Brazilian director Gabriel Mascaro on his dystopian drama ‘The Blue Trail’

0:12Hello and welcome to the Monaco Weekly. I'm Fernando Augusto Pacheco, and on today's show, I speak with film director Gabriel Mascaro, director of The Blue Trail, a stunning dystopian and life-affirming film telling the story of Teresa, a 77-year-old woman who refuses to comply with the Brazilian government who ordered the elderly to move to remote housing colonies to maximize economic productivity. It's been a hit in its home country and won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize in the Berlin Film Festival this year. Let's hear it from Gabriel.

1:06Gabriel Mascaro, from a director of the portrayal, is a fantastic film. Pleasure to talk to you. I'm a big fan of your work. First of all, tell us about the idea. It's a very original concept. I haven't seen a film like this before, which I guess is good news. But tell us, what was the beginning of The Blue Trail for you? The idea was to investigate elderly characters in cinema. It's quite rare to see elderly people, protagonists, films. I realized that when I started to investigate, in general, a few movies that have elderly characters, they normally play about the conflicts are normally centered in the idea of dealing with the death.

1:47Some illness, some characters that are saying goodbye to life. Other films are about nostalgia. Elderly people connected to the past as a depresary of past. And I wanted to do something really different. I want to look at the present and see how this female elderly could pulsate in the present. So it's a movie really passionate about the present and how this elderly is able to sign new meaning for her life. In many ways, like some of your other films as well, it feels to me that it does deal with pleasure, with desire as well in that sense, right? It's enjoyment of life. Would you say so? Yes, the movie was part somehow in my grandmother's.

2:36She started painting when she was eight years old, just after my grandpa died, passed away. So it was very inspired to see her create a new meaning for her life in the late 80s. So the seed of the project came from her when I could see this flourishment of life. So I was very enchanted by this feeling. So it started to create this allegory This movie about this elderly woman called Teresa That worked in the journey of rivers in the Amazonia The movie is about freedom And said it's not too late to find a meaning in life Do you think it can also be a little bit political as well About the way we treat the older generation as well?

3:24Would you say so? Yes, it's been so special to see how the movie is so universal. Even if it's a Brazilian movie, very Brazilian, it's set in Amazonia. There is this kind of dystopia and aliquery that really connects with different audiences. And I don't think that everyone has another parent or knows someone that's becoming old. or we know that we'll be old soon. So the movie is always about something that we know about us. It gave me hope, by the way. The good thing is the movie is almost like a dystopia, but I do think it's a movie, a very utopic movie. The movie is about hope, about this elderly female woman that finds a new friend, other woman, even older than her, and created this beautiful connection and very utopian way, you know.

4:28And it's beautifully set. I mean, the film looks beautiful. So tell us, was it really in the Amazon? So you filmed the whole thing in the Amazon? Yes, the whole film was shot in the Amazon region in two cities, basically Manacapuru and No Guairau. It was very special to film there. The state of Brazil. It's Amazonas. Amazonas, okay. Close to Manaus. It was very special. At the same time, we try to avoid being seduced by the beauty of the Amazonia, per se, because we, the movie is about this aging, about this female elderly accepting her age and fighting against the prejudice against her age. So it was beautiful to also sack the Amazonia, but not be seduced by the beauty, you know, to avoid exoticism of the landscape.

5:22It's a movie about this person, about the human being in the Amazon and not about the Amazon in itself. Absolutely, that's a very good point. That's a very good point. That's why when the movie shot in an aspect ratio, more square, not that wide, but more square aspect ratio. And again, talking about the set design, the Peixe Dourado, which is some sort of a gambling place. It looks amazing. amazing as well but you are fascinated by neon and this kind of elements right because i see that in other fields as well yeah it is very special to create this allegory of this gambling in brazilian amazonian context you know you know brazil is facing a huge phenomenon of bets gambling online all the teenagers are very addicted in brazil but uh we try to capture these minds in this mindset and put in the movie through a different lens.

6:19In this case, this gambling place called Peixe Dorado, like golden fish. There is some kind of fish fight, like small, little tiny, betta fish fighting. So our character somehow bets. Connected to the title of the film, but I'm not going to give any spoilers. What about Denise Weinberg? What an amazing actress. When you were making the film, did you have her in mind? How was the casting? Because she is phenomenal. Yes. Actually, I never write screenplay thinking about actors and actresses because I never knew if I would be able to pay what they want. But when I finished the screenplay, I started looking for the casting.

