Ralph Fiennes: "When I see all the cardinals in the photos, I ask myself, 'Why am I not in them?'"

BarcelonaItalian filmmaker Uberto Pasolini (Rome, 1957) explains that for nearly three decades he has pursued the project of adapting the story of Ulysses for the big screen after his return to Ithaca. This journey began to materialize in 2011, when Pasolini sought out British actor Ralph Fiennes (Ipswich, 1962) to play Ulysses in a way we've rarely seen on film: a man traumatized by all the violence he's seen and inflicted, unable to take control of his own. The return It is the story of a hero who returns to a home that no longer feels like his own and who will need time to rebuild ties with his loved ones, especially Penelope (Juliette Binoche) and his son Telemachus (Charlie Plummer). "I wanted to reflect the emotional journey of a family broken by war, and after a terrible experience." Ancient Greece, but according to the director it is a direct bridge to the wars of today: "I would love for Putin to see it and realize how war conflicts change towns and people." The film premiered at the BCN Film Fest, which awarded the festival Conclave, The English patient and Spider, in addition to playing Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter series. Fiennes meets with a group of journalists at the Hotel Casa Fuster in Barcelona.

He plays a mature Ulysses, a departure from other films about the myth, in which he appears much younger. How did age influence the development of the character?

— In fact, we've wanted to make this film for about fifteen years. I was in my forties then, and at the time I thought I was the right age to star in the film. But time passed, and Uberto asked me one day, "When will we make this film?" I replied, "Probably, I'm a little too old now." And he said, "No, no, you're the right age now." When we shot the film, I was sixty. The story goes that Ulysses went to war at twenty and returned at forty, but I can't go back in time. My face reflects my age, and this is the Ulysses in the film.

How has representing a literary myth impacted you?

— I tried to put myself in the shoes of someone who's unsure of himself, who doesn't know who he is. Ulysses has lost his common sense, he distrusts everyone. In the film, we meet him right away, just as he's arrived on the shore of his island after a storm. He had a kind of instinct that led him home. When he's healed and strong enough, he doesn't know what to do. He has no intention of going to the palace and announcing his return to everyone.

This facet of the character is far from theOdyssey of Homer.

— Yes, that was Uberto's proposal. He wanted us to delve into this psychological space, which is very interesting. Ulysses doesn't know what he's doing on the island, nor does he know if his wife is with someone. He's a spiritually and psychologically exhausted man; he has no purpose in life. All of us, more or less, get up to go to work, or we have a life goal we want to achieve, which might be wanting to be with our children or our family. Ulysses has lost everything. He's become a passive man. What I liked most about the script was seeing how he slowly begins to take the initiative and take control of his life.

The film explores the consequences of having lived through a war. In a world filled with armed conflict, can the film help in any way?

— It's a very good question. I don't know if the film can be very useful, honestly. There have been some great anti-war films in the past that are wonderful, and unfortunately, we're still at war as a species. I don't think a film can stop a war, but I hope it helps show its horror and reminds us of it. The great obscenity of humankind is war.

Can we come to understand people who go to war?

— During World War II, there was a force centered in Germany that was defined by an obscene and terrible degree of antisemitism. The nations of Europe saw that this damage would not stop and went to war. Interestingly, I just read a biography of Ian Fleming, who created James Bond and worked as a spy during World War II. At the end of the book, the author of the biography explains that at Fleming's funeral, someone said, "He was known for his James Bond books, but like many other people, he also contributed to the war and brought us here to save the nation." There were a set of values that should be fought for. You can have many debates about when to go to war and protect your way of life. But the few military men I've met are peace-loving, not war-loving. They are in the military because they recognize the value of defending the country they love.

The film is shot in a very naturalistic manner. There's virtually no dialogue, and there's a lot of play with silence. What challenges did this pose for you, acting-wise?

— There are a series of British television interviews from the 1960s with well-known figures in which they were asked very searching questions. The expressions on their faces as they listened to the question were extraordinary. I once conducted an exercise with young actors who wanted to learn how to act in front of the camera, and I replicated a similar situation: I interviewed them to show them what they did naturally before acting, and how their faces changed when they were asked certain questions. The human face itself is full of meaning. In the case of Ulysses, we worked hard on the experience of this emotionally wounded man who returns after twenty years, but doesn't want to talk about what he's been through. His face should say it all.

It was released last year Conclave, a film he starred in that revolved around the election of a new pope. How he lived the death of the pontiff last week?

— Since I was part of the film and, for quite some time, lived in that world inside my head, experiencing the Pope's death has been strange for me. I'm very interested to know what will happen next. It's been more than two years since that filming, but now, when I see all the cardinals in the photos, I ask myself, "Why isn't I in it?"

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