Alejandro G. Iñarritu: "Maybe I'm too Mexican for Americans and too American for Mexicans"

Alejandro G. Iñarritu wandered the Canadian wilderness to direct 'The Revenant,' which won three Oscars and was immortalized as the proverbial hardest movie to make. However, the director feels differently.

"'The Revenant' is nothing compared to that," Iñarritu said as he settled into an interview at the Telluride Film Festival, where "Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths" made its debut. North American premiere. "I'm not kidding. I think it's the most complicated film I've done."

Supporting arguments include the incredible array of special effects Iñarritu injects into a wild, surreal (and often quite funny) character study steeped in dreamlike twists and turns that weave in and out of the story of a respected documentary filmmaker returning home to Mexico City. "It's very difficult to make a film that doesn't have a center of gravity," he said.

Or there's this: "Bardo" is an easy target for viewers allergic to movies that might be labeled vanity. The film's undeniable autobiographical overtones, and a protagonist named Silverio Gama (Daniel Giménez Cacho) who resembles its filmmaker, invite such derision.

“Obviously I have the right to talk about things that have affected me as a citizen of the world and as a Mexican,” said Iñarritu, who avoided reading about the film’s lukewarm reception during the premiere in Venice before its Telluride Arrivals. "Yeah, what better can I talk about than the ones I've been through? But that doesn't make the movie about me, for God's sake. It's about very universal stuff."

"Bardo"

© Limbo Films, S. De R.L. de C.

The truth is more subtle than that: the production of 'Bardo' saw Iñarritu return to Mexico for the first time since his escape 'Amores Perros' in 2000, filtering his own experiences into a larger questioning of identity. Latin American. Proud of his American heritage but uneasy when he returns home, Iñarritu's on-screen alter ego taps into a phenomenon unique to the immigrant experience.

"I think those who feel out of place will understand that," Iñarritu said. “Distance and time can make you feel that way. Your roots and your identity begin to dissolve. It's a feeling almost impossible to grasp if you haven't experienced it."

This theme resonated with some audiences in Telluride, where distributor "Bardo" Netflix threw a rowdy party over the weekend. After working on the dance floor and capturing footage of his actors dancing, Iñarritu settled outside with "Nomadland" director Chloé Zhao. The couple smoked and shouted into each other's ears for over an hour as curious onlookers watched nearby. The music drowned out their conversation, but Iñarritu said Zhao – who would later host a Q&A for the film – surprised him with the intensity of his reaction.

"She was very moved by it," he said. " She stops...