After two multiple Oscar winners in quick succession – Birdman and The Revenant – we’ve had to wait seven years for a feature from Alejandro G. Iñárritu. That wait ends this week, with the arrival of Bardo on Netflix. And it’s probably his most personal film to date.
To give the film its full title, Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths, is an epic journey through the memories of journalist and filmmaker Silverio Gama (Daniel Gimenez Cacho) as he returns to his home country of Mexico to confront his own identity, his relationships with his family as well as the history and likely future of his nation. Mixing emotion and comedy and sprinkled with nostalgia, it takes on universal themes such as success, mortality and family bonds. In other words, what it means to be human in today’s world.
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As Iñárritu explained when he spoke to us, some of his own deeply personal experiences and memories inspired the story, and his return to Mexico for the first time in years gave another layer to the story.
From his cast, Cacho and, with help from an interpreter, co-star Griselda Siciliani (who plays his wife, Lucia), talked about working together for the first time, and how much they drew on their own memories for their roles.
And Ximena Lamadrid and Iker Sanchez Solano (Camila and Lorenzo, their children) described how they created a family with their “on-screen Mom and Dad” as well as dance sequence that’s sure to get everybody talking.
Bardo is released on Netflix on 16 December, 2022.
