Viggo talks about Alatriste
Wednesday, March 28th, 2007 12:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
serai.
Here's an interview with Viggo about his latest film, Alatriste, which I recently reviewed.
Viggo Mortensen: "Diego Alatriste es bastante diferente a Aragorn"
Since the interview is in Spanish, I've written a translation below. (My notes are in brackets.)
Viggo Mortensen: Diego Alatriste is pretty different from Aragorn
Tuesday, March 27, 2007 13:37
Alejandro Herrero S., El Mercurio Online
SANTIAGO, CHILE - Viggo Mortensen's passport and biography may say the actor's American, but the years he lived in Argentina left a profound influence on him.
Two examples: Before starting the interview he receives a box of alfajores [South American sugar cookies stuffed with jam] as a gift, and also, a San Lorenzo de Almagro mug (his favorite team since he lived here) is converted to an improvised mate [gourd used to drink the infusion of the eponymous herb], which accopanies him through the long line of interviews he has to do.
His perfect Spanish also gives him away. He never hesitates or tries to find a word to express himself, a talent that served him well in interpreting Captain Diego Alatriste, the lead in the production inspired by the books of Arturo Perez Reverte, which premiere brought him to Chile.
Mortensen assures us that he doesn't feel any special predilection for this kind of character, like Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings: epic loners of few words. "I don't know, what you're interested in doing is one thing, and what you're offered is another. Besides, I think Diego Alatriste, apart from being a guy who uses a sword, is pretty different. One doesn't have much to do with the other."
This actor combines his passion for dramatic arts with his interest in literature (he has a publishing house in the U.S.) and painting; that's why he says he was familiar with Perez Reverte's work before he was offered the film script. "But I hadn't read the books about Captain Alatriste, and I read them right away - the five that were then in print - and I realized that Agustin (Diaz Yanez, the director) had done a good job adapting them."
And now he has a memory that many of the character's fans will envy: "I have the great honor of having the (Alatriste) books signed by Reverte."
Cutting Words
The actor's artistic side hasn't been the only way in which he stands out; he's also done so in his opinions about the war, Bush, or things he considers injustices. Like when he visited the mother of a soldier who died in Iraq, who camped outside the American president's ranch.
But he says the elements of social and political criticism which can be found in the Spanish soldier's adventures didn't matter when he took the role: "I pay attention, and sometimes I say things, maybe it's a better idea to shut up and just do the job. But sometimes you see things that are obvious, that don't get publicity, or times when those in power lie, as governments always do, because it's part of their survival. But that wasn't my motivation for doing the film."
"I took the script because I liked it and because it seemed to me that the era had not been explored well, outside of the academic world and outside of Spanish-speaking countries," he adds.
At yesterday's press conference, a few hours after arriving, he spoke several times about the script and about how many bad scripts he gets, but he's resigned to it.
"It's the same old thing, and besides, it's subjective. I can read a script and think it's good, but you might read it and not like it at all; it's a very subjective thing. I'd say that those who work in film or read scripts would agree that the majority of what's written, although it's done with the best intentions in the world, isn't well done. There are few good scripts, and it's always been so.
"Writing a good script is an art. Not everybody can do it, because when it's well done it looks easy, and it isn't," he adds.
Mortensen's Mafia
His next projects coming up: "I just finished working with (David) Cronenberg, on a film that's coming out in the fall (Eastern Promises), with Naomi Watts, that's about the Russian Mafia in London. Also, at the end of the year I starred in a western directed by Ed Harris."
He doesn't close off the possibility of trying new directions, either, like a comedy or historical romance: "If there's an opportunity, I choose with an eye towards what's out there, what's I'm being offered, what I might find. If we're lucky, you might see me in one some time."
Here's an interview with Viggo about his latest film, Alatriste, which I recently reviewed.
Viggo Mortensen: "Diego Alatriste es bastante diferente a Aragorn"
Since the interview is in Spanish, I've written a translation below. (My notes are in brackets.)
Viggo Mortensen: Diego Alatriste is pretty different from Aragorn
Tuesday, March 27, 2007 13:37
Alejandro Herrero S., El Mercurio Online
SANTIAGO, CHILE - Viggo Mortensen's passport and biography may say the actor's American, but the years he lived in Argentina left a profound influence on him.
Two examples: Before starting the interview he receives a box of alfajores [South American sugar cookies stuffed with jam] as a gift, and also, a San Lorenzo de Almagro mug (his favorite team since he lived here) is converted to an improvised mate [gourd used to drink the infusion of the eponymous herb], which accopanies him through the long line of interviews he has to do.
His perfect Spanish also gives him away. He never hesitates or tries to find a word to express himself, a talent that served him well in interpreting Captain Diego Alatriste, the lead in the production inspired by the books of Arturo Perez Reverte, which premiere brought him to Chile.
Mortensen assures us that he doesn't feel any special predilection for this kind of character, like Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings: epic loners of few words. "I don't know, what you're interested in doing is one thing, and what you're offered is another. Besides, I think Diego Alatriste, apart from being a guy who uses a sword, is pretty different. One doesn't have much to do with the other."
This actor combines his passion for dramatic arts with his interest in literature (he has a publishing house in the U.S.) and painting; that's why he says he was familiar with Perez Reverte's work before he was offered the film script. "But I hadn't read the books about Captain Alatriste, and I read them right away - the five that were then in print - and I realized that Agustin (Diaz Yanez, the director) had done a good job adapting them."
And now he has a memory that many of the character's fans will envy: "I have the great honor of having the (Alatriste) books signed by Reverte."
Cutting Words
The actor's artistic side hasn't been the only way in which he stands out; he's also done so in his opinions about the war, Bush, or things he considers injustices. Like when he visited the mother of a soldier who died in Iraq, who camped outside the American president's ranch.
But he says the elements of social and political criticism which can be found in the Spanish soldier's adventures didn't matter when he took the role: "I pay attention, and sometimes I say things, maybe it's a better idea to shut up and just do the job. But sometimes you see things that are obvious, that don't get publicity, or times when those in power lie, as governments always do, because it's part of their survival. But that wasn't my motivation for doing the film."
"I took the script because I liked it and because it seemed to me that the era had not been explored well, outside of the academic world and outside of Spanish-speaking countries," he adds.
At yesterday's press conference, a few hours after arriving, he spoke several times about the script and about how many bad scripts he gets, but he's resigned to it.
"It's the same old thing, and besides, it's subjective. I can read a script and think it's good, but you might read it and not like it at all; it's a very subjective thing. I'd say that those who work in film or read scripts would agree that the majority of what's written, although it's done with the best intentions in the world, isn't well done. There are few good scripts, and it's always been so.
"Writing a good script is an art. Not everybody can do it, because when it's well done it looks easy, and it isn't," he adds.
Mortensen's Mafia
His next projects coming up: "I just finished working with (David) Cronenberg, on a film that's coming out in the fall (Eastern Promises), with Naomi Watts, that's about the Russian Mafia in London. Also, at the end of the year I starred in a western directed by Ed Harris."
He doesn't close off the possibility of trying new directions, either, like a comedy or historical romance: "If there's an opportunity, I choose with an eye towards what's out there, what's I'm being offered, what I might find. If we're lucky, you might see me in one some time."
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Thanks for the translation!
Date: Thursday, March 29th, 2007 03:45 am (UTC)Looking forward to Eastern Promises, too...
no subject
Date: Thursday, March 29th, 2007 05:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Friday, March 30th, 2007 04:01 am (UTC)