Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Familiar Theme: "The Power of Money Has Increased in Recent Years", Costa-Gavras Says

1/21/2015

MEXICO CITY – Greek-born French director Costa-Gavras said during an appearance in Mexico City that the role money plays in society has shot up in recent decades and has changed the nature of political systems.

Money “completely changes people, not to mention politicians, who no longer deal with social issues but are chiefly, and sometimes only, concerned about the economy,” Costa-Gavras said during the inauguration Monday of the film cycle being projected in his honor at the Cineteca Nacional – Mexico’s national film archives – until Jan. 30.

For some time now the power of money has occupied a prominent place in our society, but that has increased “over the past 30 to 35 years,” the director said.

Costa-Gavras gave an introduction to “Le Capital,” his most recent feature film that premiered in 2012.

Starring Gad Elmaleh, a famous comedian in France, “Le Capital” signified a big switch for the actor to drama, a work that Costa-Gavras described as “very interesting” for both.

“The leading character in the film is an ordinary man who gets involved in the money system and forgets everything else,” the veteran director said of this story of greed, deception and the lust for power in the world of international finance.

Costa-Gavras said he has a “very close relationship with Mexico,” the country where he shot “Missing” in 1982, a movie that won him the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and an Oscar for Best Writing Adapted Screenplay.

Last Saturday the director received his first Cineteca Nacional Medal in honor of “his celebrated filmography” and “his contributions to moviemaking discipline.”

Alejandro Pelayo, general director of the Cineteca Nacional, praised the “political concerns” that Costa-Gavras has developed in his work, citing as an example the mythical 1969 feature film “Z,” which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

Both “Z” and “Missing” are included in the program of the Costa-Gavras Cycle, as are “L’aevu” (“The Confession”), “Etat de Siege” (“State of Siege”) and “Le Couperet” (“The Ax”).


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