THE 7 VICES

The 7 Vices 

Director letter of intent

This film is composed of a series of seven short films corresponding to the seven deadly sins.  As an introduction as well as an epilogue, we find a little girl - to whom the voice-over of St. Thomas Aquinas promises to tell her a story. She is the emblem of decadence and hope. Cortázar's "Marelle" labyrinth novel, an endless book, suggests the mood. The careless game of a girl hopping between "earth and sky" is a metaphor for "hell and heaven" that will be at the heart of the film.  Each of the seven courts takes place at a different time, responding to an aesthetic genre, a language, a setting and a dramaturgical rhythm that are unique to it. I wanted to be able to celebrate great cinematographic references, such as Chris Marker, Sokurov, Chaplin, Greenaway or Cronenberg while greeting the great men of letters like Borges, Tolstoy, Hemingway, Kafka, Rimbaud, and have them communicate with the great artistic masters of painting; Warhol , Basquiat , Bosch  ... A reflection on these "masters" then led me to the idea of a second dialogue, the one that could take place between so-called "classical" references and artists contemporary: renowned actors, street artists, experimental musicians, a fire organ, visual artists, stylists and craftsmen of genius. For Borges, every man is Homer. He never ceased to create characters who duplicated themselves, who lost their identity, because for him a man "incarnates" all men. Sometimes the traitor is also the hero. As for me, I have always been fascinated by this idea of underlying ambiguity, a magical metamorphosis that sometimes occurs in humans unexpectedly. Thus, the gallerist in The Thief of Souls is both the broken woman and the cannibal monster, as for the hunter, he sees himself trapped.  My intention was not to create either a pastiche or a mass of classical references but to bring an original vision, at the same time tragic and funny, disturbing and light as well, of a subject which, since always, touches men and who is undeniably timeless and inexhaustible. The deadly sins, with their share of obscurantism, could be at the origin of certain human behaviors. The secret meanders of social conduct, the pretense, this truth which everyone thinks of being the holder, are themes that haunt me since my first works: Deadtime, 9 of copas, Brain damaged, Mc Clean.  Here, what seduced me was to dive right away, without parachute, into the themes that emerge from the 7 "vices": frustration, the loss of identity, the rejection of a child, blindness, cruelty without reason, selfishness, murder, naive nonchalance. I was not afraid of a certain freedom; on the contrary, the excessive, when the dialogues are almost absent, can bring an additional poetic and symbolic musicality, a kind of theatricality. That's why body language, sets, silences and sound are essential in this film that is dreamlike and fantastic above all else. In Poker, the overabundance of clichés resulting from stereotypes will grow as much to laugh as terrible.  My Argentinian origins and parents teachers have quickly immersed me in the world of arts and literature. An uncle gave me my first little camera. My taste for the image has been growing ever since. Photography, video, short films. As a tribute to photography, all the shorts will be in black and white with the exception of Metamorphosis.  Some previous collaborations with musicians, directed me towards worlds as eclectic as introspective. From Adrian Maglia's pianist talent (Argentina), Franco Cinelli (DJ) , Vera Baxter (Argentina), to the powerful Michel Moglia fire organ (only world to make fire talk), Waterflower Fantastic artist that make music with flowers , and Patrice Lorion extraordinaries Sound Designers. These sonorous voices, all of which have agreed to be part of this project, will give each scene a special atmosphere. Marioara Cheptene & Steev Gaudet, world dance champions, gave me great pleasure to accept to play in Dreams,and with the talent of Chloe Rigal  bringing their unique experience and grace. Among the actors who have done me the great honor to accept my proposal, I count with Guest Star Arielle Dombasle , Katinka, and Chihiro Niuya, Mary Dre Motena ,the sublime Costume Designer Stephanie Lambert , the German street-artist Konni Steading, Julie Von Trash , the Argentine Jimena Buttigliengo. The talented stylist Nobuki Hizume,  have also agreed to be part of this film.  About filming, we have made the choice of an immersion shoot, in natural settings, despite the budget or weather constraints that may represent. Whether a garden or a forest, a beach, an abbey or a castle, or the Russian Conservatory of Paris Rachmaninoff, the authenticity of these natural settings are in resonance with an intimate character and an inherent concern for authenticity to the movie. The place of the senses seemed to me finally to be a way to dig. The sensoriality that emanates from a film can also be experienced in a raw, wild way, such as can be the memory of a perfume or a music of our childhood. Hence the idea of facilities releasing perfumes in the projection rooms. To the visual experience will be added a sensory experience.  What is morality? What do religions claim to bring us? What ethics is a man supposed to have in society? What is the share of responsibility? Can we escape our vicious destiny? Will we end up killing our planet too? The film poses its concerns, to the viewer to respond ...

Gabriel Otero