Living Is Easy (With Eyes Closed)

Living Is Easy (With Eyes Closed)

Cast: Javier Camara, Natalia De Molina, Francesc Colomer,
Director: David Trueba
Running Time: 108 minutes

Synopsis: Inspired by true events, writer/director David Trueba's multi award-winning box office smash Living Is Easy (With Eyes Closed) is a buoyant and heartfelt comedy set in conservative, Franco-era Spain, about a free-spirited English teacher's quest to meet his idol, John Lennon, and the inspirational effect he has on two young people who share in the journey.

It's 1966: Dedicated schoolteacher Antonio (portrayed by the brilliant Javier Cámara) is an obsessive Beatles fan – a passion that carries through to his classroom where he uses the lyrics from 'Help!" to teach his pupils English. When he learns that John Lennon is filming Richard Lester's absurdist comedy How I Won the War on the other side of the country, Antonio drops everything and sets out in in his tiny Fiat to find the production's location, hoping Lennon can help him understand the lyrics to the newly released Revolver LP.

En route, Antonio adopts two hitchhiking runaways: Juanjo (Francesc Colomer), a 16-year-old boy fleeing his disciplinarian father, and Belén (Natalia de Molina), 20 years old, single and pregnant, heading home to face her mother. Together the trio travels across the sun-drenched Spanish landscape and learn more about each other – and themselves – than any had expected.

Fuelled by the affecting backbeat of surging Beatles euphoria, and accompanied by a glorious, award-winning original score by the legendary Pat Metheny, this funny and deeply affecting film is both a farewell to an era of repression and a welcome to a new age, capturing the spirit of both the -60s and of a nation aspiring to a better future.

Living Is Easy (With Eyes Closed)
Release Date: October 23rd, 2014
Website: www.livingiseasywitheyesclosed.com.au

Director's Notes

The backdrop of Living Is Easy (With Eyes Closed) is 1970s Spain. A place full of contradictions, grey, under the control of an authoritative regime, a generation living with the fear of wars recently past and a younger generation that longed for social and moral freedoms.

This contrast was particularly evident in the south, in places such as the very poor province of Almeria, where new mass tourism and the arrival of big foreign film productions came face to face with underdevelopment and precariousness.

In this context, the arrival of John Lennon for the filming of Richard Lester's How I Won the War aroused the enthusiasm of a section of the country's youth. One of the living symbols of youth freedom, new morality, and progress had just landed in Spain.

The Lennon that arrives in Spain is, however, a man in crisis. He had just released his very expressive song -Help'. With doubts about the future of the group, experimenting with drugs and almost to the point of personal and professional divorce, for him Almería meant the possibility of isolation and reflection. This was a period of introspection, where his songs increasingly talked about himself with a rare intimacy, of childhood memories and life's frustrations, most of them a result of fame and its contradictions. Music history says that during this period in Almeria he composed one of his most intimate pieces: Strawberry Fields Forever.

Lennon is not, however, the story's protagonist. He is a cry; a symbol. The protagonists are, in fact, three characters representative of the Spain of that period. A demanding and dynamic teacher that suspects social reforms have more to do with personal ambitions than concrete political plans, often overtaken by enthusiasm and desires, and two youngsters that face, in their own different ways, a number of social frustrations and attempts by others to decide their destinies.

The three of them represent three forms of rebellion against their environment. They are not historical characters but, actually, anonymous beings who with their unique, personal and laborious fight, helped change their country. They were true protagonists of a reform achieved by 'small" beings rather than tall heroes.

With a commitment to dream, our three protagonists will contrast with the more closed secondary characters representing the tired old Spain, although they will still have some of their limited humanity displayed. Understanding all characters is the challenge of this film, which is not focused on portraying the central divide as a safe and impersonal metaphor, but on helping understand the differences between the characters' personal circumstances.

The formula for recreating this period is to approach it from a close, personal place, identifying with people's everyday coping behaviours that have, nonetheless, a resounding impact beyond the day to day living. At the end of the day, true social heroes have always been people deemed insignificant yet, eventually, able to exceed expectations and overcome limitations.

About the Actors

With period pieces I always impose a rule on myself, which is to try to find actors that can transmit the character and form of the typical person of the period. I regard that classic value higher than characterisations or makeovers. The aim is to find actors that can transmit the values of the period internally, not cosmetically.

For the character of Antonio I needed someone like Javier Cámara, an actor of today yet with a timeless quality. All I have to do is look at him in some scenes to know he would have had no problems performing with the likes of Alfredo Landa, Lopez Vazquez or Agustin Gonzalez. He knows how to move with clarity through a scene without losing any subtlety in the process.

His tone and physical expression made him the perfect choice to embody the complexities demanded by the character; a man with a touch of Sancho and another of El Quijote, aspiring to reach an ideal yet never removed from the hard reality. Javier Cámara had, for me, the closeness and warmth of a childhood teacher, of those who often changed your way of thinking. Teachers like this were the best example of what Machado summarised as the archetype of a good man, in the best sense of the word.

For the actress choice of Belen, things were a bit more difficult. This is because people in their twenties are always the purest expression of what is contemporary and yet I wanted someone who could transmit the youth of a different period. In addition, the script called for an Andalusian background. Despite all these challenges, Natalia de Molina immediately grabbed my attention during her audition, even though she was a completely unknown actress. Even her name had an appealing '60's actress" ring to it. It felt, early on, that she could be the one to put an end to months of frustrating search for the right match for her character.

She was direct, with a purity that adorned her beauty and way of being. Despite the risk involved in choosing someone new for such a critical role, and with so much responsibility, I was surprised to witness her confidence, her many contributions and sustained effort during filming. This was so evident that I would sometimes ask myself if she had lied in her C.V, hiding ten leading roles from her credits. With time, I realised she was nothing less than a natural, true actress, one of those for which one is praised to have discovered, despite knowing perfectly well that, in reality, you as a director were the one lucky to cross paths with her and not the other way around.

With Francesc Colomer we had the advantage of knowing him already from his role in Black Bread and instantly noticed the intensity of his look. Balancing this strength was his purity, an attribute that is hard to find, yet evident in those who have grown far from the big cities. He also wasn't a child anymore, but a 16-year-old kid, with the difficulties that come along with this. The character of Juanjo was someone very close to me, for many reasons, and this made it more difficult to settle for someone. The traditional value evident in Francesc made me choose him.

It is hard to find an adolescent that is so honest and direct and quite intelligent in a nonexhibitionist way. He seduced everyone in our team with his disposition and humility; perhaps it was his traditional values, coming to think of it. Francesc makes silences and stares powerful. For this character, which often remains quiet rather than forcing to be heard, I cannot imagine anyone better than him. And he gave us something beautiful every time he stopped to observe his fellow, more experienced, actors at work. Francesc showed a sincere admiration and desire for learning that is uncommon today.

Living Is Easy (With Eyes Closed)

Release Date: October 23rd, 2014