Alejandro González Iñárritu
Birthday: 15 August 1963, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Height: 178 cm
Alejandro González Iñárritu (ih-nyar-ee-too), born August 15th, 1963, is a Mexican film director.González Iñárritu is the first Mexican director to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Di ...Show More
One gets lost easily when he is seeking so many things in this carnival of memories of intense momen Show more
One gets lost easily when he is seeking so many things in this carnival of memories of intense moments and beautiful people. Places so far away, so exotic, cultures that are so different from each other. So many human experiences on an emotional level, on an intellectual and spiritual level. So much intensity, so much beauty... Not only can one get lost, but where do you store all those wonderful things? My heart is heavy with all this beauty and nostalgia of knowing that it will soon be lost forever and never be lived again. Hide
I think that in order to be a film director, one has to be a warrior who shouldn't be defeated by th Show more
I think that in order to be a film director, one has to be a warrior who shouldn't be defeated by the daily onslaught of problems. We are all hanging by threads and are the mercy of various elements, if one fails the whole flight could come crashing down, and like a good warrior I'm not going to break down. Hide
[on the form of Birdman] I had a discussion with Walter Murch, the editor, about whether our life is Show more
[on the form of Birdman] I had a discussion with Walter Murch, the editor, about whether our life is experienced as a handheld (shot), or if it's experienced as Steadicam, the fluidity of it. And I realized that, at 50 years old, our life, everybody's lives, is a continuous Steadicam shot. From the time we open our eyes in the morning, we are navigating our lives without editing. Only when there's urgency are we in hand held mode. Editing time and space comes only when we talk about our life, or the way we remember our life. I wanted to slowly put myself in the continuous experience of somebody else without escaping. Hide
[on shooting all his films chronological] That's the only way I understand the story and the charact Show more
[on shooting all his films chronological] That's the only way I understand the story and the characters, and that's the way I leave the story room to grow and understand it, and make changes to suddenly what is required to do. As filmmakers, sometimes you are god, and sometimes you are a creature of the thing. In a way you have to be humble to hear what's going on and see the transformation ... even when it costs a little more. I'm not investing in visual effects, but emotional effects, and I think actors understand the emotions better when it's chronological. [2015] Hide
Directing non-actors is difficult. Directing actors in a foreign language is even more difficult. Di Show more
Directing non-actors is difficult. Directing actors in a foreign language is even more difficult. Directing non-actors in a language that you yourself don't understand is the craziest thing you can possibly think of. But I would do it again in a minute. Hide
I think everybody now is a celebrity. They want a space in social media. Everybody is looking for va Show more
I think everybody now is a celebrity. They want a space in social media. Everybody is looking for validation, no matter who you are, and I think that's a need of the human condition - to look for affection or recognition or validation. I think just the ways people are getting it is different [in this] self-absorbed society.[2014] Hide
[on Riggan Thompson] If you stretch tragedy, it will always become comedy. That's the comedy that I Show more
[on Riggan Thompson] If you stretch tragedy, it will always become comedy. That's the comedy that I like. And I always thought about Riggan Thomson as a Don Quixote of La Mancha, where humor comes from the disparity between his solemn, furious attempts and ambitions to become a serious artist and the ungovernable reality that is contrary to his wishes. That's basically the story of every human being, including me. It's hard to deal with our mediocrity, I think. Hide
Music helps me, normally, to find the rhythm and the pace of a film. Rhythm is God. I think, without Show more
Music helps me, normally, to find the rhythm and the pace of a film. Rhythm is God. I think, without rhythm, you can't create - there is no art. There is no writing, there is no dancing, there is no music, there is no architecture. The rhythm is the whole thing. The music really helps me to understand the movie. I had a pretty good idea of the rhythm early on - I felt comfortable in that territory. And yes, once you find the rhythm of the film, everything gets easier. Everything flows. Hide
[on The Revenant (2015)'s 9 month shoot in the Canadian wilderness] It was planned this way, to be l Show more
[on The Revenant (2015)'s 9 month shoot in the Canadian wilderness] It was planned this way, to be little-by-little jewel moments; that's the way I designed the production. That was both to create intensity in this moments, as well as the climate conditions. We are shooting in such remote far-away locations that, by the time we arrive and have to return, we have already spent 40% of the day. But those locations are so gorgeous and so powerful, they look like they have never been touched by a human being, and that's what I needed. The light is very reduced here in winter, and we are not shooting with any electrical lighting, just natural light. And every single scene is so difficult - emotionally, technically. Hide
[on The Revenant (2015)] I want to thank first the hero of this film, which is Arnon Milchan, the fi Show more
[on The Revenant (2015)] I want to thank first the hero of this film, which is Arnon Milchan, the financier and producer, who believed in this film, bravely didn't flinch one second when we struggled with tough decisions to make. [winning Golden Globe 2016] Hide
My duty [as a filmmaker] is to make probable the improbable. If I tell you how I did it, I will ruin Show more
My duty [as a filmmaker] is to make probable the improbable. If I tell you how I did it, I will ruin your experience. Hide
[on The Revenant (2015) and budgets] I come from a third-world country, and every [other] film of mi Show more
[on The Revenant (2015) and budgets] I come from a third-world country, and every [other] film of mine has been on budget. [2015] Hide
I have tried to explore different realities in different social classes... At the bottom line , we a Show more
I have tried to explore different realities in different social classes... At the bottom line , we are human beings, and it doesn't matter where you are or which god you believe in or which country you live in. Hide
Your childhood is your nation.
