Author sandro mairata
David Bohorquez (Bogota, 1990) He made documentaries and some scripts, but he became known mainly as a video director for Monsieur Periné, Sebastián Yatra and Juan Luis Guerra. From there he jumped to the cinema with the thrillers “Demental” (2014) and “Deadly Relationship” (2019). His new film is “Devil”, in which a young nurse named Cherry (Fiona Horsey) arrives at a mysterious mansion to take care of an old man. Neither the host family nor the patient are what she expected, and so begins a nightmare in the lost woods somewhere in United States. We talked to the director.
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The first thing that catches the attention of “Diavlo” is the matter of English. How did you handle it during filming?
I had already made my previous film in English, it is something that I had already faced; in Peru it premiered under the title of deadly relationship a year ago. Initially the intention was to open export doors, especially in English-speaking countries, and the experience of recording in English is a nice challenge for me, for me American cinema is one of my main references. I appreciate European cinema, of course, especially from Poland, which I like very much. And whenever it is not your main language, it creates challenges for you.
How was the script process?
I initially wrote it in Spanish, with the intention that it be translated, which is why suddenly in some parts of the film you feel more written than oral English, it seems a bit dubbed, not the one you speak on the street. Some sentences that I wrote in Spanish were going to be said in English in mind.
“Diavlo” makes me think of films like “The Conjuring” or “The Amityville Horror”, that kind of hollywood horror of the cursed house in the middle of the forest, but you are talking about Polish cinema.
Where are those references in “Diavlo”?
There are tapes of (Roman) Polansky before “Rosemary’s Baby” when he was starting out, and they’re known as “The Apartment Trilogy.” They are low-budget, but to give you an immediate example, precisely “Rosemary’s Baby”. If you want a more recent example, then there is “Ida” by (Pawel) Pawlikowski, a black and white drama that although it is not the genre, there is a reference there. It is a film that I have seen more than once and not for pleasure, but in my work of studying, in terms of planimetry, in what you think before recording and in the end in what comes out in the editing room. I’m not that much of a fan of recording a plan all over the place and then building it, although I’ve done it. It is another perfectly valid way of recording. But these references are present in terms of Polish cinema.
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Are you satisfied with the final product? What did you mean by “Diavlo”?
Yes, I am satisfied, I am sure that over the years and with my next films it will acquire more value; I am a stronger director after achieving “Diavlo”. There is always that abyss when you are a director of capturing what is in your mind and getting someone to play it or see it in a cinema, because we all have great ideas in our minds. A director’s battle is what of that mind can you bring to reality. I do feel that what we set out to do, we achieved.
Obviously “Diavlo” reaches me at a more mature stage compared to my previous projects and it was achieved. I’m still on the road to improve, that doesn’t stop until you can’t direct anymore because you’re too old or something. One always tries to improve and I feel that all the learning I had in “Diavlo” is going to be reflected in much more complex films in the future.
The ending leaves elements open. Will “Diavlo” have a continuation, a sequel?
I would not consider recording a continuation, a sequel, but it is a story that could continue, especially when it comes to this half-family saga, which has elements of the past, half of the future, I can talk about Dwayne (Marvens Paissano), about what happens With the raft and his family, I can talk about Phillip’s sister (Germán Naranjo), let’s see what happened to that story. As it has this saga characteristic, you can get prequels, sequels.
What comes after “Diavlo”?
I am producing a science fiction with action, now that I have a little more support, I want to explore with cinema with more speed and rhythm. “Diavlo” is somewhat contemplative, we were also aware of this when proposing this type of film that you have to do a little bit of your part to connect, it’s not that easy, you pay full attention to it. In the next challenge I’m going to go slightly out of horror, I’m still flirting with it, but I’m curious to explore science fiction and action.
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“Diavlo” is announced as a horror film, but there is not so much violence, so much gore.
Yes, of course, I saw it without betraying what you sell, although in a certain way you do it —especially if you are a fan of gore and the most explicit things— I am aware of the hook that I put from the posters. I’m basically hiding the broccoli in the rice, I want to give the audience something they might like without them liking it (in advance). I’m sure you’re a fan of the Jasons, commercial movies with so much action, maybe you don’t like it, but I’m moving between the auteur and the commercial, which is what I like about my career.
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What was the sequence that you liked the most, the most challenging moment that you had to solve?
A sequence of parallel dreams, I got in with the composer to play some piano; Suddenly he came back David of the video clips, because there I already have control. It’s a scene made up of scenes shot on different days, but it turned out well for me and I enjoyed it.
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