Interview: Michel Franco – After Lucia (Despues de Lucia) | Cannes 2012

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With Daniel and Ana (selected for Directors’ Fortnight – Cannes 2009) Mexican helmer Michel Franco peers into an unfathomable true life crime that is an assault on the class system and an unfortunate pair of siblings that becomes further more unsettling crime that subconsciously perpetuates itself into a shocking decisive blow. The enjoyably uncomfortable sit is made more nauseous-rendering with the employment of a stationary camera aesthetic look. Carrying over into his sophomore feature, with After Lucia, if adolescence wasn’t difficult enough, then imagine coping with death of your own mother while try to support an emotionally paralyzed father. The Un Certain Regard selected drama which I call Haneke for teens, announces the arrival one more brilliant Mexican auteur with a prowess for storytelling in a realist and naturalistic vein, strong thematic output and power visual details. I sat down with the helmer to discuss how we transmit pain, how we cope with loss, how he worked with actress Tessa Ia to shape  the character and this notion of psychological violence particularly among the classes in Mexico’s society.

Eric Lavallée
Eric Lavalléehttps://www.ericlavallee.com
Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist, and critic at IONCINEMA.com, established in 2000. A regular at Sundance, Cannes, and Venice, Eric holds a BFA in film studies from the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013, he served on the narrative competition jury at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson’s "This Teacher" (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). He is a Golden Globes Voter, member of the ICS (International Cinephile Society) and AQCC (Association québécoise des critiques de cinéma).

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