26/09/2024 - The duo explains the creative process behind their film as well as their way of understanding and utilising the horror genre

(© Dario Caruso/Cineuropa)

The Wailing [+see also:
film review
interview: Pedro Martín-Calero, Isabel…
film profile] is the feature debut by Pedro Martín-Calero, which he co-wrote with Isabel Peña. The duo talks to us about the creative process behind their movie, which has been premiered in the Official Section of the San Sebastián Film Festival, as well as their way of understanding and utilising the horror genre.

Cineuropa: The film tells the story of a curse. How did this come up, and what were you intending to convey through it?
Pedro Martín-Calero: There’s something lurking in the background that we take a while to bring to light: that curse (although I’m not sure that’s the right word to describe it) captures the idea of how violence causes a kind of pain that not only affects the victims, but also the people around them, and how that pain passes from generation to generation if no one puts a stop to it.

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Isabel Peña: When we realised that we wanted to talk about this topic, we handled the concept of the curse respectfully and cautiously because it was useful in telling our story, but we didn’t want it to appear like a curse from a fairy tale, which is something that happens in a magical or external way – because in the case of this curse, there is clearly a person to blame.

It's split into three parts. Can you tell us about the process of constructing the narrative?
PM-C: We wanted to steer clear of certain clichés of the genre, to turn them on their heads and bring them up to date, and one of these was the timeline of the narrative, which generally tends to be linear in this kind of movie.

IP: Playing with time and space allowed us to add another thematic layer to this pain and this curse. And since it’s more of a character-driven film than a horror flick for us, what was most important was the fact that each character had her own chapter – it was in keeping with the more literary language that we were looking for. But it’s something that we gradually discovered as we worked on it.

It's a horror film that perhaps leans more towards the psychological end of the spectrum. Why were you so interested in using the codes of this genre to tell a story that also ventures beyond this territory?
IP: We thought that the horror genre was a very interesting vehicle in which you can use this kind of tale to tell a much deeper story. As it allows you to fly so free, it lets you show and hide things at the same time. Many of the films that we revisited most often were horror flicks that talk about a subject that was never mentioned in the synopsis.

The movie looks at how violence against women is passed down from generation to generation and affects everything in its vicinity. It also examines how death is present in life. Were there any other areas you wanted to explore?
PM-C: The film says something about looking – how far you are willing to look, how much you want to see, where you put the focus as you are looking, when you avert your eyes, or when you don’t.

IP: We also enjoyed talking about how people don’t believe our female characters, which causes even more pain, as well as using the world of technology and social networks as a channel to dig deeper into these women’s solitude and alienation.

In the second part, there’s a nod to Three Colours: Red by Kieślowski, and there are certain parallels between both stories. Was this a clear reference or influence for you?
PM-C: At first, we didn’t use any visual references to give the film its own look, but as we gradually found the language that captured what we wanted to say, that’s when Constanza Sandoval [the DoP] came in, and we did talk about and incorporate elements of that Kieślowski film. It was like a subconscious reference that popped up.

This was a screenplay written by you both, and made as a co-production between Spain, France and Argentina. What was this joint way of working like?
IP: The writing process was very long and demanding, and we went through many versions. It entailed a great deal of checking with our partners because as we wanted the topic to be somewhat concealed, we had this constant tension: we wanted it to be a secondary layer of interpretation, never the primary one, but we didn’t want it to get lost either… It was a very complex and ambitious script.

PM-C: Co-producing was also difficult because there were two continents and two teams, and there wasn’t a big enough budget… Then it was like making two films in one. It was a tough challenge to work in two different places, but it was rewarding at the same time. The connection we forged was wonderful, as was the way they welcomed us in Argentina, the way we clicked, and seeing how we are all a bit Argentinian and a bit Spanish at the same time.

(Translated from Spanish)