Angelina Jolie & Salma Hayek on Finding Transformation Through Conflict in 'Without Blood' | Variety Studio at TIFF 2024 - video Dailymotion

Variety

Writer/Director Angelina Jolie, along with actors Salma Hayek & Demián Bichir discuss their film 'Without Blood' at the Variety Studio at TIFF.

Transcript

00:00I think conflict tends to bring out the absolutely the worst in our behavior towards each other

00:07and often the best when we, you know, those who fight against or rise above.

00:12And so it's, you know, a lot of, as artists, a lot of our work is the study of what it is to be human.

00:19So these extremes of the human condition are what we're trying to understand.

00:30Angelina, when you decided to cast Salma and Damian, what was your pitch to each of them?

00:38This is from a book, right?

00:40So this is a beautiful piece of writing originally from Barrico.

00:44So I think they were aware of that and then the script.

00:48And so I kind of, it's not a pressure from me to them about doing a film

00:52as much as it's seeing if they connect to the material.

00:55And also you were at the famed studios in Rome for this.

01:01Did you feel the cinematic ghosts of past cinema when you were?

01:07Oh, sure. I think we all just felt so, you know, it's fun.

01:12At the end of the day, we're all artists and creators and to be in a place where the greats,

01:18the legends and the greats have, you know, have made things and thinking of Fellini

01:22and talking about, you know, the history of Italian cinema was just very exciting.

01:27It was wonderful.

01:29I just had a flashback from she was designing my different looks, my different wardrobes.

01:35And we were not just on the set but in the, you know, in the back part.

01:41And, you know, they have all these clothes from that time and they were pulling from there.

01:48I very vividly remember this moment in the Cinecittà where we were

01:54because it's also period clothes and it was very exciting.

01:59Four of your five films have covered war to some degree and different wars.

02:05Why is this backdrop such an important way to tell a story for you?

02:13Well, I think conflict tends to bring out absolutely the worst in our behavior towards each other

02:22and often the best when we, you know, those who fight against or rise above.

02:26And so it's, you know, a lot of, as artists, a lot of our work is a study of what it is to be human.

02:33So these extremes of the human condition are what we're trying to understand sometimes

02:40and are drawn to and certainly I'm somebody who, as I've traveled and done other work in the field,

02:46I've always questioned why and how.

02:49And this film in particular, I think, questions, well, doesn't question,

02:54it sits with the reality of post-conflict and how it lives with us.

03:00And so it's not a very easy film to sit with intentionally in many ways.

03:07So I don't know if that answers your question.

03:10It does.

03:11Where do you see, would either of you like to talk about why you chose this?

03:22This material?

03:23Yes.

03:24I was just lucky to be chosen.

03:26I was just lucky to be invited to this beautiful piece of work, piece of art.

03:33I was lucky to find this beautiful character.

03:35That's pretty much what you're looking for as an actor, you know, the human experience and a powerful material,

03:43a great story, great peers, teammates.

03:50So you don't usually find that together in the same package.

03:55So I was just lucky to be invited to it.

03:58And when you are living in this fictitious world or based on a book,

04:03do you draw modern-day parallels as you're interpreting your roles or as the director, Angelina?

04:12Absolutely.

04:13What surprised me about the material is that at the beginning, I was afraid to play these parts.

04:23I was not immediately jumping in it because she suffers so much, my character,

04:31and I had to go there and suffer for the entire time of the shooting.

04:37And frankly, I didn't even know if...

04:42It's such a big challenge because there's no way you can hide in this one.

04:49If you're not there, the way she was going to do it and was going to show it,

04:55if you're not there for one friction of a second, that camera was going to get it,

05:01just because of the nature of the film.

05:04But you cannot expel the pain.

05:08You have to keep it boiling, boiling, boiling for hours, for days, for weeks.

05:16And so I was terrified and I didn't want to do it.

05:22And the more we talked about it, in her guidance...

05:28At the beginning, it was a woman that suffered so much that was so far away.

05:33I started seeing myself, my own traumas,

05:37the troubles of people that I know that are close to me

05:41in this character that was so foreign at the beginning and where I didn't want to go.

05:46And I started realizing, what do you mean you don't want to go?

05:49You've always been there.

05:51And I started seeing how it connected to so many women.

05:56And so many, even if you're not post-war, we've all been tossed aside

06:02and not seen or abused in one way or another.

