Director of “Wild Tales” returns after 9 years: Damián Szifron talks about “Misanthrope” and his entry into Hollywood

After facing three years of obstacles in the complex Hollywood film industry, the acclaimed director of “Wild Tales” (2014), Damian Szifronreturns to the international stage with his new film, “El Misántropo”, a film that immerses himself in a critical vision of the cultural problems in the United States and that will be available from this Thursday the 29th in all cinemas nationwide.

How does Damián Szifron manage to capture a culture that is not his own? That was the challenge of the Argentine director, who did not hesitate to address sensitive issues such as mass shootings to contextualize the film today, incorporating small narrative games similar to his previous works.

Although Szifron has established himself in the film industry with his acclaimed film “Wild Tales”, his experience in Hollywood began abruptly with the project “A Six Billion Dollar Man”, from which he parted ways due to creative differences. “I have some support in Argentina that I did not necessarily have in the United States”, comments the director, who in this new film had greater control over the final result. “It is a film that, except for the title in English, I defend from beginning to end and that reflects my vision. I had to fight tirelessly to achieve it”, he adds.

The story takes place in the city of Baltimore where a series of murders rock New Year’s Eve. Veteran regional FBI agent Geoffrey Lammark (Ben Mendelsohn) teams up with rookie agent Eleanor Falco (Shailene Woodley) to take on the challenge of finding out who is behind the mass shootings. However, his biggest obstacle will not be the external enemy, but his own allies within the institution. “Within the plot that I am narrating, I show the evil that we persecute, but also the evil that is found within the same institution”, comments the director in an interview with El Comercio.

the other killer

Although the film maintains the structure of the game of cat and mouse, like iconic films like “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991), Szifron moves away from the typical serial killer as antagonist and replaces him with a reclusive and antisocial character. it works differently. “The crimes that we used to see in the 1970s and 1980s have evolved, now we’re seeing these horrifying mass murders,” he adds.

For his part, Dean (Ralph Ineson) is the antagonist who becomes a victim of a society that, through his parents, led him to withdraw from society and to withdraw into antisocial thoughts that are reflected in the events that trigger the plot. of the movie. He is no longer a flamboyant and disturbed Buffalo Bill, but a quiet man who finds no other solution than to do evil to solve problems that he never could or could not properly address.

In addition to addressing crimes, the director also addresses issues such as racism, xenophobia, corruption, and abuse of authority present in American culture, giving the characters greater depth. Avoiding the simplification of good and bad, Szifron portrays the main characters in a gray area, where their personal problems lead them to make increasingly serious mistakes, blurring the boundaries between them.

It is these decisions that finally close the arc of each of the characters, although not necessarily as one would expect. The film finds surprising moments, but the color palette, which effectively reflects the winter setting, fails to create impact at key moments in the narrative where it is required.

The film is thought-provoking, though at times it becomes discursive and fails to keep the viewer’s interest in the leading lady, who is often overshadowed by supporting characters like Lammark (Ben Mendelsohn). On the other hand, the decision to address various issues of a social nature is appropriate for the director, since he seeks to cover a lot without falling into reductionism. “If I could sum up the film in one sentence or word, then it wouldn’t be necessary”, the director emphasizes.