‘Babel” screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga didn’t slide into the director’s chair in order to protect his scripts.
He just considers writing a lonely profession.
“[Directing] is a chance to collaborate with people on a common goal. That’s always appealing,” the Mexican writer/director tells WWTW.
“It’s not about having more control of the material. Being on the set – it’s out of control, chaotic,” he says with a laugh.
Arriaga’s debut as a film director featured a pair of Oscar-winning beauties in a sobering tale of loss and redemption.
“The Burning Plain,” out now on DVD and Blu-ray, stars Charlize Theron and Kim Basinger as women trying to come to grips with the fallout of infidelity. The film is told via the fractured linear style Arriaga perfected in films like “Babel” and “21 Grams.”
He makes no apologies for the approach.
“I think every one of the stories I tell has a different structure. You cannot tell every story the same way,” he says, while acknowledging it’s “inevitable” that an artist might repeat himself at some point.
Arriaga adds that when we tell stories to each other we often “roll back and forth in time. It’s a more natural way,” of storytelling, he says.
“Plain” co-star Theron lends her gravitas to the role of Sylvia, a sophisticated restaurant manager whose grace disguises her willingness to keep her past buried. The Oscar winner also served as a producer on the film.
“She has a lot of knowledge of cinema and human experience. She was there for me in many moments. I could pick up the phone and call her,” he says. “The film owes a lot to Charlize.”
“Plain” features some deeply emotional sequences, but Arriaga found he didn’t have to create a punishing environment to wring the right performances out of his cast.
“I said to Charlize, how are we gonna explain to the press that we’re making this dark film but having so much fun on the set?” he asks.
The writer/director also pays tribute to some unorthodox sources regarding his inspiration for the film’s vistas. It’s gorgeous to behold, particularly in the Blu-ray format. He drew inspiration from painters like Edward Hopper and has nothing but praise for the two cinematographers on the film – Oscar winners Robert Elswit and John Toll.
“The Burning Plain” struggled to find an audience during its theatrical release late last year. But it got a boost when the film became available on Video on Demand services just before it officially hit theaters.
“Anyway you can bring audiences to see the film is welcome,” he says, adding he predicts more independent films will go this route to increase exposure.
Arriaga didn’t have any official training in directing, but it’s clear he’s eager to jump behind the camera soon. He has a variety of projects in the works and loved his time on the set of “Plain.”
“How can directors complain about something that’s so enjoyable?” he asks. “It’s having all these people being around you, telling you if you made a mistake or you’re getting it right. It’s very appealing.”
(Photo: Top right – Screenwriter turned director Guillermo Arriaga/bottom right, Charlize Theron stars in “The Burning Plain.”)
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