PODCAST | Chiara Nicoletti interviews Luis Gnecco and Mercedes Moran, actors of the film Neruda by Pablo Larrain from the 69th Cannes Film Festival.

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Actors Luis Gnecco and Mercedes Moran, respectively Pablo Neruda and his wife in the new film by Pablo Larrain, Neruda, talk about their roles and Larrain’s way of directing them on set. Neruda was presented in the Quinzaine des Realizateurs at the 69th Cannes Film Festival.

NERUDA: It’s 1948 and the Cold War has reached Chile. In congress, Senator Pablo Neruda (Luis Gnecco) accuses the government of betraying the Communist Party and is swiftly impeached by President Gonzalez Videla (Alfredo Castro). Police Prefect Oscar Peluchonneau (Gael García Bernal) is assigned to arrest the poet. Neruda tries to flee the country with his wife, the painter Delia del Carril (Mercedes Morán), but they are forced into hiding. Inspired by the dramatic events of his new life as a fugitive, Neruda writes his epic collection of poems, “Canto General”. Meanwhile, in Europe, the legend of the poet hounded by the policeman grows, and artists led by Pablo Picasso clamor for Neruda’s freedom. Neruda, however, sees this struggle with his nemesis Peluchonneau as an opportunity to reinvent himself. He plays with the inspector, leaving clues designed to make their game of cat-and-mouse more dangerous, more intimate. In this story of a persecuted poet and his implacable adversary, Neruda recognizes his own heroic possibilities: a chance to become both a symbol for liberty and a literary legend.