Director Rodrigo García Barcha (Bogotá, 64 years old) repeats with Netflix. After the premiere two years ago Family On that platform the director returns to the streaming service with The folliesa film that delves into human emotions when pushed to the limit. Rodrigo García addresses mental health through six stories of women marked by their own internal demons, but also subjected to the tensions of imprisonment, self-censorship and social and family pressure. The director also repeats with the actress Cassandra Ciangherotti, protagonist of the first of those six stories that unexpectedly cross paths during a rainy day in Mexico City. García talks in this interview about his new film, which will debut on the small screen on November 10th.
Ask. What inspired you to tell this story about mental health in a six-story format?
Answer. Two themes came together: experiences with friends who had bouts of bipolar mania and realizing that despite the illness there was a lot of speed, a lot of intelligence, a lot of creativity, a lot of charisma and a sense of humor. I was interested in this and then I was also interested in intelligent, well-rounded people, with high professional performance, who can lose their sanity and have attacks of madness, not literally medical like that of Renata (played by Ciangherotti), but explosions of lack of control.
Q. How did you prepare to recreate these types of stories?
R. I have had experiences, because I have friends who have gone through all this. I saw them vividly and directly. Then I did the usual research: watching interviews, documentaries, reading books and consulting psychiatrists, who read the script, who saw the cuts. Then, of course, Cassandra’s performance, which is truly exceptional in my opinion, and which reaches that space of bipolar mania, which can be not only funny, but also funny behavior, but without seeming like we’re trivializing the illness.
Q. Do you think the topic of mental health is still a taboo in cinema?
R. I think it’s less of a taboo. We have moved on from times when we almost didn’t talk about it, or we talked about it with shame; both about your own mental health and about illnesses a family member might have. Also of being afraid that the children would take it. We have moved from denial to more open management, because they are illnesses and should not be a cause for shame.
Q. Could this film be a wake-up call for further discussions on this topic?
R. The truth is, I don’t know. As a director, perhaps in a privileged and superficial way, I only care that the film is not just entertaining, but that people feel that it reflects life, that they can identify with what they see, that the film feels human. Now, if by chance it can also help to understand that a sick person like Renata is a person just like you, it will also be very welcome.
Q. Why did you decide to focus the story on the lives of these six women?
R. I like not only short stories that start with a problem and move very quickly in 20, 25 minutes to create a situation, a dramatic or emotional outcome. I really like the short format and I also like the overall film, in which a sort of interweaving of multiple lives takes place, which when it works gives you a feeling of great richness and of many lives lived.
Q. Was it difficult to ensure that aesthetic and emotional coherence in weaving together these stories?
R. It’s always a concern, there’s that risk when you make a film with multiple stories that there’s always one you like more than others, that there’s always a superior one, that there’s always an ugly duckling. Then also that the short films come together and form a film, that is, that you feel that everything is part of a unity and not that you are watching a short film festival one evening.
Q. Mexico City is the other main protagonist of this story. What led you to develop the film in the big city?
R. I worked for years outside of Mexico and my previous film, Familyit represented the return to Mexico and I really felt very at home, very connected to the culture, not only of the work, but of the place, of the actors, of the technicians. Then I longed for it Family, that we shot it in the Valle de Guadalupe, to shoot a film in Mexico City, which is ultimately the city where I grew up. I really enjoyed connecting with it, a fascinating, tiring, interesting, chaotic city, all at the same time.
Q. He presented the film at the Morelia Film Festival. How was the reception?
R. I think very well. One of the benefits of being the director is that no one comes to you and says, “Your movie sucks.” I was saved from that. Overall, I think it’s been very favorable from what I’ve seen online, from what people have sent me.
Q. The film premieres on Netflix. What does it mean to you that it’s being released on a streaming service?
R. There will be a limited distribution in Mexican cinemas, which is very positive. Of course, all of us filmmakers would like films to be seen more in cinemas, but on the other hand the reach of Netflix is incredible, that is, there are 190 countries. Even with modest success, millions of people will see it. I mean, I’m grateful that so many people see it. And on the other hand, Netflix made the movie. I mean, if they hadn’t made it, maybe I wouldn’t have been able to make it, because these types of ensemble films are difficult to finance. On the other hand, despite it being in less salt than I would like, maybe if I hadn’t done it that way I wouldn’t have been able to shoot it.
Q. Let’s talk about the question of financing. There has been much controversy over the cuts that the culture sector has seen in the last six years. Is this why it’s more complicated to make films in Mexico?
R. It’s difficult to make films anywhere. It’s true that there have been cuts to culture, I suppose due to budget problems, but it’s always very difficult to find the money and even if you find it, distribution is very difficult. In other words, cinema is a constant and global dream. In Mexico there are lean times, busier production times, but making films is very adventurous and economically expensive and risky. I think this is nothing new. I mean, I’ve been talking about the crisis in cinema since I started.