06:09And so what I loved about this woman, in particular,

06:15is that it was not just about finding the strength to have her voice,

06:21but having the need to sit across the other side of the conflict

06:29and listen because she wants to understand.

06:33And that is something that is so important today.

06:38So it seems like a period piece.

06:42The more you actually listen, because it demands that from the audience,

06:47the more you realize, in so many ways, it always is about you.

06:52About today.

06:55And what leaves behind, too.

06:57Every war leaves so many scars and so many...

07:00It changes you forever.

07:02And we go through different wars, different types of war in life.

07:09And you're never the same after that.

07:11And that's a big similarity that I found

07:16because I will never be the same actor after shooting this film.

07:20And the characters in the film will be changed forever.

07:25There will be different people, too, after the war.

07:28And this encounter after the war.

07:30It's about listening and understanding each other that makes you grow.

07:34It's about the aftermath of the moments that create the trauma.

07:39And how to cope, how you deal, how it's not black and white.

07:44And how important it is to see what you did to someone else.

07:51Acknowledge the pain.

07:52Acknowledge the pain of someone else.

07:54And for you to demand that it's acknowledged.

07:56But also to listen to where that person that created the pain

08:03or was part of that moment in your life,

08:07who that human really is and why.

08:12Revenge is also a very important theme in this film.

08:18Do you see war as always being followed by revenge?

08:25What is the line?

08:26The line is, a character says a line that says we kill.

08:33When we kill, we kill because it seems to us at that moment that revenge

08:40is the only pill to calm the pain.

08:46Something like that, you know?

08:48It's the only drug that can heal you for the pain.

08:52At some point, you feel that by killing back,

08:55that's the only drug that's going to heal you.

08:58But does it free you or does it create more ghosts?

09:03And this is also such an interesting question.

09:08Angelina, what was the most challenging scene or sequence for you

09:13to film in this movie?

09:17I think there was the day that we all know was one of the final days.

09:24It was that moment.

09:26There's something that has to happen towards the end

09:30that has to be beyond the challenging each other

09:34and listening to each other.

09:36It has to actually have a transformation.

09:39It has to have an understanding, and there wasn't a way to act it,

09:43and there wasn't a way to direct it.

09:45It was something that everybody,

09:49and especially these two extraordinary actors,

09:53had to come to the set very, very human,

09:56and we all had to talk about what it was.

09:58After thinking about that pain and thinking about that desire for revenge

10:02and thinking about all that hurt and listening to the other side,

10:05can you then let it kind of wash over you,

10:09and can you really have heard, and can you let it transform you?

10:13There was that day that that had to be performed and understood.

10:17How do you heal?

10:21I think that was the hardest day,

10:23because it was up to something else to say,

10:28could we all just be open today and see if something comes through

10:31that feels like we found.

10:34Can we find it?

10:36The release.

10:38Can we read?

10:39Even if there's no resolution,

10:41but at least some release and transformation,

10:43to see the transformation.

10:45It's very interesting that you say that.

10:47We didn't know how it was going to be.

10:50What you did was create the perfect atmosphere

10:54to let us get to that place.

10:57It was like going into Mount Everest for the first time

11:02without knowing what you will encounter.

11:05So what Angelina did was equip us really nicely and fully

11:09with the right footwear and warm jackets and everything

11:13for you to go up there and be free.

11:18Which one of you said to me, I don't know,

11:22that this was the Olympics of acting?

11:25Because every day was such a challenge.

11:27It was so hard for them.

11:30But as an artist, I was so excited watching them work.

11:33It was my own, selfishly, I love great acting.

11:36Selfishly, I love to watch it.

11:38I love, as an audience, I love to feel truth on screen.

11:43I love to connect and I love to be able to leave something

11:46on someone's face and not have to cut away

11:48and that be enough, finally.

11:51And it requires, not for me,

11:54it requires them to bring and trust and be open.

11:59And so this film, because of the very unusual construction,

12:03had to lead to something that would open up,

12:09something that, but that was, you know,

12:12I don't know if you've seen the film,

12:14but it's that moment that it's towards the end

12:16that just the way they look at each other differently

12:19and the way he reacts and she reacts

12:22and that final, those final moments at the table

12:25was the hardest.

12:29Thank you very much.

Angelina Jolie & Salma Hayek on Finding Transformation Through Conflict in 'Without Blood' | Variety Studio at TIFF 2024

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