2011 Cannes Interview: Marcos Dutra (Trabalhar Cansa)

Trabalhar Cansa (translation: work makes you tired) a.k.a Hard Labor is the feature film debut from the filmmaking team of Juliana Rojas and Marcos Dutra. Selected in this year’s Un Certain Regard section, this is actually the third participation at the Cannes Film Festival; short films O Lençol Branco and Um Ramo were previously shown in 2004 and 2007’s Critics’ Week.

This tells the story of Helena, a housewife who decides to open a small business: a supermarket. She hires Paula, a housekeeper, to take care of her house and Vanessa, her daughter. When her husband Otávio loses his job, their lives begin to change and a major trauma occurs , threatening Helen’s new business. I had the chance to speak to one part of the filmmaking team before they took off for the festival.

Anny Gomes: Can you tell us your inspiration behind Trabalhar Cansa?
Marco Dutra: The idea of making Trabalhar Cansa started, by coincidence, when we were participating with the short “Um Ramo” in 2007. Sara Silveira, our producer, asked us to write a full feature as well. Juliana and I discussed some ideas that we had in mind, and the one that pleased us at that moment was a synopsis that Juliana wrote about a mid-class woman that decided to quit being a housewife and start her own business. We developed the story from that idea, including the husband that loses his job, the housekeeper that takes care of the house and her daughter, and the morbid elements that start to affect Helena’s business as the film goes along. The title comes from a poem by Cesare Pavese, that has nothing to do with the film, but the melancholic tone matches our script.

Gomes: What first got you interested in film?
Dutra: I cannot remember! Watching movies is my favorite hobby since I was very little. I think my father has something to do with that: he bought a VHS player (I believe it was in 1982) and he took home some movies so I could watch every day (I remember Sleeping Beauty was one of my favorites). We also used to go to the movies as well. My passion about movies just got bigger as I got to know movies from all over the world, and when it was time to choose my major in college, Film was the only possible option.

Gomes: How did the partnership between Marco Dutra and Juliana Rojas happen?
Dutra: We met during our first year in college (USP). We became friends right away and then we started to work together in group assignments. “Três Planos, Nove Planos” and “Dancing Queen” are one of our first projects together made with a VHS camera. We continued to work together many times so we decided that our final project in college should be together as well. The result was the short O Lençol Branco (2004) that was in Cannes 2005. After graduating from school, we worked separately but we never abandoned our partnership. We made other short movies like Um Ramo, As Sombras, and now, Trabalhar Cansa.

Gomes: How did you receive the news that your movie was nominated to represent Brazil in Cannes this year?
Dutra: We sent the film in February and we kept waiting for a response. As the announcement day kept getting closer and we had not get a negative response yet, we thought our movie had pleased the committee. The good news came through our producer by telephone, only two days before the festival’s line-up announcement. We were extremely happy, and we started to work really fast so we could prepare everything for the Festival (and we are still doing that, running against time).

Gomes: This is not your first “Cannes experience… O Lençol Branco and Um Ramo were selected in the parallel sections by the festival previously. What changed after the first award and what do you expect for this year?
Dutra: To be able to have shown our short movies in Cannes was very good for us in many ways. I believe our short films gave us credibility and opened many doors to make our long feature. However, we know that the experience will be even more intense: the long features that are selected bring more attention, and the market is also very hectic – the movie will be seen by distributers and buyers, we even have a chance to show it all around the world. We are getting ready to represent it the best possible way. The idea of “representing Brazil” brings a lot of responsibility but we know that the production in our country is quite different and our film alone could not be able to represent what is done in the country as a whole. We hope to be able to put Brazil and Brazilian filmmakers on the spot.

Gomes: You are using the same actors from your previous film. Why?
Dutra: The lead part was created with Helena Albergaria in mind, she is an actress that we admired since college and we knew and respected her work at Companhia do Latão (theatre company in São Paulo). We have the same mindset for Gilda Nomacce, Lilian Blanc and Clarissa Kiste, actresses we like and became important collaborators. Marat Descartes, the husband (also in “Um Ramo”), auditioned and got the part. We like to repeat collaborations not only with our cast; the staff for our long feature is also very similar to the team that worked in our short films. ‘Trabalhar Cansa’ descends directly from our short films and it seemed natural to keep working with people that understood our work.

Gomes: Do you have another project in mind?
Dutra: Yes, I have some in mind! The next project is As Boas Maneiras, a horror film with a twist of romance. We are also working on a project called “Cidade; Campo” that tells two stories: a local doctor who will live in the country and a country girl who comes to work in São Paulo.