> 01:06:16,402
on a Sunday, when it's closed.
841
01:06:16,538 --> 01:06:20,869
You just keep on saying, "Please
make an exception in this case,"
842
01:06:21,001 --> 01:06:25,497
and you don't leave, and eventually,
they make an exception.
843
01:06:28,801 --> 01:06:33,214
In this sequence,
they're obviously drinking to Anibal.
844
01:06:33,347 --> 01:06:39,883
And on the television
there's a sequence going up
845
01:06:40,020 --> 01:06:43,852
about re-approving Mexico.
846
01:06:43,982 --> 01:06:50,863
Yes, Mexico has to be certified
every year by the US Congress
847
01:06:50,989 --> 01:06:54,323
which is very insulting
to the Mexicans.
848
01:06:56,662 --> 01:06:59,580
Because the whole deal
about the drug trade
849
01:06:59,706 --> 01:07:02,459
which is devastating
and corrupting Mexico
850
01:07:02,584 --> 01:07:06,037
is that the drug trade is there
for the benefit of the Americans!
851
01:07:07,256 --> 01:07:10,542
Well the market
is the United States,
852
01:07:10,676 --> 01:07:15,338
and their country just happens
to be on the way to the market.
853
01:07:17,307 --> 01:07:22,385
This is a great source of division
between Mexico and the United States.
854
01:07:22,521 --> 01:07:27,065
Funnily enough, I was on a flight
855
01:07:27,192 --> 01:07:30,194
out of Mexico to Europe
that stopped in Washington,
856
01:07:30,320 --> 01:07:33,903
and I found myself sitting next
to the Foreign Minister of Mexico.
857
01:07:34,032 --> 01:07:38,078
Everybody gets on the plane
and greets him, shakes his hand
858
01:07:38,203 --> 01:07:41,490
I'm saying, "How do you know
so many people on this plane?"
859
01:07:41,623 --> 01:07:45,669
And we get into a conversation.
860
01:07:45,794 --> 01:07:47,870
He was going to Washington.
861
01:07:48,005 --> 01:07:51,753
Various third world countries go
to the United States and say,
862
01:07:51,884 --> 01:07:55,253
"Until you guys can control
your arms trade"
863
01:07:55,387 --> 01:07:57,878
"we can never control
the drug trade."
864
01:07:58,015 --> 01:08:01,763
The United States is the greatest
provider of arms in the world.
865
01:08:01,894 --> 01:08:06,769
Not only nuclear weapons and jets
but small arms.
866
01:08:06,899 --> 01:08:09,188
Machine guns, handguns.
867
01:08:09,318 --> 01:08:14,193
As long as these weapons
pour into the third world
868
01:08:14,323 --> 01:08:17,407
as long as Latin America
is full of American weapons
869
01:08:17,534 --> 01:08:22,577
the cops, the local authorities, are
never going to get a handle on crime.
870
01:08:22,706 --> 01:08:27,332
It's well known that the guerrilla wars
in South America are fuelled by
871
01:08:28,962 --> 01:08:31,584
the exchange
of weapons for cocaine
872
01:08:31,715 --> 01:08:35,926
in Columbia and in Peru
and in different places.
873
01:08:36,053 --> 01:08:40,003
And that in every case, the military
and their paramilitary allies
874
01:08:40,140 --> 01:08:44,138
are making money out of it
and exchanging guns for drugs.
875
01:08:44,269 --> 01:08:47,389
They're the ones who have
got the guns in the beginning.
876
01:08:50,067 --> 01:08:53,519
But as the United States prepares
for a war against Colombia
877
01:08:53,654 --> 01:08:56,773
the blame is always placed
on left-wing rebels.
878
01:09:00,410 --> 01:09:02,700
Here are the iguana kids again.
879
01:09:09,044 --> 01:09:11,713
He's in a fury now.
He just wants to arrest somebody.
880
01:09:11,838 --> 01:09:15,670
He just wants to do some justice.
881
01:09:15,801 --> 01:09:18,920
No, I think this is
882
01:09:19,054 --> 01:09:23,799
his final lame attempt
at trying to do good!
883
01:09:28,313 --> 01:09:30,935
I think that once again he's...
884
01:09:35,570 --> 01:09:41,692
trying to find some way
to get back
885
01:09:41,827 --> 01:09:45,078
to what originally inspired him
to be a cop.
886
01:09:47,916 --> 01:09:53,421
And taking three kids to school is
as innocuous as can be, so he thinks.
887
01:09:56,008 --> 01:09:58,084
But he'll see.
888
01:09:59,428 --> 01:10:03,675
- I think this is Dinamita.
- This is Dinamita, yes.
889
01:10:03,807 --> 01:10:06,975
But once again, no good deed
will go unpunished.
890
01:10:08,061 --> 01:10:12,937
So he's turned over the children
to Farfan, the head of Special Effects.
