‘El Caja’ Director Lorenzo Vigas on Exploring the Birth of Evil and Casting a First-Time Actor as the Lead
variety.comMalina Saval Associate Editor, FeaturesThe theme of fathers and sons runs through the films of Venezuela-born writer-director Lorenzo Vigas, whose 2015 debut drama “From Afar,” which focuses on a troubled middle-aged man and young hustler in Caracas, won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.
In Vigas’ latest film “El Caja” (“The Box”), which screened Thursday at the 39th annual Miami Film Festival, this motif continues to resonate — and on a global scale.“El Caja,” which revolves around a young boy in Mexico City longing for a father figure — a desperate search with deadly consequences — could be the prototype of how a dictator such as Vladimir Putin rises to power, Vigas pointed out.“We are always trapped in our obsessions,” Vigas told fest attendees during a Q&A that followed the screening. “I had a very good relationship with my father, a very close and warm and good relationship.
But I connected with that archetype of the father figure in Latin America. And that could be the father figure also in Russia right now.
A lot of people are asking themselves — how? How did this happen? But it’s the same in Latin America with [Juan] Perón and [Hugo] Chavez and the other dictators we’ve had.
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