7:02It was very intriguing to see how difficult it was to cast this movie because there is not a lot of elderly actresses in Brazil that would be feasible to make this movie because a lot of them are upper middle class the first generation of actors are upper middle class wide very wide and they had to to do procedures the pressure procedures to keep hiding their their ages because the the tv mainstream pressure is huge against the human the female bodies so i i i finally could find this amazing actress called the native viber she's for the theater in Brazil. It was so special and she's very confident about her aging, about her wrinkles.

7:49It was special to see her telling me that, Gabriel, my wrinkles are my tools. It's my tools of expression. It was so special to see her also defending the movie and generating different kind of like perception about how women can be older. without having to hide.

8:21And on the other hand, you have also Rodrigo Santoro, which many Brazilians know as this massive pop star, very handsome actor. But he plays a very raw character as well. He's a really interesting character that in the end was quite helpful for her as well. It is very special to have Rodrigo Santoro on board of the movie. He's a very nice actor and he was very excited to do this movie. Had never been to Amazon region before and when I invited him he was so, so happy. And he's a really, really special actor. I really learned from him a lot. It was very surprising to see and create this characterization where you don't know if you see it.

9:06Rodrigo Santoro? So, he's also very, he knows very well the whole, like, it's Rodrigo Santoro, and he say, Gabriel, I had a suggestion for the movie, in the beginning of my character, I should hide myself, my hair should be in front of me, and the people, people that know my work, and know myself, can discover me along the movie, so when they discover that Rodrigo Santoro is playing that character, it's too late, he's already the character. They're hooked already. Yeah, so it's beautiful because he really cares about small subtle elements of his acting, you know, and it was his suggestion. He starts a movie and hides behind his hair and he really defended the big hair because he wanted to hide himself in the beginning of the character.

9:59So it's very special. I was reading, there was an article from a few days ago saying that the film is actually a success in Brazil or I don't know you might know the numbers better than you but saying one of the biggest art house releases so far in the year how do you feel that reception because you did say the film has this universal theme as well yes it was a special since the beginning of the movie's career we premiered in Berlin Film Fest we had a course we won silver bear the award of grand jewel prize and to us it It was very special to see because Berlin Film Festival is one of the big terrific festivals in the world, like Berlin, Cannes and Venice.

10:38And Berlin is the only one that happens in the big city, like in the metropolis. It's not like Cannes or Venice, like more touristical venues. So our screening had 1 ,500 real audience people in the screening. So it was very special to see the movie connecting already with normal audience. and it was a very special reception. Yes, and it was very special to see the movie happen in Brazil as well. We are happy to screen the movie, win awards in festivals, but of course the best thing for us is when we see the movie being released, being connected to the people, being released in different small cities.

11:24And I'm so happy to see the movie now as the best art house release of the year in Brazil. We have just been released in Germany and Switzerland, and today we are releasing in Italy, a lot of cities. So it's so special to see Brazilian cinema, not only festivals, but really being released everywhere. And the great thing is, especially after the victory of Amstu here, which was an amazing campaign, we have other Brazilian films coming out. it feels to me that is a good moment for Brazilian cinema abroad as well. People are starting to look at it again. I mean, it never went away, but I was just saying there's a focus there at the moment.

12:04Yes, it's very special, of course, because when you have a big movie like I'm Still Here, you generate this attention and sometimes you perceive how different countries have a lot of Brazilian communities as well. There are demands in Brazilian culture, different.

12:24We were sold out in the BFI on the FinFest, so only two days after they opened the ticket for sale. So it was only two days and all the screens were sold out. So it's special to see Brazilian cinema happening everywhere. I hope it's not only a short recognizment period, but of course I hope it can last longer. Yes, I'm so happy to be part of this and very happy that my movie is helping to consolidate the Brazilian cinema after I'm still here and I'm happy also that we are having other movies like The Secret Agent that also are coming very soon, so I'm happy to be part of this history. And I'm happy as a Brazilian as well, so Gabriel, muito obrigado.

13:08Thank you so much for your welcome to us. Muito obrigado.

13:13This is a good time of love. You'll see what you've never seen.

13:21Thank you very much, Gabriel. The Blue Trail is out now in Brazil and will be out early next year across Europe. I'm Fernando Augusto Pacheco. The show was edited by Elliot Greenfield. Thank you for listening.