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Isabel Coixet’s Cinematic Poem
Known for her strong female leads, Coixet takes on Philip Roth and misogyny with Elegy
“I think it’s an illness,” director Isabel Coixet says of moviemaking. “It’s a virus you get somehow when you’re a kid and it’s always with you… There is a very specific word for that, a very scientific word called algolagnia. It’s not masochism—it’s exactly the mixture between pleasure and pain. That’s why I say it’s a virus, because there’s no way you can get rid of it—no matter what.”
Coixet, 48, caught the bug early. “I began to go to the cinematheque when I was really young,” she remembers of her upbringing in Barcelona. “It was my refuge. I was happy there.” Watching films by classic auteurs was the genesis of Coixet’s own passion for film: “I remember watching Bergman films, especially The Seventh Seal. I saw that when I was 12 and I didn’t understand a word. But I remember that film really impressed me, because I realized movies can be something else.”
It wasn’t until Coixet landed a job as a copywriter at an ad agency that her career as a moviemaker began in earnest, when she used film stolen from the agency’s production company to make her first short film, Mira y verás, in 1984. Coixet has spent the last 24 years making small, powerful films full of complex characters, most notably My Life Without Me (2003) and The Secret Life of Words (2005), the latter of which won four Goya Awards.
With Elegy, Coixet takes on the formidable task of reinterpreting Philip Roth’s novel, The Dying Animal, for the screen.
It would be difficult to find a more surprising pairing than these two artists. Roth is known for his sprawling meditations on the male psyche, while Coixet is recognized for films that focus on the struggles of complex female protagonists. But with Elegy, Coixet has used this incongruity to her advantage. “It’s a story by one of the most misogynistic writers of his generation [as] seen by a Spanish woman,” she says, laughing, “I really admire Philip Roth and I really respect what he does, but I have my own point of view about his plot and his characters and it’s there, it’s in the film.”
Elegy charts the turbulent relationship between David Kepesh (Ben Kingsley), an aging, hedonistic professor, and his student, Consuela (Penélope Cruz). Even in his mid-sixties, Kepesh is assured of his ability to attract women, but is unnerved by his unexpected attachment to his young pupil.
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COMMENTS | POST A COMMENT 
- Comment by armess on 9/09/08 at 10:21 am
Thanks for the suggestion
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Sarkozy in Moscow- Comment by danny on 10/30/08 at 1:52 pm
Hey, I saw “The Secret Life of Words”. This movie was great. And Isabel Coixet a talented moviemaker…
- Comment by Tony the biker on 10/31/08 at 4:30 am
I guess it can be a pain to work with some people while making movies, but there’s no way that movie making itself could be a pain if you love doing it. It’s hard, no question about it, which is why achievements are so pleasing in the end.
I’ll be looking forward for her next movie now. Nice article!- Comment by vilneap on 11/01/08 at 1:27 pm
Nothing special about her. But maybe I am wrong. She tries hard though.
- Comment by Essay on 11/02/08 at 7:43 am
Well, in all fairness this isnt the first time that this has happened is it?.
- Comment by Experience Days on 11/09/08 at 7:06 am
Great stuff.. I hope she keeps this up in her upcoming projects.
- Comment by Windows Registry Clean Up on 12/22/08 at 3:42 pm
Great stuff.. Eli Roth is one of my all time favorites.
- Comment by Hoodia Gordonii Scam on 12/23/08 at 1:34 pm
Amazing interview. Hope she maintains this zeal in the days ahead.!
- Comment by Luxury Watches Lover on 12/24/08 at 12:07 am
Another amazing interview with Isabel
- Comment by Alan S. on 2/05/09 at 2:34 pm
That’s why I say it’s a virus, because there’s no way you can get rid of it—no matter what.”
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I can think of one way to get rid of the virus...having no talent! A lot of people aspire to be film makers but don’t have the talent of Isabel. Besides, film making isn’t exactly cheap, so if you’re not going anywhere with it, few people have the time or funds to keep going.
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Alan S.
Los Angeles DUI lawyer- Comment by casininio on 2/22/09 at 2:06 pm
Coixet is my favorite every shot she takes is real poetry
- Comment by cancer life insurance on 6/13/09 at 10:17 am
I watched Elegy in the end of 2008.
I don’t know, maybe I’m not a thinker
But I enjoy colossal epic movie like SPR and LOTR more
This story was published in the Summer 2008 MovieMaker Magazine. The headline was:
Battle of the Sexes
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posted 12.14.09
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