891
01:10:13,066 --> 01:10:15,142
In the blue shirt.
892
01:10:32,711 --> 01:10:36,329
We also have to take
into consideration that
893
01:10:36,465 --> 01:10:39,134
our character
is now under the effects
894
01:10:39,259 --> 01:10:41,834
of the drugs given to him
by the psychiatrist.
895
01:10:41,970 --> 01:10:45,885
Yes, he's on some sort of
early version of Prozac or Zoloft...
896
01:10:47,893 --> 01:10:51,060
which is exacerbating
his homicidal tendencies!
897
01:10:52,522 --> 01:10:54,598
And he's looking for a rabid dog.
898
01:11:15,420 --> 01:11:17,745
He's such a brave actor, Roberto.
899
01:11:17,881 --> 01:11:22,959
Unlike most of the English-speaking
actors I've met
900
01:11:23,095 --> 01:11:27,840
he's really prepared to devote
himself to the character.
901
01:11:27,974 --> 01:11:31,261
And he's not afraid
to appear ridiculous or silly.
902
01:11:35,273 --> 01:11:37,812
When he crosses the bridge,
we said...
903
01:11:37,943 --> 01:11:40,102
"You've also got a fear of heights."
904
01:11:40,237 --> 01:11:45,065
"Not only do you have all these other
problems but you're afraid of heights."
905
01:11:45,200 --> 01:11:49,744
So he plays it that way. He crosses
the bridge in a very timorous manner.
906
01:11:56,253 --> 01:12:00,749
This is Malena Doria.
Another extraordinary actress.
907
01:12:07,681 --> 01:12:10,434
Once again,
the impossibility of doing good.
908
01:12:13,520 --> 01:12:16,011
And the extras.
These are the people in the town.
909
01:12:16,148 --> 01:12:19,766
These are the people of Dinamita,
showing up to watch the filming.
910
01:12:26,491 --> 01:12:32,494
Once again, this is where Zander's
music really does an extraordinary job.
911
01:12:33,540 --> 01:12:36,079
This is near Mapimi.
912
01:12:36,209 --> 01:12:41,998
This is called Puente Ojuela, which
is a bridge that connects two mines.
913
01:12:45,719 --> 01:12:51,176
And I think you did an
extraordinary reveal here.
914
01:12:51,308 --> 01:12:55,009
You don't really understand
why he's holding onto the side.
915
01:12:55,145 --> 01:12:57,304
But as you zoom out here
916
01:12:57,439 --> 01:13:00,559
it becomes evident that
this is one of the most
917
01:13:00,692 --> 01:13:03,943
hair-raising bridges
I've ever crossed
918
01:13:05,322 --> 01:13:12,037
Cecilia had to do repairs
to the bridge before they let us use it
919
01:13:12,162 --> 01:13:14,487
I think there was just a couple.
920
01:13:14,623 --> 01:13:16,699
It wasn't that much.
921
01:13:26,510 --> 01:13:29,084
So he's come to help
a young girl in need.
922
01:13:29,221 --> 01:13:31,297
The mother of the two children.
923
01:14:04,214 --> 01:14:07,547
This is a real sky.
This isn't a process shot.
924
01:14:07,676 --> 01:14:12,089
That's actually what the sky
looked like outside.
925
01:14:12,222 --> 01:14:14,975
One of the extraordinary things
about this film
926
01:14:15,100 --> 01:14:18,351
is that we didn't use
any camera cars.
927
01:14:18,478 --> 01:14:20,554
All of it was car mounts.
928
01:14:20,689 --> 01:14:24,686
Not one camera-car shot.
It's incredible.
929
01:14:25,819 --> 01:14:30,445
I think, as a car-based film,
it works better than Repo Man
930
01:14:30,574 --> 01:14:35,568
I think that sometimes
all those camera cars and stuff
931
01:14:35,704 --> 01:14:37,780
it takes you away from the actors.
932
01:14:37,914 --> 01:14:40,749
It becomes about the car
and not about the person in it.
933
01:14:40,875 --> 01:14:45,502
But with the car mount looking in the
window, you're always on the actors.
934
01:14:45,630 --> 01:14:49,047
- The actors also have to drive.
- They have to drive themselves.
935
01:14:49,175 --> 01:14:51,251
They're not being towed.
936
01:14:57,934 --> 01:15:00,010
And so he's returned.
937
01:15:00,145 --> 01:15:04,309
This is the back lot
of Estudios America
938
01:15:04,441 --> 01:15:09,151
.which is now part
of Televisi�n Azteca.
939
01:15:09,279 --> 01:15:13,941
There were two film studios
in Mexico...
940
01:15:14,075 --> 01:15:17,492
- In 1991
- But now there's only one.
941
01:15:20,290 --> 01:15:22,366
Great location.
942
01:15:27,714 --> 01:15:32,792
This is the only scene in the film
that we re-shot.
