THE NIGHT ELVIS DIED (LA NIT QUE VA MORIR L’ELVIS) is the new film from director Oriol Ferrer. Set in a small Catalan village, it follows Aureli, a tortured man with a repressed, violent history who meets Maria, a director of Passion Plays in the area. Producer Toni Espinosa spoke to Liam Jack of TAKE ONE at the Cambridge Film Festival about the film’s production, his cinematic influences and the state of cinema in Catalonia.

Liam Jack: How did you get involved with THE NIGHT ELVIS DIED?

Toni Espinosa: The project is a very personal one for me. I had initially wanted to direct it but, because of the huge responsibility of the project, I decided use a more experienced director. The idea was born from the village that I grew up in. The village is a special place because it was where the first Catalan film was shot after the end of the Spanish Civil War. For that film – from the 1950s – instead of professional actors, they used locals from the villages. It was a way to document the people that lived there at the time. We wanted to replicate that experience, so we also used non-professional actors as well.

LJ: Were there any technical difficulties shooting on location in a small Catalan village?

TE: On the contrary, as I am from the village I was familiar with the location and was comfortable working there. And the villagers were very supportive. The whole village made the film their own project. They were very passionate about it and worked very hard.

LJ: Was it hard to get believable performances out of non-professional actors?

TE: The main advantage they had was that the villagers were familiar with Passion Plays, a form of theatre that depicts the last days of Jesus Christ. Passion Plays are especially prominent in Catholic countries and are a key device in our film. The villagers take it very seriously and over a thousand people participate in the play. The main difficulty that we had with non-professional actors is that they tend to overact. They are used to large, overblown performances, which is good for the stage, but not so great for film. We had to reduce that overacting and make it look more natural.

LJ: What is the state of Catalan cinema at the moment? Is it thriving or is it hard to make films?

TE: Nowadays, cinema in general has problems. It is very hard to get funding and distribution wherever you are. So Catalan cinema doesn’t have more difficulties than anywhere else. However, lately there is a lot of talent in Catalonia and this has resulted in many interesting films, for both cinema and television. So we are lucky that, in spite of financial hardships, there are very interesting things being made in both mediums.

LJ: The film is strongly rooted in the Spanish Civil War. How did this conflict influence the film?

TE: Well I have to clarify, when I was discussing this film with director Oriol Ferrer, he saw an influence of the Civil War, which I myself did not. However, the link may not be in the plot, but in the fact that the film I mentioned from the 1950s was shot in the same village, and was made at a time when Catalan was banned. You could link that; the region, the culture, to the theme of The Civil War.

The film also discusses intolerance, and the intolerance between different people within Spain, which is a legacy from the Civil War. Also, the type of Catholicism that is represented in this film is a type that I very much associate with the tone that was set after the Civil War, linked with the Franco movement. It is a legacy of the Civil War, this lack of tolerance towards different areas, different beliefs, and this is something I wanted to portray in the film. It is still very real in some sectors of society.

It is a legacy of the Civil War, this lack of tolerance towards different areas, different beliefs, and this is something I wanted to portray in the film. It is still very real in some sectors of society.

At the time we were shooting the film, in Barcelona the national theatre was doing a play that was critical of a visit of the Pope to Spain. And during one of the performances, members of the audience jumped on the stage and started heckling the actors of the play. They chanted, “Viva Christ the King”, which was a phrase that is used by the very Catholic Right and was associated with Franco. It is like saying “Jesus is the King” but it has very fascist tone. It is very radical. And this happened when we were shooting our movie, which means something that we are discussing in the film is very real and and relevant to the current climate.

LJ: What directors and films have influenced you growing up?

TE: A very important Catalan newspaper, La Guardia, said the THE NIGHT ELVIS DIED was a love statement for cinema. This is what our film is; it is a love statement for cinema. There are many homages to many different directors from all around the world; Win Wenders, Roberto Rosselini, Luis Bunuel, the Coen Brothers, David Lynch – a lot of directors. One of our biggest influences was Bunuel’s SIMON OF THE DESERT. There were lots of motifs within our film that referenced it.

LJ: Where has the film been shown in Spain and what was the reaction?

TE: In Spain it was premiered in 2011, at three Spanish film festivals: Malaga, Madrid and the Sitges Film Festival in Catalonia. Audiences were surprised by the film as it is quite different to what is out there at the moment. When we were at the Malaga Film Festival, Oriol Ferrer’s wife, when the screening finished said, “Oriol, you are crazy.” And he replied, “It is not me who is crazy, it is the producer, Toni!” In a way, I agree with him. It was a crazy project to take on.

LJ: How will it translate to British audiences?

TE: One of the things I think we’ve achieved, is that it’s quite universal and it can be understood by everyone. Everybody knows the story of the passion of Jesus. Mel Gibson made his film about it a few years ago, so in that sense I am confident that it will find an audience outside Catalonia.

LJ: What would you say to audiences who are going into the film?

TE: I think you have to approach the film free of prejudices and let it take you away with it. It is full of surprises and you have to approach it with a very open mind.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHvSpZlgj3g