Wednesday, May 07, 2014

The Auteurs #32: Carlos Reygadas




One of the key filmmakers to emerge in the Nuevo Cine Mexicano movement of the 1990s and early 2000s, Carlos Reygadas is among the number of filmmakers who brought a new light to the world of Mexico. Unlike his peers in Alfonso Cuaron, Guillermo del Toro, and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu whose films have garnered a wider audience critically and commercially. Reygadas’ films tend to veer towards more abstract and cerebral themes of alienation and spirituality as he also focuses on individuals and character who are outsiders in his native Mexico. Especially as he infuses a more European influence in his stories that makes him standout from his fellow Mexican filmmakers. Particularly as his films would have polarizing opinions from audiences and critics as he has no interest in making films for commercial reasons but rather for personal reasons.

Born on October 10, 1971 in Mexico City, Mexico, Reygadas came from a different background that was more upper-class as it would later allow him to attend the prestigious Mount St. Mary’s College in Derbyshire in Britain. During his time as a student at the university where he was studying law, Reygadas discovered the world of European cinema through such diverse filmmakers as Andrei Tarkovsky, Robert Bresson, and Michelangelo Antonioni. These three filmmakers would influence the ideas that Reygadas would have in the world of film though he would still have time to study law. While working as a lawyer in London as part of the United Nations for armed conflicts, Reygadas also sought out his interest in the world of cinema as it began with a 1999 short called Prisioneros that was partially funded by his work in Belgium as it would be one of a few shorts he would submit to the Rotterdam Film Festival.

More can be read here at Cinema Axis.

© thevoid99 2014

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