943
01:15:32,927 --> 01:15:37,056
We did a version of this scene
that just didn't seem to be working
944
01:15:37,182 --> 01:15:41,393
because we were playing it on
the two characters in the background.
945
01:15:41,519 --> 01:15:44,010
On Maribel and her boyfriend, Emilio.
946
01:15:44,147 --> 01:15:46,603
When we saw the rushes
we just thought
947
01:15:46,733 --> 01:15:51,858
this isn't a film about those two
guys, it's a film about Pedro Rojas.
948
01:15:51,988 --> 01:15:54,313
And so we re-shot the scene
949
01:15:54,449 --> 01:15:57,736
with them all in the back
and Pedro in the foreground.
950
01:16:01,331 --> 01:16:04,582
This is also one of the few scenes
where we have a dolly move.
951
01:16:04,709 --> 01:16:06,501
Yeah, he's on tracks.
952
01:16:06,628 --> 01:16:09,879
He's on tracks, which is
953
01:16:10,006 --> 01:16:16,377
completely opposite everything
that we had done up to that point.
954
01:16:23,144 --> 01:16:25,814
A homage to Ripstein
is coming up now.
955
01:16:35,657 --> 01:16:38,860
In Ripstein's films, the characters
used to ask the time,
956
01:16:38,993 --> 01:16:41,069
and the reply would be, "Late".
957
01:16:56,302 --> 01:16:59,802
When we were preparing
the video version of this in England
958
01:16:59,931 --> 01:17:02,885
I did have the opportunity
of putting an effect
959
01:17:03,017 --> 01:17:05,722
of the binoculars on the shot.
960
01:17:05,854 --> 01:17:08,227
But we didn't want that.
961
01:17:11,025 --> 01:17:13,434
You know, that binocular effect!
962
01:17:15,780 --> 01:17:18,402
I'm not sure
it really served a purpose.
963
01:17:18,533 --> 01:17:20,739
No, I left it off.
964
01:17:20,869 --> 01:17:24,321
It's such a naturalistic film
965
01:17:24,456 --> 01:17:28,122
that to go for that
would have been, once again
966
01:17:28,251 --> 01:17:31,419
going against the established
set parameters.
967
01:17:31,546 --> 01:17:36,624
There are special effects, in terms
of things blowing up and gunshots,
968
01:17:36,760 --> 01:17:42,965
but there's no actual process shots
or mattes in the film.
969
01:17:43,099 --> 01:17:45,887
What you see is what's really there.
970
01:18:11,961 --> 01:18:14,335
He doesn't listen.
971
01:18:14,464 --> 01:18:16,540
Who does?
972
01:18:26,392 --> 01:18:32,514
This is all shot around Dinamita
and Mapimi.
973
01:18:35,902 --> 01:18:38,737
A lot of abandoned mines.
974
01:18:44,536 --> 01:18:47,655
This shot you could have
put a binocular matte on,
975
01:18:47,789 --> 01:18:50,458
but we decided against it originally.
976
01:18:50,583 --> 01:18:54,083
The binocular matte
always looks hokey.
977
01:19:08,101 --> 01:19:10,806
Anyway, by that time,
I think we had run out of money.
978
01:19:12,856 --> 01:19:15,608
I think so. There was no money
for binocular mattes!
979
01:19:15,733 --> 01:19:17,809
Not enough money
for binocular mattes!
980
01:19:17,944 --> 01:19:20,269
You need to mix the film and deliver.
981
01:19:40,341 --> 01:19:43,461
This movie's so poor,
they can't even afford a helicopter!
982
01:20:05,074 --> 01:20:07,530
He takes off his identification.
983
01:20:26,346 --> 01:20:28,837
This was a complicated sequence
to shoot.
984
01:20:38,983 --> 01:20:42,352
- There's Damian Alcazar.
- On the right.
985
01:20:46,699 --> 01:20:50,199
He's got a leading role
in Bajo California
986
01:20:50,328 --> 01:20:54,029
Damian is quite a movie star
in Mexico.
987
01:20:54,165 --> 01:20:58,116
He's the lead in Bajo California
which is a pretty good film.
988
01:20:58,252 --> 01:21:02,749
He's the lead in La Ley de Herodes
which is, of course, a brilliant film.
989
01:21:02,882 --> 01:21:05,717
With great acting.
990
01:21:05,843 --> 01:21:09,889
And he's the lead in Dos cr�menes.
991
01:21:10,014 --> 01:21:16,634
So he's actually, in the sense
that there are movie stars in Mexico
992
01:21:16,771 --> 01:21:19,559
he's the movie star.
993
01:22:02,066 --> 01:22:05,684
"Por mis hijos."
He doesn't have any hijos.
994
01:22:21,836 --> 01:22:26,047
I hope it came that Pedro is so nuts
he could have killed them
995
01:22:26,174 --> 01:22:28,250
I'm not sure it does come across.
