Nothing is foreign to the star (because that is, whether he wants it or not) less conventional and more committed than Hollywood has given in recent decades. Poet, photographer, fan of San Lorenzo de Almagro, propagandist in the world of Catalan traditions and now, finally, film director. ' Fallíng ', his long-awaited debut at the controls, is the excuse chosen by the San Sebastián Festival to surrender to the evidence. Few Donostia Awards so successful and adjusted to reason. In Viggo Mortensen (New York, 1958) they converge from the evidence of one of the greatest ' blockbusters ' that cinema (' The Lord of the Rings' ) has given to its most combative refutation. It was to become world famous in his role as Aragorn and, immediately after,turned his career and filmography into one of the most peculiar, as well as brilliant, artistic and personal investigations of the new screen.
Not so long ago, during the promotion of Peter Farrelly's 'Green Book ', he entertained on American television to explain what the Catalan Christmas tradition of 'fer cagar al tió' consists of . James Corden, the host of the show, couldn't believe it; not so much to the anecdote or custom itself as to Viggo Mortensen stopping with all kinds of eschatological details, and laughing, he devoted himself to debunking any glimpse of what is called 'glamor'. It is so.
House brand, is to start any interview with a statement of principles. If you don't like soccer, perhaps you have chosen the least suitable interviewee. He likes to make it clear and, without forcing him, he loves to point out that his team is also that of the pope. In a conversation with a group of journalists, anyone can alternate Spanish with English in the same way that he questions anyone in Danish with enough knowledge to follow him. And French. He is a cosmopolitan, polyglot, globetrotting type and it would be said, by the somnambulistic cadence of his voice, calm. He has lived in Spain for a long time (he is a partner of the also actress Ariadna Gil) and more than one political comment about Catalonia (he does not hide his affiliation near independence) has earned him the odd whirlwind. But he did his thing. To half voice.
"I have always said that I owe a lot to the Peter Jackson saga. It was she who has allowed me to do everything I have done after ... but, I will not lie, I think Jackson is increasingly interested in special effects. I do not dispute it, but not me. For me, each new film based on Tolkien has less interest than the previous one. Although I am the first to see them, be careful, "he confessed a few years ago. And it is there, in the uncomplicated clarity of what has been said, where it is best and most comfortable. He speaks clearly and is clear that cinema is much more than an industry. And this has been demonstrated since he achieved world fame.
Far from bowing to the whim of a Hollywood that ran to rise to him as one of his own, this interpreter of Danish origin and resident by turns in Argentina, the United States, Denmark itself and now Spain has turned his career since 2003, the year of the 'last ring ', in an investigation of its own. Very own. With David Cronenberg he filmed the trilogy ' A History of Violence', 'Eastern Promises ' and ' A Dangerous Method' , three films built from the most confusing, hurtful and brutal subconscious. In fact, in the last one it was Freud's turn to give life .
'The Highway', under John Hillcoat , made him the bleak image of the immediate future just as bleak imagined by Cormac McCarthy. In ' Jauja ', by the Argentinean Lisandro Alonso, he offered to portray the limits of everything civilized from the borders of the cinema itself. And, again, it is there, at the exact limit of itself and of everything limited, where it is best found. His return to prestigious cinema, the one that is rewarded at festivals, is full of sweet finds like ' Captain Fantastic ' or the aforementioned ' Green Book' . Both are films that work from the conventional sphere, controversial or only political arguments (be it the loss of the consumerist civilization or racism). And in both cases, what matters is commitment . His. To this group should be added the ' camusiana ' ' Far from men ', by David Oelhoffen, where he also dares in French.
The review would be somewhat lame without citing his greatest achievement in Spanish cinema: he was and is Alatriste , the Spanish of the thirds of Flanders of whispering, in the film by Agustín Díaz Yanes. And much earlier, his face wandered through productions as ' Sole Witness' alongside Harrison Ford; 'Trapped by his past' in the company of Al Pacino, or ' Portrait of a Lady ', by Jane Campion. All that and ' Ray Loriga's my brother's pistol , or the impossible remake of' Piscosis ' in ' Psyco ', by Gus Van Sant.
Mortensen says whenever the relevant thing is to build a meaningful filmography. And with that said ... "In every interview I grant for 14 years I end up talking about ' The Lord of the Rings' ... The gift Jackson gave me was incredible. And I am very grateful to him. I learned to work with rags green in the background, imagining fighting with all kinds of virtual creatures. Thanks to him I could later make movies like Alatriste or receive the call from Cronenberg, but ... ". Last pause. "All of the above does not mean that I stop giving my honest opinion ... I prefer to work with actors."
Unbeatable Donostia Award.
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