INTERVIEW: Golden Lion winner ‘From Afar’ is cinematic debut of Venezuelan director
From Afar, which is currently playing the Film Forum in New York City, is an atmospheric and dramatic look into two people who are constantly pulled apart and brought back together. The movie, which was shot entirely in Caracas, Venezuela, is the profound cinematic debut of Lorenzo Vigas. And what a debut it is. From Afar won the prestigious Golden Lion for Best Film at last year’s Venice Film Festival.
In the movie, acclaimed Chilean actor Alfredo Castro (Post Mortem) plays Armando, an older man who makes dental prosthetics. He lives a lonesome life, estranged from his father and not wanting to make any physical connection with friends or partners. Armando is gay, and he tries to have paid sexual encounters with young men from the street. One of these encounters, with Elder (Luis Silva in a powerful debut), turns horribly violent, but what might surprise viewers is that the relationship doesn’t end there. Armando, who prefers to watch people from afar and keep his physical distance, is attracted to the danger and spontaneity of Elder’s life, and the two form an unlikely partnership amidst violence and misunderstanding.
At its heart, From Afar is about fathers and sons, a gay man hiding from his emotions, the yearning for connection beyond everyday life and the realization of how far removed Armando is from everyone and everything in his life.
“I first did a short film that’s called Elephants Never Forget,” Vigas said recently during a phone interview. “I consider that short film the first part of a trilogy about the … father-son relationship. From Afar would be the second, and right now I’m working on the screenplay for the third and last part of the trilogy. So, in a way, that short film started everything.”
From Afar developed in Vigas’ eyes around the Armando character. The director sees this central person as someone who cannot communicate with the world and struggles to have emotional relationships with people.
“I think that it’s a story about two persons with big emotional needs and how those needs bring them together,” he said. “Armando is someone that has been paralyzed and that is unable to move forward, and suddenly this good energy comes to his life, which is Elder. And that gives Armando the possibility of going forward, but is he really capable of going forward? Is he, not willing, but is he really capable? Is he really prepared emotionally to leave things in the past?”
Almost from the beginning of the 90-minute movie, one can tell that secrets are brimming at the surface. One wonders about Armando’s estrangement from his own father. One wonders about Elder’s home life and whether there’s more to this young man’s rough exterior. During the two characters’ first encounter, Elder has a violent outburst that leaves Armando in disarray and bleeding. Although the audience may be surprised that Armando seeks out Elder again, the director had a different thought.
“Maybe he liked it,” Vigas said of the violence Armando endured. “Armando is someone that doesn’t like to be touched and doesn’t like to touch, someone who cannot stand contact, so maybe these brutal hits ignited something in him. Maybe that’s just the reason why he goes to find him for a second time.”
The film has been heralded by audiences, critics and film festivals for a number of reasons. One is Vigas’ unique handling of perspective. Rather than having a series of wide shots and closeups, most of the action in From Afar is told from a far distance, much like Armando sees the world, so there are several vantage points where the camera watches the lead character standing back and watching the streets of Caracas. Armando’s expressionless face offers depth and invites further consideration. Throughout all of the drama — some of it romantic, some of it violent, some of it everyday action — Armando stays calm and removed.
Castro, who is the go-to person for art-house films in South America, carves out a surprisingly layered performance. “Well, for me he [Castro] was the first option in Latin America,” Vigas said. “For me, he’s the best Latin American actor alive. So I did casting in Venezuela … trying to find someone that could play Armando, and I just couldn’t find anyone. So I went for him, trying to see if he would be interested, and he loved the screenplay. He also loved my short film.”
In Vigas’ mind, these two characters offer a stark contrast of life in Venezuela. “It’s a good contrast because it works very well now in a moment in Venezuela where the communication has been cut off,” he said. “So we’re living in a very deep communicational crisis and moral crisis right now in Venezuela because communication between the classes has been cut off. Also [the communication] between the government and the people [has] been cut off, so in a way … it’s like a metaphor of what we’re living right now in Venezuela, someone that cannot have a normal emotional relationship with people. So I didn’t write the screenplay thinking that I wanted to make that political comment or sociological comment. You know, I just wrote a screenplay trying to make an interesting film, but now when I see the film, I think it works also in that level.”
The film also deals with the theme of homophobia and acceptance. Armando might live a quiet life because he’s unable to let others know about his sexuality. Similarly, the encounters with Elder leave this young man in a precarious situation with his mother and friends, who no longer want to see him. “There is a lot of homophobia in Venezuela, especially in poor class neighborhoods like what you see in the film with Elder’s mother throwing him away at home,” Vigas said.
One of the most distinctive aspects of From Afar is its characteristic portrayal of Caracas. The city comes alive with vivid imagery, bustling street scenes and an unmatched vibe for life and love. Seeing the city through Armando’s eyes can be off-putting and distant, but Elder’s life is filled with conversations, liveliness, braggadocio and a group mentality. The young man hangs out near the passing traffic with friends, gets into a violent fight with his girlfriend’s brothers and treks up and down the streets like he owns them. Everyone seems to know Elder; no one seems to know Armando.
When Elder walks around the neighborhood, Caracas comes alive. When Armando walks around the neighborhood, the action is slightly out of focus. “I think that the city is like another character of the film,” Vigas said. “The whole city, it’s like the house of Armando. Armando is in his apartment and prosthetic studio, but also the city it’s like a psychological background for him. But in the city he’s always out of focus, or coming in focus or out of focus. That was an intention. We were trying to separate him from the rest of the people because I think he’s trapped in the past. His emotions are trapped in the past. So he’s physically walking in the street, but emotionally he’s not there. He’s like a ghost walking. So the out of focus was done with that dramatic intention.”
The film has not played in Venezuela yet. The director said there are plans for a premiere in September, and he anticipates there will be controversy. Still, because of its big win at the Venice Film Festival, From Afar is the talk of Caracas. Vigas said the newspaper articles anticipating the movie have created a stir, but the screenings are pushed back until the country can solve its electricity crisis.
“Electricity is cut off at 7 p.m. every night in all of the malls and film theaters,” he said. “The dams are very low. It hasn’t rained, so now it started raining. And we hope I will be able to show the film in September.”
The final product, this 90-minute movie playing at the Film Forum, satisfies Vigas as a director, but he only came to this conclusion after letting the film navigate its own direction.
“It’s not a good way to go into a project trying to really stick to an idea,” he said. “The film is alive, and you have to let it breathe. If you’re not surprised during the process, I think the film won’t sort of surprise anyone. So I have some ideas at the beginning, but I really let the film speak to itself. So I had no idea how the film was going to end up.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Click here for more information on From Afar at the Film Forum.