996
01:22:28,384 --> 01:22:31,303
My wish is that the audience
would think
997
01:22:31,429 --> 01:22:34,680
the guy is so crazy,
he can murder those two people.
998
01:22:34,807 --> 01:22:41,012
It's interesting because the character
still has several surprises for us in store.
999
01:22:42,106 --> 01:22:45,974
It's this combination
1000
01:22:46,110 --> 01:22:49,859
of wanting to still do good,
1001
01:22:49,989 --> 01:22:53,904
and absolute self-interest.
Motivated by both.
1002
01:22:54,035 --> 01:22:57,902
- This is shot in Parras.
- The Wild Bunch location.
1003
01:22:58,039 --> 01:23:00,613
Where the horses fall down
the sand dune
1004
01:23:00,750 --> 01:23:03,704
during one of the transitions
in The Wild Bunch.
1005
01:23:04,754 --> 01:23:06,830
- Extraordinary location.
- Beautiful.
1006
01:23:16,307 --> 01:23:18,549
This particular piece of music
1007
01:23:18,684 --> 01:23:21,804
was the cause
of an ongoing dispute
1008
01:23:21,938 --> 01:23:25,686
between Zander Schloss
and the actor Del Zamora.
1009
01:23:27,235 --> 01:23:30,153
Because Del came up with the...
1010
01:23:30,279 --> 01:23:32,605
Da da da da!
1011
01:23:34,450 --> 01:23:36,526
And Zander just did
all the other music.
1012
01:23:36,661 --> 01:23:39,449
And somehow Del didn't get
a credit for the...
1013
01:23:39,580 --> 01:23:41,372
Da da da da!
1014
01:23:41,499 --> 01:23:45,450
But I would like to go on record
as saying that those
1015
01:23:45,586 --> 01:23:49,964
da da da da, four notes,
were thought up by Del Zamora.
1016
01:23:51,843 --> 01:23:53,919
They sound more like
Beethoven to me!
1017
01:23:57,098 --> 01:24:00,182
At the beginning of the third
or something!
1018
01:24:06,023 --> 01:24:12,644
So at this point,
gathering the stash that he has
1019
01:24:12,780 --> 01:24:15,070
hidden away in the desert
1020
01:24:15,199 --> 01:24:19,411
we don't know exactly how long
he's been putting the stash together
1021
01:24:19,537 --> 01:24:23,701
I would think a year or so.
I think he's been at it for a while.
1022
01:24:36,262 --> 01:24:39,180
And the Virgin Mary
on the wall of the whorehouse.
1023
01:24:39,307 --> 01:24:42,925
Little shrines to the Virgin Mary
everywhere in this film
1024
01:24:43,060 --> 01:24:45,136
just like in Mexico.
1025
01:24:50,693 --> 01:24:55,107
- Coming out the door is our...
- Extras Casting, Rene Maruri.
1026
01:25:52,296 --> 01:25:57,801
I love the texture, in terms of the
production design, in this particular set.
1027
01:25:57,927 --> 01:26:00,252
That and the house of Pedro.
1028
01:26:03,099 --> 01:26:07,809
It has a colour palette
that is unusual for films.
1029
01:26:19,240 --> 01:26:22,823
And the designer of this film
1030
01:26:22,952 --> 01:26:26,737
went on to do a variety of films
with us and with other people,
1031
01:26:26,872 --> 01:26:33,706
and ended up spending about ten
times the budget of El Patrullero
1032
01:26:33,838 --> 01:26:36,708
on the art department
of The Mask of Zorro.
1033
01:26:36,841 --> 01:26:42,001
Some of the locations... I don't think
you can see them clearly in the film,
1034
01:26:42,138 --> 01:26:45,092
but some of the locations
that she designed
1035
01:26:45,224 --> 01:26:48,059
Cecilia designed a mine set
for The Mask of Zorro
1036
01:26:48,185 --> 01:26:51,472
that's a square mile
of construction.
1037
01:26:53,107 --> 01:26:57,058
With working elements,
huge wheels revolving
1038
01:26:57,194 --> 01:26:59,105
people in cages, a graveyard...
1039
01:26:59,238 --> 01:27:02,073
Ah! Another shrine to the Virgin Mary.
1040
01:27:31,812 --> 01:27:33,888
This is fake rain, obviously.
1041
01:27:34,023 --> 01:27:38,685
This is one of the more difficult shots
just because it involved so much rain.
1042
01:27:40,780 --> 01:27:42,939
It then has to match the following.
1043
01:27:43,074 --> 01:27:46,775
The rain was shot in Mexico City,
this was shot in Durango,
1044
01:27:46,911 --> 01:27:50,078
but we have to wet down though,
I suppose.
1045
01:27:50,206 --> 01:27:54,501
One of those continuity problems.
1046
01:28:03,386 --> 01:28:06,256
This is based on a shot
from R�o Escondido
1047
01:28:06,389 --> 01:28:08,762
directed by Emilio Fern�ndez.
