‘Kill the Jockey’ Director on ‘Wild World’ of Horse-Racing, and His Next Film, About a ‘Crack-Smoking Priest in Bolivia’ (EXCLUSIVE)
variety.comLeo Barraclough International Features Editor Luis Ortega’s absurdist comedy “Kill the Jockey,” which plays in Venice competition, is set in Argentina’s horse-racing community. “It’s a wild, wild world,” he tells Variety. “I encountered some very exotic jockeys and horse owners and I thought it’s so great.
They’re so crazy and exciting, and [the jockeys] risk their life every race.” The central character, Remo Manfredini, is clearly psychologically damaged – abusing drugs and alcohol to the extent that we see him fall off his horse even before it leaves the gate – but nonetheless he retains the self-possession and panache of a matador. “There is a lot of pride in that attitude,” says the Argentine filmmaker, whose previous film “El Angel,” about a baby-faced killer, premiered in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard.
Remo, played by Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, always keeps his race-track cronies at a distance and can seem aloof. “The only way I could relate to that is being a director in this industry and how you feel alienated and completely lost in relation to what everyone else is talking about and what it really is to make a movie, or ride a horse in his case,” he says.
Talking about Pérez Biscayart, a Cesar winner with “120 BPM (Beats Per Minute),” Ortega says: “He’s the best Argentinian actor we have definitely.
Read more on variety.com