Diego Luna

“Amarcord. At the very beginning, obviously. Had to be one of the first. Amarcord, those long shots, those characters, that plaza. Cinema when… when you have the feeling you’re witnessing reality, you’re witnessing a moment of truth, Amarcord is full of that. And Amarcord, it’s so rich. It’s so much about this ensemble thing where it’s about community. It’s about everyday life. Fantastic.”

“Oh, The 400 Blows! These two, easy to take. And The 400 Blows breaks my heart.”

“Oh, crap! I wasn’t looking for this one. Y tu mamá también. Probably the most special project I’ve ever worked on. Before Y tu mamá también I was just doing projects in Mexico. My whole idea was just to stay there, do more theater than cinema. And then this film changed my perspective in many, many ways. I met one of the most interesting directors I’ve ever worked with, which is Alfonso. And the special community we made here, with everyone, everyone. It’s like this is family for me.”

“I’m going to take Carlos. And Carlos, I think it’s one of the first beautiful examples of long-format storytelling that now we’re using so much with the miniseries. And I think it’s beautiful for actors. This long format allows you to go very deep into portraying a character, to bring many layers to your Performance. And I remember there was like, 'Oh, but he’s a film– It’s not a film.' And who cares? It’s a story. It takes, I guess, five or six hours. Whatever it has to take.”

“This is a fantastic Mexican director. Young director. Tótem. Lila Avilés. Watch Tótem and watch La camarista. She has a little bit, what happens with Alfonso Cuarón, that you’re like, 'Really? Is that the same guy? That guy did that and that other film?' Well, with Lila Avilés, and Tótem and La camarista, I had that feeling. I was watching going like, 'Really? Is this the director of La camarista?' She’s an actress and started directing and does it beautifully.”

“Parasite. I’m going to take Parasite before I leave.”

“I was in Japan, and there’s a bar in Golden Gai, in an area of tiny bars, one next to the other, and one bar is called La Jetée because of this film, because of the Chris Marker film. Well, Chris Marker’s work is amazing. Whatever you see with his name, get it, watch it, pay attention. But I love the idea that in Japan there’s a bar called La Jetée, that is someone from Japan in love with cinema, and a beautiful place to go and have a drink.”

“I was talking about Juliette Binoche last night, and I was saying that for a long time she was a referent. And I was talking about these films. I was talking about how important was Blue in my life, how important was Kieślowski. Not just for these, but the Dekalog, and just the integrity of someone, as a filmmaker. I mean, there’s obviously many, many great referents here, but this one came right… in the right moment in my life. I was 14, 15 years old, and Kieślowski was crucial for me.”