1048
01:28:08,891 --> 01:28:13,138
Again, it's on a tripod.
It's one of the few shots on a tripod.
1049
01:28:13,270 --> 01:28:17,731
And there's a tiny little pan
that turns a single into a two shot.
1050
01:28:17,858 --> 01:28:22,272
And then as Pedro steps back
it becomes a single again.
1051
01:28:27,118 --> 01:28:31,364
This is so much more interesting a way
of shooting and composing
1052
01:28:31,497 --> 01:28:36,076
than just close-up of one guy,
close-up of the other guy.
1053
01:28:36,210 --> 01:28:40,587
It's also interesting that you see
a lot of activity outside the window.
1054
01:28:42,341 --> 01:28:45,094
In fact it contains everything.
1055
01:28:45,219 --> 01:28:49,845
It contains two singles, a two shot
and all of the background action,
1056
01:28:49,974 --> 01:28:52,050
but there's been no cut.
1057
01:28:52,560 --> 01:28:54,517
So the focus switches from
1058
01:28:55,187 --> 01:28:57,857
Gomez Cruz at the beginning
1059
01:28:57,982 --> 01:29:01,185
to Roberto Sosa at the end.
But they're both isolated.
1060
01:29:01,318 --> 01:29:05,186
Even when they're together in frame,
they're right on the edges of it.
1061
01:29:06,907 --> 01:29:09,482
Even though, in a certain way
1062
01:29:09,618 --> 01:29:13,664
he's proving a successful police
officer and he's bringing in money
1063
01:29:13,789 --> 01:29:16,992
he's becoming distanced
from his own guys as well.
1064
01:29:20,337 --> 01:29:22,746
There's the entrance
to the Sierra de �rganos
1065
01:29:22,882 --> 01:29:27,841
which is outside Sombrerete,
in Zacatecas.
1066
01:29:27,970 --> 01:29:30,212
An incredible location.
1067
01:29:32,224 --> 01:29:34,799
Along the lines of Monument Valley.
1068
01:29:40,733 --> 01:29:44,814
- And here's another shot on a dolly.
- Good grief! Another dolly.
1069
01:29:51,577 --> 01:29:53,819
You can hardly notice it though.
1070
01:30:54,640 --> 01:30:58,721
I wonder how many days we shot here.
Was it for just one day or was it two?
1071
01:30:58,852 --> 01:31:00,928
I think we had a couple of days
1072
01:31:01,063 --> 01:31:03,637
I slept in a tent out there one night.
1073
01:31:03,774 --> 01:31:07,855
So we must have had at least
two days in the �rganos.
1074
01:31:12,116 --> 01:31:14,192
This is the best kind of filmmaking.
1075
01:31:14,326 --> 01:31:20,781
It was always my dream
that we would go to the countryside
1076
01:31:20,916 --> 01:31:23,870
to wild places
that you wouldn't normally go,
1077
01:31:24,003 --> 01:31:26,079
and make films there.
1078
01:31:28,382 --> 01:31:31,550
With four northern states...
actually three...
1079
01:31:38,392 --> 01:31:44,430
Coahuila, Durango and Zacatecas.
Three northern states.
1080
01:31:50,321 --> 01:31:55,315
The helicopter was originally going to
be lent to us by the governor of Durango.
1081
01:31:55,451 --> 01:32:01,039
But he ended up having to leave with it
to go see some flood in the north.
1082
01:32:01,165 --> 01:32:04,913
So we ended up having to bring
the helicopter from Mexico City.
1083
01:32:17,681 --> 01:32:19,841
Again, it's all one shot.
1084
01:32:19,975 --> 01:32:23,760
We talked about breaking the
sequence up into different elements.
1085
01:32:23,896 --> 01:32:28,771
But from the arrival of the helicopter,
Pedro tracking it
1086
01:32:28,901 --> 01:32:34,607
the landing, another shoot-out,
takes off again, all in one take.
1087
01:32:35,699 --> 01:32:41,904
And not one reviewer of this film
made any comment about that
1088
01:32:42,039 --> 01:32:44,115
which really surprised me.
1089
01:32:44,249 --> 01:32:50,039
The extent to which people who
are professional watchers of films
1090
01:32:50,172 --> 01:32:52,331
don't notice things.
1091
01:32:53,425 --> 01:32:56,260
Even though the film
got good critical responses
1092
01:32:56,387 --> 01:32:59,756
of the films I've done,
it got the best critical response
1093
01:32:59,890 --> 01:33:02,725
nobody noticed
that everything played in a master.
1094
01:33:05,145 --> 01:33:07,636
What it does is it draws you in.
1095
01:33:10,442 --> 01:33:15,733
I suppose it's good in a sense if the
technique doesn't draw attention to itself.
1096
01:33:19,660 --> 01:33:24,738
We had one sequence in here
of him actually burying...
