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 Entertainment | January 2007 
Arriaga´s Latest Film Vies for Award at Sundance
 El Universal
Author and screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga says that his novel "El Búfalo de la Noche" ("The Night Buffalo"), is more often understood by younger people, and he expects the same for its film adaptation.
"Wherever it´s published, young people say, ´Man, you really got it,´ " says Arriaga, whose recent "Babel" received a Golden Globe nomination. "And old people, it´s like, ´Why should I care about these characters?´ "
"Buffalo," which premiered Friday at the Sundance Film Festival, is the first full-length feature for director Jorge Hernández Aldana, who says he was prepared for the reaction to the film´s graphic sexuality among a group of young friends.
"I wanted to do a movie that is kind of a roller coaster of emotion. People are shocked after the movie," he says. "This is the kind of movie that invites you to watch it again and again."
It stars Diego Luna of "Y tu Mamá También." His character, Manuel, has a best friend who is schizophrenic and has spent time in a mental hospital. While his friend, Gregorio, played by first-time actor Gabriel González, is hospitalized, Manuel has started dating Gregorio´s girlfriend, Tania, played by Liz Gallardo. After Gregorio is released from the hospital, he and Manuel seem to be mending their friendship. But then Gregorio kills himself and leaves a box of notes for Manuel.
The notes send Manuel, already overcome by grief and betrayal, into the abyss of his friend´s madness.
The themes of love, betrayal and death are common in Arriaga´s work, which also includes the screenplays "Amores Perros" and "21 Grams." His screenplay "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada" won the best screenplay award at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival.
In "The Night Buffalo," Arriaga examines how his common themes are navigated by a young person ill equipped for the task.
"I wrote this novel after being a college professor for almost 27 years," Arriaga explains. "I´ve seen the newest generations more and more in pain. Now the youngest generations feel a little bit like castaways."
The film is up for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in the "World Dramatic" category. |
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