Argentinian director Gastón Solnicki finished his Viennese trilogy with Willem Dafoe with “The Souffleur”. But he already developed a “large-scale historical film” on his own grandfather, the chess master born in Polish Miguel Najdorf.
“He was a very unique person and an incredibly charismatic character whose story has not yet been told. His life is one of the big 20sth-Cant the odysses of the century. I was only 18 years old when he died in Marbella, on a poker table, “recalls Solnicki, who would like to shoot him” in the world “.
“He shared moments with all these emblematic characters who admired him, from Kirk Douglas to Perón, from Bobby Fisher to Che Guevara. It is my next project, more ambitious, where the staff, autobiographical, historical and political meets well.”
Solnicki is delighted to return to Buenos Aires, “even if it’s a difficult moment,” he admits. “We live a shameful administration and the closure of the film institute.” But before attacking this, he will be presented as a first “the blower” in Venice, marking his third time at the festival after “Kékszakállú” and “Introduzione Allcuro”.
“Willem has mainly approached me and said,” So can you make a film in two weeks? ” There was also an interesting coincidence.
Working together was “Wild”, admits Solnicki, who threw the star in the role of dedicated Lucius hotel director. After working there for 30 years, he discovers that the building was sold to an Argentinian developer.
“My films really come together in the edition – on the set, so much happens in a very spontaneous way. Willem was very courageous, which impressed me so much – that someone of his talent and experience would always be as ambitious as an actor, ”he says.
“He was so open, but also very rigorous with his time because he has all these other commitments. I wanted to make a more ambitious film, but Willem insisted that I always do what I do – which was impossible, precisely because it was.
“At first, and I like to quote John Cage here, what we were doing was trying to understand what we were doing.”
Lucius does not want to abandon his clearing universe. Soon, he enlisted others to help him save what he considers at home.
“My psychoanalyst, which has recently died, would say that hospitality was the greatest invention of our culture,” said Solnicki. Make a film in a functional hotel turned out to be a challenge.
“It was a structure that protected us, but also gave us a lot of difficulties. It is a piece of history and [architectural] Styles. People see it as a kind of product placement, which we were hired by the hotel, but it was not at all the case, ”he jokes.
“This character, Lucius, tries to preserve something that has already disappeared. It is something very present in this trilogy. All these gestures and rituals disappear, but always palpable – and feastable – in certain places, with Vienna being one of them.”
Solnicki found “a certain darkness” in culture there – he comes from an immigrant Jewish family – but also an incredible tenderness.
“Each time you have an overview, it’s so moving. The character played by Lilly Lindner is a good example of that and Willem was very touched by her. He wanted to work with non-actors. He saw this in my previous films. He told me that we should do something together that none of us could do alone. Which was very generous.”
“I am very happy that we have managed to make a film that I find very personal, but at the same time, much more classic. And with Willem, who brings him so much power. ”
Sollnicki’s trilogy – also including “a little pack of love” – could be over, but it still cares about the city.
“I had been traveling a lot with my family since I was young and you can see me in some photos of the film. Gustav Mahler said that if the world ended, he moved to Vienna because there, everything happens 100 years later, “he notes.
“I am always open to real places and real people, and Vienne was my cinecittà. I could grasp things there that I could not do in other cities. ”
His films are never pre-structured, he insists. “Or above all.”
“Cinema is the place where Intuition weighs much more than a rational logic. During a projection in France, an older woman said to me once: “I didn’t understand much what I just saw, but I enjoyed not understanding it. Understanding can stop emotion.
“The blower”, sold by Magffify, is produced by Little Magnet Films, Wiktora filmy, Primo and KGP Filodktion. He made the start of the teaser here:
