"Life" is a movie that tells the story of an International Space Station (ISS) crew that uncovers the first evidence of life in Mars. The six members aboard ISS focus on this great experiment that later turns out to be a threat to the troop, starring actors Jake Gyllenhall, Rebecca Ferguson, Ryan Reynolds and Hiroyuki Sanada.
The movie fits perfectly on the intelligent sci-fi films line. It has very accurate technology details shown throughout the film. Its feeling of excited waiting makes it really suspenseful as a surprisingly non-stopping rollercoaster of emotions.
We had a chance to speak with Swedish-Chilean director Daniel Espinosa to understand what’s behind this movie that brings a well-defined message about life itself but also sets a perfect stage about how humans would deal in a possible situation where they would face life outside the earth.
Latin Times: From its conception to the last cut of the film, what was your impression when you finally watched "Life?"
Daniel Espinosa: Making movies is almost like manifesting a nightmare; you have the movie running inside of you for almost half a year before you start shooting picture by picture and it starts realizing itself. You are really scared of it, then you find the film odd just like when you see your old lover at the mall and that person is with another one and they’re laughing and having what you used to have and you feel it close but there’s some sort of distance. It’s the same mentality.
LT: What is the specific impact you want to cause in the audience when they watch the movie?
DE: I tried to make this movie as realistic as possible. When I read the script I liked the realism of it. That this could be seen tomorrow. I thought that was quite fascinating. "Aliens," for example, with all respect, took place 30 years ago on a very far distance future. But "Life" takes place in "tomorrow" and I thought it would be intriguing to kind of push the idea of it.
LT: And... in your own words, as director, what do you expect the most from the ones who watch the film?
DE: When I make movies I like people to dream that it could be reality, I want them to feel that they can almost avoid the screen and that they could perceive that emotional connection. I want them to feel the movie is coming out, making you live a bit of an upside down experience. With "Life," people will find a trustful scary experience.
LT: If we find any life in space do you think it’ll be as treasured as life on earth?
DE: No. I don’t think so. Look at humanity history; we have a horrible history on how we encounter anything that is not ours. If you look back, in immigration of Homo Sapiens, you had certain different races of Homos and one species killed another one. I think the hatred of fear would be absurd.
LT: Is there any specific reason why the cast of the movie is so diverse in terms of race, nationalities?
DE: That’s how the ISS really is. I wanted to follow the realism. Different countries. We really wanted the movie to look as much alike as possible to it.
LT: What do you like the most about this movie?
DE: I think it has great terms, I really enjoy every expression and how everything ends.
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