Isabel Coixet’s Cinematic Poem

Known for her strong female leads, Coixet takes on Philip Roth and misogyny with Elegy

by Jennifer Straus | Published August 8, 2008

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The story is not a simple May-December romance however, and Coixet was determined to convey the depth of her characters and their attraction to one another. “I really understand David Kepesh,” she explains, “I think I understand his reasons—I understand why he acts like he acts—and I really know these kinds of men. I know when you read the story of The Dying Animal, it’s an old professor and a young, Cuban student, you think, ‘Oh, it’s one of those.’ But I think at the end, these two characters, they are the same age.”

One of Coixet’s most important goals in filming Elegy was to flesh out the character of Consuela: “When I read the book, I remember thinking, this woman, who’s studying at Columbia, she’s a little too naïve,” she recalls. As played by Cruz, Consuela is both the idealized beauty of Roth’s novel and the more complicated, concrete character imagined by Coixet. “I guess as a writer, he had a much more perfect idea of Consuela than me. But then when you’re dealing with an actress, you have to show the sweat in her eyebrows and you have to show her naked. There is no ideal, she is just the reality of the flesh.”

In a film focused primarily on man’s obsession with female beauty, Coixet says it was essential to show what lies beneath the surface of the women in the story. Cruz may be much closer to the physical ideal than most, but Coixet says that she, and the rest of the cast (which includes Patricia Clarkson, Dennis Hopper and Peter Sarsgaard) portrayed characters that go far beyond the surface: “I remember every time the character played by Dennis Hopper would say something about a beautiful woman, I was laughing and I would say, ‘What about ugly women? What are we?’ But you know what? Men talk like that… They can talk about women as virgins or whores. There is nothing in between. That is why the character played by Patricia Clarkson [Kepesh’s former student and longtime lover] is so important, because Patricia’s a real woman. And her character is all those women you see drinking alone in bars.”

In order to develop this richness of character in her films, Coixet takes a hands-on approach, doing her own camerawork in collaboration with cinematographer Jean-Claude Larrieu. “For me it’s the best way to work with actors,” she explains. “I think I’m really interested in intimacy, and for me the best way to show intimacy is to be there with them… When you have to tell a camera operator what you want, you waste so much energy.”

Coixet even plays a significant role in the scoring of her films (she served as music supervisor for Elegy—a job she says she would consider as a side career), citing the soundtrack as an essential part of her moviemaking process.

When asked how she has evolved as a moviemaker over the course of her quarter-century in the business, the Spanish auteur pauses. “I think I’m more humble now… I think I’m more flexible,” she says. “I’m not looking for perfection. I’m just looking for the sacred moments you find even in the most stupid film. And I think now I understand more about human beings—just a little more, not a lot. The only thing that matters when you’re approaching a film is who you are, and who you are in relation [to] the characters and the plot. So when you know more or less who you are, the rest is easy.”

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TAGS algolagnia barcelona ben kingsley bergman cinematheque consuela david kepesh dennis hopper elegy female feminist goya awards isabel coixet jean-claude larrieu may-december romance mira y verás misogynist my life without me patricia clarkson penélope cruz penelope cruz peter sarsgaard philip roth the dying animal the secret life of words the seventh seal

COMMENTS | POST A COMMENT

Comment by armess on 9/09/08 at 10:21 am

Thanks for the suggestion
kurtlar vadisi pusu 26. bölüm izle
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 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

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