LFF - Gael García Bernal discusees 'The King'

The Mexican superstar talks about his career and his role in the brilliant gothic thriller.

Oct 31 2005

Friday was a star-studded day at the LFF. Not only did Steve Buscemi attend a screening of his new film 'Lonesome Jim', but Claire Danes was also in town to present 'Shopgirl', while director James Marsh was on hand to answer questions at the screening of his forthcoming flick 'The King'.

Time Out attended the latter, a beautifully crafted thriller that follows the mysterious Elvis Sandow (Gael García Bernal) on his journey home following an honourable discharge from the navy.

The trouble is, 'home' for Sandow is Corpus Christi, Texas, where his long lost father is a happily married Pastor (William Hurt) who wants nothing to do with Elvis - a painful reminder of his sinful past.

As Elvis's true intentions are slowly revealed, 'The King' contrasts stunning scenes of Texas beauty with heart-stopping moments of violence and brutality, producing a spellbinding pot-boiler in the great American gothic tradition.

And while at times it feels a little like a David Gordon Green version of 'Cape Fear', the result is nevertheless a fine feature debut from British documentary maker Marsh.

The director and his co-writer Milo Addica then gave a hugely entertaining Q&A in which they revealed that the project started with the location, long before a single word of the script was written.

They also discussed their efforts to avoid racial stereotyping in the film, and their apprehension at how Middle America will receive a feature that deals with themes of faith, religion and redemption in such controversial and provocative ways.

Sunday then saw Gael García Bernal giving his two cents at the Times Screen Talk, an event that featured a disproportionately high number of young girls in the audience.

As likeable a presence in the flesh as he is on the screen, Bernal discussed his career from its early beginnings (playing baby Jesus when he was three), through stage and TV work in Mexico (much of which he did to meet girls) and then onto his amazing performances in the likes of 'Amores Perros', 'Bad Education' and 'The Motorcycle Diaries'.

He also spoke briefly of his work in Michel Gondry's forthcoming 'The Science of Sleep', a film about a man who confuses his dreams for reality, that Bernal claims will be an 'Apocalypse Now' of the mind.

And for his grand finale he told several graphic stories about the sex scenes in 'Y tu mamá también', all of which were extremely amusing but unfortunately unprintable on a family site like this.

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