Venice Film Festival: Nicolás Giacobone, the Argentine brain of “Bardo”

Most of the images of BardAlejandro González Iñárritu’s film vying for the Golden Lion, and that Sicilian Griselda shot in Mexico, it is due to another Argentine talent. Nicola GiacoboneOscar winner for co-writing the screenplay for Birdmanis back to work with the director of the reborn.

Nicolás has been at the Lido until this Saturday, accompanied by Mariana Genesio Peña. And now that the premiere is over, we talk at the Lido.

-Tell me how the idea for the screenplay for “Bardo” was born: who did it come from, Alejandro called you to think about it together, how did it go?

-The process of Bard It was different from all the scripts I’ve worked on. Alejandro had some images in his head, and in the first meetings he confessed to me that he assumed that those images were surreal reconstructions of conflicts that belonged to his life.

From then on, the weeks spent together taking notes for the script became a mix of personal confession and developing those memories / dreams through the lens of fiction. I feel that the work of the screenwriter in a project as personal as this was to take every piece of that material made of anecdotes and dreams and transform it into scenes that belong organically to the story of Silverio, the protagonist of the film.

-I guess they worked on the script in the middle of a pandemic. Was it with Zoom or did you manage to travel to Mexico?

-Most of the script was written before the pandemic. We met several times in Los Angeles and Mexico. Production was ready to start when the pandemic started and had to be delayed for a year. That extra time helped us keep editing a script that had a complex construction from the start.

friend or companion

– Do you consider Alejandro a friend or is he an excellent collaborator?

-Alejandro is a friend, no doubt. We have known each other for a long time and have collaborated on three projects, and working together has always been very nice, even fun, as any script should be. If there isn’t a game, it’s not worth it. It is true that the script is the only stage in the making of a film where there is no anxiety, where no fortunes are spent every day, and it can be done in pajamas.

-Now yes, the first is over, tell me in your own words what are the problems that “Bardo” faces.

-It is not an easy film to define. The simple and anecdotal answer would be: Bard tells the intimate journey of Silverio Gama, a well-known Mexican journalist who has lived for several years in the United States, a country where he has established himself as a documentary filmmaker, and who, with the excuse of a prestigious award, must return to Mexico, without knowing that this simple visit it would push an existential limit.

But the challenge from the beginning was to tell a story in which both time and space could poetically fracture, and where dreams somehow coexist with the protagonist’s reality.

The film develops themes such as identity, both family and national, success, guilt, both religious and family, the history of Mexico in relation to Mexico today, the relationship between Mexico and the United States, mortality, bonds familiar, without defining them, without the intention of finding truth, but describing them in their confusion. We wanted the film to be a state of mind.

How Griselda arrives

-Griselda has a starring role.

-Griselda plays an essential role in the film and does an amazing job.

-How did Alejandro reach you? Did you have any participation in the elections, in the casting?

-Alejandro was looking for very particular qualities for the character of Lucía, Silverio’s partner, and was struggling to find the right actress. At one point in the casting, he was interested in getting to know Argentine actresses and that’s how he came to Griselda. The only thing I told her was that I had worked with her the last Elvis and that he certainly admired her as an artist. Then she had to earn her part on her own.

-During filming, were you present on the set? Some days? Never?

-I wasn’t on set, because it was in the middle of a pandemic and the protocols were very strict. But I was always close to my cell phone, and if I had any questions, Alejandro would call me.

-Alejandro, do you change things on the fly on the set or are you strict with the original script?

-The idea is always that the director arrives on the first day of shooting with a script with attention to the smallest detail. Then of course there is room for surprise on set, since a film is not shot until it is shot. The script is a step-by-step guide to a work of art that hasn’t been done yet. But in my collaborations I have never found moments in films very far from the original version on paper.

-It seems you have a contract with Netflix: you wrote the script for “Bardo”, that of “Hail” …

No, I don’t have a contract with anyone. It is a coincidence that both films ended up on Netflix.

-Are you writing something?

-I always write something, be it a book or a script, because otherwise the days have no meaning. I don’t really like talking about what I’m writing at the moment, because I still don’t know if it will end well, or if it will end completely. I’ve already written a couple of projects to be produced in the US, and one for Argentina, of which the only thing I can say is that it’s a musical film. This year I also published a novel in Spain, Boom, boom, boomwhich will be released in Argentina next year.