1097
01:33:24,873 --> 01:33:27,115
Burying the gringo
who was just killed.
1098
01:33:27,251 --> 01:33:29,375
But we thought that was useless too.
1099
01:33:30,629 --> 01:33:33,916
It's funny. The elements
that you actually need
1100
01:33:34,049 --> 01:33:38,000
to convey a story
are sometimes a lot less.
1101
01:33:39,096 --> 01:33:42,881
As long as there's an exploding
police car, it's pretty much OK.
1102
01:33:43,016 --> 01:33:45,092
The film's going to be OK.
1103
01:33:46,812 --> 01:33:50,976
But it is interesting. Of all the films
that we had done up until that point
1104
01:33:51,108 --> 01:33:54,856
this follows the script
just page for page.
1105
01:33:54,987 --> 01:33:57,063
There's no deviation
1106
01:33:57,197 --> 01:34:00,068
I remember one day,
we got ahead of ourselves,
1107
01:34:00,200 --> 01:34:03,700
and we had a few hours spare,
we were half a day ahead,
1108
01:34:03,829 --> 01:34:06,320
and so we tried
to invent a sequence.
1109
01:34:06,457 --> 01:34:10,454
And we shot a sequence with two
narcos waiting by a railroad track,
1110
01:34:10,586 --> 01:34:13,837
and Pedro watches them.
It was useless.
1111
01:34:13,964 --> 01:34:17,215
It was useless.
It did nothing to further the story.
1112
01:34:17,342 --> 01:34:22,052
It's a very tight script,
even though it changed,
1113
01:34:22,181 --> 01:34:25,929
but the changes were all done
prior to the shooting.
1114
01:34:26,059 --> 01:34:28,895
This is an extraordinary sequence
1115
01:34:29,021 --> 01:34:33,185
because you have the entire vista
and the camera's on a crane,
1116
01:34:33,317 --> 01:34:37,149
and then the camera
will actually go into...
1117
01:34:37,279 --> 01:34:40,150
It goes underground!
1118
01:34:40,282 --> 01:34:46,700
Also all shot in one take.
1119
01:34:57,090 --> 01:35:00,377
I'm very impressed
by the special effects in this.
1120
01:35:00,511 --> 01:35:04,508
We had worked with Marcelino Pacheco
who's a wonderful special effects guy
1121
01:35:04,640 --> 01:35:07,926
I was disappointed that we
couldn't get Marcelino for this,
1122
01:35:08,060 --> 01:35:11,014
and that we were going to work
with the Farfans.
1123
01:35:11,146 --> 01:35:14,184
But it really turned out good.
Farfan did a very good job.
1124
01:35:15,275 --> 01:35:18,609
Here we're also finding
our general concept
1125
01:35:18,737 --> 01:35:24,526
that no shoot-out should last
more than seven or eight bullets.
1126
01:35:27,871 --> 01:35:31,371
This is the only person who gets shot
on camera apart from Pedro.
1127
01:35:31,500 --> 01:35:34,584
All the other violence
takes place off screen.
1128
01:35:45,597 --> 01:35:49,513
- The location is truly extraordinary.
- It's tremendous.
1129
01:35:49,643 --> 01:35:52,099
And almost unknown.
1130
01:35:52,771 --> 01:35:55,808
How often have you seen
this location in a film?
1131
01:35:56,650 --> 01:35:58,726
Well, by now, a few more times.
1132
01:36:00,612 --> 01:36:04,990
I saw a couple of Mexican cowboy
films from the 70s that they shot there.
1133
01:36:07,411 --> 01:36:09,736
I think Cisco Kid was also shot there.
1134
01:36:09,872 --> 01:36:13,240
And now it's been a bit known.
1135
01:36:14,751 --> 01:36:18,879
This is the scene that the Federal
Highway Patrol in Mexico objected to,
1136
01:36:20,007 --> 01:36:25,132
and the reason that we didn't get
the support from them to shoot it.
1137
01:36:27,014 --> 01:36:32,222
It had to do with the fact that
Pedro Rojas decides to abandon...
1138
01:36:32,352 --> 01:36:35,888
Ah! He quits
and doesn't stay on board.
1139
01:36:36,023 --> 01:36:38,597
This is something they feel
very sensitive about.
1140
01:36:38,734 --> 01:36:44,737
The resignation is so high among the
cadets that first go out into the field.
1141
01:36:44,865 --> 01:36:47,985
The job is incredibly difficult,
incredibly demanding,
1142
01:36:48,118 --> 01:36:51,369
and not a lot of them survive.
1143
01:36:52,456 --> 01:36:58,044
They had conveyed to me that if I had
been willing to change this sequence,
1144
01:36:58,170 --> 01:37:00,543
and he had taken a desk job
1145
01:37:00,672 --> 01:37:04,540
that we would have had the support
of the Federal Highway Patrol.
1146
01:37:07,804 --> 01:37:13,476
And the way you convey the turnover
of these guys, I think, is very clever.