Your childhood is your nation.
...I think there's a time when things that used to satisfy you or you thought were important, you re Show more
...I think there's a time when things that used to satisfy you or you thought were important, you realize are not important. Time is running out, the party lights are blinking, there is no more ice in the bucket. And you begin to realize the party will finish very soon in some way or the other. Hide
[on why he didn't record an audio commentary for 21 Grams (2003)] I don't like them. I feel that if Show more
[on why he didn't record an audio commentary for 21 Grams (2003)] I don't like them. I feel that if you have to explain something, it loses strength. It's like a magician trying to explain his magic, in a way. Those kind of things make me feel like I've lost something special about the film. The film should explain itself. Hide
My cinema is an extension of myself. A sort of life-testimony of my vital experience, with my few vi Show more
My cinema is an extension of myself. A sort of life-testimony of my vital experience, with my few virtues and my numerous limitations. Hide
[on Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)] I think the film dealt with that a lot - Show more
[on Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)] I think the film dealt with that a lot - what is art and what is commerciality, and when you're an artist and when you're a whore. All the time, artists are dealing with that question, especially in film, when there's money involved in the process. That's the tragedy of film, which is an industry and an art and a tool of personal expression, and at the same time a way to entertain the masses. That's a very difficult kind of balance to navigate, especially today, with the rules of the game. Hide
[on The Revenant (2015)'s production problems] We all knew what we wanted, we knew how to get it, bu Show more
[on The Revenant (2015)'s production problems] We all knew what we wanted, we knew how to get it, but every obstacle was in the way [of what] we needed, and we knew what we needed. ... No scene was added, everything was written, but we were just trying to accomplish what we had from the beginning. [2015] Hide
[on superhero movies] For me superheroes represent that vision of humans as flawless and certain, an Show more
[on superhero movies] For me superheroes represent that vision of humans as flawless and certain, and all those things that are a delusional projection of how human beings should be. It's almost fascist-there's something very scary about that, the vanity. And for me, humans are exactly contrary to all that. I've never met a human like that. And I'm much more interested in humans, which I find much more dimensional and contradictory and flawed and driven by fears and anxiety, but at the same time, beautiful, pathetic, lovable creatures that I find fascinating. I think the values of the superheroes are in a way affecting the way the military mind works. So I have a conflict, philosophically, with the generations today not being fascinated by our human flaws and possibilities, and everything that's human seems to be boring now. It's scary for me. That's my conflict-that humans seem to be now no longer subject to analysis and observation, and we cannot see ourselves in films because we feel so bad about ourselves. We have been acting so bad in the last years, the world is in such bad shape, that probably the reason (for the superhero craze)-I'm being outspoken here-is there's a shame about seeing humans on the screen. And that's sad. Hide
It is an artist's obsession to transcend time, right? I know, on a personal level, that all our self Show more
It is an artist's obsession to transcend time, right? I know, on a personal level, that all our self-important conceptions of ourselves-that our art will transcend time-is a childish illusion. Our participation in reality is just a little flash that means nothing to the cosmic reality of time. Hide
My theory is that life is a relentless number of losses that we suffer. From when we're born to when Show more
My theory is that life is a relentless number of losses that we suffer. From when we're born to when we die, we are losing. We are losing our innocence. We start losing our hair, our teeth, our health, and then we lose our life. For me, it's about how you deal with that, how you transform pain. Because I think pain should not be enjoyed, but pain is something you can transform. It's a way to remain connected with things. This is how nature works. The flower grows and blooms, then dries and dies, and is born again. It's constant part of life. Hide
Biutiful is not about death, It's about life. It's a hymn to life.
Biutiful is not about death, It's about life. It's a hymn to life.
Alejandro González Iñárritu's FILMOGRAPHY
All
as Actor (13)
as Director (4)
as Creator (2)
Alejandro González Iñárritu'S roles
Himself
