Pablo Berger (Bilbao, 60 years old) likes to complicate his life. And his fourth film is a confirmation of both his love of artistic risk and the calm it takes to face a project of the magnitude he is presenting in a special session this Saturday in Cannes: Robot Dreams, his graphic novel adaptation by Sara Varon, the story of the friendship between an anthropomorphic dog and a robot he buys to keep him company in 1980s New York.
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A few hours before his red carpet and premiere, Berger jokes about the possibility of meeting a Danish actor who played a supporting role in his feature film debut in 2003: Torremolinos 73. This actor, Mads Mikkelsen, now a world star, embodies the villain of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, also in Cannes. “It will be difficult for us to cross paths,” he smiles. And he begins to explore why he was confronted with Robot Dreams. “I read Varon’s graphic novel [publicada en 2007] in 2010 and I was intrigued. Until I got to the end, where I felt something else: It moved me. I went on my way, I shot Snow White and Abracadabra, and there, in 2017, my producers asked me what’s next. I hesitated, remembering how powerful the Robot Dreams story was.
Image from Robot Dreams
Set in 1980s New York – a city Berger knows well, having lived there with his wife Yuko Harami for ten years – the film stars Dog (there are just no people in this world). anthropomorphic animals) and robot, which the former acquired to solve his vital loneliness. “I always thought it was animation. I never thought of working in this genre, but I couldn’t give the comic away,” explains the filmmaker. “I got into the cinema through comics. I devoured them. Even my first short film, Mama, was based on a cartoon by Philippe Vuillemin. Obviously I like Miyazaki’s animated films, I Lost My Body is one of my favorite films, I like Life as a Zucchini. The trigger, however, was that I came across this book.
Between wit and truth, Berger says the eight-year journey leading up to the premiere of Snow White — a silent film with subtitles and a soundtrack that took the story to bullfighting Spain — was more complicated than that five-year journey. “For supporting my producers, Arcadia Motion Pictures. He never told them what I was up to until I got something advanced. Here I gave you the comic and the complete script, which for me is the treasure map. And they got the funding.”
The New York of “robot dreams”
It was very important to Berger to transfer the ambivalence of Varon’s graphic novel to the cinema. Is it a friendship or love story? Is it for children or for adults? “It’s like you don’t have to be exclusive, you have to understand that all readings are correct. Cinema is like lasagna, the layers are completed by the viewer at the end.” You can remember these different visions and the silent film Snow White. “Yes, although now I wanted to talk about the fragility of human relationships. Being an optimistic person, I always believe that someone like Perro will find someone in their life. Robot Dreams will be released in Spain later this year.
From left: Yuko Harami, Pablo Berger, art director José Luis Ágreda and producer Sandra Tapia, on the red carpet in Cannes this afternoon. Cannes Film Festival
New York in the 1980s comes to the fore in the film adaptation of “Robot Dreams”. In the comic, the backgrounds are not as precise. Berger and his two right hands, his wife Yuko Harami and José Luis Ágreda as artistic director meticulously built this third protagonist. “I was very careful to be faithful and not to make mistakes or anachronisms. This decision to prefer the city gave me the decisive impetus and so Yuko and I wrote our love letter to this city.” When he returned, his friends from Bilbao like Álex de la Iglesia questioned his return. “I wanted to do my Iberian trilogy. And I was right. Well, as happened in Bilbao, New York is nothing like it is now.” The pantomime is a house brand. “That’s why I only do a few films because I believe that I have to take care of every single film and I have a lot of patience.”
Robot Dreams has a French co-production that paved the way for it in France, and this week it was picked up by Neon for US distribution. “It’s incredible because they’re the ones who brought parasites or the triangle of sadness. That’s why I never did it, although it’s true that not having dialogue serves as a commercial hook.” And didn’t you miss the actors too? “Well, now I’ve been working with the animators. Creating animation is like creating a slow motion live action movie. It allows you to make decisions with more thought.” Of the entire filming process, Berger finds filming the least appealing “because it takes us away from goals.” And he admits: “It is the time when a film has matured at my pace and therefore comes closest to what I dreamed of at the beginning of the journey.”
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