1147
01:37:13,602 --> 01:37:19,391
What we're about to see is one of
the best scripted moments in the film.
1148
01:37:19,524 --> 01:37:23,736
It's your description of what we see
when we open the draw in his desk.
1149
01:37:28,033 --> 01:37:34,618
All those badges. Without dialogue,
you know exactly what the problem is.
1150
01:37:42,506 --> 01:37:44,582
Her kid got bigger.
1151
01:37:49,096 --> 01:37:55,348
The original ending of the film,
the one you were talking about
1152
01:37:55,477 --> 01:37:57,553
was a more traditional ending
1153
01:37:57,688 --> 01:38:02,184
in the sense that Pedro
and his wife survived,
1154
01:38:02,317 --> 01:38:06,612
but the prostitute, Maribel,
died of a drug overdose.
1155
01:38:06,738 --> 01:38:09,776
With the drugs that he gave her.
1156
01:38:09,908 --> 01:38:15,531
And so he feels the responsibility
of taking on the children,
1157
01:38:15,664 --> 01:38:19,496
and then goes back home
and shows up with the children.
1158
01:38:19,626 --> 01:38:24,087
With Maribel's two children
at the house of Griselda.
1159
01:38:24,214 --> 01:38:28,129
But that was pointed out to us
as highly unlikely
1160
01:38:28,260 --> 01:38:31,463
Alejandra Liceaga,
the Production Manager,
1161
01:38:31,596 --> 01:38:33,886
and Cecilia Montiel
1162
01:38:34,016 --> 01:38:39,438
said that no woman would accept
these two extra offspring...
1163
01:38:39,563 --> 01:38:42,433
From another woman.
1164
01:38:42,566 --> 01:38:46,314
Which, of course,
we were somewhat appalled by.
1165
01:38:46,445 --> 01:38:51,404
Naively thinking her maternal
instincts would override...
1166
01:38:51,533 --> 01:38:54,321
The fact that they were the children
of another woman.
1167
01:38:55,787 --> 01:39:00,698
So we changed the script to something
which is much more traditional,
1168
01:39:00,834 --> 01:39:04,962
and what is called
in Mexico, casa chica.
1169
01:39:05,088 --> 01:39:08,920
The literal translation is small house.
1170
01:39:09,051 --> 01:39:15,137
What happens is that after a man
establishes his first house
1171
01:39:15,265 --> 01:39:20,343
he goes on to establish a second
house and a third household,
1172
01:39:21,688 --> 01:39:25,686
and becomes a cacique
or an empire.
1173
01:39:25,817 --> 01:39:28,273
And what Malena Doria just said
1174
01:39:28,403 --> 01:39:32,780
is the other thing that an actor said
to me, "No Mexican would ever do this".
1175
01:39:32,908 --> 01:39:36,823
One is when Guillermo Rios
opens the door for the governor.
1176
01:39:36,953 --> 01:39:39,113
And the other is when
Malena Doria says,
1177
01:39:39,247 --> 01:39:41,917
"We'd invite you to eat
but there isn't enough".
1178
01:39:42,042 --> 01:39:46,419
She said no Mexican woman
anywhere on the planet would say,
1179
01:39:46,546 --> 01:39:49,584
"We'd invite you to eat
but there isn't enough".
1180
01:39:49,716 --> 01:39:52,041
But I said, "Leave it in
because it's so funny."
1181
01:39:52,177 --> 01:39:55,095
"That you are so mean!"
1182
01:39:55,222 --> 01:39:59,517
Well, I think
that the whole point is that
1183
01:39:59,643 --> 01:40:04,685
she's trying to sell the point
that they're in dire economic need.
1184
01:40:04,815 --> 01:40:08,600
And obviously, Maribel is going
to push the point of
1185
01:40:08,735 --> 01:40:11,440
"What are you going to do
with me?"
1186
01:40:11,571 --> 01:40:17,159
And so pressure him into accepting
his responsibility as...
1187
01:40:17,285 --> 01:40:19,575
The father of the casa chica.
1188
01:40:21,623 --> 01:40:23,747
The financier of the casa chica
1189
01:40:23,875 --> 01:40:27,791
I like this ending better.
It's more ambiguous.
1190
01:40:27,921 --> 01:40:31,457
How is Pedro going to pay
for these two households?
1191
01:40:31,591 --> 01:40:34,878
- He doesn't have any income.
- He's going to become more corrupt.
1192
01:40:35,011 --> 01:40:37,337
Yeah, he's going to go back
to the desert,
1193
01:40:37,472 --> 01:40:40,592
and find the rest of the drugs
and sell them.
1194
01:40:40,725 --> 01:40:42,801
But look at him.
Look how happy he is.
1195
01:40:42,936 --> 01:40:46,056
He's playing with his wedding ring,
he's got a little smile.
1196
01:40:46,189 --> 01:40:50,317
But does he?
