Fernando Meirelles
Fernando Meirelles
Fernando Ferreira Meirellesis a Brazilian film director, producer and screenwriter. His best known film is City of God, released in 2002 in Brazil and in 2003 in the U.S. by Miramax Films, which received international critical acclaim. For his work in the film, he was eventually nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director. He was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Director in 2005 for The Constant Gardener, which garnered the Academy Award for Best Supporting...
ProfessionDirector
Date of Birth9 November 1955
average award brings deserves edgy humanity played plays ralph seeing
Ralph deserves an award for this performance. He's so relaxed, so natural. We're used to seeing Ralph Fiennes as cold, rational. Here he's lighter. He brings a humanity to the role. He's played a lot of edgy characters. Here he plays an average character.
although believe bit crazy needed passion scare
Sometimes, you read a script, and you believe passionately that you must play this character. And I needed to show that passion to him, although I think I downplayed my passion a bit because I didn't want to scare him off. I didn't want him to think I was crazy enough to be a problem.
commitment expecting good level lucky
I think I was very lucky with this. Not only because they're good actors but because of their commitment. I was not expecting that level of commitment with stars.
government interested political side talking work
When I first read the script, the political side of the story really interested me. I was interested in talking about pharmaceutical companies, and how corporations and government work together,
expose helps industry itself people press
I did want to expose the pharmaceutical industry a bit, ... The industry promotes itself very well. I think the film helps people see it in a different way, not through its press releases.
impressed knew
She impressed me because she knew even more than me about the character.
air artist capture express form ideas searching supposed ways
We're supposed to capture what's in the air and give a form to it. The artist is like an antenna, always searching for new ideas and ways to express them.
ask boys hit knew lights trained
We knew that we couldn't use lights and ask the boys to hit marks. Because they don't have the technique. They were not trained for that.
became cut director hearing love preaching voice watching
But then, watching the whole film, it was like hearing my own voice - like the director preaching to the audience. So I started to cut and in the end, I think it became more of a love story.
came camp lost middle training turned village
That little village that's raided in the film, it's just lost in the desert. There's nothing there. We came in and turned it into a big operation, like an al-Qaida training camp in the middle of the desert.
approach decided locations saw visual
When we first saw the locations we would be using, we decided to use a different visual approach to each part of the story,
africa based case city expensive less nigeria particular plot test usual
This plot in this film is based on this particular case in Nigeria -- but it's very usual to test drugs in Africa because it's less expensive for big companies, ... City of God.
eventually geography seem
This is the sequel. Geography makes them seem separate, but eventually the connections between them will become clear.
becomes change edit surprises wonderful
This is the part that I like most, in the process, is to edit and try to find (the story). Sometimes you think you have a film, and then you change something and it becomes different. It's a wonderful job. Because it surprises you.