Ten years after a tidal wave destroys a small town elementary school with all the children inside, a young man builds a mysterious structure out of the school's remains, setting the town aflame with passions long forgotten.
Julio Quintana directs Martin Sheen in "The Vessel."
This is the story of "The Vessel," the first feature film from visionary Julio Quintana, a Cuban American writer and director, from Austin, Texas. Executive produced by Terrence Malick, Quintana has the same dreamlike, ethereal way that has created a fan base for Malick.
No wonder Malick's influence is seen in "The Vessel."
Quintana worked as a cinematographer with Malick for the auteur's films, "The Tree of Life" and "To The Wonder."The film is groundbreaking, too, as Quintana basically created two films – a Spanish and an English version, thereby opening up the field of the movie to be seen by more audiences. And while, Martin Sheen is the star power of the movie, Quintana's brother, Lucas, in his feature film debut shines. When Quintana was asked how he came up with the story for "The Vessel," his answer was that he always wanted to write a movie for his brother, Lucas.
miamiartzine.com spoke with Lucas, who plays Leo, the young man who seeks to rebuild both the town and himself after loss. Lucas talks to MAZ about working with his brother, acting alongside of Sheen and shooting a film twice, once in Spanish and once in English. Groundbreaking, indeed.
Lucas Quintana as Leo in "The Vessel".
miamiartzine.com: How was it working with your brother, Julio?
Lucas Quintana: "He wrote the role with me in mind. He's been working with me since I was 15 or 16 years old. He writes around my personality and writes characters that fit my personality. [Lucas starred in Julio's short films, "Death of an Ally" (2007) and "Wing It" (2009)].We butt heads, but that's what brothers do, so it's OK in the end. There are many things I like about working with him. He takes me out of my comfort zone and I think that is a really important thing for an actor to do. I think the actor-director relationship is so important – like Martin Scorsese and Robert Deniro and Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio."
maz: What elements of Leo do you relate the most to?
LQ: "The character is constantly searching for something. He's a bit melancholy and introspective, too. He is always looking for new things. That's the way I think I am – never fully satisfied always looking, always trying to discover new things. I am introspective and a bit introverted."
maz: What was it like working with Martin Sheen?
LQ: "He's amazing. He's an extremely humble brilliant actor and one of the nicest guys I've ever met. When you work with a star you worry about a lot of things: 'Am I going to be able to work as well as he wants me to work with him? How is he going to be?' But he was so cool about everything and helped me out a lot. He gave me such great feedback and it was pretty amazing. I was watching his performance at the premiere in L.A. and there were scenes where he had these simple reactions. They were so beautiful that they got me a teary eyed."
Martin Sheen in the dual language film, "The Vessel."
maz: How do you feel about the film being in two languages, both Spanish and English? Was it difficult to shoot the movie twice?
LQ: "What it brings to the table is that it allows people to see it internationally without having to watch a dubbed or subtitled movie. Sometimes people don't like to read subtitles. The English version is very equally understandable and the Spanish version is very well done. Everyone on set was very fluent in Spanish and English. I think it is impressive that my brother and Marla (Quintana, producer on the film and Julio's wife) did double the work and did two movies. A lot of people will respect that. Who knows? Maybe we'll start a trend."
"The Vessel" plays this weekend at The Bill Cosford Cinema, 5030 Brunson Drive, Coral Gables. The cinema is showing the Spanish version with subtitles. Find showtimes at www.cosfordcinema.com.