Yes, he has a smile. Slightly.
1197
01:40:52,612 --> 01:40:55,981
And that's it. Pedro Rojas.
1198
01:40:56,116 --> 01:40:58,986
There are the iguana kids
throwing rocks at him.
1199
01:41:00,078 --> 01:41:04,290
And the sign says,
"Paying taxes is participating".
1200
01:41:04,416 --> 01:41:06,540
Which, of course,
is the ultimate irony.
1201
01:41:09,087 --> 01:41:14,426
But we thought we'd throw it out there
for everybody to think about.
1202
01:41:14,551 --> 01:41:19,711
Just trying to drag this country into
another world in which it does not belong.
1203
01:41:22,767 --> 01:41:27,145
Actually it's the second film that
you've made that ends with children.
1204
01:41:27,272 --> 01:41:29,941
- Sid and Nancy does too.
- That's right.
1205
01:41:30,066 --> 01:41:33,934
But Sid and Nancy is bogus.
This is actually authentic
1206
01:41:34,070 --> 01:41:37,357
I don't believe anything
in Sid and Nancy anymore.
1207
01:41:37,490 --> 01:41:41,619
But I think that this is a very truthful
film and I'm very proud of this one.
1208
01:41:42,704 --> 01:41:46,489
And the closing song is being sung
by Tito Larriva
1209
01:41:47,792 --> 01:41:51,577
chicano rocker from The Plugz
and Los Cruzados.
1210
01:41:55,383 --> 01:41:59,085
Well, Alex, I must say
it's quite entertaining doing this.
1211
01:41:59,221 --> 01:42:01,297
It's been very nice. Thank you
1212
01:42:01,431 --> 01:42:05,512
I know you're very busy
producing films,
1213
01:42:05,644 --> 01:42:09,891
and I'm very pleased that you
were able to join us here today.
1214
01:42:10,023 --> 01:42:12,644
Any time.
This is the best film I ever made.
1215
01:42:12,776 --> 01:42:14,484
The best film I made too.
1216
01:42:14,611 --> 01:42:17,446
- Well, congratulations.
- It's a love fest!
1217
01:42:20,367 --> 01:42:23,155
It's the most unified film
that I've done
1218
01:42:23,286 --> 01:42:25,410
I'm very proud of Walker
1219
01:42:25,538 --> 01:42:28,790
in terms of what we pulled off
and the ambition of it,
1220
01:42:28,917 --> 01:42:35,335
but this is the more unified film,
the more completely successful.
1221
01:42:38,009 --> 01:42:42,470
I think it has to do with a lot
of different elements.
1222
01:42:42,597 --> 01:42:45,635
It has a lot to do with the style
and how it was shot
1223
01:42:45,767 --> 01:42:47,843
I think also the style. By that point
1224
01:42:47,978 --> 01:42:51,394
we'd learned enough about films
to establish a style
1225
01:42:51,523 --> 01:42:55,059
which I hadn't done before this
1226
01:42:55,193 --> 01:42:57,399
I'm very pleased about the way
it turned out.
1227
01:42:57,529 --> 01:43:01,610
Also, to end our love fest, I'd like to
congratulate you on the subtitles.
1228
01:43:01,741 --> 01:43:04,743
Because you did
the English subtitles, didn't you?
1229
01:43:04,869 --> 01:43:07,195
That's right.
Even though I change them...
1230
01:43:07,330 --> 01:43:10,948
They change somewhat
but they're very authentic.
1231
01:43:11,084 --> 01:43:14,086
They're very close
to the original language.
1232
01:43:14,212 --> 01:43:18,459
If possible, if the author is bilingual,
the author should do the subtitles.
1233
01:43:21,761 --> 01:43:24,466
Now that I've seen the end credits
1234
01:43:24,597 --> 01:43:27,931
my heart goes out to goes out
to all these people that helped us.
1235
01:43:28,059 --> 01:43:32,686
Such a great crew. A wonderful crew
and a wonderful experience.
1236
01:43:36,401 --> 01:43:39,485
It's unusual to go and make a film
1237
01:43:39,612 --> 01:43:42,864
with the kind of licence
that we had to make this.
1238
01:43:49,289 --> 01:43:53,833
It gives you the ability
to utilise all your best instincts.
1239
01:43:53,960 --> 01:43:56,333
We were very free,
1240
01:43:56,463 --> 01:43:59,915
and yet, at the same time,
also quite disciplined.
1241
01:44:00,050 --> 01:44:04,427
And also being able to...
1242
01:44:06,639 --> 01:44:10,388
get away from this filmmaking
by committee
1243
01:44:10,518 --> 01:44:14,054
which is a ridiculous enterprise.
1244
01:44:15,148 --> 01:44:17,639
Yeah, this is the thing
I'm happiest with.
1245
01:44:17,776 --> 01:44:21,145
This is the only film I've done
that I wouldn't change anything in
110093
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