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The actor, who has just presented Bunker by Fabian Zeller, talks about working with his partner, his position in Hollywood, children, and the day saying no to a blockbuster earned him an Oscar
Fifteen minutes can be a lot or a little depending on how you look at it. It’s a short time for, for example, a paella, but a lot for, for example, boiling an egg. That is if we don’t move from the kitchen. If we aim for larger spaces, like a cinema, it’s short for a movie, but an eternity for an applause. That’s exactly (although some counted 16) how long the ovation lasted in the Sala Grande at the Lido for the team of Bunker, by Florian Zeller, with Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem at the forefront. “I am especially happy for the director,” says cautiously, but not bothering to hide his enthusiasm, the actor one day after everything, with the aftermath of those 15 minutes still in his eyes.
Bardem meets with a group of journalists to take stock. The first thing that stands out is the couple itself: Penélope and Javier, or Javier and Penélope. Despite having worked together from Jamón, jamón onwards eight times, this is the first time they both portray, indeed, a couple, a marriage, parents of two children, and even two professionals closely or distantly related to art. That is, the first time reality touches fiction in a tangible way. “We were afraid it would be like Eyes Wide Shut (referring to the Stanley Kubrick film starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman). If it was about tearing us apart in front of the camera, we weren’t going to do it. I don’t think it’s interesting for the audience or for us. But we quickly realized that it wasn’t like that, that the story was about reconnecting, about taking each other into account as human beings. And then, yes,” comments the actor as a prologue.
In the movie, Bardem plays an architect who one day receives an offer from a billionaire, also a tech oligarch, to build the bunker mentioned in the title. Suddenly, Mephistopheles knocks on the door and temptation is strong. What follows is a reflection on loneliness, isolation, life as a duo, and the possibility of succumbing to a system, our system, where everything is for sale. And once again, reality knocks on the door of the international star that is Bardem.
“In fact, I clearly remember a time when I said no to a movie that offered me a lot of money. Shall I tell you about it? Okay, I’ll tell you. It was for Poseidon, by Wolfgang Petersen. The thing is, at the same time, I was offered No Country for Old Men, by the Coen brothers. Obviously, I chose the latter. I also remember that while I was filming the Coen brothers’ movie, the Petersen one was released, and I went to see it in an empty theater in Tucson to see what I had missed,” he says, and his smile makes it clear that he made the right choice. An Oscar attests to that. And he continues: “Of course, it’s hard to say no to money. We all want to live well. But the phrase “Enough is enough” makes sense. There are many people for whom everything is never enough. That’s not my case. I’m content with having enough to provide stability for my family and, especially, for my children until they can establish their own stability.” It’s clear.
In Bunker, the couple has to deal with their daughter’s insistence on not separating from screens, and here, for the third time, what is on either side of the screen comes face to face again. What do you think about limiting or prohibiting the use of social media for children under 16? “I think it’s wonderful. But I’m also aware that it’s very difficult to enforce… Just as I was the one who put VHS tapes on for my mother, now it’s my children who teach me everything about technology, and I know perfectly well that just prohibiting something will make them find a way around it.” Another pause. “Our son is 15 and started using a mobile phone a year ago. Our daughter is 13 and doesn’t have a phone yet. But beyond that, we are very insistent on learning how our eldest uses screens, what he watches, and we discuss it at the table… And not just technology. I think about reggaeton. ‘Let’s see, my daughter, at 13, what do you think about the nonsense in the lyrics?’ Let’s say that in my house, there are four of us, and there is a lot of debate.”
As soon as the coincidences between cinema and life begin, they don’t end, there are more. At one point in the film, Bardem’s character speaks face to face with the one who commissions the project, who is none other than an Elon Musk imitator played by Paul Dano. Must he also become Hollywood’s conscience in his characters, isn’t his daily life enough? “Perhaps the question,” he responds, “should be asked the other way around: why do we find it extraordinary when Susan Sarandon, Mark Ruffalo, or myself denounce, for example, the genocide in Gaza. What kind of society are we building where something so obvious can attract attention? But I would also say that things are changing, and there are already certain narratives that are not bought because they are unacceptable. We don’t attract as much attention anymore.”
The film itself, once again, also speaks of this imbalance, albeit in different terms. Penélope Cruz’s character sacrifices much of herself and her vocation for his success. Has this happened to you? “No. We are incredibly fortunate to have one of the greatest blessings in the world, which is to have two independent and completely satisfying careers. This allows us to be at peace without having to overshadow each other. We have grown and evolved together. I have been in other relationships where it wasn’t like that, and it’s always complicated no matter what you do. Envy, jealousy, frustration, the feeling that one cannot celebrate their own success because it hurts the other… None of those ugly things happen to us.”
For now, on Tuesday, both Javier and Penélope received a 15-minute ovation together. Separately, seven and a half minutes each. The applause was perfectly real for bringing to life a perfectly unreal couple. Or maybe not so much.
