From the sidewalk under the front door of the Sunset Marquis Hotel, you can read: “Respect this place because we like it, because everyone who spends time here feels an affinity for it. Don’t destroy it, though it’s a nice place to be self-destructive.” A welcome dedicated to the musicians who have contributed for 50 years to building the legend of this mythical place in Los Angeles. Added to the stories of the Sunset Marquis today is that of Alberto Iglesias, the Spanish musician and composer nominated for an Oscar for his brilliant score in the film Madres Paralelas. If the Sunset Marquis and rock and roll are intricately intertwined, the same happens with Iglesias and Pedro Almodóvar, an indestructible relationship to discouragement, the passage of time, the ups and downs of life, self-destruction and success. Iglesias, three times nominated for an Oscar for The Constant Gardener, The Kite Runner and The Mole, has needed to shoot thirteen films with Almodóvar to achieve Academy recognition alongside him. This 66-year-old musician from San Sebastian, one of the most unique and admired voices in music and composition, confesses to accepting the recognition serenely. Just landed, Iglesias received us exclusively in the legendary corner of Sunset which they call the Mecca of musicians.
-How do you feel right now, when there are a few hours left for the Oscars?
-The campaign has been long. From starting to think that this could be possible, then the nomination and now the ceremony, a long time has passed. It has been very long for me. Nor had I put myself in a situation until I arrived in Los Angeles. It’s been a long time since I’ve been to Los Angeles and I’m impressed
-How long has it been since your last visit to Los Angeles?
-I think it didn’t come from the previous nomination with El Topo. I like the city very much, it brings back very good memories and today I felt a quick connection with the city, with the fact of coming to the Oscars. The truth is, until now, and I’ve talked a lot about the film, I didn’t anticipate the ceremony. But in this hotel I am in my sauce
-They say that any musician is at their best at the Sunset Marquis. Is this a mythical place for musicians?
-Yes, this hotel is a classic of music and cinema. It’s a very nice atmosphere, very relaxed. It is very special because of its history. Almost all the musicians have passed through here and the energy is noticeable.
-Do you think it is unfair that your Oscar has been removed from the awards ceremony?
-Yes. It seemed silly to me. An academy that teaches that cinematographic art is an art formed by many professions in which we are all filmmakers and we are equal has made this decision, it seems silly to me. You have won the search for a network television show. In principle, we pressured the musicians not to come to the Oscars lunch, but I thought I should come to defend the film and feel as much a filmmaker as the production directors, hairdressers, short filmmakers or film editors who are the highest level of our profession.
-There are voters boycotting the decision, some are not going to vote and others will vote blank.
-It is probable. I think it was a mistake, but, as far as I know, it has won that it has to be a show and that the stars are the ones with the pull. I hope that this decision will not continue in the future. If it continues, I think it is reason to withdraw from an academy.
-You have been nominated four times with non-American directors. Do you think that has helped you?
-I think so. I have always come with films that have a lot of personality, auteur films. This time I come with one of Pedro Almodóvar, my thirteenth film with him, and that makes the nomination very different
-Did it hurt you that Pedro was not nominated?
-Yes, it hurt. I would have liked him to have been nominated as a film, as a writer and director. Now Penelope and I represent him, but it would have been complete to have him here. There is a montage of his work at the Academy Museum because Pedro in the United States has the dimension of a great author, almost a classic, and that makes me proud.
Do you think you can win the Oscar?
-Although they tell us that our score has no chance of winning, I almost don’t care, defending Pedro’s film from the music seems to me a pride.
-Don’t you feel favorite?
-We are a bit David against several Goliaths, but that fact also gives us character
-Dreams or has dreamed of the Oscar
-No. I have never finished thinking about it. I have come to enjoy myself, like the other times I came before and I did not win. I have always thought that whatever happened to me gave me freedom. I want it, but it’s not such a big wish. I have not imagined myself with that object in my hands
-Do you have a favorite of the nominated composers in your category?
-I like many works by Jonny Greenwood, I think he has enormous talent and great freedom. Britell is a great musician, whom I know. Hans Zimmer has made a school and is the most imitated style, he is the most powerful man in music. And Germaine Franco has done a great job of researching popular music. There is a bit of everything in the five candidates, each one of us is different and that is a wealth.
-Parallel Mothers was conceived in Pandemic and it is a film with a political tone that none of Almodóvar had ever had. In that sense, is there an existentialist approach?
-Like all of Pedro’s films, they have a very great symbolic power. They also have the value of interpreting the contemporary, the current, the moment, but I think the film is very symbolic. The fact that it begins in childbirth and ends in a pit covers the entire life journey. I was inspired by that extensive dimension. I would say that the political dimension is metaphysical, apart from the fact that it is talking about very specific facts, it talks about historical memory, but it is framed in something that is common to many cultures and many peoples. Something that has to do with the interpretation and the explosive dimension of birth and the power of life and the power of death and the unrecognized dead that are all over the world. Dead that have not been cared for by their family. That thing with the ancestors is what has inspired me
Did working during the pandemic affect you?
– I was affected by fear. Fear of getting sick. I think that fear has made us more sensitive, more empathic with people who suffer. That fear made me work harder because it was harder for me to finish the job. I think I dedicate myself more hard
-How do you see the evolution of music since your first nomination, taking into account that you are now competing with some younger composers?
I don’t feel in competition with anyone. Maybe finding myself here is luck or it’s because of the size of things. Each generation tries to relate what happens to them, imagine what is happening and get as close to the viewer or the truth that is being told with the music. I have high hopes for the power of music. Now that we are here, in this hotel where so many rock stars have passed and although my music is not so closely linked to rock, I think it has that same truth of telling the pulse of what you feel and how those feelings are reflected in the other. For all that complex network of emotions I feel lucky to dedicate myself to this
-With the technological advances in sound, is it unfortunate that now people don’t go to the movies as much?
-The cinema is where you really hear everything and music and sound are felt because your body vibrates when exposed to those waves. The sound is purely informative, but, being informative, it is an enormous current of seduction and where it is most appreciated is in a cinema.
-You are a San Sebastian with four brothers all dedicated to culture. Is it possible to educate so that children want to dedicate themselves to the world of music and compose? He thinks there is a lack of cultural school
-It depends on whether what you do reaches others. The effort that an artist makes to arrive demonstrates his infatuation and that is what should be emulated. I don’t know if I’ve succeeded, but I want art to be a way of life in which I become more and more in control of myself. It is necessary to ensure that the intentions have an equivalent in the result. I think that art, philosophy and thought have to be in schools. Absolutely.
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